St.

Mary Medical Center

1050 Linden Ave
Long Beach, CA 90813
dignityhealth.org/stmary

MEMORANDUM

Date: February 7, 2019

St. Mary Medical Center Staff
To: St. Mary Medical Center Physicians
St. Mary Medical Center Community Board
St. Mary Medical Center Foundation Board
St. Mary Medical Center Board of Advisors
CC: Julie J. Sprengel, Senior VP of Operations, Southern California
From: Carolyn Caldwell, President/CEO

Subject: Physician Contracting

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for their continued dedication to providing
high-quality patient care services in a compassionate and safe environment.

As some of you may have heard, we are currently addressing concerns raised by
our medical staff related to our hospital based contracted services. We are committed
to working with our physician partners, and respect and remain in compliance with all
regulatory requirements related to the hospital’s relationship with the medical staff.

In order to best meet the health care needs of our community, and assure that we
meet our licensure requirements, we contract with many physician providers. As
hospital leaders, we review each contract prior to renewal to ensure that we meet the
needs of the hospital, our patients, and our medical staff physicians.

The contracts reviewed include specialty services such as Radiology, Pathology,

Emergency Medicine, and Anesthesia. I want to assure you that we have
communicated with the Chief of Staff in the contract review process. Further, we have
invited our senior medical staff leadership and the Hospital Community Board to
participate in that review process. Rest assured that retaliation has not been a factor,
nor will it be, in this review process.

It is unfortunate that this confidential process and inaccurate information was shared
with the media. The hospital will continue to respect the confidentiality of the contract
review process.

Our medical staff physicians remain our valued partners and we look forward to
continued collaboration to serve our mission and provide services to those who come
to us for care.