St. Edward-RVMC deal finalized

It was announced Friday (Feb. 4) that the acquisition of River Valley Musculoskeletal Center (RVMC) by St. Edward Mercy Medical Center is complete, with 15 RVMC physicians and 100 employees now part of the hospital system.

The deal was first mentioned in November, with St. Edward saying the 15 doctors at RVMC — specializing in fields including sports medicine, podiatry, neurosurgery and orthopedics — under the Mercy Clinic umbrella.

RVMC operates a clinic at 79th Street and Phoenix Avenue, that includes a 50,000-square-foot medical office building with rehabilitation clinic and imaging services. The facility also includes a 23,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center with eight operating rooms and an interventional pain clinic.

According to Dr. Cole Goodman, president/CEO of Mercy Clinic of Fort Smith, Mercy’s integration model is that the doctors are self governing rather than being employees of the hospital. Doctors make decisions on capital improvements, capital plans and leadership, he explained.

“It gives me great pride to welcome this group of physicians to Mercy Clinic,” Goodman said in the statement released Friday. “There’s no doubt they share the vision already established by the more than 60 physicians of Mercy Clinic to provide quality care for our entire community.”

In November, hospital officials said the move resulted from a “yearlong community master planning process,” through which officials decided to “partner with physicians who are interested in being an integrated part of the Mercy system.” According to the master plan, Arkansas will see a 22% increase in inpatient orthopedic procedures by 2020.

“Mercy is looking to the future and making sure we have the right physicians and services in place to care for the people in our community,” said Jeff Johnston, president and CEO of St. Edward Mercy.

The physicians joining St. Edward Mercy Clinic include:
Keith Bolyard, MD  Orthopedics
James Buie, MD  Orthopedics
Joseph Bylak, MD Orthopedics
Anthony Capocelli, MD Neurosurgery
Thomas Cheyne, MD Sports Medicine
Mark Dotson, DPM Podiatry
Arthur Johnson, MD Neurosurgery
Greg Jones, MD Orthopedics
James Long, MD Orthopedics
Marvin Mumme, MD Orthopedics
Joseph Queeney, DO Neurosurgery
Edward Rhomberg, MD Orthopedics
William Sherrill, MD Orthopedics
Steven Smith, MD Orthopedics
David Sudbrink, MD Orthopedics

The St. Edward-RVMC deal did not clear pending litigation involving RVMC. A $2.72 million lawsuit was filed against RVMC related to the abandoned plans for a $15.4 million specialty hospital in Fort Smith. Erdman Co., a Madison, Wisc.-based architectural and engineering company, seeks payment for services on the project.

“The litigation has not been settled but Mercy does not take ownership of it. It remains between the original parties,” Mercy spokeswoman Laura Keep said.