Lake Norman Publications

Nearly three-dozen Holston physicians on the move again



Upheaval persists for a portion of the Lake Norman area’s medical community as many patients wonder, as they did a little more than a year ago, where their physicians will be practicing in the future.

Thirty-five local physicians who bolted from the Novant Health system in March 2019 to form startup practices in north Mecklenburg, Mooresville and Denver under the umbrella of Holston Medical Group have submitted their resignations to the Tennessee-based company. The exiting physicians agreed to carry out scheduled appointments and contracts, and transition out of Holston in September, the company said in a statement.

But 21 of those 35 physicians have been “dismissed from patient care responsibility,” Holston said.

“COVID-19 has impacted many healthcare organizations like ours in surprising ways,” Holston said in its statement. “With urgent COVID-19 cases being admitted to hospitals and the ‘Stay at Home Order’ in place limiting check-ups and elective care, we have seen a dramatic reduction in physician office visits – significantly impacting our organization.

Ehab Sharawy and David Cook, who became the public faces of the group leaving Novant, are among the physicians no longer with Holston, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

Cook, one of the early doctors at Novant’s Lakeside Family Physicians practice, told Lake Norman Publications last year that he and the others joining Holston were looking to move away from the often volume-driven culture of a large health system.

“We wanted to go back to private practice so that when we’re with a patient, our singular focus, the only thing that ties into our decision-making, is doing what’s best for that individual,” Cook said in March 2019. “(The new group) provides a physician enterprise that’s not beholding to anything else but the patient.”

At one point in the transition process, more than 8,000 online applications had been submitted by patients who wanted to follow their Novant physicians to Holston.

Cook suggested at the time that the new practices would even create a “Disney-like experience” for patients.

“It’s almost like you’re going down the highway at 70 miles an hour with the culture of health care,” he explained. “We’re making a U-turn, right on the highway.”

For now, he and others are exiting that highway. The departing physicians are expected to form or join another practice.

For its part, Holston is trying to reassure patients served by the doctors who are leaving.

“Though this transition happened earlier than anticipated, rest assured that we are here to support every one of you throughout this uncertain and unprecedented time,” the company said in its statement.

Anyone with questions is asked to call Holston at 877-464-1213.

2 responses to “Nearly three-dozen Holston physicians on the move again”

  1. Mike Gardner says:

    Congratulations to good doctors making a good decision to put quality before quantity!

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