Doylestown Hospital publicly suspends a veteran OB-GYN’s privileges, citing the quality of his work

Doylestown Hospital officials say they made a “serious” decision to bar an obstetrician who had delivered babies at the hospital for years from treating patients there.

Scott Dinesen heads a private practice in Bucks County, Dinesen and Associates OB-GYN and Infertility. His clinical privileges at the hospital were suspended on Aug. 4, Doylestown Health CEO Jim Brexler told The Inquirer.

Brexler would not say exactly why Dinesen had been suspended, citing patient confidentiality, but said the decision came after a months-long review of the quality of Dinesen’s work by medical staff at the hospital.

“Our medical staff ensure quality is maintained on the part of those practicing here,” Brexler said.

The hospital informed patients and others in the community in a recent post on its website, saying that “Doylestown Hospital’s Medical Staff Leadership took the serious action of suspending Dr. Scott Dinesen’s clinical privileges.”

Dinesen did not respond to a request for comment, but his practice defended his reputation and work.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Dinesen’s practice said that he has been “a pillar of the Doylestown community for over three decades” and is “known for providing excellent, high-quality care to his patients.”

The spokesperson also declined to state why Dinesen had been suspended because the situation “is still under review.” The spokesperson said the suspension of Dinesen’s hospital privileges was “only an interim measure.”

“We respect the integrity of the process and would hope that the hospital would do the same,” the practice spokesperson said, noting they were surprised at the hospital’s comments on the matter. The spokesperson did not specify which comments they found surprising.

Brexler said Dinesen has the right to appeal the decision.

Doylestown Health’s CEO acknowledged it is unusual to suspend a physician from clinical privileges. Hospitals rely on internal committees of peer physicians to assess when to grant and revoke a physician’s ability to treat patients there. Concerns about quality, when they arise, may be dealt with privately without public notice.

When physicians do attract negative attention from a state medical board or health department, normally after complaints are filed, investigations can be slow and sometimes yield little publicly available information on the case, a ProPublica investigation copublished with the Inquirer found earlier this month.

Dinesen still has an active license to practice medicine in Pennsylvania and has no disciplinary actions on his record.

The hospital and Dinesen are named in an ongoing lawsuit over a pregnant patient’s care, but Brexler said that being named in a lawsuit alone is not enough for the hospital to consider a suspension. He declined to comment further on the case because it is still in active litigation.

The hospital’s decision to post news of his suspension on its website was an effort to combat misinformation spreading on social media that the hospital was closing its maternity ward entirely, Brexler said. In community Facebook groups, dozens of patients have weighed in on the suspension, with some saying they’d been displeased with Dinesen’s care and others praising him.

Doylestown’s other maternity providers are still treating patients at the hospital and its maternity department remains open, Brexler said.

“There were questions coming to us about what’s taken place... that went way beyond any of the patients that were Dr. Dinesen’s. The whole program was being questioned,” Brexler said.

Patients who were treated by Dinesen can transfer their care to another Doylestown Health physician in order to deliver their babies at Doylestown Hospital, officials there said. Patients with further questions can email the hospital at communityhotline@dh.org or call 215-345-2153.