Parkland Hospital, Dallas Texas.

U.S.A. Texas

Published

Hello..Anyone working at parkland or has worked there..How much do they start RN1 pay? What is the shift differential at night? weekend? How is there Insurance? Do you like it overall? Please help me with this questions..Thanks

I have to warn you that Parkland is a very hostile place to work at now that they lost Medicare and Medicaid and are on a probationary Service Improvement Agreement with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

They were kicked out last September 9, 2011 because they repeatedly failed numerous safety inspections and were in the news for killing a number of patients. The Dallas Morning News has a 2-year investigative series called, “First, do no harm.”

Many of Parkland’s staff are either being fired to leaving on their own in a mass exodus. It’s not pretty, and looks like an ugly mess.

I don't think they lost Medicare/Medicaid..I think they were in danger of loosing it but they managed to escape. Thanks anyway for the reply..

Hello..Anyone working at parkland or has worked there..How much do they start RN1 pay? What is the shift differential at night? weekend? How is there Insurance? Do you like it overall? Please help me with this questions..Thanks

Parkland did get terminated from Medicare and Medicaid. Here is the link to the CMS letter of termination: http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/CMSParklandLetter.pdf . Currently, they do not have a deemed status with CMS. They are, however, on a probationary Service Improvement Agreement, which means if they do not meet mandatory compliance completion of satisfaction in 17 areas of patient safety, they are out by next April.

Credit: WFAA-TV

Associated Press

Posted on September 10, 2011 at 1:28 AM

The date was pushed back. an agreement was made to have external consultants come to parkland to help with the issues...

DALLAS (AP) — Officials with a Dallas hospital said Friday they will enter into an agreement with a federal agency to avert the loss of millions of dollars in Medicare funding that had been at risk because of problems at the facility.

Parkland Memorial Hospital was told by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in a letter Friday that its Medicare agreement would end Sept. 30 "because of deficiencies that represent an immediate and serious threat to patient health and safety."

An inspection in July of the hospital by CMS found violations in such areas as infection control and emergency care. The inspection was triggered by the death of a patient in February in the psychiatric emergency room.

A new report released Friday by CMS found that Parkland had corrected its infection-control problems, but that patients still faced "immediate jeopardy" in the emergency room.

However, the agency also told the hospital that it could prevent the funding loss if it entered into a "systems improvement agreement," in which the hospital would accept CMS-approved outside consultants who would work with Parkland to implement corrective actions.

Hospitals must be Medicare-certified to get Medicaid funding, so terminating Medicare would mean the loss of Medicaid.

The loss of Medicare and Medicaid would have been a deadly blow for the hospital. Parkland officials have said that Medicare and Medicaid make up nearly 50 percent of the hospital's funding.

In a statement, the hospital said entering into the agreement with CMS will give it "the opportunity to continue to operate fully and to address the problems identified in the recent CMS survey."

The agreement will be finalized by Sept. 30.

"We are grateful for this opportunity to work with an outside expert to address the problems identified by CMS. This allows Parkland and CMS to be jointly engaged in an aggressive improvement process," said John Jay Shannon, Parkland's executive vice president and chief medical officer. "We are committed to successfully meeting CMS expectations and to continually serving the people of Dallas County. I can guarantee we will be a stronger, more capable, safer hospital system."

Parkland, a regional center for burns and trauma, is also the main teaching hospital for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

You can live in denial all you want, but I know how CMS terminates participants from their funding status and uses probationary Service Improvement Agreements (SIA) because I was in Los Angeles when Martin Luther King, Jr./Charles Drew Medical Center was terminated from Medicare just a few years ago for exactly the same kinds of problems with serious incidents of patient harm.

Parkland no longer has a "deemed status" for Medicare or Medicaid because they were officially and still are "terminated" for Medicare deemed status on Sept 9, 2011 as the CMS LETTER OF TERMINATION states.

I already explained that they are on a probationary SIA, which usually only nursing homes are placed on when they get kicked out of Medicare. Parkland failed their last ditch, hospital wide, "make-or-break" inspections with CMS and the Texas Dept. of State Health Services last summer.

You can read better coverage of what happened on the still ongoing, 2-year long, Dallas Morning News investigative series entitled, “First, do no harm.” (See Dallas Morning News Patient Safety Investigations and Special Reports - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News). It contains about 200 articles on Parkland and their medical school partner, UT Southwestern.

Because they no longer have a deemed status, Parkland can still be summarily kicked out at any time between now and next April and cut off from all federal funding, which basically means that they can be shut down for good at any time. (That’s not very assuring to know about a potential employer.) But make no mistake, Parkland has no deemed status for Medicare or Medicaid at this time.

Parkland also had to get a safety monitor to inspect their facilities, and after their inspections a few months ago, they failed miserably again in 17 areas hospital wide. Their monitors or external consultants, Alvarez & Marsal, issued a scathing gap analysis report which Parkland tried to conceal from the public. (See Parkland safety report says life-threatening problems persist | Dallas Morning News Patient Safety Investigations and Special Reports - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News).

On top of all this, UT Southwestern—Parkland’s medical school partner who provides all the medical staff at Parkland—had to settle a whistleblower lawsuit last summer for Medicare fraud with the US government for a “bait-and-switch” scam involving switching resident for licensed attending surgeon in the OR without their patients’ knowledge. (See http://patients.about.com/b/2010/11/15/surgery-bait-and-switch-who-will-perform-your-surgery.htm).

If you really want to know what it’s like to work at Parkland, I can say for sure that patients, employees, and their revenues alike are all leaving the hospital in droves. (See Parkland Memorial Hospital struggles with low morale, employee exodus | Dallas Morning News Patient Safety Investigations and Special Reports - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News). They have lost all trust and confidence from the public, and many at Parkland are saying that the administration has been very malignant and retaliatory in blaming rank and file employees, like nurses, for all their problems.

Their bond credit rating also recently was downgraded as being “negative” by Standards and Poors. In short, Parkland and UTSW are both in a lot of hot water with their problems forecasted to go on for some time.

I am not in denial...However I think you must have been fired from Parkland, or you have tried to apply but they have never called you..I was there on friday and i spoke to Human resources about the medicare/medicaid funding and she told me it was in danger but never cut off, everything is back to normal...I have spoken to 5 people since friday who have been there for years and they told me to take the position right away without hesitate...they said they are overstuffed, nurse to pt ratio is very good, benefits are the best probably in the United States...anyway, I am meeting the unit manager of wednesday and that should sum up all this debate....

Every company has its ups and downs...they have had there share I believe..things will get better!

Ah, good one, but actually I graduated from there with honors and was able to see all this firsthand. Nice try though with the feeble put-down. It doesn't sound suspicious or bitter in the slightest.

You still don't have an answer for CMS's deemed status. Too bad. Hardly sounds normal to me with all the red flags your story puts up. Unfortunately, there are too many newspaper articles to take your testimonial very seriously, if you even are the person you claim to be. Because it sounds like you are an administrator for Parkland trying to recruit naive nurses who don't know much about the hospital.

You can live in denial all you want, but I want to make sure the rest of the people reading these posts will get all sides of the truth before applying for a job at Parkland or UTSW.

If you are that gung-ho about Parkland, then I suggest you take the job and ignore all the red flags posted.

Thanks for your advice. I have spoken to 9 people now including you.. the other 8 people have worked there for at least 5 years and recommended that I take the position right away and advised me to ignore all the rumors out there....it turns out to be 90% favor for parkland...though not 100%, i would take 90% over 10% and take the job...My understanding is that no organization is 100% perfect..there will always be complaints no matter how perfect you try to be...Employees have different views and perception even though working for the same company....I respect yours but it fell short. Thanks!!

Let's see. CMS, Texas Dept of State Health Services, various newpapers, US Dept. of Justice, etc.--not exactly rumors, and I cited all official references.

Why don't you guys at Parkland go back to the drawing board because you guys are just horrible liars.

Take care and don't let the door hit you when you close down.

It has to be rumors because I spoke with 8 people that work at parklands..is it a coincidence that all those people are lying??all those sources you have named are reporting things not the way they are but the way they want things to be...They are basically putting pressure on parklands..one of those sources actually said parkland is closing down...how can that be when they are building a brand new parkland?????

first off, these are not rumors. they all have references, especially with cms, the dallas morning news, and many media outlets. second, your problem is that your 8 people were all from parkland. duh! you think they have something to hide.

maybe you have something to hide because you are a parkland administrator trying to bait nurses to work for you.

here are tons of references for your reading enjoyment:

national media outlets:

- article, "parkland hospital, major healthcare provider for latinos, risks medicare funding due to negligence," at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/parkland-hospital-medicare-funding_n_956685.html

-upi, “medical school in federal fraud probe” at http://www.upi.com/top_news/us/2010/05/30/medical-school-in-federal-fraud-probe/upi-71741275252361/

-harvard’s nieman institute, “the morning news takes a long, hard look at hospital care in dallas,” at http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=showcase.view&showcaseid=141

- ahcj article, “dallas morning news hospital investigation required extensive use of public records,” at http://www.healthjournalism.org/blog/2011/01/dallas-morning-news-hospital-investigation-required-extensive-use-of-public-records/

- msnbc and ap, “hospital bills woman who never saw a doctor,” at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27299090/ns/health-health_care/t/hospital-bills-woman-who-never-saw-doctor/

kera—pbs:

- audio, “parkland under scrutiny and deadline,” at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1841175/north.texas/parkland.under.scrutiny.and.deadline

- audio, “parkland officials talk about critical report,” at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1841751/north.texas/parkland.to.respond.friday.to.critical.report

-audio, “parkland hospital put on notice,” at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1839145/north.texas/parkland.hospital.put.on.notice

-article, “parkland agrees to outside consultants as condition for federal funding,” with cms termination letter and statement of deficiencies at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kera/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1850711/north.texas/parkland.agrees.to.outside.consultants.as.condition.for.federal.funding.

wfaa—abc affiliate:

- video, “dallas commissioners to parkland execs: no pay raise or bonuses,” at http://www.wfaa.com/news/politics/dalco-commish-to-parkland-execs-no-pay-raise-or-bonuses-130230363.html

-video, “report: parkland hospital broke law in er treatment,” at http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/report-parkland-hospital-broke-law-in-er-treatment-93240779.html

- video, “surgeon says parkland er is dangerously understaffed,” at http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/64511472.html

-video, “inside texas politics,” at http://www.wfaa.com/video?id=129962263&sec=552937

-video, “parkland hospital details patient safety plan,” at

http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/parkland-hospital-details-patient-safety-plan-128130218.html

cbs-11:

- video, "feds say parkland hospital poses 'threat' to patients," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/08/10/feds-parkland-conditions-a-threat-to-patients/

-article, "parkland hospital patients told of hygiene lapses," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/08/21/parkland-hospital-patients-told-of-hygiene-lapses/

-video, "parkland hospital agrees to safety reform measures," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/09/28/parkland-hospital-agrees-to-safety-reform-measures/

-video, "parkland says it can and will fix problems," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/08/19/parkland-says-it-can-and-will-fix-problems/

-article, "anderson out as ceo of parkland hospital,” at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/08/31/anderson-out-as-ceo-of-parkland-hospital/

-article, "feds end parkland hospital medicare billing probe," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/09/01/feds-end-parkland-hospital-medicare-billing-probe/

-article, "parkland hospital board votes to withhold perks," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/09/24/parkland-board-votes-to-withhold-perks/

-video, "parkland's private meetings raising questions on hospital budget." http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/08/17/parklands-private-meetings-raising-questions-on-hospital-budget/

-video, "family: we want our daughter's organs back,” at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2010/11/04/family-we-want-our-daughters-organs-back/

-video, "family's pain leads parkland hospital to change autopsy policy," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/02/27/familys-pain-frustration-leads-parkland-to-change-autopsy-policy/

-article, "parkland apologizes over autopsy," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2010/12/09/parkland-apologizes-over-autopsy/

-article, "parkland changes autopsy policy," at http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/02/26/parkland-changes-autopsy-policy/

nbc-dfw:

- article, “parkland to negotiate to keep medicare,” 2 nbc videos, “will parkland lose medicare,” and “parkland to outline fixes for cms violations,” at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/parkland-to-negotiate-to-keep-medicare-129565783.html

- video, “parkland records part of criminal probe,” at http://www.nbcdfw.com/video/#!/news/local/parkland-records-part-of-criminal-probe/127974558

- article, “parkland patients told of hygiene lapses,” at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/parkland-patients-told-of-hygiene-lapses-128159573.html

- article, "feds end parkland hospital medicare billing probe” at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/feds-end-parkland-hospital-medicare-billing-probe-129085413.html

- article, “parkland’s ceo to move to new role,” at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/parklands-ceo-to-leave-128727358.html

- article, “parkland fined $50k in er tragedy,” at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/parkland-fined-50k-in-er-tragedy-125484563.html

- article, "parkland may face serious fines," at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/parkland-may-face-serious-fines-93274169.html

- article, “parkland changes autopsy policy,” at http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/parkland-changes-autopsy-policy-116987743.html

- article, “painkillers missing from parkland pharmacy,” at

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/370000-painkillers-missing-from-parkland-pharmacy-90622254.html

kdfw—fox 4

- video, “parkland submits plan for er changes,” at http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/081811-parkland-submits-plan-for-er-changes

- article, “parkland finded $50k in er tragedy,” at http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/071311-parkland-fined-50k-in-er-tragedy

dallas business journal:

- see index at http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/search/results?q=parkland+hospital+

dmn:

- “editorial: public needs more details on patient safety at hospitals,” at

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20111017-editorial-public-needs-more-details-on-patient-safety-at-hospitals.ece

-“first, do no harm,” the dmn investigative series up to the current date at http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/patient-safety/

-“first, do no harm,” the dmn investigative series up to 2/04/11 at http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/patient-safety/

-"first, do no harm,” the dmn investigative series up to 8/21/11 at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/photography/2010/hospitals_ece/

- “state inspectors return to parkland memorial hospital’s psychiatric emergency room to investigate new patient-harm complaints,” at http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/10/inspectors-return-to-parkland.html

- “ut southwestern record contradicts its claim about paying medical students to work in parkland memorial hospital’s psychiatric emergency room,” at http://watchdogblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/08/ut-southwestern-medical-center.html

-“patient safety at texas hospitals,” at http://dmnhospitals.heroku.com/hospitals

-“parkland in dallas has been among texas’ worst hospitals for patient safety for years, analysis shows,” at http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/patient-safety/headlines/20111015-parkland-in-dallas-has-been-among-texas-worst-hospitals-for-patient-safety-for-years-analysis-shows.ece

-“hernia-surgery death shows human cost of parkland’s poor safety statistics,” at http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/patient-safety/headlines/20111015-hernia-surgery-death-shows-human-cost-of-parklands-poor-safety-statistics.ece

-“how u.s. news could hail parkland even as inspectors found it deficient,” at http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/patient-safety/headlines/20111015-how-u.s.-news-could-hail-parkland-even-as-inspectors-found-it-deficient.ece

patient victims chronicled in the news at parkland:

- mike herrera: died of a heart attack while waiting 17 hours in the er waiting room without seeing anyone.

- george cornell: died of heart arrhythmia while under physical restraints and solitary confinement after a physical altercation with parkland staff where he was held face-down with technicians on his back. parkland failed to report this sentinel event.

- jessie mae ned: longtime employee of parkland who eventually had her leg amputated after a pgy-2 orthopedic resident badly injured her popliteal artery and infected her leg. parkland fired her and tried to bury ms. ned in debt as retaliation.

- irene arancibia: died after being discharged hours after an elective laproscopic hernia repair surgery in which residents twice perforated her bowels. parkland failed to admit the patient for overnight observation after the experimental invasive surgery.

- jennifer culbertson: committed suicide after parkland evaluated the severely depressed woman, admitted for suicidal intent and discharged her within hours without any treatment and on her own recognizance.

- robert malone: parkland nurses waited 14 hours to send him to parkland for an appendectomy after showing signs of a “surgical abdomen.” parkland residents failed to complete remove his appendix which led to the patient becoming critically ill.

- amber joy milbrodt: broke her leg and waited 19 hours in the er without a doctor seeing her before she got fed up and left.

- tamica millard: placed in harm’s way after given narcotics and discharged out into the streets without any clothes, except her hospital gown, in a semiconscious state.

- patient stanfield: nearly died of complications of congestive heart failure after parkland fluid-overloaded the patients for burn resuscitation. his wife, majorie stanfield, wrote an article in the dmn on the contempt that parkland’s staff treated her husband.

- ted powers: crippled and wheelchair bound for life after botch operation by unsupervised orthopedic residents.

- sara limon: residents cut her common bile duct after going to the or without notifying a licensed attending surgeon.

- sonia soto: died of a “brain infection” and had her organs removed, including her brain, without the family’s consent.

- jose manuel calleros-avila: confused brain surgery patient allowed to walk out of hospital and not found until a day later almost 7 miles away. this sentinel event occurred days before cms inspectors arrived.

dmn videos:

- dmn video of ron anderson & lauren mcdonald at http://www.dallasnews.com/video/?bcid=1118835784001

- video essay of jessie mae ned at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/photography/2010/parkland/

- security camera video of mike herrera at http://www.dallasnews.com/video/?bcid=207643568001

- utsw’s vip patient program at http://www.dallasnews.com/video/?bcid=390521212001&bcpl=207603118001

independents:

- award-winning blog, "ut southwestern and parkland hospital stories," at http://dallashealthcare.blogspot.com/

- youtube video of ron anderson at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lirgs9dwyom

- youtube video of 2011 hillman prize for photojournalism to dmn photographer, mona reeder at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozcc1h3-igk

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