Henry Ford Main Vs. Beaumont Royal Oak

U.S.A. Michigan

Published

I am in need of some advice: I am faced with a challenge and am having difficulty making a decision.

I am a new grad with two job offers: one at Henry Ford Main and the other at Beaumont Royal Oak. I do not want to say what units for security purposes.

I have no idea what hospital to choose, and need to make up my mind fast! I have heard plenty of negative things about Beaumont, and only postitive things about Henry Ford.

What are your experiences?? Have you worked at both?? How do the benefits compare? Managment? Overall?

I don't have experience as a nurse yet - just starting school in January, but I wanted to say congrats! And it is good to see a new grad getting offers from those hospitals.

Specializes in (ACE) Acute Care of the Elderly.

I have heard exactly the opposite of what you posted, so sry I couldn't help. I work at SJH in Detroit (Main) 3+ years exp. and I don't love it anymore, so I am either switching floors or hospitals.

Congrats on your job offers! You more than likely have made a decision already, but thought I would add my 2 cents. I worked at main for 2 years before transfering to another HF campus. I have never worked for Beaumont. I have heard that Beaumont is more of a "physician" hospital (you know, "do you have a Beaumont doctor?"). At HF, all of the physicians are employed by the hospital, so the doctors and nurses are more like a team. In my opinion, HF treats their nurses very well.

That being said, I think it has more to do with the unit you are applying for. The type of unit, the management of the unit, as well as your co-workers, can make all of the difference. I know someone who just left HF to work for Beaumont and she loves it, but I don't know if it is because she is finally working the kind of unit she wanted or because of the hospital system itself. I didn't like my former unit at main (d/t the reasons I listed above), but now I am very happy at another hospital in their system.

Good luck with your choice, let us know what happens!

Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

I used to work at HF main. I started there in the ED, then graduated from my NP program, left to work at another hospital as an NP, then came back to HF as an NP in the SICU. I also did some moonlighting at HF-West Bloomfield. I lived 10 minutes away from WBH-RO. I have applied in both places but I felt that HF gave me a better offer as far as the kind of unit I wanted to work in. I also had better experience at HF in terms of autonomy and respect from physician peers in discussing my experience with people I know who work at WBH-RO.

Both HF and WBH have similar options for benefits. Both have the same patient acuity as a tertiary referral center. HF does a lot more in terms of being able to do heart/lung transplants and VAD's but WBH has a busy interventional Cardiology patient population. HF Main's ED is very busy with traumas especially at night, I'm not sure if WBH-RO offers the same patient profile in their ED. You can factor that in your decision based what is more important to you as far as experience.

WBH-RO is situated in a suburb where parking is easy and the surroundings are well maintained. HF Main is in the inner city and though the campus itself is safe, the surrounding areas are not that safe. You may have to park off site and be shuttled if you work days at HF-Main. That didn't bother me as a male nurse but it can be a deal breaker for others.

If you don't mind me asking, when did you begin applying for jobs and what are the two hospitals starting rates? I graduate May 2013 from a BSN program in PA and moving to the Bloomfields Hills area. I'm trying to prepare myself.

Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

Juan's answer is excellent.

I am a current WBH employee. I have had clinical at a HF satellite hospital but never at the main so I cannot say anything about it other than that I have heard it is a superb facility.

Beaumont is also excellent. So, it probably comes down to housekeeping issues: who pays more, whose benefits are better for you, what the unit is like where you'll be working, etc.

However, I am not sure about the idea that it is a "physician centered" facility, after all, it was and remains the first hospital in the metro Detroit area to achieve Magnet status. Beaumont, historically, has been very supportive of nurses. As an example, the COO of the entire Troy facility is an RN.

I have heard that there may be a change to the slogan. It may become "Do you have a Beaumont team?". But I do not know for certain if this is real or just wishful thinking.

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