Houston - The Methodist Hospital

[Brashland]

I'm setting up an interview with their HR department for next week. Anyone have information on if they're a reputable facility, internal problems, etc?

[LDV330i]

I'm setting up an interview with their HR department for next week. Anyone have information on if they're a reputable facility, internal problems, etc?What position are you interviewing for?

Methodist was the teaching hospital for Baylor University. Earlier this year they went through a very public and sometimes nasty divorce. Do a search through the archives of the Houston Chronicle for more info. Methodist is now the teaching hospital for Cornell University, yes the one in NY. :confused: When Baylor went its own way Methodist was left withouth any research facilities. They are trying to correct that rather quickly.

[Brashland]

I've done a little reading, but was looking for some info that may not be so public. Interestingly enough, I have some close contacts with Baylor MC and I'm waiting for their take on my possible interview with TMH.

The position is for their Human Resources department.

[LDV330i]

I've done a little reading, but was looking for some info that may not be so public. Interestingly enough, I have some close contacts with Baylor MC and I'm waiting for their take on my possible interview with TMH.

The position is for their Human Resources department.Good luck in your interview. :thumbup:

I do a lot work in the Medical Center as an architect. Baylor is one the firm's client but unfortunately Methodist is not.

[Dave 330i]

Here is the latest soap from the Houston Chronicle

Oct. 17, 2005, 6:12AM

No guarantee for Baylor, Methodist
Legal experts say trust issues may remain, despite contract
By TODD ACKERMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Legal experts are split on a much-ballyhooed agreement resolving a 1 1/2 -year-old battle between Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital, but most agreed on one thing: Don't expect it to change a bad relationship.

Health law professors and lawyers interviewed by the Chronicle warned the contract brokered last month by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott can't rebuild the trust that's been absent while the two institutions have warred.

"A legal agreement won't solve underlying relationship problems," said Bill Knowlton, a specialist in health-care law and partner at Ropes & Gray in Boston. "The relationship's future will depend on how the two parties work together, not what's in the agreement."

The experts said that will take years to play out.

The fighting started two years ago over a Baylor plan to build an outpatient clinic that Methodist saw as competition. It caused the two institutions to end a half century-old marriage in which Methodist served as a real-life classroom for Baylor students.

The agreement was hailed at a news conference Sept. 30. Abbott proclaimed Baylor and Methodist are "reuniting" and will once again work collaboratively and cooperatively for the betterment of patients. He called it "a day of celebration."

Abbott and institution leaders didn't release the agreement and wouldn't discuss it in any detail at the news conference. The Chronicle obtained it after filing a Texas Public Information Act request and sent it to a dozen legal experts for comment.

Their opinions ran the gamut: that it should be very effective because of the attorney general's involvement; that it's a good first step; that it gives the appearance of doing more than it actually does; that it comes too late.

The heart of the agreement is its attempt to restrict recruiting between the institutions. Since they parted ways in April 2004, they've vied for staff employed by the college but with practices based at the hospital.

Baylor has been victim of that custody dispute, losing 80 of its nearly 350 clinical faculty who regularly admitted patients at Methodist (another 1,500 Baylor clinical faculty practice at either public hospitals or Texas Children's). In a complaint filed this summer with the corporation that manages the Texas Medical Center, Baylor accused Methodist of using its $2.3 billion endowment to poach staff and "destroy" the college.


Forbidden 'soliciting'
The agreement seeks to restrict such recruiting by forbidding either institution from hiring away key administrators, faculty with big research grants, and any doctor or scientist working in any of four joint Baylor-Methodist programs (urology; ear, nose and throat; cardiovascular disease prevention; and cell and gene therapy).

It also forbids either institution from "soliciting" a doctor involved in teaching residents at Methodist or any scientist acting as an investigator of a research project sponsored by or administered at the other institution.

It does not prohibit Baylor or Methodist from hiring such doctors or scientists who seek a job on their own, but requires that individuals submit a written statement that they weren't solicited. The hiring institution's CEO is responsible for confirming the statement through "reasonable" internal investigation.

The agreement also requires an institution interested in a doctor or scientist from the other to first receive a written opinion from a national accounting company that the proposed compensation and benefits are commercially reasonable and consistent with fair market value.

Some experts praised those provisions as rigorously laid out, but others said they could either raise concerns about restraint of trade or be circumvented.


Walking a 'fine line'
"It's a fine line they're straddling," said Mark Rothstein, director of the University of Louisville School of Medicine's Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law. "If you go too far curtailing movement, you encounter legal problems; if you don't go very far, you leave ways for employees to get around them. Ultimately, it comes down to whether the institutions trust each other not to push the envelope."

Abbott told the Chronicle the agreement involved "a tremendous amount of research" and that he's confident it will withstand any legal challenge.

The agreement holds interest not just to the squabbling ex-partners, but also to Baylor's new partner, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Its officials, banking on Baylor doctors to fuel their expansion plans, worry the agreement could limit the partnership's full potential.

To some observers, the negotiations and settlement were really a political calculation by Abbott, whose office represents the public interest in matters involving charitable trusts. They noted that Abbott's pre-negotiation goals included a Baylor-Methodist press release about the talks' successful outcome and that Abbott's post-negotiation press release credits him with brokering renewed collaboration and cooperation at the medical center.

Abbott denied the charge, saying he was advised it would be politically disadvantageous to intervene because the fight was such a quagmire. He said he got involved, at the request of civic leaders, doctors and Baylor and Methodist board members, because the fight was hurting the Texas Medical Center.


Both sides win, some say
For that reason, many in the Medical Center were thankful for Abbott's intervention, whatever the motivation. They said it gives both institutions victories: Baylor is happy to stem staff defections and Methodist is happy Baylor will now acknowledge the legitimacy of its new research institute and Cornell affiliation.

Some of the legal experts weren't convinced. They said they'll be watching to see what happens in the future — whether the institutions are able to implement the agreement and how well it anticipates future problems.

"It's a step in the right direction, but I don't see it as a panacea to the Pandora's box opened by this conflict," said Dr. William Winslade, a longtime observer of the medical center who teaches law at the University of Houston and medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. "It's not easy to effect cooperation and collaboration by contract."

todd.ackerman@chron.com

[Brashland]

INTERESTING!

One of my contacts at Baylor said 'They have a fine program at the Methodist Hospital. I think you would enjoy working for them and enjoy being in the Texas Medical Center.'

[LDV330i]

As I mentioned earlier this has been like a nasty divorce. The attorney general trying to play peacemaker and bringing them back together and make up was along shot. As the article said at this point too much has been said and distrust will not disappear on short notice. I believe it was all about Baylor wanting to provide more medical services directly to the public and Methodist trying to protect its turf. It did not help that Methodist recruited some high profile Baylor faculty members.

[TLudwig]

Brashland, PM me on this. I have several contacts within Methodist's HR department, and can probably answer most of your questions.