Worthington Says Health Centers Board Being Kept In The Dark
posted August 20, 2008
Dr. James Nunally told the finance committee of the Dodson Avenue and Southside Health Centers on Tuesday night that his experience and dependability justify his request for a $60,000 contract increase.
But Dr. Willie Mae Hubbard, who heads the panel, said Dr. Nunally's current pay is out of line and his department is losing over $200,000 a year.
Jim Worthington, another board member, said, "We've been kept in the dark about this contract and I resent it. It's not right."
He added, "We are going to continue to ask questions and become crystal clear on what is going on at the health centers. These people we serve deserve the best care they can get at the least expense to the taxpayers."
Board members only learned at the end of the meeting Tuesday that Dr. Nunally's contract does not run out in a couple of months as they thought. Executive Director Bill Hicks said the contract does not expire until October of 2009. He said Dr. Nunally had come forward and sought an increase.
The health centers, which are under the aegis of Erlanger Medical Center, lost $700,000 last year and $102,000 in the first month of this year.
Dr. Nunally's current contract is at $390,000 per year and he is asking to go to $450,000. The contract is for 20 hours per week at the clinics. Dr. Nunally also provides a midwife for the clinics. He is there a portion of three days and also has his own practice.
Dr. Nunally said he is originally from Birmingham and studied medicine at UT-Martin before coming to Chattanooga in 1990. He said he is married to Dr. Bess Ingram and they have two sons at McCallie School.
He said he has been at the clinics for almost 20 years, and he said an experiment with having only a midwife did not work out.
He praised the work of the midwife he provides, Brenda Jones, and said he puts in more than 20 hours and is on call around the clock. He said he has to handle a number of difficult operations.
Dr. Nunally denied he has sent any clinic patients to his own office after they got on better insurance.
Mr. Hicks had been asked to look into that allegation, but he said under HIPPA privacy regulations he could not. Dr. Hubbard said she was not looking for any names of any who might have been shifted to his office, just numbers. She said she had learned of another case in which a patient was moved to Dr. Nunally's office. A board member said earlier that Dr. Nunally had her begin going to his office - instead of the clinics - after she got on good insurance.
Mr. Hicks said he did a statewide survey of how other health clinics handle OB/GYN. He said it was "a mixed bag."
Board members figured out that one of the 10 unnamed health centers was Dodson Avenue/Southside.
The Hicks survey had 504 deliveries listed for the local center. But he said that was an error, and the correct number was 157.
Dr. Hubbard said, "We are really paying out a whole lot compared to what the department is generating. We can't continue seeing such a small number of patients."
She added, "We have to look at what is being produced by a provider. Fair-market value should not be the only factor." Mr. Hicks said earlier that under a fair-market value analysis by consultants that Dr. Nunally was underpaid.
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