This Chronicle story reports on a recent letter from seven Baylor College of Medicine faculty members to the Baylor Board of Trustees that predicted “a crisis of major proportions” if the Baylor Board followed through with its decision to sever Baylor’s 50 year relationship with Methodist Hospital. The Baylor Board announced the decision to sever its ties with Methodist and commence a relationship with St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital on April 21, as reported earlier here.
Apparently, a group of prominent Baylor physicians tried to prevent last week’s breakup between the medical school and Methodist by warning of “a crisis of major proportions” that could cause the school to “implode financially.” On April 18, seven Baylor faculty members — who are apparently either department chairs or division chiefs — wrote the letter to the Baylor Board and the Methodist Board pleading that their affiliation not be terminated. The Chronicle reports that the letter says the following in part:

“If the St. Luke’s affiliation proposal is adopted, a crisis of major proportions for Baylor will develop, and we will struggle to avoid devastating consequences. With (St. Luke’s), the college will be burdened by more debt and, in fact, may implode financially.”

The letter went on to say that Baylor had never “faced such an alarming crisis over its future.” The letter also predicted that many Baylor’s faculty members would “undoubtedly” keep their clinical practices at Methodist because Baylor and Methodist over the years have established so-called “centers of excellence” in various medical fields, including cardiovascular surgery, neurosurgery, psychiatry, ophthalmology and gene therapy. The letter contends that St. Luke’s does not have the financial ability or facilities to build such programs in the near future, and also does not have sufficient operating rooms or bed space to meet Baylor’s needs.
Finally, the letter predicts that some Baylor faculty members would become “voluntary faculty” to avoid moving to St. Luke’s and that others would “leave Baylor and Methodist altogether.” Replacing these faculty members, states the letter, would be costly and a blow to Baylor’s academic prestige.
Dr. Richard Stasney, a long-time ear, nose and throat specialist at Methodist and a Baylor faculty member, was quoted in the Chronicle as saying: “It’s very upsetting that a 50-year marriage ended. It’s going to hurt Baylor a lot more than Methodist.” Dr. Stasney was not one of the seven faculty members who signed the April 18 letter.
Read the entire article. More than a few ears are going to be burning in the Medical Center over this public disclosure.