TAMPA, Fla., March 4, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Physician Partners of America (PPOA) will open its doors to hundreds of chronic pain patients left in the lurch after Laser Spine Institute shut down operations suddenly on March 1. Some of those patients had traveled to LSI's flagship clinic in Tampa from other states.
PPOA is also helping displaced employees, who were blindsided by the closure, to find work at PPOA, beginning with a job fair on March 6 at its Tampa headquarters building.
"We are pleased to offer to perform minimally invasive laser spine procedures on patients who were scheduled for those procedures at Laser Spine Institute in Tampa," said Josh Helms, PPOA Chief Operating Officer. "We welcome these patients and can put them on our schedule immediately." PPOA accepts Medicare and most insurances for minimally invasive and laser spine procedures. The cost to patients is typically much lower than Laser Spine Institute.
Displaced patients may make appointments with Dr. St Louis in Florida or Dr. Phillip Kravetz in Texas at 1-855-25-LASER.
Physician Partners of America, headquartered a few miles from LSI in Tampa, will also see LSI patients for consultations.
Dr. James St. Louis, chief of PPOA's Minimally Invasive Spine Division since January 2018, was the surgical founder of Laser Spine Institute.
Laser Spine Institute - What's Next?
PPOA leadership expressed extreme sadness to hear that Laser Spine Institute shut down operations citing insurmountable financial difficulties. It had closed three surgical centers as a cost-cutting measure in recent years at the same time PPOA entered a period of dramatic expansion.
PPOA operates more than 30 pain management clinics, two laser spine operations, and six outpatient surgery centers in Florida and Texas.
"Laser Spine Institute has brought name recognition to the community in Tampa and other cities and it's an unfortunate situation," said Helms. "At Physician Partners of America, we take comfort in hiring many of the displaced LSI workers and our ability to care for those patients in need."
Help for Displaced Laser Spine Institute Employees
Helms added that given PPOA's expansion and commitment to the Tampa Bay community, it is in a good position to hire some of the 500 employees who lost their jobs at LSI.
"We have many open positions for the type of experienced healthcare workers that contributed so much to the culture at LSI," Helms said. "We can offer them a new home in a strong and stable company."
Displaced Laser Spine Institute employees are invited to a career fair at Physician Partners Institute from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Wednesday, March 6 in its headquarters building, 550 N. Reo St. Tampa 33609. PPOA is hiring for 70-plus open positions across departments.
For information, they may contact [email protected] or go to our Careers page.
SOURCE Physician Partners of America
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