CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A tentative agreement was reached to continue the CHRISTUS Spohn Emergency Medicine Residency Program on Wednesday.
Nueces County Hospital District CEO Jonny Hipp confirmed the news in a phone call with 3NEWS, saying the terms were negotiated and agreed to "just after lunch today."
"I say 'tentative' because it hasn't been approved by the hospital district's board yet," he said.
Hipp said the hospital district will meet Nov. 15 to vote on the agreement.
The deal, which has the hospital district pledging $15 million-$20 million, ensures the program will continue at CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Shoreline for at least the next five years, beginning with the new residency class of 2024.
"I think that what it does is it keeps emergency medicine program in the community, which the community leaders and the public have indicated are important to them, and so it'll continue basically what we have going now," he said.
Hipp said the agreement will step up the hospital district's financial responsibility to the program over several years.
"Over a 3-year period, we're going to phase in the hospital district's assistance, so for every year that CHRISTUS Spohn would have begun stepping out of the agreement, we'll be stepping up with funding so that all three residency years are all operating at the same time as they do presently," he said.
If the hospital district's board agrees to the terms of the deal, Hipp said, the hospital district will contribute a little more than $1 million in the first year.
"And then the second year would be a little over $2.8 million, and the third year would be $4.25 million, and that would begin to backfill the years that (CHRISTUS Spohn steps) out."
He said the hospital district's share goes to pay residents' and faculty members' salaries, with Spohn covering the cost of teaching materials and classrooms.
This is a developing story. 3NEWS will provide updates as they become available.