Maverick County, City of Eagle Pass, and Local Health Authority Reach Agreement with Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center for COVID-19 Tests
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
After threatening Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, L.P. with the issuance of an emergency public health order taking over the operations of its Emergency Room due to its refusal to test certain residents for COVID-19, Maverick County, the City of Eagle Pass, and the Local Health Authority Dr. Victoriano Valdez reached an agreement on Thursday, May 14, 2020 with Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, L.P. to use its Emergency Room as “an additional facility to provide services for the examination and screening during this COVID-19 public health disaster,” including “the COVID-19 testing of any and all walk-in patients that meet the guidelines and criteria as established by the Local Health Authority and receive a physician order.”
This agreement was precipitated by Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Room denial or refusal to administer a COVID-19 Test to several walk-in Maverick County residents, including some who tested positive at another test site after being declined by FDRMC, jeopardizing the infection of more local residents with the deadly Coronavirus and the spread of the virus within Maverick County.
Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center (Fort Duncan) is the only hospital serving over 60,000 residents in Eagle Pass and Maverick County, which is owned by a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc. of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center is privately-owned, not publicly owned by Maverick County.
After several days of negotiations, the parties were able to reach this agreement to collaborate regarding the testing of any or all walk-in Maverick County residents at the Emergency Room of Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center for COVID-19.
The agreement calls for the For Duncan Regional Medical Center Emergency Room to act as a location for any individual to be screened and tested for COVID-19 if they meet the Local Health Authority’s criteria for testing and that individual has a physician’s order to be tested for COVID-19. If an individual meets the Local Health Authority’s testing criteria but does not have a physician’s order, the County, City, and Fort Duncan have set up a process that will facilitate the Local Health Authority providing the necessary physician order for individuals who meet the County’s testing criteria.
The agreement also requires Fort Duncan to “utilize sufficient nursing staff to provide twenty-four (24) hours, seven (7) days a week monitoring/testing for COVID-19 screening of patients in the Emergency Room.” Also that Fort Duncan shall produce a daily report to the Local Health Authority and/or Emergency Operations Center on a daily basis of the patients receiving COVID-19 tests as well as those patients who were denied a test in the Emergency Department and the reason associated with that denial.”
The agreement also requires that Fort Duncan “shall provide access to the Emergency Room to the Local Health Authority to observe the COVID-19 screening and testing process. Fort Duncan also agrees to meet with the Local Health Authority to discuss any issues that come up with respect to the COVID-19 screening and testing process. Dr. Scoccia and the Charge Nurse on duty in the Emergency Room will be the Local Health Authority’s designated liaisons with regard to COVID-19 testing and care at Fort Duncan. Fort Duncan will provide the Local Health Authority with the Charge Nurse Schedule (updated as needed) and contact information.”
The agreement also requires that Fort Duncan “shall reimburse the Local Health Authority or Maverick County or City of Eagle Pass (as applicable) up to $50,000 upon receipt of reasonable documentation showing the hours actually worked and payment made by the Local Health Authority or Maverick County or City of Eagle Pass to offset the cost of employees who may access the Fort Duncan Emergency Suite at all times and such individual shall serve as a resource for all patients requesting a COVID-19 test who may be denied such test. Fort Duncan further agrees to provide space and a desk for such individual in an accessible area in the Emergency Department.”
The parties also agreed that Fort Duncan “shall bear the costs related to COVID-19 testing kits, with the right to seek reimbursement from third parties. Fort Duncan waives any and all right to to seek reimbursement for services related to the COVID-19 services from the Local Health Authority, City of Eagle Pass, or the County of Maverick under equitable, statutory, or common law principles….Fort Duncan shall employ commercially reasonable efforts to secure and maintain COVID-19 testing kits.”
“The Parties agree that with an appropriate physician order, Fort Duncan shall, in its Emergency Room, provide testing in accordance with guidelines and criteria established by the Local Health Authority. Specifically, with a physician order, FDRMC shall offer testing to everyone that exhibits one or more of the criteria established by the Local Health Authority for COVID-19 symptoms; in the event a dispute or discrepancy exists between the Local Health Authority and CDC guidance, Fort Duncan shall follow Local Health Authority guidelines except where prohibited by law.”
The agreement adds that Fort Duncan “shall use reasonable efforts to obtain appropriate orders necessary to provide testing (via either physicians on duty or the Local Health Authority). In addition, Fort Duncan agrees to provide the Emergency Operations Center hotline information to any patient who is denied testing and will post such hotline in the Emergency Room….Fort Duncan shall maintain these procedures, staffing, and protocol in place until this Agreement terminates….Fort Duncan hereby assigns Eladio Montalvo, CEO, as the point person to this Agreement and the individual with authority to resolve any issues that may come up in the implementation of this Plan.”
Representing Maverick County were County Judge David R. Saucedo, attorneys Robert Wilson and Luis Vera, City of Eagle Pass were Mayor Luis E. Sifuentes, Deputy Fire Chief Rodolfo Cardona, and attorney Heriberto Morales, the Local Health Authority were Dr. Victoriano Valdez and the County and City attorneys, and the Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center was Leopoldo Vielma. Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center was represented by Eladio Montalvo, CEO, and other corporate representatives and attorneys.
At a May 14, 2020 press conference where the parties agreement was announced, the City of Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center representative Denise Nemeth, PA-C, stated that Maverick County had 57 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases out of a total of 1,173 people tested with 723 negative results, 57 positive results, 393 waiting test results, 14 recovered patients, and no fatalities.
In addition to Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, Maverick County residents may also be tested for COVID-19 at the Maverick County Hospital District Drive-Thru Test Clinic located at 3406 Bob Rogers Drive, Eagle Pass, Texas, Telephone (830) 757-4900; United Medical Centers Drive-Thru Test Clinic located at 1175 Eidson Road, Eagle Pass, Texas, Telephone (830) 757-6946; and at Stat Emergency Center, 2114 N. Veterans Blvd., Eagle Pass, Texas, Telephone (830) 522-3000.
