Lags Medical Centers, which has six pain management clinics in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties plus more throughout the state, has closed with little notice to patients dependent on services for coping with chronic pain.
The clinics, started by Dr. Francis Lagattuta, included two in Santa Maria plus one each in Lompoc, Santa Barbara, Templeton and Grover Beach.
A sign near the door at the Carmen Lane location in Santa Maria claims that the clinics have “closed temporarily,” refers patients to its primary care providers and provides contact information for those seeking their medical records.
The closure caught many patients by surprise as appointments were canceled at the last minute or patients were referred to their primary care providers.
“I think if they would have given us a heads-up they were closing, it would have allowed us some time to find alternative care,” said Mary Swing, who posted about the surprising closures last week on social media. “I immediately contacted my primary care doctor, and they knew nothing about them closing. I got a referral to another clinic but am waiting on insurance verification.”
One caller was told the clinic would close at the end of May because of the end of a contract with Medicare, but a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services referred questions back to Lags.
Attempts to reach Lags personnel or representatives were unsuccessful.
The clinics’ phone system fails to note any changes to their operations and still offers options for new patients. Likewise, the website, touting “Get the Help You Need,” doesn’t note closures, but had removed locations and providers by Tuesday evening.
Other pain management clinics locally have fielded multiple calls from patients seeking new providers, a process that can take time because of requirements for referrals and insurance authorization.
Lags Medical Centers also operates as Lags Spine and Sports Care, Spine and Pain Treatment Medical Center of Santa Barbara Inc., Spine and Pain Treatment Center Medical Center of Santa Maria and Lagz Corp.
According to notices filed with the state Employment Development Department, the firms appear to have permanently laid off 20 workers in Oxnard and Ventura last fall. More recently, 39 employees have been permanently laid off at the Modesto, Oxnard and Ventura locations.
There’s a lag time for updates to the EDD’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, which currently lists layoffs through last Thursday.
Under various names, the firms received a number of federal Paycheck Protection Program loans amounting to more than $6 million since early 2020.
Last year, Lags Spine and SportsCare Medical Centers Inc. in Lompoc received a $2.7 million loan with 297 jobs reported, according to a ProPublica database that said the loan was approved April 8, 2020.
Under the same name, but a Santa Maria site, Lags received a $1.6 million loan approved Feb. 4, 2021, with 163 jobs reported.
As Lagz Corp., the Spine and Pain Treatment Medical Center of Santa Barbara and the Spine and Pain Treatment Center of Santa Maria received additional loans in the past 15 months topping $2 million, according to ProPublica.
Fresno First Bank is the lender for the firms’ various PPP loans with funds reportedly used for payroll.
While it doesn’t oversee clinics, the California Medical Board provides guidance for medical providers closing or leaving a practice, urging that “due care should be exercised.”
“Not only does this ensure a smooth transition from the current physician to the new treating physician, but it also reduces the liability of ‘patient abandonment.’ Therefore, to ensure this occurs with a minimum of disruption in continuity of care, the physician terminating the physician-patient relationship should notify patients sufficiently in advance,” the board states on a webpage titled “Closing your medical practice.”
The firm’s website says Lags’ clinics care “for a large base of ‘underserved’ (Medicaid and Medicare) patients who often experience challenges in accessing health care.”
The apparently outdated website, which fails to note current closures, says the clinics see 13,400 patients a month at 38 locations in 25 counties across California, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
However, some of those sites, including those in Oregon and Washington, appear to have shuttered previously.
The website said Lagattuta, listed as the clinics’ chief medical officer and medical director, served as a team doctor/physiatrist for the Chicago Bulls basketball team during their record, 72-game winning season in the Michael Jordan era.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.