CHICAGO, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- IPC, the nation's foremost hospitalist company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Vista Health in Waukegan, Illinois, to provide inpatient care to many of the hospitalized patients at Victory Memorial Hospital and Saint Therese Medical Center.
Effective earlier this month, IPC physicians began seeing patients at Victory Hospital, a 113-year-old medical center in Lake County. IPC anticipates being fully staffed at both Victory and nearby Saint Therese Medical Center by late summer of this year.
Hospitalists are acute-care specialists who focus on a patient's hospital care from time of admission to discharge. These doctors work in close consultation with the primary care physician to manage the entire inpatient episode of care. As the nation's fastest-growing medical specialty, hospitalists have become the true drivers of inpatient medicine by coordinating all of the tests, treatments and services that take place within the hospital. Increasing evidence supports the contention that hospitalists increase quality of care and reduce healthcare costs while providing patients the added comfort and security of having a physician on-site to oversee care, answer questions and assure the smooth coordination of all hospital services.
"We entered into this agreement with IPC because of their outstanding track record of providing quality patient care in an efficient and patient-sensitive manner," said Vista Health's Chief Executive Officer Tim Harrington. "Their presence will help enhance the care we provide to our patients, including many who come in through the emergency department, and allow us to better manage our own internal resources."
Already at work at Victory Hospital are Heberto Hernandez, M.D., and Azmina Bhaiji, M.D. Additional physicians have been hired by IPC and are currently awaiting medical staff privileges at the two Vista facilities.
Nearly 30 IPC physicians have been caring for hospitalized patients in the Chicago area since 1999. Last year, these physicians had more than 53,500 "encounters" with patients in 12 hospitals throughout Chicago and its surrounding communities. They are part of the nation's premier hospitalist company that employs approximately 300 physicians at practice locations in California's Bay Area, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Antonio, St. Louis and Tucson. Collectively, these practices manage more than $1 billion in healthcare expenditures annually. The company's consulting services division helps hospitals and other healthcare organizations launch new hospitalist programs or enhance existing ones.
Information on IPC may be obtained at http://www.hospitalist.com/.
IPCCONTACT: Ross Goldberg for IPC, +1-818-597-8453
Web site: http://www.hospitalist.com/
