Crowd gathers to support doctor whose privileges were revoked by hospital
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REXBURG — More than 100 people packed the Madison County Commission’s chambers Monday, to support Dr. Jeffrey G. Hopkin, who lost his medical privileges at Madison Memorial Hospital last month.
Madison Memorial would not comment on the privileges being revoked for Hopkin. However, spokesman Doug McBride referred EastIdahoNews.com to the hospital’s policy on how it determines which physicians and other health care providers can practice medicine within the hospital.
From hospital policy
“Practicing within the hospital is not a right, nor a guarantee, but a privilege, which must be applied for by the practitioner. … By meeting requirements for licensure and continuing education, demonstrating good outcomes and following recognized medical protocols and standards of care, physicians prove the ability to keep their hospital privileges.
“Privileges can be placed in jeopardy when physicians fail to meet these requirements, or when they engage in disruptive behavior in the hospital. In nearly every case, exhaustive efforts are made to improve the level of the practitioner’s care or conduct through educational, rehabilitative or disciplinary pathways, before the hospital resorts to the removal of hospital privileges.”
His supporters filled the chambers during the meeting Monday. Where there was space, people stood or kneeled. Dozens lined the hallway outside of the chambers.
A citizen’s committee in support of Hopkin, led by Ariel Brown, asked that the commissioners review the hospital’s decision and that a policy be put in place so in the future unbiased people, like a mediator, could be involved in these decisions.
Madison Memorial Hospital is owned by Madison County, and a commissioner sits on the hospital board.
The committee collected more than 500 signatures and 200 letters in support. The committee wanted the commissioners to advocate for them and Hopkin.
“At first I was sad the doctor I have been working with for months won’t be my birth doctor,” Brown told EastIdahoNews.com. “Then I was angry and decided that I have to at least try and do something.”
Hopkin, who works at Upper Valley Family Practice & Urgent Care, did not attend the meeting. He also declined to comment to EastIdahoNews.com directly, but referred us to his spokesman Stan Stanley.
Stanley, told EastIdahoNews.com that Madison Memorial reviewed all of Hopkin’s cases from 2011 to 2015. Out of the 500 plus cases, 161 were births. Stanley says three cases were found that had questionable practices regarding hospital protocol.
“The patients in two of those cases have stood up in support of Hopkin,” Stanley said. “One of those patients wrote a letter to the commissioners stating the protocol broken was her fault, not Hopkin’s.”
In the letter, which was read in part during the commissioners meeting, the patient said Hopkin was on vacation during the time that she need a procedure performed. The patient wrote that Hopkin had referred her to another doctor, but she refused and wished to wait for Hopkin to return.
Commission Chairman Jon Weber told the packed room that the commissioners stand by the hospital’s decision.
“This is the first doctor that I can remember whose privileges have been revoked,” Weber said during the meeting. “They did not come to this decision easily. It’s been a lengthy process.”
Although the commissioners did not take questions from the public, many wanted to know why his patients weren’t considered. One woman who had been working with Hopkin for months was upset that she now is in a rush to find a new doctor for the birth of her child.
The commissioners also did not address the reason why Hopkin lost his privilege to practice medicine at the hospital.
“I am curious about the number of supporters that turned out for this meetings, but we don’t see Dr. Hopkin in the crowd,” Weber said. “As of Friday, Hopkin has not filed an appeal to the decision either, and we are nearing the 30-day deadline.”
Stanley says Hopkin is preparing to file an appeal to the decision.