Lincoln cardiologists being welcomed back to heart hospital
By MATT OLBERDING
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LINCOLN, Nebraska (Lincoln Journal Star) — Nearly three years after their privileges ended, a group of Lincoln cardiologists are being welcomed back to the city’s cardiac specialty hospital.
CHI Health announced Wednesday that physicians at Pioneer Heart Institute now have privileges to perform procedures at CHI Nebraska Heart.
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Pioneer, which has 17 doctors, was formed in 2018 by a group of cardiologists who were previously based at the heart hospital.
The split was described as amicable at the time, and the doctors continued to have privileges at Nebraska Heart for the next 18 months.
But in January 2020, the doctors lost their privileges after what CHI Health described as an “exclusive agreement” with its own physicians to provide cardiac services at the hospital, which management said had been the norm before the Pioneer doctors left.
It’s not clear what changed, although the heart hospital is now under new management, with Dr. Rick Thompson having taken over as president in the summer.
“As a specialty heart hospital with more than four decades of caring for patients and families, CHI Health Nebraska Heart ensures patient access to quality care, superior outcomes and a place where patients always come first,” Thompson said in a news release. “This will now afford more patients the choice of receiving that exceptional care close to home.”
Douglas Netz, a Pioneer Heart cardiologist, said in the release that he and his colleagues “look forward to collaborating with CHI Health Nebraska Heart.”
“Providers and staff at Pioneer Heart Institute have been enthusiastically awaiting the opportunity to offer more comprehensive cardiology care options for patients in the Lincoln area,” Netz said.
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