From Tom Young, D.O.
Creston
There has been a lot written on social media and the newspaper recently about the closing of Internal Medicine Consultants PC. I am thankful for all of the positive and kind comments about the service offered through my office over the years. Much of the praise is due to a wonderful staff that I have been fortunate to have.
We will be closed as of May 31. It has been an incredible experience over the past 29 years. Dr. Wimer, my staff and I have had the privilege of caring for, and getting to know many people and their families during this time. Many of these friendships will last a lifetime. I would not exchange these experiences for anything.
There are some things I want to clarify regarding the closing of my Internal Medicine practice in Creston. My purpose for this is for the reader to have a clearer understanding of the events that have come together and have led me to make the difficult decision to close my practice. There are several reasons behind the decision to close. I want to share these with you.
My lease for the office space was going to run out this summer. The hospital administration decided to raise the per square foot cost of the space Internal Medicine has leased since I started the practice in 1989. In their opinion, it was fair market value. I saw it as a 94 percent increase in the cost per square foot. I did express my reluctance to the increase, and the hospital exercised a clause in my lease and sent me a letter stating they were not going to renew my lease.
I was offered alternative space at the hospital complex, but it was only 1,050 square feet. It did not have enough space for two physicians. A rule of thumb for the size of an independent practice facility is 1,200 to 1,500 square feet for the first physician, and 1,000 to 1,200 square feet for each additional physician up to four or five. (“Planning a New Medical Office Space” – Medscape – Apr 16, 2007, by Robert I. Freedman Esq. )
During this same time, the hospital and I explored the possibility of my becoming an employee of the hospital. After several months of discussing this option, I was given an employment agreement to consider. When I was thinking that I was going to be continuing the practice as a hospital employed physician, I was told the hospital had changed their mind and was no longer interested in employing me. The very next day, the hospital contacted Dr. Wimer to offer her a position; an offer she rejected.
To add to this, the changes that have occurred in health care have continued to drive up the cost of keeping an office open, and declining insurance/governmental reimbursements have made it difficult to continue to practice as an independent medical office. This was also a factor in making this very difficult decision.
I want to thank Dr. Wimer, my staff, Sherri and Holly, and my hard-working wife Cindy for everything they have done to maintain a positive and healthy atmosphere in the office. They have offered compassionate care in the office, making it a positive place to work and made patients very comfortable during difficult times.
I would be remiss not to thank all the wonderful staff at Greater Regional Medical Center. These are the people who make the hospital a good and caring place. These are the frontline people who carry out the charge of providing the best they have to offer for the comfort and relief of those who are ill.