Are any other hospitals taking "Proactive" steps against the economy??

[LadyTiger44]

Hello everyone! A few announcements have been made recently at the hospital I work at and I was wondering if the same kind of thing is going on at any other hospitals. The CEO of our hospital made a big announcement about how they were cutting the salaries of the top positions by 10%, they cut about 100 jobs from housekeeping, dietary (who deliver our trays to our patients when they order) and transportation. They said in this announcement that this was a proactive step since we are in a better postition than most. Then about a week later they made the announcement that we (the nurses) were not getting any kind of incentive to come in if we got called in, in a shortage. We have had numerous patients complaining about the amount of time it has taken for their food to arrive, and in this announcement they did say the had not cut any jobs that were patient care related, and in my opinion that is. They are also not giving any tuition reimbursement for the second half of 2009. So I was wondering, are any other hospitals taking actions like this due to the economy? I don't know how much it takes to run a hospital, but are they really hurting that bad? Any administrators who want to comment who can shed some light??

[oramar]

Now these are all quotes from the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals(PASNAP) bulletin:"What appears to be occurring is that many Hospital's, particularly non-union hospitals, are using the cover of the financial emergency and the recession to cut hours, decrease staffing and hold back wage increases. They know such moves would be more difficult to attempt to implement absent the economic downturn." Bill Cruice isn't buying all their "We are broke, we are losing millions, the sky is falling, we have to cut back" bull and either am I. It is the typical business trick of crying poor. He also says, "Without question, many hospitals, like most businesses across the country, had a very bad month of November, when the economy froze out of fear that our financial system was on the verge of collaspe. After November, however, hospital volume, including elective surgical procedures, has returned to normal or near-normal levels." He also goes on to say that they are totally going to benefit from the huge economic package our new President has passed and signed. It sounds like you suspect you are being fed a line of crap and I agree with you. One of the biggest trends in hospital management is the "ME TOO" policy. What ever they see going on in the health care business they got to mimic and in a lot of cases it is a bad idea. Right now the big fad is this "we are so poor" baloney.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

First of all we lost the Ambulatory Techs

then the secrataries had their hours cut

then the PCT's lost 1 hour per shift

this week we were asked if anybody was leaving,

or would consider cutting their hours or would move to the unit everybody hates.

Next week well who knows-all being blamed on the government now

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

Oh yes, we've been getting costs cut left right and center. However, we all keep asking what changed. We don't have a low census and haven't had in the past year. They are however, building an addition that everyone suspects they didn't budget right for and are now blaming the recession for cutbacks.

[rn4babies63]

- Wage freeze for RN's, but ancillary staff will get them (housekeeping, etc) because they are union

- No clinical ladder recognition bonuses

- No Perfect attendance bonuses

We were told our census is low because people aren't choosing to have elective surgeries. Yet, The hospital has been on a "Code red bed alert" for the past week and we have been receiving everything from hernias to gallbladders on our OB/Gyn unit. We don't even have enough beds for our delivered mom's because of this. We're being forced to take them. I pray I'm scheduled in the labor room tomorrow!

Oh yeah, I forgot. There is a 300 million dollar addition going on and all the managers got huge bonuses in December! At least they don't have to worry about paying the gas bill!

[momof8inCICU]

We were told that we won't be updating any of our equipment, and that major purchases will be put on hold. We just finished a major remodel (making all rooms private vs. sharing bathrooms) We are told to try to save money anywhere we can. Our suggestions will be considered on how to dave money. We aren't actively hiring. Haven't heard of any cuts yet-but we sure have lots of middle managment that could go?? We had our winter education event cancelled, and no more unit meetings. Every thing is being communicated via email. (hopefully you have time on your shift to read them!!)

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Definition of hypocritical (adjective)

two-faced; deceptive; duplicitous; insincere:

http://www.english-test.net/gmat/vocabulary/words/061/gmat-definitions.php#hypocritical

http://www.yourdictionary.com/hypocritical

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hypocritical

[nicurn001]

Our Corporation tried to cut back a number of our benefits , but were told not so fast when Union met Corporate Management , so bottom line Unionized facilities unanaffected , non unionized facilities cuts implemented .

Did I mention that Corporation made a profit !.

So , go non unionized nurses ! , you may not have all those nasty union nurses around , You know the ones that take your money , for nothing. You know they don't have anything to do with pay raises , helping promote safe staffing levels and working conditions , ensure management follow their own policies and don't kick you out ,without just cause .

Bottom line , Management of Hospitals will cut whatever they can to ensure a good return for their stakeholders ie. shareholders , bond holders etc..While I accept that Hospitals should not be run at a loss , if you are profitable you should try to maintain staff morale , cutting everything to the bone is not the way to do it .