JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WCYB) — UPDATE: Thursday, August 21, 13 physicians who submitted their notices of their intent not to renew their contracts, issued a joint statement.
In the statement, they outline their good-faith efforts to get out of their non-compete clauses. Their goal is to be able to continue to work in our region, but apart from SOFHA.
Here’s the statement:
A mass exodus is happening at one of our region’s top health care providers.
News 5 has uncovered that dozens of physicians with State of Franklin Healthcare Associates (SOFHA) have resigned or plan to. Attorneys representing former SOFHA physicians saying their working on filing lawsuits.
The issue at hand began in late 2023 when SOFHA transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
This was a change that SOFHA’s president at the time said would “enhance [the companies] ability to attract and retain top talent in the healthcare industry.”
Since the change, dozens of doctors have, or will resign.
Jesse Campbell with Garza Law, represents a former SOFHA doctor who resigned earlier this year.
Campbell says when SOFHA moved to an employee-wide stock ownership system, the healthcare provider bought back physician-owned stock in the organization, allotting them a partial one-time cash payment. SOFHA allegedly promised to pay the rest overtime with interest.
Campbell says his client never received another payment. Then in February or March, more changes.
“SOFHA issued out a directive saying that all physician salaries were effectively going to be cut in half, immediately,” Campbell said.
Campbell’s client resigned.
“SOFHA politely informed him that, ok that’s great, you’re free to leave but we’re going to claw back this cash that we paid you at the end of 2023 which is substantial sum of money,” he said.
Campbell says he and his client attempted to negotiate with SOFHA but he says those talks didn’t go anywhere. They are working through the process of filing a lawsuit.
“All my client wants is a clean exit and to go on about his life and to practice the profession that he loves,” he said.
Campbell told News 5 his client is still practicing but with a non-compete agreement with SOFHA he’s now seeing patients in North Carolina, commuting from Carter County.
“We should all care because we rely on our doctors. We need our doctors and we need doctors in this area. The more doctors we have, the better. You know there could very easily become a day when we have a shortage of doctors in the Tri-Cities and if doctors are being driven out of the area, that’s bad for all of us,” Campbell said.
SOFHA sent the following statement in response to News 5’s questions:
“SOFHA, as a physician-led and employee-owned organization, has faced some transitions this year, including physician departures and financial restructuring. While there are legal and personnel matters, we cannot discuss, what’s important to know is that SOFHA is financially stable, the majority of our providers remain committed, and patients continue to receive care from our strong teams. Any temporary adjustments we made were designed to protect the organization and safeguard care. Our mission has not changed — we remain focused on keeping care close to home and serving the community we are proud to call our own.”
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