Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital reviewing staff changes, policy renewals

ALBANY — A committee concerned with changes impacting the medical staff dealt with its usual business in its second meeting of the year.

At its regular monthly meeting, the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital Professional Affairs Committee went over proposed changes to the medical staff and a few medical staff policies that were up for renewal.

The Phoebe Professional Affairs Committee reviewed on Monday the credentialing report that had been seen by the Credentials and Bylaws Committee on Jan. 26 and the Medical Executive Committee on Feb. 3.

The credentials report showed there are three physicians looking to join Phoebe. Dr. Phyllis Eason is a psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Cochran is a cardiovascular surgeon and Dr. Patricia Kloser is an infectious disease specialist. All three are locum tenens, which means they are temporarily filling in for someone else.

There are also several affiliate staff applicants, mostly mid-level providers, attempting to come on board under the required physician sponsor in their specialty. Jimmy Rex Campbell Jr. and Israel Saucedo are coming in under emergency physician Dr. James Black. Christie Gibson and Lauren Meccarielli are coming in under anesthesiologist Dr. Mark Shoemaker and Lorraine Smallwood is coming in under pathologist Dr. Jeffery Jones.

The report further showed that Dr. Michael Walter and nurse practitioner Jennifer Berry are seeking reappointment. Also, Drs. Willie Adams Jr., James Woods, Doug Calhoun, Cullen Richardson, Vithal Kusuma and Michael Szpak are being invited to join the emeritus staff.

Dr. Mark Herndon, a general surgeon at Phoebe, has met the criteria for general surgery robotics assisted privileges, the report said.

The report issued Monday also shows there was an annual review of medical staff policies, which were up for renewal, submitted for approval. The policies involving focused professional practice evaluation, ongoing professional practice evaluation and disaster credentialing procedure are undergoing no changes.

The job description for pathologist assistant — the position for which Smallwood is seeking — was also submitted for approval, as was a change to the gynecology robotics credentialing criteria indicating that the first three proctored cases for physicians seeking that privilege be either robotic hysterectomies or robotic myomectomies.

The report was approved by the committee.

The medical staff at Phoebe primarily takes on the role of looking into a physician applicants’ qualifications, in turn making a recommendation to the Professional Affairs Committee before the hospital’s full board makes a final decision. The full board usually meets on the first Wednesday of the month.