What is your opinion on "For Profit Hospitals"

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Assisted Living Nurse Manager.

I was just wondering what everyones opinion is of for profit hospitals. For those of you who work for a for profit hospital, do you like it and what does your hospital do with all its profits. Do they invest in the community and help the underinsured and those without insurance or do they divert them to a not for profit hospital for medical treatment.

The reason I am asking is that there is a big debate in my community going on about for profit hospitals. There are a group of physicians requesting a tax abatement to build a for profit hospital and the not for profit hospital is in an uproar. Needless to say the debate has been quite interesting.

Your thoughts and opinions welcomed!

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To me a "For Profit Hospital" is one that is primarily accountable to it's stock holders and making them a profit as their primary goal. I have worked 10 years for a profit hospital and very little was put back into the facility as far as new equipment, new techonology. I do not think they have to accept charity or medicaid patients ...for some reason we never had any of these patients. Profit hospitals will say they give back to the community in taxes because they are taxed where a non=profit hospital isn't. When the profit hospital decided to sell my hospital they gave us 30 days notice only because the government required it..they tried giving us less, and they screwed us over good leaving all of us without health insurance for 3 months because they failed to file the COBRA forms in time.

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Specializes in Assisted Living Nurse Manager.

Yes I have heard things like this about for profit hospitals. It is kinda scary.

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Specializes in EC, IMU, LTAC.

My first thought is that at least for-profit hospitals aren't in denial. I've seen some non-profit places pull some sneaky stuff as well.

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My experiences with for profit have been mixed at best. No type of facility is perfect.

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Doing an essay for a scholarship application really made me think about for profit hospitals and also pharmacetucial companies.

I wonder if neither were able to operate as for profit would it improve our access to medical care and medicines?

It just seems that being directly accountable to both patients and shareholders would be a big conflict of interest and a huge balancing act to accomodate the two. I think this is more evident in the pharm companies with the huge profits and some tactics they employ.

I have to say that my recent healthcare was at a for profit hospital and a darned good one at that.

It's just something that I have been thinking about a lot lately.

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There have been several articles in various publications about physicians and their for profit hospitals. They make money doing only proceedures that pay very well. That situation where the nurses had to call 911 because a post op went bad was in one of those MD operated for profits. Have a look at the thread.

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Specializes in Assisted Living Nurse Manager.

It is different working for a for profit business. I work for a for profit clinic and it is difficult when those without insurance are turned away when they do not have enough money to pay for their visit. All the money is required upfront. It is a hard pill for me to swallow as a nurse and as a human being. I know that health care is also a business and it needs to make money to continue to offer quality care, but yet it still tugs at my heart. I see how things work first hand in a for profit clinic, was just wondring how it works in the hospital setting.

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Specializes in Assisted Living Nurse Manager.
There have been several articles in various publications about physicians and their for profit hospitals. They make money doing only proceedures that pay very well. That situation where the nurses had to call 911 because a post op went bad was in one of those MD operated for profits. Have a look at the thread.

I must have been typing while you were posting:lol2: . Do you have the link to that thread. I would be interested in reading it.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

I don't think they are inherently good or bad.

Healthcare is a business, and for-profit or not, no facility can remain afloat unless it makes money. Non-profits are required to return that profit to the facility and/or community, while for-profits distribute the earnings to the share-holders.

Hospitals differ from clinics because hospitals are required by law to adhere to EMTALA. Patients are not turned away from the doors of for-profit hospitals. I used to work OB in a for-profit hospital, and ironically, the majority of our patients were uninsured or Medicaid, because those with the means to go elsewhere did. Our hospital did not have a good reputation in the community (nor did it deserve one), but it did provide access to patients who couldn't drive 20 miles across the state line to a better facility.

My dissatisfaction with our facility was because of poor leadership. I don't think that could be attributed to for-profit status, though. There are plenty of lousy hospital administrators to go around.

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I currently work for a for-profit hospital. I worked for 2 non-profit hospitals prior to coming to my current hospital.

I have found, as has already been said, that the quality of equipment and technology is substantially lower at my current for-profit facility than it ever was at either of the non-profit places I worked.

Changes are now being made; we just got a brand new PICU (my unit) and NICU, which are very nice. We've gotten some new, nicer equipment as well, and I think that change is the result of complaints from the communities we serve.

As for the medicaid/uninsured people - my facility used to turn away people without means to pay for their care (unless it was a true emergency), but now I believe there is a law to prevent that? However, a lot of the doctors that contract with my hospital don't accept medicaid or uninsured patients in their offices, so they don't admit a whole lot of medicaid/uninsured patients to our hospital.

While I like my job (even though I'm getting totally burnt out on nursing) sometimes it gives me a pause, thinking of a few people getting rich on the misery of others. Naturally, every business has to make money to stay afloat, but it just seems different to think of all that money being used to better the hospital vs. lining the pockets of a few investors. I opted not to participate in the employee-stock purchase plan because the idea made me feel a little creepy.

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Interestingly, there is bill in congress aimed at putting a few curbs on this situation. Now it will not limit CEO pay in anyway. It would just insist that large business give their stockholders a chance to vote on paypackages. The vote would be non binding, it biggest effect would be to get those figures in front of people and get them thinking about what the board of directors it up to. The second part of the bill would limit the size of the tax credit corporations could take as result of the CEOs pay. I support that also because right now if they pay a billion dollars to the CEO they get to deduct that much from their profits before they pay taxes. That means that Jane Q. Taxpayer is helping support these megapayroll days for the people who are all ready rich. If this bill would pass they could continue to pay as much as they please but there would be a limit to the size of the tax credit. I think it is a good bill but big business will be screaming and moaning about like they are being murdered.

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