Ever dealt with a hospital merger?

[grace90, LPN, LVN]

I want to hear other nurses' experiences with hospital mergers and/or corporate takeovers of a hospital they worked at.

My hospital is in the process of merging with another hospital that is owned by a bigger corporation, which means they will now own us, too.

Nursing staff isn't getting answers about what will happen with seniority, cuts, changing around of and possibly closing specific departments, etc. There's a lot of uncertainty among us, because there's so many unknowns. The corporation taking over us is Trinity Healthcare.

So, fire away if you've worked through a situation like this. I'm all ears.

[Psqrd]

I was working at a small community hospital when a takeover took place. I found it interesting that everyone thought that a big pay raise was going to happen but when it didn't, it was really bad morale wise. It seemed that we were not going to get the big city salaries...the big company kept everyone but on the cheap. I didn't see any layoffs as the larger organization had no clue as to the day to day running of our small hospital/clinic so they had to keep the administrators...the good thing was that we became employees of the larger organization and therefore eligible for transfers within it.

P2

[dld, ASN, RN]

Yes -- it is not fun. In the end it maybe ok but the nerger goes on forever and it could be 10 yrs out before all aspects are 'merged'.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

We are undergoing a merger now with Community Health Systems. Benefits won't change till next year. But we have new policies, new forms and a new corporate culture to learn. They are feeding them to use a few at a time, but the staff is about to revolt. It is pretty overwhelming. I personally think all the acquired facilities should use their own forms a little longer, as long as they meet standards. I like the way CHS is run for the most part, but am tired of explaining to my staff that ANOTHER course is online and ANOTHER form must be integrated. I believe CHS bit off more than they can chew by purchasing so many hospitals at once. Anyway, we will persevere as we don't have much choice in the matter anyway.

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

Lived through this twice. One was good one was bad. It takes forever, some changes are great but many are not necessary..just the way the other place has always done it. Raises are not generally much to speak of, and work load always increased. Good luck.

[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

Don't be surprized when mgmt plays musical chairs, and everyone is confusded. Layoffs do not usually hit staff nurses, but expect changes and getting used to "but the XYZ System does it THIS way..":madface:

[ebear, BSN, RN]

I've lived through it, too. Just lay low and expect management changes regardless of what they tell you. They almost always put their cronies from corporate in those slots, including nurse managers. Most nurses are not "fired" but are "shifted" to other non-management positions. It's NOT a fun time.