Emails obtained by the Tampa Bay Times show the relationship between USF Health and Tampa General Hospital has been going through turbulent times. The behind-the-scenes dispute was serious enough last fall for USF Health Dean Stephen Klasko to suggest that TGH board chairman David A. StrazJr. wants him ousted.
But patients might pay a high price if USF and its major teaching hospital divorced. Consider a recent case, described in a separate Tampa Bay Times article, that involved a 36-year-old pregnant woman with a condition that can cause post-partum hemorrhage.
A difficulty in such cases is the time involved in moving the new mother from the delivery room to an operating room. For the first time, a team of USF doctors used used a "hybrid operating room” at Tampa General to keep her in one place for both the C-section delivery and a hysterectomy.