5 Linden Medical Group doctors leave for concierge practice
All will see patients until year’s end, network says
Patients of Rochester Regional Health’s Linden Medical Group are seeking answers about potential disruptions to their health care services after five doctors decided to leave the practice.
The Rochester-based health network recently sent digital notices to patients announcing the pending departure of doctors Paul Burns, Edith Dale, Charis Lee, Kelly Lisciandro and Jeffrey Vuillequez from the primary care practice, according to a copy of one of the notices obtained by the USA TODAY Network.
The doctors didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment on the situation. Rochester Regional noted two nurse practitioners — as well as other nurses and staff — will continue to provide services at the Linden Medical Group offices in Rochester in the notice.
The health network noted it looks “forward to sharing exciting details” with patients in the coming weeks regarding “the team of providers that will be delivering high quality care” to meet their ongoing health care needs, the notice added.
What’s next for Linden Medical Group doctors?
In a statement provided Wednesday to the USA TODAY Network, Rochester Regional said: “All physicians will continue to see patients at the Linden Medical Group practice through the end of the year.” It added the network will then be replacing those physicians with other doctors from Rochester Regional Health.
Patients of the doctors leaving Linden Medical Group took to social media to seek answers about their future health care, Joe Gonzalez, a patient of one of the doctors, said in a phone interview.
Those questions included a Facebook post that featured a photo of an apparent flyer that suggested several of the doctors will soon be affiliated with MDVIP — a Florida-based company that includes a national network of doctors serving a self-described alternative form of concierge medicine, according to its website.
The flyer noted MDVIP is signing up members for the doctors in Rochester for a new practice opening in February. A woman who answered the phone number on the flyer said she works for MDVIP. She refused to give her name to a reporter and referred questions about the flyer to the company’s corporate phone number.
MDVIP, which noted it charges patients a membership fee that typically ranges from $1,800 to $2,200 per year, did not immediately respond to questions about the matter.
What Rochester Regional says about Linden Medical Group
On Wednesday, Rochester Regional’s statement noted several Linden Medical Group doctors made “a personal and professional decision to resign and create a retainer-based concierge medicine practice.”
The network added its staff is “actively contacting all patients to assist them in transitioning to other providers” within its 400-member network.
Patients can and should continue to call the Linden Medical Group office with medical questions, to make or change appointments, and to schedule their medicine refills, the statement noted, urging patients with questions about the transition to call (585) 9229253.