From Novant to HMG to Atrium: How to follow your doctor

May 5. The doctors and their teams who left Houston Medical Group and partnered with Atrium Health have been assigned to office locations and most have a date to start seeing patients.

Patients can get information at https://atriumhealth.org/Welcome or call 704-468-8892 for help or information. Also, Atrium expects to be able to provide services via telehealth in the next few weeks.

The relationship between the doctors who left Novant a year ago to join Holston fell apart in less than a year. At the time they said Holston’s patient-centered values were more in line with theirs. The group was led by Drs. David Cook and Dr. Ehab Sharawy, who formed OH Leadership, a new corporation in December.

Physicians had planned to form an independent group, with at least some consultation with Holston. It would have happened this fall, but negotiations fell apart in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April, HMG closed 10 out of 13 offices in Lake Norman and North Charlotte, and “dismissed” 35 physicians who were planning to join OH Leadership.

Nearly all of the former HMG physicians and advanced practice providers joined Atrium Health in the newly formed practices of One Health Family Medical and One Health OB/GYN.

In a note to patients, the group said:

“Our plan had been to establish a new, independently-owned physician practice, partnering with Atrium Health, to serve our patients. Setting up a new physician practice from scratch is not easy – and it doesn’t happen quickly.

“In March, we notified HMG that we would be leaving in September, honoring the terms of our employment agreements which required that we provide six months’ notice to HMG; we knew we could have our new practice up and running in that timeframe.

“When Holston removed all of us from providing patient services, however, we realized we had to move quickly to get back out into the community to serve our patients. Waiting until September, especially in light of COVID-19, was not going to work.

“So we had to pivot. The solution was to become employees of Atrium.”

These physicians are associated with Atrium Health Medical Group as of May 1:

Brandi Adams, MD

Ilya Alishayev, DO

Brian Baker, MD

Sarah Barker, DO

Jeffrey Berger, MD

Aishwarya Bhagwandass,MD

Anna Claugus, MD

David Cook, MD

Brian Devine, MD

Angela Doty, MD

Vanessa Everett, MD

Jack Faircloth, MD

Dane Floberg, MD

Sarah Goodman, MD

Lisa Gorsuch, MD

Kellye Hall, MD

Colleen Harkreader, MD

Rebecca Hobbs, DO

Robyn Koeppen, MD

Mei-Tsi Lawing, DO

Gina LiCause, MD

Jennifer Little, MD

Katherine Malta, MD

James B. Mammel, MD

Aundrea Marra, MD

Barbara Meyer, MD

Benjamin Miles, MD

Shari Phillips, MD

Demetria Rawlinson, MD

Lauren Riggins, MD

Laura Schrader, MD

Ehab Sharawy, MD

Thomas Michael Sherrill, MD

Cliff Smith, DO

Elisabeth Stoffel, MD

Dao Vuong, MD

Christian Wolff, MD