Medical Privertization

ChuckeRN, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2012

We here in Arizona are in the midst of the transition from State to Wexford control of the medical needs of inmates. July 1, 2012 will be the first day that Wexford takes over from the Arizona DOC.

We are within days (a week or two at most) of finding out what we will be "offered" to stay employed in our current positions.

racjanet · Apr 23, 2012

Post how it goes, it will be interesting to hear how yours goes since we are just starting with the bids. Good luck

curl · Apr 24, 2012

Its all about the physican they hire,they themselves bake or break the job

:confused:Have any of you had the opportunity to go thru a medical privertization? Bids just went out for a second time and now we are waiting. It is very likely that one will be accepted. For any one who has gone thru this how was nursing effected? Pay change? Benefit changes? Staff changes? Do I need to be looking for another job? Do the close medical at some camp? Will they come in to day and tell you to leave tomorrow. We have 40 thousand plus inmates state wide. A lot of prisons have been closed over the last 3 years. New prison hospitals have been built as well as prisons. I could on but I will stop. I am very interested in hearing experiences by others who have gone thru this before and how it effected you and your department.

ChuckeRN, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2012

I disagree. MD, DO, PA and NPs are no more important than the RNs and the LPNs.

As a matter of fact we nurses are the ones that make or break the care provided to the inmates. As a nurse who hates whiners and BFF who quite often have FOS syndrome, I have advocated on inmates behalf more often than I would have thought. The providers in our prison have learned to trust our judgement on quite a lot of situations and thus WE make sure things run smoothly. If a doctor doesn't trust our judgement, he's going to have a rough time getting anything done.

Its all about the physican they hire,they themselves bake or break the job

Sensoria17 · Apr 25, 2012

Racjanet,

What state are you in?

racjanet · Apr 27, 2012

Racjanet,
What state are you in?

North Carolina

aicfan · May 22, 2012

Honestly I would look for another job. I am lucky to still be in county employment but I know privatizing would slash pay and benefits

ChuckeRN, BSN, RN · May 23, 2012

We finally got the "offer /new employee packet" from Wexford. I am not impressed and neither is a lot of others.

Currently, we have State FT, State Pool and Agency nurses (both RNs and LPNs). Wexford has made it clear that they will be trying to minimize the number of Pool and Agency nurses. So, my expectations were that the cost of the benefit will be going up and the level of the benefits going down.

The reality: The cost of the benefits doubled for me and my family, and they have not released the details of the benefits as of yet. Day #1 is July 1.

My expectations were that the State FT and the Pool nurses would get a marked raise and a marked decrease in pay respectively and meet somewhere in the lower middle.

The reality: Current State FT are getting a $1 raise and the Pool and getting a $11 decrease in pay. :eek:

My net take home pay will actually increase, but the level of communication from Wexford has been pretty poor to non-existent. The Packet did not say anything about shift, weekend differential so I called and left a message on Monday, but no call back as of yet.

Overall, 90% of employees are pretty upset and it shows in their work and I feel we will be losing many nurses prior to July 1.

Privatization - Not impressed with them so far.