High-risk OBs bolt from VUMC to Baptist

CORRECTED: Docs will in fact continue to do research -- Four specialist physicians to set up at competing hospital in late September

Email | Print By E. Thomas Wood

CORRECTION 21 Aug. 2006: Vanderbilt spokesperson John Howser has corrected his statement that the departing physicians wished to be free of research responsibilities, as one of the group, Dr. Connie Graves, has informed him that they will continue to conduct research at Baptise. NashvillePost.com is trying to contact Dr. Graves to learn more about the decision to leave VUMC.

As originally posted:

Turnabout is fair play. Just weeks after one group of cardiologists left St. Thomas Hospital for Vanderbilt University Medical Center, with another group negotiating possibly to follow, Vanderbilt has suffered defections of its own. This time, four specialists in high-risk pregnancies are leaving VUMC and heading to Baptist Hospital, which is owned by St. Thomas Health Services.

Drs. Cornelia Graves, Audrey Kang, Breck Collins and Kelly Bennett are leaving the Maternal/Fetal Division of VUMC's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In a letter sent to patients on August 11, department chair Dr. Nancy Chescheir announced that the four physicians would be departing effective September 29.

Bernie Sherry, president and CEO of Baptist Hospital, issued a statement noting that Baptist is taking "significant steps in becoming the premier OB service in the State of Tennessee" and confirming that "we are in discussion with four high-risk (maternal fetal medicine specialist) physicians about transitioning their practice to Baptist."

None of the departing OBs could be reached today.

Although Sherry stopped short of saying that the move is a done deal, Vanderbilt spokesperson John Howser confirmed that the docs are leaving for Baptist. "Their decision to leave was based on a mutual agreement of these physicians to pursue non-academic career options," Howser said. "Basically stated, they have made the decision that they would prefer to focus on providing clinical care and forgo the research responsibilities required of all our physician faculty."

Howser noted that the department has recently recruited three new physicians to VUMC -- Drs. Lavenia Carpenter, Etoi Garrison and Katherine Wenstrom -- who each arrive with deep experience and top credentials in high-risk obstetrics.