Pick the best out of the 4 hospitals listed

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2010

DISCLAIMER: I have not worked at any of these facilities, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. Do not take it to heart.

Plaza Medical Center and Medical Center of Arlington are for-profit, HCA-owned hospitals. HCA facilities generally do not have good reputations in the DFW area.

North Hills and Denton Regional are smaller suburban hospitals and, hence, might suffer from low census on occasion. Low census translates into the occasional cancellation of shifts, which is not a good thing because most people need a full paycheck.

TXSchoolRN-MSN · Jun 22, 2010

Thank you for your response. I am currently transferring a job to the dallas area, I work for HCA in another state. By baad reputations, do you mean poor patient outcomes? Please explain why they have that reputation. THank you so much for the feedback!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2010

Here are various quotes.

I have worked at an HCA hospital in Texas. It's a terrible place, where nurses are treated badly and pts are treated worse. Avoid HCA if you don't want to risk your license every day.
A nurse who was abused by HCA had a web site about her experience. Her site is defunk, but if you google HCA uncaring you can still get a few tidbits.

I started working for an HCA hospital as pct during last semester of nursing school. The day I recv'd my RN license-I was given 10 pts my very 1st day at work as an RN. Spent the whole day chasing my tail and passing meds. I knew w/in 1 week this was not the place for me. Started looking immediately and found another hospital that gave me a nice long orientation, and the most pts I have on the med-surg/tele floor is 6. HCA has a bad reputation where I live.

Columbia/HCA hospitals in Texas are closely allied with GroupOne, an agency that does background checks on medical personnel. They are known for "blackballing" nurses for some very suspicious reasons. They tend to come down hardest on activist/union nurses.
If you ever work for a Columbia/HCA (they are connected in many places) facility, there will be some information on file with GroupOne on you. And G-d help you if you miss the wrong shift or cause any problems at work.

Hello,
I work as an RN in Emergency. HCA purchased a bunch of hospitals in Kansas City area. I can only speak for the two hospitals that I work for, but in my opinion , HCA has ruined them. It makes me angry because I work with a great team and I don't want to leave.
As an HCA RN, you are a secretary, admitting clerk, housekeeper, lab tech, phlebotomy Tech, EKG Tech and occasionally you get to do a little nursing. I was thinking about changing the title on my badge to "Worker". From what I understand, HCA is not one of the better paying hospitals either.
It seems like everyday there is news and it's never good. They are always adding new paperwork or procedures that make the job more difficult; not to mention they recently installed an antiquated computer system. They are constantly cutting secretaries and other ancillary staff and letting the nurses pick up the extra work.
The latest rumor is that we are going to have a dress code. Each department will have an assigned color. Who thinks these things up?
If there is truly a nursing shortage, why do we let these things happen?
Anyway, I thought of a lot of things that HCA could stand for, but I better not list them here!
Thanks for letting me vent...

HCA is a for profit hospital system.
We have an HCA hospital in my area, i DO NOT work there, but did have some nursing school clinicals there.
The nurses are paid less. New grads are paid .50 less an hour base pay, less weekend premium,etc.
More patients. I work on a cardiac surgery pcu. They(hca) have a general "pcu" where their CABG pt's go for PCU care, plus other PCU pt's, too. Dayshift the nurses would have 5-6 patients. Where I work, I routinely have only 4 and even 3 pt's on occasion.
I really, really didn't like it as much over there.

sjt9721, BSN, RN · Jun 23, 2010

Denton Regional and North Hills are HCA facilities as well.

I've worked for HCA in 2 states for 14 years, with a 3-year hiatus into the not-for-profit world. There are pros & cons for each, as I'm sure you already know.

Relating to outcomes...my current HCA facility (in DFW) recently saved the lives of my newborn daughter and myself. Natural labor, progressing well...then the bottom fell out. We were blessed to have quick-thinking labor nurses, critical-thinnking CCU/NICU nurses, and extremely professional post-partum & newborn nursery nurses. (And let's not forget the docs, other clinical, and support staff as well!) We're in the books as surviving (neurologically intact) an amniotic embolism. I'm so proud to work with the folks at my facility!

As far as lower pay goes...I'll give up that 50 cents less per hour for not owing a dime on our hospital bills. There's a lot more to benefits than just an hourly salary.

Send me a private message if you'd like more information. I'm happy to share with you what I know of those facilities.

BTW...so you're a NASCAR fan? North Hills has the contract to provide nurses for the events at Texas Motor Speedway :-)

carachel2 · Jun 24, 2010

DISCLAIMER: I have not worked at any of these facilities, so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. Do not take it to heart.
Plaza Medical Center and Medical Center of Arlington are for-profit, HCA-owned hospitals. HCA facilities generally do not have good reputations in the DFW area.
North Hills and Denton Regional are smaller suburban hospitals and, hence, might suffer from low census on occasion. Low census translates into the occasional cancellation of shifts, which is not a good thing because most people need a full paycheck.

AGREE with everything she said. HCA has a bad rep in this area. My family has STRICT instructions to drive right by those hospitals and take me to the other Arlington hospital, Baylor All Saints or Harris.

Humbled_Nurse · Jun 24, 2010

Please look into these hospitals yourself. Go and look around and try to get an interview and get a feel for it. Don't go by just what people say. Yes, HCA facilities generally don't have the best reputation but many of the HCA facilities have changed for the better. I work for an HCA facility currently and I am very happy there. There are lots of exciting changes going on and they are very employee focused where I work. I feel that my salary is very comparable as well. It really just depends what area/unit you work in. You could go to one of the best hospitals in the area that has the best reputation and still be miserable. It all depends on the other nurses/staff/physicians you work with. Look into and make your own opinions.

Good luck!