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Officials Want W. Va. Surgeons Back

State officials called on two dozen West Virginia surgeons Thursday to end their walkout over malpractice costs as four hospitals cut staff hours and transferred more patients.

So far, five patients have had to be sent elsewhere because of the dispute. Two were sent by the Weirton Medical Center across the state line Thursday to a nearby Ohio hospital. Two from Wheeling Hospital were taken Wednesday to Pittsburgh hospitals, about an hour's drive away, and another was sent to a hospital in Morgantown Thursday.

Only one of the patients — who was taken 90 miles from Wheeling to Morgantown — needed emergency surgery.

Gov. Bob Wise will unveil malpractice legislation next week that has been months in the making, Health and Human Resources Secretary Paul Nusbaum said.

"Six days before our announcement is not the time to go and (walk out)," Nusbaum said. "I urge the physicians to give us time to fix this."

A surgeon taking part in a job action to protest malpractice insurance costs says doctors' pleas for help have been ignored by state officials.

"We've seen this crisis looming for several years. We've had many meetings with state legislators and past governors, and we've asked for help in the past, and it seems as if it's fallen on deaf ears," Dr. Greg Saracco said Thursday on CBS News' Early Show.

"It's definitely a hostile work environment. The problem just grows every day," Saracco said. "Physicians no longer want to come to work. Physicians are afraid to accept liability."

Health officials also assured residents that state emergency medical personnel were on alert to help transfer patients and they unveiled a toll-free number for patients who need help with physician referrals.

The surgeons in Wheeling and Weirton began 30-day leaves of absence Wednesday or planned to begin leaves in the next few days. The surgeons say the state has ignored calls to help lower skyrocketing malpractice insurance premiums, a complaint aired by doctors in other states.

All four affected hospitals are keeping emergency rooms open. But except for plastic surgeons, they have almost no emergency surgeons available. Wheeling Hospital said it temporarily reinstated one of the surgeons on leave to work on a patient too ill to be transferred. It released no details.

The four hospitals also began reducing shifts of operating room nurses and other surgical support staff.

The surgeons want the state to make it harder to file malpractice lawsuits, which they say would eventually lower their premiums. They also want the state to seek help from insurance companies and other third parties to pay a larger share of their costs.

Dr. Donald Hofreuter, Wheeling Hospital's chief executive officer, said he understands the doctors' frustration, but he also is concerned about patient care.

"Our facility is open for all of our services, except for general surgery and orthopedic surgery, but our X-ray lab and other surgeries are going on as we speak," he said, also on The Early Show.

"This year I spent about $73,000 and I would expect if this continues in the current crisis mode, it will be above $90,000 next year," Saracco told co-anchor Rene Syler.

He said Wise should seek a deal like that being discussed in Pennsylvania. There, surgeons backed off their threat to close their practices Wednesday after Rendell promised to fight for $220 million in aid for doctors.

"We see what Governor Rendell is offering to get from third-party payers, and our costs would be a lot lower than $220 million, I can assure you," Saracco said.

"If this crisis is resolved successfully, this will do nothing but improve the quality of health care in the state of West Virginia," he said. "We've lost 30 percent of our general surgeons in Wheeling in the past year-and-a-half, and we can't replace those surgeons in the current climate."

Saracco stressed that he would return to the operating room if there is an emergency.

"My job is to help people — I couldn't drive past an accident on the road and not stop," Saracco said. "I don't know any doctor that could."

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