Yesterday, upon recommendation from WakeMed executive leadership, the WakeMed Board of Directors approved a new contract with East Carolina Anesthesia Associates (ECAA) to provide professional anesthesia services for all surgeries and procedures performed at WakeMed’s inpatient facilities. The contract with ECAA takes effect on October 1, 2023, and replaces the contract with American Anesthesiology of North Carolina/North American Partners in Anesthesia (NAPA) that expires September 30, 2023. The new contract does not impact WakeMed’s ambulatory surgery centers, which have separate anesthesia services contracts.
WakeMed’s partnership with the providers employed by American Anesthesiology/NAPA (which has been known by other names over the years) goes back several decades. During this time, NAPA’s providers and WakeMed’s clinical staff have had an exceptionally strong relationship with a shared commitment to advancing patient care. However, their parent company, which is owned by privateequity firms, has different priorities and they have not always aligned with WakeMed’s mission, vision and values.
Despite months of negotiation, we were unable to come to agreeable terms with NAPA. While the details of the negotiation are confidential (as is standard practice), we can share that the proposal NAPA presented required a substantial change in our contractual relationship and was both operationally challenging and cost prohibitive, which made it not possible for WakeMed to accept.
Our new anesthesia services partner ECAA, was founded in 1978, and is a physician-owned and managed organization that provides anesthesia services to hospitals, surgery centers, doctor’s offices and pain clinics throughout North Carolina and southeast Virginia. Among their current partners are ECU Health (formerly Vidant Health), CaroMont Regional Medical Center (located in Gastonia), UNC Health Caldwell and Frye Regional Medical Center (both located in Hickory), and several ambulatory surgery centers in Wake County, including WakeMed Surgery Center – Cary.
“Our decision to work with ECAA supports WakeMed’s vision of aligning with like-minded regional organizations who share our values and commitment to focus on exceptional quality, service and value for our patients and their families,” explains Donald Gintzig, WakeMed president & CEO. “We have unwavering respect for the dedication, leadership and skill of the anesthesiologists and CRNAs who work here at WakeMed. At the same time, however, we are challenged by the conflicting priorities the business unit of NAPA has between patient care and meeting the needs of their investors. As a result, were unable to reach agreement on the contract.”
Over the next six months, we will work closely with both NAPA and ECAA to ensure a smooth transition for all providers, staff and our patients. ECAA is committed to quality improvement and will become fully involved and integrated into our Clinical Transformation and Wake Way 2 Excellence journeys, as well as committees and other clinical and operational initiatives that support our strategic plan – particularly in the areas of patient safety and quality, innovation and service excellence.
We do not anticipate any changes in anesthesia coverage over the next six months due to the proven commitment of the Anesthesiologists, CRNAs and AAs to our patients and their families.
