Six months after Centra Health and the Lynchburg Hematology and Oncology Clinic ended their decade-long partnership, driving some patients to seek care elsewhere, the hospital said patient volumes at its cancer center are rebounding but haven’t yet returned to earlier levels.
Lynchburg Hematology and Oncology provided oncology services at Centra for about a decade through a professional services agreement, but relations between the two entities deteriorated over time, leading to allegations that the clinic overbilled Centra for patient services from 2016 to 2021, according to court documents.
Centra demanded repayment of $7 million, but the clinic refused to pay, according to a lawsuit filed against the clinic by Centra in December 2023.
The two parties could not reach an agreement during negotiations earlier this year, and members of the clinic opted to dissolve the business in March 2024.
When the decade-long contract between the physician group and Centra ended, some patients at the cancer center were left without access to their usual providers.
Centra Health established its own oncology department after the partnership ended and took over the caseload on April 1 with a team of 10 physicians and 12 advanced practice providers, such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Of those 22 providers, 19 were traveling health care workers on six- to 12- month contracts.
At the time, hospital leadership planned to recruit the traveling providers to become permanent employees, Stephanie McBride, director of communications at Centra, said in April.
Centra now plans to renew all contracts for the traveling providers as they come to an end, according to Centra spokesperson Emelyn Gwynn.
In April, some cancer care experts expressed concern that high turnover rates in the department, combined with an increased dependence on traveling health care workers, might negatively affect access to care in the area and lead to fragmented care for cancer patients.
The change discouraged some patients, who called the announcement “confusing.” Others switched their care to the University of Virginia Cancer Center.
Over the last five months, referrals from the Lynchburg area to UVa have increased 50% compared to the same period last year, according to UVa spokesperson Eric Swensen.
“We had an average of about 86 referrals per month during the current 5-month period, compared with an average of 57 monthly referrals in the same time period the previous year,” Swensen said over email.
Operational adjustments have been made to UVa’s infusion centers to increase patient capacity, according to Swensen.
Patient volume initially decreased at Centra Health after the change, Gwynn said, but it has steadily increased since then, approaching past volumes.
Centra dropped the lawsuit earlier this month. The hospital has hired three full-time physicians who were formerly associated with Lynchburg Hematology and Oncology Clinic: Dr. Cecilia MacCallum, Dr. Emaculate Tebit and Dr. Mahmood Rasheed.
“We’ve heard from many patients who really appreciate the opportunity to continue to be cared for by these doctors,” said Gwynn over email.
Centra has not formed any new partnerships or collaborations with other oncology providers, Gwynn said, but the hospital system continues to invest in new technology and services for cancer patients.
Hospital leadership is working to increase patient access by expanding the number of chemotherapy administration bays, Gwynn said.
“Centra continues to focus on advancing solutions that put patients and their families first,” Gwynn said.
