Eastpoint clinic opts not to renew doctor

Two months before his four-year employment contract was set to end, owners of the Eastpoint Medical Center have decided not to renew the contract with the physician who has staffed the center since April 2006.

The office manager also has been let go by North Florida Medical Centers Inc. (NFMC), the multi-county medical practice that has operated Franklin County’s only federally qualified health center (FQHC) since 2003.

Dr. Lionel Catlin said he has been in talks with the county health department and Weems Memorial Hospital about future employment, after leaving the Eastpoint practice Feb. 16.

Catlin said he was provided no reason for North Florida’s decision not to renew his contract, other than a communication from CEO Joel Montgomery that indicated it was not for disciplinary reasons.

The 53-year-old family practitioner would have completed in April a four-year stint as a National Health Service Corps Scholar, a program that, because the county is a medically underserved population, pays the cost of Catlin’s physician education and training. Catlin studied at Medical College of Pennsylvania - Hahnemann University, from which he graduated in 1999, at the age of 42.

“I still have two months to make up,” said Catlin. “I’m kind of looking at my choices; I’ve interviewed locally and out of state. I’m looking to stay, and into the option of starting my own practice.”

Also gone from the center is office manager Mary Ann Durrer, who also left last month. She declined comment.

A receptionist at the office said acting office manager Brenda Posey, is commuting from NFMC’s Wakulla office. Dr. Patrick Brown, the NFMC’s chief medical officer, is temporarily staffing the physician slot at the Eastpoint office on Wednesdays and Fridays.

“He’s from the corporate office, “said the receptionist. “He works in 11 different centers, and he’s filling in until we get a fulltime provider.”

Advanced registered nurse practitioner Sena Smith continues to see patients at the Island Drive clinic on a fulltime basis.

Following Dr. Nancy Chorba’s departure in March 2005 from the Eastpoint clinic, about two years after ownership of the primary care practice was handed over from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital to NFMC, the clinic lacked a permanent physician presence for an entire year until Catlin’s arrival.

As an African-American physician, his voice unmistakably New England, Catlin became popular over the last four years, said Grayson Shepard, a local real estate agent who has served on NFMC’s board of directors since 2003.

“I think Dr. Catlin was embraced by the community. To come from the north into a rural Southern community and come down and be embraced like that, that spells volumes,” said Shepard. “I’m really disappointed that his contract wasn’t renewed. I don’t know why. I felt like Dr. Catlin did a fantastic job. I was shocked when I found out.”

Shepard, who became a member of the NFMC board while still attending Florida State University, said the board oversees long-range strategic planning, but does not have an active hand in personnel matters, which are largely up to Montgomery.

He said the board members review the doctors’ productivity data, in terms of number of patients seen per day, and that Dr. Catlin’s numbers were mid-range. “We weren’t at the top of the list,” said Shepard.

Catlin said he didn’t think patient numbers were behind Montgomery’s decision. Montgomery declined numerous telephone requests for comment.

“They came to me and said your contract is up soon, and what would you like to do,” Catlin said. “I said I’d like to stay.”

While he did ask for a raise, beyond the NFMC’s regular incentive program, Catlin said he had no further discussions on the matter before learning he would not be renewed.

“They don’t really care about Franklin County patients as far as I can see,” he said. “They have a constant turnover.”

Catlin said Carrabelle resident Anna Purkey, ARNP, was let go from the office a year or so ago, and has since gone to work for Shands in Gainesville.

“If they can’t control you, they’re going to get rid of you one way or another,” he said. “There’s a lot of micromanagement going on with the providers. They’re interested in the ‘numbers.’ They spread providers real thin.”

Shepard, who worked himself up from the board secretary and finance committee chairman to the board chairmanship, has decided to retire from the board, but stressed that his decision was not connected to Catlin’s departure.

He said the commitment to traveling to monthly meetings in Tallahassee, as well as a weeklong conference over the summer, all on a volunteer basis, has taken its toll on his work schedule.

“Being on the board was costing me financially,” he said. “It was becoming more and more of a financial drain. I had to back out. It’s a good company. I think they’re doing a good thing.”

While expressing disappointment with Montgomery’s decision, Shepard stopped short of criticizing the CEO, who he said has been instrumental in expanding NFMC and putting it on a sound financial footing. As an FQHC, NFMC is heavily subsidized by federal funding, but still relies on insured and other paying patients to balance their books.

“It’s his ship and he runs it,” said Shepard. “He’s grabbed the reins and he turned it around.”

Shepard said he had heard word that NFMC plans to soon announce a new doctor for the Eastpoint clinic, but had no further information.

Meanwhile, the receptionist at the office echoed the sentiment of several patients regarding Catlin. “We’re sad that he’s gone,” she said.