At my hospital, our Foundation (fund raising department) has started what they call the "Circle of Caring". You become a member of the "Circle" by donating $10,000 or more to the Foundation. One of the perks of membership is "Healthcare Navigation Services" where a representative of the Foundation stays with you for the first 24 hours of your stay in the hospital starting in the ED. The names of the "Circle" members are flagged in our computer system and when they come in to the ED or are directly admitted we get a pop-up telling us to page the Foundation rep on call. They get taken directly to a private room and don't have to wait in the ED waiting area or in a multi-patient room regardless of their condition. The Foundation won't comment on it, but nurses have reported that they get seen much sooner by a Doc in the ED than they would have as a regular patient. I have had one of these patient's on the floor and the Foundation Rep basically lets you know, directly and indirectly, that this patient needs to be your top priority.
I realize the hospital depends on donations, but as a nurse it seems like we should be advocating for the seriously ill patient who is now having to wait even longer to be seen so that a big donor can have his "burning with urination" evaluated.
Is this becoming a new thing elsewhere in the country or is it just where I work?
Hamster, I am fairly sure I am familiar with the hospital you speak of (judging by your screen name :), as I used to work there too. That does not surprise me at all. Shameful. Just goes to show how there is no leveling field even in healthcare and there won't even be one when we all have the "same" insurance with government funding. Wish there was a competing hospital in our town.
One of the hospitals near me has a fancy floor for those VIP patients that pay more or donate or whatever. Which is fine to me. Then they're all in one place competing with each other for their care.
But expecting me to prioritize based on anything other than medical necessity? Not going to happen. You have fancy pants on the same floor with ripped britches, I'm basing which room I attend to first based on their medical needs, not who paid more money.
What's the name of that TV show about the "consierge doctor" in the Hamptons?
"Royal Pains" -- of course, on the show, the reason the physician ended up in the Hamptons in the first place is because the NYC hospital at which he was an ER doc sacked him after he tended to a poor kid from the neighborhood before a wealthy donor who didn't appear as seriously ill/injured as the kid (and the wealthy donor died). And he does as much pro bono work in the Hamptons as he does catering to the wealthy, spoiled residents. :) (I enjoy the show, although it's complete fantasy.)
This just feels so wrong on every level to me and even more so that it is done under the auspices of a "religious" group which is ostensibly dedicated to One who gave all to care of the poor and needy.
At my hospital, our Foundation (fund raising department) has started what they call the "Circle of Caring". You become a member of the "Circle" by donating $10,000 or more to the Foundation. One of the perks of membership is "Healthcare Navigation Services" where a representative of the Foundation stays with you for the first 24 hours of your stay in the hospital starting in the ED. The names of the "Circle" members are flagged in our computer system and when they come in to the ED or are directly admitted we get a pop-up telling us to page the Foundation rep on call. They get taken directly to a private room and don't have to wait in the ED waiting area or in a multi-patient room regardless of their condition. The Foundation won't comment on it, but nurses have reported that they get seen much sooner by a Doc in the ED than they would have as a regular patient. I have had one of these patient's on the floor and the Foundation Rep basically lets you know, directly and indirectly, that this patient needs to be your top priority.
I realize the hospital depends on donations, but as a nurse it seems like we should be advocating for the seriously ill patient who is now having to wait even longer to be seen so that a big donor can have his "burning with urination" evaluated.
Is this becoming a new thing elsewhere in the country or is it just where I work?
I threw up a little bit in my mouth when I read that.
I really dont see any thing wrong with the idea. If i had the money i would become a circle member too. I think this is a good way for the hospital to recoup some of its losses on patients that cant pay/have no insurance.
The last place i worked at had a Fancy VIP floor like this too, with a chef and everything at their beck and call. Believe me most nurses loved floating to this floor because the pt ratios were down and the patients were most cooperative with their care plan (go figure, maybe drs were more attentive to them?)
Regardless they have to pay cash upfront for their stay.
I believe that was a smart form of versioning for the hospital. Cash now
Donations should just be donations- no strings attached. The tax writeoff is plenty. "VIP" type status is ethically wrong because it allows for different standards of care and therefore violates the value of justice.
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
I am old enough to remember when hospitals where just hospitals. There was no advertising, no business like atmosphere. Patients came to you for care and you took care of them. You did not think about how much money they had or where they came from.
Today, health care is too business like. I hate thinking of health care as a business. I guess I just learned too much about the calling of nursing when I was in nursing school withe nursing instructors who had been around for a long time.
This just feels so wrong on every level to me and even more so that it is done under the auspices of a "religious" group which is ostensibly dedicated to One who gave all to care of the poor and needy.
I'm with you, baggy. This just feels wrong to me. Does this "privledge" follow them no matter where they go? Say they fly to Italy and come down with a UTI. Do they get to be seen first in the ER over there? It's sad how medicine is all about the money now and even the nuns are getting in on it. Sad. If you have money, you'll be treated better and faster and it doesn't even matter if you have insurance. If you're a big time donator, you will immediately get the best of the best care. It's so unfair to the less fortuanate human being.
I'm with you, baggy. This just feels wrong to me. Does this "privledge" follow them no matter where they go? Say they fly to Italy and come down with a UTI. Do they get to be seen first in the ER over there? It's sad how medicine is all about the money now and even the nuns are getting in on it. Sad. If you have money, you'll be treated better and faster and it doesn't even matter if you have insurance. If you're a big time donator, you will immediately get the best of the best care. It's so unfair to the less fortuanate human being.
This issue is really sticking with me - I keep thinking about it. It seems so representative of the attitude of much of society today - if you have money (no matter how you acquired it) you are worth more consideration. I'm really afraid we are going to see more of this in the current climate.
I guess at my age I shouldn't be surprised at the hypocrisy, but it really bothers me how blatant it is. I sort of wish we could make all the "religious" types at this institution wear those once popular armbands that say "WWJD".
Guess there's still a bit of that youthful 60's idealist buried under all the middle aged cynicism here.
Donations should just be donations- no strings attached. The tax writeoff is plenty. "VIP" type status is ethically wrong because it allows for different standards of care and therefore violates the value of justice.
Maybe the IRS would like to know that that $10K donation came with "services rendered" which makes the donation NOT tax deductible.
As for the practice, it will happen. It sort of does happen with average joes too, but in a much less emesis-worthy fashion.
I just think they need to get rid of the "Foundation Rep" and have experienced, long-term nurses do one-on-one care and get the bennies!
anticoagulationurse
417 Posts
Hamster, I am fairly sure I am familiar with the hospital you speak of (judging by your screen name :), as I used to work there too. That does not surprise me at all. Shameful. Just goes to show how there is no leveling field even in healthcare and there won't even be one when we all have the "same" insurance with government funding. Wish there was a competing hospital in our town.