Opinion ID: 1773893
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Program Contract

Text: St. Joseph and the Foundation entered into a written contract (the Program Contract), which stated that St. Joseph operated a general surgery residency program and wished to provide extensive experience in general surgery for the surgical residents in training. The Program Contract also stated that the Foundation provided health care treatment at Brackenridge Hospital (which is owned by the City of Austin) through residency training programs and the Foundation desire[d] the services of postdoctoral surgical residents to assure the availability of qualified surgeons in the future. Accordingly, the Program Contract recited that St. Joseph and the Foundation wanted to establish an Integrated General Surgery Residency Program at Brackenridge Hospital, as an integral division of St. Joseph[`s] General Surgery Residency [P]rogram. The program would be conducted according to ACGME requirements. The Program Contract envisioned two people overseeing the integrated residency program and the relationship between St. Joseph and the Foundation. One person, the Academic Chief of General Surgery, was to be appointed by St. Joseph. The other person, the Director of Surgical Education, was to be appointed by the Foundation, subject to review and approval by St. Joseph's Academic Chief and Director of Medical Education. The Program Contract also provided, among other things, that:  the St. Joseph-appointed Academic Chief was responsible for direct[ing] the total General Surgery Residency Program; appointing residents to the program; providing for their training (via St. Joseph's teaching staff) while they were assigned to St. Joseph Hospital; and assigning residents for training with the Foundation in Austin (subject to the Foundation's approval).  the Foundation-appointed Director was responsible for supervising (via the Foundation's teaching staff) the residents while they were assigned to the Foundation; consulting with the Academic Chief on matters related to the academic aspects of the Integrated Program; appointing members of the Foundation's surgical teaching staff (subject to the Academic Chief's approval); and making specific training assignments of residents and teaching staff of the Foundation (again subject to approval).  the assignment of residents to the Foundation by the Academic Chief was subject to the Foundation's prior approval, which could be withdrawn with written notice if a resident failed to meet the Foundation's standards. On withdrawal of approval, the Foundation could immediately suspend the resident from any activities at Brackenridge.  the Foundation would pay a pro-rata share of a resident's stipend while the resident was assigned to and on rotation with the Foundation. A resident assigned to the Foundation would also receive from St. Joseph any fringe benefits agreed to between them, but the Foundation would reimburse St. Joseph for the costs of those benefits. The Foundation would also pay the residents a housing stipend.  St. Joseph would provide residents with professional liability insurance coverage.  the Director could participate in recruiting residents for the program, but the Foundation was not responsible for recruiting or selecting residents or for St. Joseph's recruiting costs. With regard to patient care, the Program Contract contained the following provision, referring to the Foundation as CTMF: G. The residents assigned to the Integrated Program will provide direct patient care under the supervision of the teaching staff of CTMF. CTMF's teaching staff will be under the supervision and direction of CTMF's Director of Surgical Education. While in supervised clinical training as provided for in this contract, each resident will be immediately responsible to the member of CTMF's teaching staff, designated by CTMF's Director of Surgical Education, under whose direct clinical supervision and control the resident is working. CTMF's Director of Surgical Education will be responsible to St. Joseph Hospital's Academic Chief of General Surgery for meeting the academic needs of the residents in the Integrated Program while they are training with CTMF. St. Joseph Hospital's Academic Chief of General Surgery will cause supervised clinical training of each resident to be provided by the physician-practitioner members of St. Joseph Hospital's general surgery teaching staff who are responsible for the supervised clinical training of the residents in St. Joseph Hospital's General Surgery Residency Program when the residents in the Integrated Program are assigned to St. Joseph Hospital. CTMF will not control the details of the medical tasks performed by the residents at St. Joseph Hospital; furthermore, St. Joseph Hospital will not control the details of the medical tasks performed by the residents when they are assigned to CTMF save through consultation between and the mutual consent of the Academic Chief of General Surgery at St. Joseph Hospital and CTMF's Director of Surgical Education. [27] Finally, the Program Contract stated it was subject to a contract (the Services Contract) between the Foundation and the City of Austin, which was incorporated into the Program Contract by reference, and that the Program Contract would terminate immediately if the Services Contract was terminated or discontinued for any reason. Also, in the event of a conflict between the terms of the Program Contract and the Services Contract, the latter would control.