I broke my HCA residency contract after working there for a little over a year. Two months later I received a letter from the Benefit Recovery Group saying I owed them money. I reached out to different lawyers and basically got answers from all of them. One said there's nothing I can do but I could try to negotiate. Another said that because I never received the 10,000 that HCA values their training at the money I owe them is " a training fee acts as a penalty and under Texas law, it's not enforceable". So I emailed them a response with what the second lawyer said and never heard back. Today I got the same letter again stating I owed money, so I sent them the same email. 

Does anyone have an experience with not paying them back? When I quit I knew I'd have to pay and I was okay with that, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. Will they eventually just drop it or will they send my debt to collections?

Specializes in Maternal-Child, Women's Health.

I think this thread might benefit from some consideration of why any hospital offers a contract like the one that is the topic of this thread. The answer is the hospital needs staff, and the contract offers some incentive to get new grads and possibly experienced nurses to commit to being on their workforce for a specified period of time. 

I worked in a town that had a two-facility hospital system and the terms of their new grad contract was the hospital paid for their two years in nursing school, including books and stipend in exchange for 2 or 3 years of work (I don't recall the actual length of time). The town had two military bases nearby, and before initiating the contract, the hospital lost many new grads when the military spouse was transferred to another base before the terms of the contract were met. Why did the hospital system implement contracts for the new grads who received the scholarships?

1. Training a new grad at the bedside is costly and they want to reap the benefits of experienced, well-trained staff at the bedside, and not let a well-oriented and highly trained staff nurse leave and go to another hospital where they are now viewed as "experienced" 

2. The second hospital doesn't have as much investment in orientation time. The nurse who quits and takes another position at another hospital can take a full patient load much sooner than the new grad, without the investment in orientation. Obviously, the hospital who oriented and trained the new grad wants their return on investment. (The cost of orienting a new grad can be upwards of $75K and higher, because the new grad is not taking a full patient load and is working with a preceptor.)

I've also observed, anecdotally, that if there is a sign on bonus, a scholarship or some kind of a contract, you really need to look at the working conditions, because the hospitals don't make those deals without needing to do so. Hospitals have attorneys who check the terms of the contracts to be sure they can't be contested.

Just thought some background information might be helpful to include in this thread. Food for thought if you are considering any kind of sign on bonus or scholarship. 

On 11/5/2021 at 12:08 PM, JenZorss said:

Hello. I’ve been reading this thread. I left an HCA facility in 2019 after the horrible conditions and bullying as a new grad in the STARN program. I was also falsely accused of stealing ? This was shortly after I went to HR to report bullying, and unsafe conditions. I constantly went to my union rep about how unsafe it was after realizing why mistake I made and then I had a target on my back. I even switched to nights to get away from management. I almost quit nursing altogether. 
 
I started receiving letters shortly after saying I owed them $3000.00. I’ve ignored it until now and they have not pursued it. Now they offered me 25% off saying I owe $2250.00. I know of at least 5 other nurses who quit before their contact was up as well and some were pursued and some were not. IDK if I should be worried now or not if they’ll sue or send it to collections. Don’t really want my credit ruined or have to pay a ton of money for legal fees if they decide to go after me. It’s crazy how they only go after who they want. 

I was told by an inside source it is hospital based whether they pursue you for the repayment. Makes sense since the people they went after weren’t necessarily liked. 
 

HCA is single-handedly the MOST EVIL, CORRUPT health system I have EVER seen. ?

I am wanting to quit recently. The hospital asks for a $20k payment. $10 is for the training from HeaxxTxxx. $10k is for the sign-on bonus. I am struggling to get signed off from orientation in the ICU. The manager wants me to transfer to another Unit. I tried to apply for other units. Unfortunately, I didn't get hired. I need to keep chasing HR to ask what is the next step.  I don't have work on the floor for a couple of weeks. I have asked HR to released the 2-year contract. Of course, HR refused to do so. I told HR that the ICU is not a good fit for me, and it is not a good learning environment. I don't like the culture there.  I want to get released from the contract or get transferred to other ICUs. It is a nightmare for me with this StaRN program. Why do I need to pay them $10k for the training, but this "training" didn't set me up with success. I am scared to break the contract. I just feel so trapped up over there. 

Lrjames98 said:

I broke my HCA residency contract after working there for a little over a year. Two months later I received a letter from the Benefit Recovery Group saying I owed them money. I reached out to different lawyers and basically got answers from all of them. One said there's nothing I can do but I could try to negotiate. Another said that because I never received the 10,000 that HCA values their training at the money I owe them is " a training fee acts as a penalty and under Texas law, it's not enforceable". So I emailed them a response with what the second lawyer said and never heard back. Today I got the same letter again stating I owed money, so I sent them the same email. 

Does anyone have an experience with not paying them back? When I quit I knew I'd have to pay and I was okay with that, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. Will they eventually just drop it or will they send my debt to collections?

I left my HCA a few months early, and they tried to collect from me.

First of all, you say you "broke" the contract.  For contracts to be enforceable, both sides have to provide something of value.  Did they live up to their end of the bargain?

Also, employers have a responsibility to make sure their employees are properly trained to do their job.  So, training is a cost of doing business that is their burden.  This is along the same line of logic that lawyer 2 (above) told you. 

It was a while ago, so I don't remember everything.  But I did write back to them with the above reasons and others as to why I wasn't on the hook for the amount they wanted to collect from me. 

I never heard from them again.

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

So I was doing some checking on what the states have to say about such contracts and found that California (My home state) has passed a law against such predatory lending. AB 2588 passed and signed into law September 30, 2020  states:

Existing law requires an employer to indemnify the employer's employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of the employee's duties, or of the employee's obedience to the employer's directions, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying the directions, believed them to be unlawful. This bill would provide that the expense or cost of any employer-provided or employer-required educational program or training, as defined, for an employee providing direct patient care or an applicant for direct patient care employment constitutes a necessary expenditure or loss incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of the employee's duties. The bill would make these provisions only applicable to applicants for employment and employees providing direct patient care for an employer for a general acute care hospital, as defined. The bill would prohibit an employer, or any person acting on behalf of the employer, from retaliating against an applicant for employment or employee for refusing to enter into a contract or agreement that violates these provisions. The bill would require a court to award a prevailing plaintiff in any action brought pursuant to these provisions reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The bill would state that the above provisions are declaratory of and clarify existing law with respect to employer-required training for employees.

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

*** HCA. They are all that's wrong with healthcare in the US.

And, what?? You worked for 2 years and that's not enough for them? Exactly how long was the contract for?

7 hours ago, klone said:

*** HCA. They are all that's wrong with healthcare in the US.

And, what?? You worked for 2 years and that's not enough for them? Exactly how long was the contract for?

It was for two years and I only lasted a little over a year.

6 hours ago, Lunah said:

OP said one year. It was probably a two-year contract if I had to guess. 

OP, they will continue to ask unless you actually have a lawyer intercede on your behalf. You sending an email means nothing to them. What does your contact say about penalties for breaking it early? 

It just says that if I break it I’m supposed to pay them back the prorated amount.

5 hours ago, Hoosier_RN said:

My cousin had to pay back to them, HCA sued and threatened her license suspended (breach of contract). Ridiculously high rate. I got her to come back to my area where she got a job without that craziness

Ugh. How did they reach out to them or how did they find out they were getting sued?

2 hours ago, Hoosier_RN said:

She got a letter, like OP did. She contacted a lawyer and they originally told her no worries. It didn't work out that way, she was served papers at her new employer-nursing is a small world, they tracked her down, as she had also moved. She ended up having to beg, borrow and steal from family to pay, as it was a huge amount, as she had only worked 4 months at that horrid place. The things she told me let me know they are a shady operation, treat staff badly, and should be avoided by nurses at all costs!

Ugh. HCA is horrible. I don’t regret quitting at all. If I have to pay, I will but I’d rather not. I’ve had different lawyers tell me different things so im conflicted on what to do. I feel like everyone has had a different experience when it comes to paying HCA back. I’ve read that sometimes nothing ever comes if you refuse to pay but I’ve also read they’ll sue. Hopefully it’s the latter for me.

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
8 hours ago, Lrjames98 said:

I’ve read that sometimes nothing ever comes if you refuse to pay but I’ve also read they’ll sue. Hopefully it’s the latter for me.

I assume you meant "the former"

43 minutes ago, klone said:

I assume you meant "the former"

Yes LOL. My bad I was half asleep when I was typing.

4 minutes ago, JKL33 said:

This is just thinking out loud, take it for what it's worth.

Have the lawyers with whom you've spoken looked into this specific situation or are they offering you general information? I'm not so sure that the company in question doesn't have this figured out (or, figured out well enough to confuse a lot of people). I'm guessing it isn't as simple as "your employer can't charge you for required training" or anything like that.

If you've found a lawyer who tells you it is either illegal or unenforceable, that person should be able to send some kind of effective letter on your behalf (on the order of 'cease and desist'--??). On the other hand, if their advice is more on the order of 'it'll be hard for them to ever collect so just don't worry about it' - I would not feel comfortable with that. Either a lawyer can definitively take care of this or else they can't, in which case just pay them back and move on with your life.

Don't forget you may be dealing with a company called H_alth Tr*st (all one word). Just a different part of the web of advantage-taking.

I’ve sent the two lawyers I’ve talked with the letter they sent me stating I owed money and what the contract said. The first lawyer basically was like there’s nothing I can do, you signed the contract and it’ll cost you more to fight it then suck it up and pay it. The second one that said it was illegal because it’s considered a penalty fee that he could fight it, but it would cost like 1200-2000 and he couldn’t guarantee that I still wouldn’t have to pay it so he recommended I reached out to them on my own and tell them that it’s illegal but I can’t mention his name because I’m not paying him to represent me.

Going back to your original post:

On 8/15/2021 at 3:30 AM, Lrjames98 said:

Another said that because I never received the 10,000 that HCA values their training at the money I owe them is “ a training fee acts as a penalty and under Texas law, it's not enforceable”.

So, to clarify, this lawyer is referring to an allegation that the company did not provide the training they said they would provide?

If so, you could see if that lawyer can send a strongly worded letter for a reasonable price (along the line of 'you didn't provide what you said you would and my client won't be paying,' etc., etc.) and see if that takes care of them. If it doesn't, then you could decide whether to continue a legal battle (expensive) or just pay them. But realize that it would be stupid on their part to concede if they have any leg to stand on or if they have the resources to bleed you. Which...they do.

The other thing you can do is call the lawyer who told you that you signed a contract and need to pay, and see what s/he says about ^ this lawyer's take. Or contact a third/fourth person and see what they do with the conflicting advice you've been given so far.

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to convince you of anything. This is ultimately a personal financial decision.

+ Add a Comment