Bend - St. Charles Medical Center, honest opinion please!

nimbus42 · Jul 15, 2021

Late response I know but...

I've worked at St. C's for nearly a decade. Prior to that, I'd only worked in a critical care university setting so things are different here, some good some...not so much. People complain about the mid-level management and it seems there are enough director-level positions to staff an entire unit and someone up there recently decided that the hospital should use ICU Medical Plum 360 pumps (they truly SUCK and don't belong in ANY unit beyond Med-Surg -personal gripe). They've never seemed to be able to attract and retain as many CNAs as they need. We're also experiencing a shortage of just about every other position in the hospital as well but from an RN's view, the CNA's have been an issue. The hospital is beautiful and the view from the Western side of the hospital will never get old. We rarely want for any patient care supplies or PPE and floor management genuinely seems to care about their employees and the work environment. There's a strong union and as far as I can tell, for the cost of living and compensation, the pay is solidly decent. At the unit level, things are run mostly well and most staff seem to be mostly happy. St. C's is a growing facility and it seems that most RNs who come here end up staying - including many travelers. They've recently instituted an internship program so moving from one discipline to another isn't as difficult. Housing can be a challenge here in Bend if you want to live in the city proper. I've worked here in the ICU(newly built unit 2 years ago, really nice), and in the ER, Intermediate Care, Progressive Care(as a Critical Care Float), Rapid Response RN, House RN Supervisor, and most recently in the OR. The lifestyle here is unmatched if you're into the outdoors (so bring a gear kitty - my family spent well over 10k in toys the first few months we lived here). We'd like to think we put up with a lot of BS at the hospital but if I'm being honest the grass here is pretty fricking green and I don't bother looking over the fence. I love my job and 98% of the people I work with. If anyone ever moves here you'll understand my final comment. "Bend Sucks! Don't move here."