IPC-The Hospitalist Company Expands Into Corpus Christi, Texas; Signs Exclusive Agreement With CHRISTUS Spohn Health System

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- IPC-The Hospitalist Company has expanded into Corpus Christi, Texas, and has entered into an exclusive agreement with CHRISTUS Spohn Health System to provide hospitalist services to the network’s flagship facility, CHRISTUS Spohn Shoreline Hospital. The agreement also calls for IPC to provide similar services at other CHRISTUS Spohn facilities.

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Corpus Christi marks the fifth market in Texas where IPC physicians currently practice, complementing already established practices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Collectively IPC employs nearly 100 physicians in Texas alone and nationally employs more than 300 physicians in 16 marketplaces.

The agreement between IPC and CHRISTUS Spohn Shoreline Hospital calls for IPC physicians to care for all emergency room unassigned patients (those without a local physician). In addition, IPC has begun working with local primary care physicians to attend to their inpatients hospitalized at that 500+ bed facility.

“We are very excited about the partnership with IPC given their strong track record in Texas and around the rest of the country,” said Hospital Executive Vice President/Administrator Paul Trevino. “Increasingly, hospitalists are demonstrating their value through better outcomes and increased efficiencies, and we know that both our patients and our physicians will benefit greatly from having IPC on board.”

Lead IPC physician at CHRISTUS Spohn Shoreline Hospital is Jose Pujol, M.D. He is joined by Dan Muro, M.D., who like Dr. Pujol is well known in the community thanks to a strong, local practice. Additional IPC physicians are currently being recruited to keep up with anticipated demand.

Hospitalists, the nation’s fastest-growing medical specialty, are acute-care specialists who focus on a patient’s hospital care from time of admission to discharge. Increased evidence has shown that hospitalists improve quality of care and reduce healthcare costs while providing patients and their families the added comfort and security of having a physician on site to answer questions and coordinate all of the tests, treatments and services that take place within the hospital.

CHRISTUS Spohn Health System, an integral part of CHRISTUS Health, is a faith-based, comprehensive healthcare network in South Texas. CHRISTUS Spohn Health System consists of six hospital campuses as well as technologically advanced cardiac and cancer services, a network of family health centers, and a variety of wellness and specialty programs.

IPC, the nation’s premier hospitalist company, collectively has more than one million patient encounters annually and manages more than $1 billion in healthcare expenditures each year. The company’s consulting services division helps hospitals and other healthcare organizations launch new hospitalist programs or enhance existing ones. Information on IPC may be obtained at http://www.hospitalist.com .

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CONTACT: Ross Goldberg, IPC-The Hospitalist Company, +1-818-597-8453

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