Last week, when a radio ad touted Hartford Hospital’s joint replacement program as one of the best in the region, it left out an important piece of information.
Hartford Hospital’s cross-town rival, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, had just recruited away the top tier of its joint replacement team.
Saint Francis is trying to become the area leader in procedures such as hip and knee replacements. It’s creating a new Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute. And it’s making attractive deals for top doctors in the specialty.
Among the Hartford Hospital surgeons establishing primary privileges at Saint Francis is prominent hip replacement surgeon Steven Schutzer, who helped pioneer minimal incision hip replacement surgery in the region. The technique had been credited for significantly reducing post-operative pain and recovery time.
Although the center is still under development and Saint Francis has yet to announce the doctors joining its orthopedic program, Hartford Hospital officials acknowledge that in addition to Dr. Schutzer, Dr. John Grady Benson and Dr. Gordon Zimmerman also will be switching allegiance to Saint Francis.
Some Remain
While 13 physicians remaining at Hartford Hospital also perform minimally invasive surgical procedures, Schutzer is the doc with star power in regard to hip replacements in the region.
Hartford Hospital officials are downplaying the departure of the three top docs.
“We have a deep bench of skilled orthopedic surgeons who will continue to perform all orthopedic surgeries,” said Hartford Hospital spokeswoman Lee Monroe in an e-mail. “Our orthopedic program is robust enough to easily withstand the loss of a few physicians.”
Hartford Hospital’s joint replacement program was established more than five years ago, and it spent more than $1 million to renovate two floors at the hospital dedicated to the care of orthopedic patients.
Its orthopedic department includes 20 physicians, compared with Saint Francis’s 19. Currently, Hartford Hospital physicians perform about 1,000 joint replacements per year, the same number as compared to Saint Francis’s.
Monroe said Hartford Hospital plans to recruit additional orthopedic physicians and encourage those now performing joint replacements there to build up their practices.
Line In The Sand
Schutzer is expected to take with him to Saint Francis his star power, a calling card that attracts patients.
While physicians in some cities perform surgeries regularly at cross-town hospitals, that’s not the case in Hartford, Monroe points out.
“Physicians are self-employed entrepreneurs who must function as businessmen,” she added. “While we regret the loss of doctors who perfected their skills and made their reputations at Hartford Hospital, we are confident that the same superior orthopedic program will continue to nurture the very fine surgeons who remain.”
Amit Mody, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Saint Francis, claims his center hasn’t been recruiting physicians. But rather, top physicians just gravitate to a state-of-the-art program – even if the program isn’t in existence yet.
“This is not an exclusive club,” Mody said, noting that qualified physicians are welcome to join its new center if they want.
Demand Growing
In the ever-competitive pursuit of paying patients, joint replacements present a financial opportunity for hospitals struggling with underpayments through government reimbursements and increasing numbers of patients unable to pay.
The genesis of the center is to meet the future needs of the community over the next 10 to 20 years, Mody explained. “The aging population will grow 16 percent each year and there will be a tremendous need as the baby boomer generation ages,” he added.
When Saint Francis is ready to announce its new joint replacement institute, sometime in early to mid-summer, it will conduct an aggressive multi-media marketing campaign. The campaign will include television, radio and print ads plus direct mail to area physicians as well.
