BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Leaders with Blount Memorial Hospital said the hospital was going to start using TeamHealth as the provider for its emergency department after their previous provider said it was unable to pay its debts and would shut down the business.
Dr. Harold Naramore, the CEO of Blount Memorial Hospital, said he was notified at around 3 p.m. on July 17 that American Physician Partners was insolvent and planned to shut the business down on July 31.
He said the hospital had to scramble to interview other providers and make sure the new providers could run the emergency department by Aug. 1.
"I began immediately, all week I worked on this issue. We've talked to at least 14 companies and I've heard presentations either in-person or by Zoom video. Seven of those corporations, and today after evaluating the data, I've come to the decision that our new provider will be TeamHealth," said Naramore in a video release.
He also said normally, a transition between emergency department providers would take around 60 days. TeamHealth will have 13 days to move into their new role and make sure the emergency room can accept patients.
"They have committed to do this as seamlessly as possible. It certainly will have moments in the transition," said Naramore. "I believe they're very capable of it. We look forward to partnering with them."
TeamHealth has been in business for around 40 years, according to its webpage. They said they have 15,000 clinicians and offer services across the continuum of care, including care at ambulatory centers and hospital-based practices. They also say they offer behavioral health care, urgent care and emergency medicine.
Bloomberg reported that American Physician Partners would wind down its operations on July 17, saying it was not able to make a deal with another hospital staffing firm — SCP Health. They said the company is jointly owned by Brown Brothers Harriman and Co. as well as member physicians and management.
American Phsyisican Partners is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. The company released a statement, available in full below.
"Due to our ongoing financial challenges and despite our best efforts, American Physician Partners is transitioning service of its hospital and system partners as of July 31, 2023. We are working closely with our hospital and system partners through this process to facilitate a smooth transition that minimizes disruption of patient service, while positioning our partners to continue providing high quality care going forward. In connection with these transitions, APP will begin a process to wind down operations in an orderly and efficient manner."
Both the University of Tennessee Medical Center and Covenant Health said they were not affected by the insolvency announcement. However, Tennova Healthcare also made a statement on APP's insolvency.
"When we learned that APP would cease services at the end of the month, we took immediate steps to ensure continuity of care for our patients. We have negotiated a contract with TeamHealth for hospitalist and ER medicine services. The transition is already underway and going well, and there should be no disruption to the care provided for our patients."