Doctors leaving amid dwindling healthcare in Dothan, chairman claims
This controversy is the latest shot across the bow between the commission—at least some members—and the powerful healthcare authority, that oversees a vast medical network, with Southeast Health Medical Center as its flagship.
DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - There are concerns that healthcare quality in Dothan is dwindling as tensions between the Houston County Commission and Southeast Health’s board of directors intensify.
“We’ve lost doctors who want to be here, but they have issues they couldn’t get past,” Chairman Brandon Shoupe said on Monday after two commissioners declined to appoint or reappoint Houston County Healthcare Authority members who oversee Southeast Health.
Shoupe also claimed that medical procedures once offered in Dothan must be performed elsewhere.
His comments mark the latest skirmish between elected officials and Authority, though commissioners have delivered most of those punches.
This war of words was sparked by allegations that Authority Chairman Chester Sowell made disparaging comments about a doctor one commissioner wanted to appoint to the board, though guidelines prevent him from doing so.
“There’s no denying what he said,” Shoupe told News4 in reaction to claims by Commissioner Ricky Herring that Sowell disrespected Dr. Kelsey Steensland, an anesthesiologist.
He claims Sowell said of Steensland, a 40-year-old mother of six, she is a “girl” with a “boatload of children,” indicating she has no time to serve on the board, an unpaid position.
“I have nothing but the deepest respect for Dr. Steensland and the other board nominees,” Sowell said on Friday.
This controversy is the latest shot across the bow between the commission—at least some members—and the powerful healthcare authority, that oversees a vast medical network, with Southeast Health Medical Center as its flagship.
The biggest issue isn’t the Steenland’s treatment but the selection of Authority members, with commissioners’ hands bound to a handful of recommendations the Authority provides.
Herring compares that state law to a fox guarding the hen house.
Southeast Health management scoffed at Shoupe’s notion that doctors bolted and healthcare declined because of Authority or hospital management.
“Southeast Health is continually working to expand access to care through physician recruitment, service line expansion, growth of medical education programs, and new partnerships in an effort to meet community needs,” it said in a statement.
That statement pointed to expanded oncology services, stroke and neuroscience, expansion of cardiology services, and diagnostic imaging among its cutting-edge medical advances.
According to a recent survey by the Lown Institute Hospitals Index, Southeast Health Medical Center was recognized as a “Socially Responsible” hospital, ranked first among 77 hospitals in Alabama. It has also been recognized for medical advancements, with more patients each year that any hospital within 100 miles of Dothan.
Because Herring and District 4 commissioner James Ivey refused to appoint two new members for terms that begin on October 1, Sowell and board member Dr. Bob Theune will continue serving until they make appointments.
Both Herring and Ivey indicated they preferred those two members to resign and hoped they would be replaced by Steensland and Dothan businessman Archie Solomon.
Commissioners Curtis Harvey and Tracy Adams on Monday appointed Dr. Debora Pettway and Dr. Bruce Wozow to the Authority, respectively, and without fanfare.
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