HMA hospitals

U.S.A. Mississippi

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Does anyone work in a hospital owned by HMA (Health Management Associates, Inc.)? If so, are they "employee-friendly"? What kind of staff to pt ratios do you have in your area? Are there things that you particularly like or dislike? The hospital I work for will be taken over by HMA in December, and we are all wondering what kind of changes may occur.

Thanks!!

I am working now at an HMA Hospital. I am definitely not impressed. While the staff does the best, I think, management is sadly beyond imagination. Hippa? That is not taken seriously there either, in my opinion. We have not had a raise, as in cost of living in a year. And we were told that the upcoming year would be the same, as they continue to add floors with beds that cannot be staffed. Last year the HMA stopped contributing to employees 401 K. While I am not a financial expert, I read and have learned this much. When companies stop contributing to their employees 401 K, the company is in serious financial trouble. That said, if working elsewhere, stay there. IF you are working in this company, start looking to find another job.

This is my first employment with HMA, and it will be my last. I have never heard a company talked about so poorly from its own employees

It comes down to this

"ATTITUDE REFLECTS LEADERSHIP"

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Specializes in PACU, LTC, Med-Surg, Telemetry, Psych.

A bit biased... but.. I will be fair..

HMA is a management company that buys out hospitals and makes them profitable.

Very unprofessional treatment of staff, at least at the facilities I was at. Almost treated like children.

They strictly control staffing. When the floor gets below a certain number patients, your CNA gets cancelled followed by LPNs then RNs. (or entire floors.. like at Rankin ..err River oaks at Crossgates. Buyout.. Hah! River Oaks and Rankin were all HMA properties but the rename was because River Oaks had a better name brand recognition. There was no "buy out" All were HMA from the get-go)

HMA controls 50% of the facilities in MS and works to bring down CNA/LPN/RN pay.

Very tight with raises. You must do many very stupid inservices with still no gaurantee.

HMA also is a firm believer in meetings which you may have to attend on your off days.

HMA uses it's own agency - Preferred - to cut out agency costs if recruitment is tough in the area. This effectively shuts down any national

agency being able to compete in MS and drive up wages.

Very shrewd, very cheap.

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I have worked for an HMA agency for a good while and I love it. Times are tough, but their capable employees who are loyal and completely capable of working are taken care of. Sure, they may not give you as many raises as other places, but I love where I work and I would hate ever having to leave it. I can't speak for any other area or any other HMA hospital, but I work at an HMA hospital and I would not trade it for anything.

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Specializes in Private Duty Nursing : 1 year.

How much are Bsn RN'S base pay in HMA hospitals in Jackson or lakeland? Differentials? Are the benefits competitive? How about in comparison with St. D?

Thanks for the input...

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RUN RUN QUICKLY AWAY!!! Currently (not for long) working at a HMA hospital. Have worked for both a non-profit health system and now a profit hospital, my experience: I will never work for a profit hospital again! HMA management is more worried about THEIR bonuses then they are with patient care and the safety of patients and staff. When I interviewed I was told that they had computerized charting, an admission nurse and would only have 5-6 pts maximum. The computerized charting is only in ER and and one of the ICU's, not expected to be on other floors any time soon, the admission nurse was a figment of my imagination even though 3 other nurses that hired in at same time was told same thing, the last time I had 5-6 pts was when I was still on orientation, average number is 8 as many as 11, RN assignments are made by rooms not acuity. PCT's work with an avg of 10-12 pts. My unit is SO disorganized that orders are missed consistently by both the CN and RN. Communication between mgmt and floor staff is near nonexistent till something goes wrong. Higher up mgmt hold "Town Hall Meetings" at 9am, busy time for all staff and too long for night shift to hang around. HMA stopped contributing to employees 401K couple of years ago. Insurance costs are outrageous and unless you increase to a higher standard does not cover much of anything. Equipment is old and supplies are VERY limited. Black mold continues to filter through walls, which a FT maintainence man cleans the area and repaints. Most of the patient rooms are dark and dreary. No visitor bathroom on the floor nearest one is 3 floors away. Staff breakroom is 8x12, which holds a 6ft table, lockers, microwave and BR. Patient pantry is a joke!, no extra condiments, night snacks consist of 5 vanilla wafers and a piece of cheese which for a floor that holds 40pts food service may bring 6. Cafeteria is only open for lunch on weekends and the menu consists of weeks leftovers.

So with all this said, I wish that I would have researched the company prior to hiring. From what I have found out about HMA the problems at my facility are company-wide. Many may say "at least you have a job" well yes I do but how long will I have my license! Mgmt is more worried about profits than nursing staff, we are expendable, plenty more out there. Every day is full of stress, every health system has problems, at HMA stress is compounded by low staff morale, poor communication and inferior equipment and management that just doesn't care. HMA management are aware of the problems staff are told to "be patient, big changes are happening." Hearsay (including some doctors) is that nothing has changed in years and won't as long as HMA's board are bringing home the high end of 6 figure bonuses each year.

My advice to any nurse, old or new, is to throughly research the employer prior to applying. Look on the internet for financial records, forums etc.. Take a tour of the unit that you are interviewing for, is staff running around or calmly walking the halls, are they smiling?, look at the equipment (new vs old), look at patient care areas (clean, dingy?) look at the assignment board (figure out pt:nurse ratio), walk around the facility and look at staff, visitors and patients. Be smart, research prior to and after interviewing (most respectable places will give you 24 hours to "digest" the given information), I wish I had! You worked hard for your license, protect it and while others might think we are expendable there are also many different facilities!

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Specializes in ED, ICU, CCU, Tele, Peds, Med Surg.

As the previous post states RUN! I wish I had been given that advice. I cannot begin tell you how horrible the company is to work for. It is all about the dollar for them, not the patient or the employees. We just had a major layoff and lost a lot of experienced nurses. Of course, they did keep the new grads. I am scared to death the entire time I am there. I know that I cannot manage to perform the miracles they expect of me much less help an inexperienced nurse. I will not be staying there. Hopefully I will manage to hold on until I find something else, but that gets a little more difficult each shift. If you value your license do not even consider going to work for HMA. At this point I would rather be doing anything else and I used to love being a nurse. HMA changed that for me!

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Specializes in Private Duty Nursing : 1 year.

Gosh! Am blessed then! Got a job at a big teaching hospital, it is just overwhelming though...and feel i dunno anything....

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HMA could care care less about their employees. They only care about the bottom line. A shining example is the retirement plan. There is none. They provide a 401k through Prudential which HMA stopped contributing too well over a year ago. One can only wonder what the leadership of HMA has gained from cutting the company 401k contributions.

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I am so sad reading these posts. I am a new nurse that just started working for an HMA facility and, in the short time I have been there, I have seen all of the negatives and more. I figured this was just an old hospital and they are hopefully starting to upgrade...but sadly, no. The rooms are old, tiny, and dark...still semi-private which I know most hospitals have converted to all private due to infection control. It just feels that they are still in the dark ages. The Caret system they use for medication administration must be the cheapest system ever invented. I would not be surprised if the company that developed the system was about to throw it out and HMA ran and bought it up cheap. Those things make passing out meds a chore...it takes 3 times as long with those stupid Dots! I am looking to get out ASAP...just need a little experience. Wish I would have done my homework but I was just so desperate to find a job! Good luck!

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Specializes in PACU, LTC, Med-Surg, Telemetry, Psych.
I am so sad reading these posts. I am a new nurse that just started working for an HMA facility and, in the short time I have been there, I have seen all of the negatives and more. I figured this was just an old hospital and they are hopefully starting to upgrade...but sadly, no. The rooms are old, tiny, and dark...still semi-private which I know most hospitals have converted to all private due to infection control. It just feels that they are still in the dark ages. The Caret system they use for medication administration must be the cheapest system ever invented. I would not be surprised if the company that developed the system was about to throw it out and HMA ran and bought it up cheap. Those things make passing out meds a chore...it takes 3 times as long with those stupid Dots! I am looking to get out ASAP...just need a little experience. Wish I would have done my homework but I was just so desperate to find a job! Good luck!

If you watch enough on day shift (if you have less than 8 patients as a RN/LPN or the entire floor as a CNA), you will occasionally see some of the head honchos escorting folks around during the day saying that they are going to expand this or that or put doctors offices here or there. Of course, it is all hot air. I remember having to move elderly patients out of rooms asap as mold was discorvered in rooms that last week's pait did not take care of.

I also remember being sent home, only to be called back in 2 hours later when they had 2 surprise admits.

It is also kinda cool to look at some of the backroom deals River Oaks, Rankin (River Oaks at Crossgates), and CMMC have. If you pay very close attention, many of the same doctors have exclusive deals with area Nursing Homes and the hospitals. If you have a loved one in those nursing homes, the facility makes you sign an agreement that you will only be able to choose from a list of about 3 doctors. Those doctors (not mentioning names because of allnurses TOS) have investments and/or on the board of these facilities. So, the doctor, HMA, and the area LTCs have a captive market. Do not believe me? Check out one facilities' "pediatric" unit during high census. There may be only 2-3 kids in the place. The rest will be elderly folks from the same 4-5 nursing homes and one of maybe 3 doctors. I also have some proof the doctors, admins, and leaders of Hinds and Holmes Community College are good buddies and talk with each other about making sure there is an overabundance of grads to keep down labor while putting in the Clarion Ledger that there are constant "nursing shortages". How can that be when some of these hospitals shut down entire floors during low census times like summer? Do they really mean "lack of nurses willing to work only when they want them to" for 16-18 USD an hour and your CNA making Micky D wages?

/enough.. Im going back to my tin foil hat before the MS anti-propoganda squad comes up to Baton Rouge to track me down :)

I suppose it is okay if you must get experience to hang for a bit. I got my 1 year from those folks and went agency.

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My experience with HMA is that they are cheap and nurses are a dime a dozen. Their staffing grids are the pits. We have no secretary, poor orientation for the position, and no appreciation for the job done. Management most of the time does not know what the prevailing federal or state law is when they tell you to do something, it is often outside the law and normal practice which is disturbing. My department has had about 15 nurse quit in the past year. I want to know how many HMA hospitals have Nurses Unions in them now ????

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My experience with HMA is that they are cheap and nurses are a dime a dozen. Their staffing grids are the pits. We have no secretary, poor orientation for the position, and no appreciation for the job done. Management most of the time does not know what the prevailing federal or state law is when they tell you to do something, it is often outside the law and normal practice which is disturbing. My department has had about 15 nurse quit in the past year. I want to know how many HMA hospitals have Nurses Unions in them now ????

You may also want to know that last year HMA posted a 38.+ profit !!! Also check to see if the money they take out of your check for the 401K is invested in common shares of HMA stock ?????

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