By Elizabeth Gregerson

Wakefield, R.I.-based South County Health has responded to calls for leadership change in the wake of an open letter from physicians and a state Department of Health investigation.

The health system held a news conference Sept. 13 and an online leadership panel Sept. 16 to answer questions from the public regarding concerns shared in an open letter from 40 of the South County Health physicians and staff.

Due to the letter, CMS determined the Rhode Island Department of Health would conduct an investigation of South County Hospital to "evaluate the CMS condition of participation."

"The survey team found no conditional deficiencies of participation in Medicare and Medicaid Services or with State licensure. Per CMS policy, a survey report is generated only when there are deficiencies identified," the health department said in a Sept. 16 news release.

South County Health has also published a website to share "more details about the financial challenges in healthcare and the facts around some of the recent changes at South County Health," according to the site.

The health system cites disagreements on how to address financial losses within its medical oncology and infusion programs as part of the reason some oncologists have resigned.

"The underfunding of all Rhode Island health systems resulting from disparately low reimbursement rates when compared to neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts, has systematically created an unsustainable healthcare delivery environment … and is the direct root cause of the challenges that all Rhode Island healthcare systems experience, not just South County Health in recruiting/retaining doctors," the health system wrote on its website.