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Finance committee approves one‑year anesthesia contract amendment to address staffing gaps
Summary
The Hospital Authority Board finance committee approved a one‑year amendment with Northstar Anesthesia to shore up CRNA coverage after potential resignations left the hospital short‑staffed; the amendment aims to raise pay toward market rates and is expected to be largely offset by anesthesia collections.
Diane Bullock, the hospital’s chief medical officer, told the finance committee that a one‑year contract amendment with Northstar Anesthesia (formerly Epyx/Physynergy) is intended to address immediate staffing shortfalls in the anesthesia service line.
Bullock said the group has been short one CRNA and faced a potential second resignation, noting that "Each 1 of our CRNAs is working at about a 1.7 FTE," a workload that has forced the hospital to rely on locum tenens and extra call coverage. She described a local market for anesthesia staff that leaves the hospital roughly "40% below just in base pay for our CRNAs," and said the amendment would help bring pay closer to market to retain and recruit clinicians.
Bullock also said the anesthesia group generates significant professional collections and that those collections will offset the contract cost: "we'd see about pretty close to $900,000 in collections each year," she said. The amendment would include bringing on a third MDA to provide backup, allowing other MDs to reduce scheduled days and formalizing call within schedules rather than as unpaid extra shifts.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about who would accept schedule or pay changes and how the backup schedule would function; Bullock said current MDs have agreed to reduce days to provide a reliable backup and that the proposal is limited to a one‑year term. After discussion, a motion to approve the amendment was made, seconded and carried by voice vote.
The action approved a temporary contract amendment intended to stabilize anesthesia coverage while the hospital pursues longer‑term recruitment and retention strategies.
