Summa Health System has lost its appeal with a national accreditation council that abruptly stripped the institution of its ability to train emergency room residents at Akron City Hospital July 1.
Summa simultaneously lost its bid for the group to lift a blanket probation, prohibiting the health system from starting new residency programs or increasing the size of those that already exist.
Dr. Cliff Deveny, Summa’s interim president and CEO, informed staff that Summa had lost its appeal in a memo Wednesday afternoon.
“I pledge to our community and to each of you as members of the Summa family that despite today’s decision, we will remain completely committed to our [other] residency programs, we will continue to aggressively recruit core emergency medicine faculty and we will work tirelessly to rebuild the Emergency Medicine Residency Program,” Deveny said.
Deveny, a former Summa executive, returned to Akron and took over leadership of Summa March 13, three days after Summa filed its appeals — technically called “requests for reconsideration” — with the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education.
A Summa spokesman said Deveny was unavailable for an interview Wednesday.
What Summa argued in its appeal is unclear, as is why it failed.
In February, the Beacon Journal obtained a report that outlined the reasons behand the accreditation council’s action.
Among other things, its representatives said they found Summa patients were being sent home from Akron City’s ER after being seen by residents, not the supervising emergency room physicians, even after some of the residents sought their superviors help.
The accreditaion group also found delays in care for trauma patients and possible stroke victims and said new teaching staff brought after Summa abruptly changed ER physician providers lacked the expertise needed to train new doctors.
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.