FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 8, 2023 - The following is an op-ed submission from Adena Health physician leaders

Community members:

Adena Health has been proudly serving the communities of south central and southern Ohio for more than 120 years. Since 1895, we have remained focused on our commitment to providing our patients and communities with the best possible care. We are humbled by this responsibility and have never been more committed to fulfilling our mission.

Part of this responsibility and achieving our mission requires us to clearly and accurately communicate with all community members whenever we have the opportunity. This is even more critical when disinformation becomes prevalent, threatening the ability of our physicians and advanced practice providers to serve patients. That is why we are reaching out to you today.

For months, these very same physicians and advanced practice providers who treat hundreds of people each and every day have been under attack. They have been the targets of a harmful campaign that seeks to damage reputations at the cost of ensuring the continued health and well-being of our community members. Such an attack is abhorrent, unfair, and completely at odds with our values.

These attacks are not only intended to hurt the organization, but they are targeting the health care providers who chose to bring their talents and skills to caring for patients in south central and southern Ohio.

Some of the lies that are being spread about our health care providers include:

· Claiming that physicians are performing procedures they are not qualified to perform;

· Alleging that our cardiac physicians are treating patients without proper credentialing or privileging; and

· Asserting that care is provided in an unsafe environment with improper staffing levels.

These statements are blatantly untrue, and we will no longer be silent. We owe it to the members of our Adena family - the physicians and advanced practice providers - to stand up for them and stand up for the truth. We must protect our colleagues and the health system that has proudly served the area for generations, but we must also protect you - our patients. In that spirit, we want to make absolutely clear that we never tolerate misconduct in any form from providers who violate patients’ trust.

In the rare instances in which inappropriate behavior may occur, we work within the organization, and if needed, the applicable regulatory and governmental authorities, to take appropriate measures to safeguard our patients and caregivers. The safety and well-being of our patients continues to remain our number one priority.

Our physicians and advanced practice providers stand together. We support Adena Health’s mission that we are “called to serve our communities.” We support each other. We uphold the patient care standards and practices recommended by all federal and state regulatory bodies with each and every patient encounter. We are “One Adena.”

To be clear, we respect the legitimate news outlets that provide valuable, objective information to our communities; we condemn efforts to defame reputations by those with no ethical or journalistic standards, who would rather sow discord than be truthful.

Caring for our communities goes beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics. It means standing up for what’s right.

Our pledge to you:

· Our commitment to caring for our communities and supporting our physicians will never waver.

· We will aggressively and rightfully call to account those who would attempt to undermine our ability to serve.

That’s our commitment to you and to each other; we will never compromise.

Sincerely,

Shaheed Koury, MD, chief clinical officer

Richard Mizer, MD, executive vice president, Adena Medical Group

Sathish Jetty, MD, chief of staff

Anthony Freeman, DO, vice chief and credentialing co-chair

Benjamin Trotter, DO, credentialing co-chair

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