Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health plans to submit its application to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to re-establish its emergency medicine residency program roughly a year after the program lost its accreditation, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
The health system's emergency medicine residency program was placed on probation in February 2017 and stripped of its national accreditation, effective July 2017, forcing residents in the program to search for positions elsewhere. The program was initially suspended for several reasons, including residents' decision to reportedly treat and discharge patients without physician supervision and delays in stroke and trauma care, among other issues.
However, Summa Health's probation was lifted last October, clearing the first hurdle for the health system to re-establish its ER residency program. Officials hope to re-establish the program by July 2019, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
"We're just about to the point where we've replaced all the doctors that left in January 2017. I won't say it's been an easy process hiring 30-some doctors to Akron," said David Seaberg, MD, chairman of Summa Health's emergency medicine department.
Dr. Seaberg told the publication the health system's 326-page application to re-establish the program has been internally reviewed and is pending approval by the internal committee of residency directors before submission to the ACGME.
Officials will also need to schedule a site visit before the end of June to stay on track, the report states.
"We have moved on from the events of last year and I am extremely pleased with the progress we are making toward the re-establishment of our Emergency Medicine Residency Program. We are early in the application process and, out of respect for the ACGME, it is premature to discuss specifics. We do look forward to sharing additional details regarding the program and faculty at the appropriate time," interim Summa Health President and CEO Cliff Deveny, MD, told the Akron Beacon Journal.
To access the report, click here.