Wolford College lawsuit update 2014

Specialties CRNA

Published

"The court rejected the students' claims, finding that the duties they performed under the supervision of Collier Anesthesia was clinical training performed as students, not employees." This is from fordharrison.com which is the lawfirm that represented Wolford College in this case.

Neuro_Murse

22 Posts

havent heard of this

allnurses Guide

wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA

5,125 Posts

Specializes in Anesthesia.

subee, MSN, CRNA

1 Article; 5,430 Posts

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.

I don't know how the COA allows physician-owned CRNA schools to exist. This is such a conflict of interest in which the anesthesia corporation wins and the student loses. There's no other ending to this story. It's in Fla. - another symptom. Just close it down.

allnurses Guide

wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA

5,125 Posts

Specializes in Anesthesia.
I don't know how the COA allows physician-owned CRNA schools to exist. This is such a conflict of interest in which the anesthesia corporation wins and the student loses. There's no other ending to this story. It's in Fla. - another symptom. Just close it down.

With the new COA changes CRNA schools will not be able to be stand alone schools anymore and will need regional accreditation. That should alleviate these controversies.

RNDude2012

112 Posts

Specializes in ICU.

Hopefully they get regional accreditation !!

subee, MSN, CRNA

1 Article; 5,430 Posts

Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
Hopefully they get regional accreditation !!

Why would you want this mess of a school to stay open?

NurseDiane

298 Posts

I have never heard of this anesthesia school. I went to anesthesia school back in the early 90's & it was through a state university/medical school. We did much of our clinical training at the city hospital, level 1 trauma center that was the "public hospital" part of the training program. We saw EVERYTHING there----every rare medical condition that I will probably never again see for the rest of my life. The tuition was very low & we actually got a very small stipend. We worked our asses off, but there was NOTHING we couldn't do when we graduated.

I can't imagine that a nurse anesthesia training program owned & run by a physician group would be without vested interest in financial gains. I have read the lawsuit & the subsequent decisions by the Florida court & the appeals court. How on earth a group can bill 100% for one CRNA that supervises two rooms with SRNA's doing the cases is a little mind boggling to me. There are a lot of posts here & other places online from current & former students about the overcrowding in the OR's, and doing well over 1,000 cases in the 1.5 years of clinical training. To me, that is unbelievable, considering the time neuro, cardiac, big general/vascular and some other cases take. You certainly cannot log over 1,000 BIG cases in 1.5 years if you're doing big cases like that. That leads me to believe that the anesthesia group is/was using SRNA's to do quick, ambulatory cases more than big, time consuming cases. That, in an of itself, is clear & obvious abuse of "student training" instead of actual CRNA's doing the work & paying them a salary to staff the OR's. Having SRNA's take call because the CRNA's don't take call is also a huge abuse. Sure, the school has to carry student (and I have no idea how much that is), but tuition being over $50,000 for 2 years for a degree that is not regionally accredited is an obvious cash cow for the group, no matter how much they have to pay. I read that in the first year, there is one 12-hour day of didactic classroom stuff, so Wolford is clearly not bending over backwards to offer didactic classroom teaching to the students in split days like other programs do. I have read that Wolford also started offering some kind of all-online DNP degree for a huge tuition cost. That speaks for itself. Furthermore, no other college or university will recognize or accept any credits from Wolford. I sure wouldn't want to pay over $50,000 for a master's degree that no other college even considers, nor for a DNP from a school that no one has ever heard of. I'd pay the extra money to get a DNP from a real university. The DNP is also 100% online, so you're teaching yourself---there aren't any actual classroom/didactic teachings. Talk about a cash cow right there.

Anyway, I found a decision from the appeals court that came down in September, 2015 reversing the lower court's decision on a summary judgment motion from the defendants (Wolford) that SRNA's are not considered employees and are not entitled to compensation. The appeals court reversed the decision, remanded the case & wants both sides to submit more factual information so a decision can be reached. I am so interested to know how this turns out. A physician group should not be allowed to use students for their financial gain under the premise that they are "training" nurse anesthetists. Not only are they benefiting from not paying SRNA's & billing for their services performed by a CRNA, they are collecting a pretty hefty tuition from each SRNA. $50,000+ for two classes of about 70 students annually adds up to a nice haul---about $7 million. That is a hell of a lot more than what is costs to run a program---I'm sure that in the MDA's & CRNA's contracts, there is a provision about having to teach the SRNA's, but they don't get paid more. I wonder how much the malpractice costs are per student. When I was in school, there was a CRNA:SRNA ratio of one-to-one. Many times the SRNA worked under an attending too, and there was a residency program. Even with a full anesthesia residency program, there was no shortage of cases to spread all of the SRNA's and residents out so they had their own cases----I cannot remember ever being in a room with another resident or SRNA except for big trauma cases where more hands were needed. The fact that students have complained about overcrowding in the OR's is worrisome. I see this case as greediness at its worst. $7million per year in tuition, billing 2 rooms with SRNA's doing the cases as one CRNA "supervises both rooms", more students than OR's equals quite a hefty profit.

I hope the SRNA's attorneys request the anesthesia group at Wolford submit the actual costs of running the program in this remand of the lawsuit---didactic/classroom instructors, malpractice costs, other costs, that will exhibit the amount of financial profit the group is making over & above its billings. The group should be ordered to submit the OR schedules with the number of cases in each OR on a daily basis, where SRNA's were used & the amount of time SRNA's staffed the rooms on a daily basis, how much the group billed & was paid for those cases, the salaries, benefits & pension packages for the MDA's and CRNA's, and the profit from the tuitions. They should also have to submit how much it would cost them if they had to hire CRNA's and/or MDA's to staff the rooms that are being run by SRNA's. Notwithstanding those things, the threats of not saying anything or reporting the conditions play into it as well.

It should be interesting to see what happens.

loveanesthesia

867 Posts

Specializes in CRNA.

I don't think the people applying understand the ramifications of the lack of regional accreditation. First, as you state, no other university will recognize the degree-you don't have a degree. Second, it shows the lack of commitment to a quality education. I suspect they are going to have a difficulty time becoming regionally accredited without a significant financial commitment.

Twills80

13 Posts

Hi, I know this post is rather old but I still feel compelled to say something. I am a graduate of Wolford College. I graduated in 2011. Yes we worked our butts off.. Yes we did take call... Yes at times a senior student and a junior student ( the junior student first couple months to the OR) would be in the OR together. Yes we did our required amount of large cases... Was our program ran like others maybe not but I have met several CRNA's who states they were doing their on cases as a student and just overseen by a CRNA. Yes our program is accredited. I value the clinical experience and when I graduated and begin working at a level 1 trauma center in New York I felt well prepared.

AllIcanbe

95 Posts

No.. Your program is not regionally accredited.

Twills80

13 Posts

Our program is accredited by the Council of Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Program.... I've been a CRNA sine 2011... Didn't have any issue taking boards ( that's accepted the accreditation) didn't have any problem getting a job(they accepted Wolford's accreditation) so as I stated before... I appreciate my program and did not have any issues with it.

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