Waco

Not from Waco, but check these out:

http://www.hillcrest.net/hhs2.cfm?ID=197

http://www.hillcrest.net/hhs3.cfm?id=581

Looks like it's a 24-bed Level III facility with a transport team.

I cant give you any information about the NICU in the Waco hospitals but I can tell you this....I know a agency nurse that travels from Ft Worth to Hillcrest every weekend for MEGA bucks (she is a LVN) and the hospital pays for her room and meals. Now my red Flag went up, cause this tells me this hospital that has some serious staffing issues. But what hospital don't have their own staffing crisis.... I basically grew up in Waco cause my grandmother lived there and my brother still lives there. For me personally I don't like Waco but they do have some fabulous thrift shops....

I work at Hillcrest in Waco. The NICU is 25 beds, but don't know the level or anything else specifically.

I can tell you about Hillcrest in general, however. I have worked here for almost five years on the Oncology floor. Hillcrest has been going through some changes recently... you could call it growing pains. Our CEO recently resigned, and has yet to be replaced, but has not been a problem so far.

We had some agency nurses who worked a 10-week assignment that just ended last week, and they are not being renewed because staffing is improving. They have also hired a new nurse recruiter. We do have a lot of turnover at times, but it is getting better. Hillcrest is also working on Magnet status and have made some positive changes because of the stringent requirements to achieve that.

We have various staffing types, which can accommodate most every need: regular full-time, part-time, prn (which can be whatever you want it to be), and full-time float pool (which means you schedule yourself and you also get benefits such as insurance, PTO, bonus shifts, etc.).

We are also currently building a new facility which is supposed to be open around June 2009. Very much looking forward to that... but mostly because it will cut at least 20 minutes off my 50 minute drive.


See the website for info on that:

http://www.hillcrest.net/future/

The only other hospital around this area is Providence, and I believe it is somewhat smaller. I have heard good and bad about both, so I think it's just a matter of preference.

You're welcome to PM me if you have any other questions.

As far as quality of life issues, Waco and the surrounding communities have been making some pretty decent strides in the past few years. There is a new development with a lot of shopping, eateries, etc on Hwy 6 very close to where the new Hillcrest will be located. Also the downtown/suspension bridge area is working on renovations to bring in more mixed-use urban development type establishments. Now granted the retail/restaurant aspect of Waco is nothing compared to the metro cities like DFW, Austin, SA, or Houston, but I think they seem to be doing pretty well for a city their size.

As far as hospitals go, I have family that work at both Providence & Hillcrest. Each seems to enjoy their respective hospitals although I don't know much about their staffing ratios or the like.

I know this is a bit old, but figured I'd add my bits o' insight. I really really liked Waco. I like that waiting 5-10 minutes in traffic (which rarely happens) is considered a traffic jam. I loved attending Baylor University. I loved a few of the Mexican food restaurants (esp. La Fiesta).

I liked it enough that after I graduated from Baylor (bach. in psych) and moved back to St. Louis due to lack of jobs, I did whatever I could to get back to Waco.

Shortly after I returned I attended the comm. college to pursue the ADN. Upon graduation in 2002 I worked for a few months in Providence. My experience was absolutely horrible, and I promise this was not unusual amongst nurses at the hospital; although my issue was most assuredly different from others.

The thing about the 2 main hospitals in Waco is that they will likely never experience a nursing shortage (although they will pay lip service in claiming there is one) because the comm. coll. spits out 60 new RNs each semester; the hospitals are a revolving door. They really don't do much to encourage their employees to stay with them.

Good to see there are a few others on here from Waco, either present or past! I've lived here all my life. I start the RN program in January. I currently work for Hillcrest (prn) in the clerical float pool. I drove by the new hospital the other day and it's exciting to watch it go up - not sure how large it's going to be but I know there will be a Women and Children's Hospital alongside the main hospital. I'm interested in peds so this is really exciting to me!

Oh, yeah, the comment about La Fiesta - love it, love it, love it!! Esp. the margaritas!

If I were still in Waco, I'm pretty certain I would have had a major coronary event by now. When La Fiesta opened that 2nd restaurant on 19th St. they had an all you can eat buffet lunch for like $5-enchiladas, tacos, etc. Let's just say I did major damage...to the buffet and my body...inside and out. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!!! And there was an Italian restaurant downtown (next to Ninfas, which I also liked) that I liked their lunch buffet too. And of course Baris...I was one of their first customers when they first opened up in the '90s. And then that dude from St. Louis who opened the Frozen Custard place on Valley Mills. I'm originally from St. Louis and they had Frozen Custard there (it may have originated from St. Louis) ....mmmmmmmmm....I'm tempted to make a roadtrip. Haven't been since I moved back to TX from CA in 2005.