UPMC cost cutting, especially at Presby and Shadyside

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2009

Wow, this really makes me shake my head. My guess there will be more incidents like that poor old lady that died on the roof. It kills me that no one is bringing up staffing in the investigation. I am willing to bet it was a factor.

You can call condition "L" till the cows come home but if there's only limited staff able to respond, it's just a letter in the alphabet.

oramar · Feb 20, 2009

Just a footnote since I first posted this back in the fall. I ran into my friend that works at Shadyside. She says they are bulging at the seams with patients over there. She was saying something about being penalized by the state for sticking in-patients on a short stay unit. However, they had no where else to put them. After I got done talking to her I thought, "gee I should have paid more attention to what she was saying it sounds rather interesting."

mochabean · Feb 21, 2009

These cost cuts and layoffs do affect patients and patient care staff, especially on weekends. Recently the cafeteria at montefiore has been closed on weekends and outpatients and families must walk across several bridges to presbyterian hospital to reach their cafeteria, a difficult task for someone who just had a transplant less than a week ago. The kitchen must still produce food for inpatients so they are only eliminating less than a dozen minimum wage jobs as servers, cashiers, and cleaning staff. Weekend registrations are a problem as only one registrar is available on weekends for all of presby and montefiore. They are not available until 9AM, our outpatients arrive at 6AM. Likewise there is often only one IV nurse and one enterostomal/wound care nurse for both hospitals on weekends. UPMC has eliminated vital staffing (their internal agency) resulting in more nurses being pulled to other floors and a higher patient to nurse ratio. I have been given limitations of only one sheet or 1 blanket per patient and only if they ask for them. I've been wrapping towels around pillows because we are not being stocked pillowcases. Cuts in secretarial staff has resulted in nurses spending more time answering phones and completing registrations and admission. Need some special equipment for a patient? Call central supply but expect to wait because one person is there for the whole hospital. Parking rates were raised to account for higher gas prices for the shuttles. Have they come back down with the drop in gas prices? No, and I won't hold my breath waiting.
I am proud to work in a top class system that provides excellent care and good patient outcomes but it doesn't feel first class when you can't give a patient an extra blanket, or get housekeeping to clean a bathroom, or send them to the cafeteria for breakfast. If they can make it to presbyterian cafeteria they can enjoy our newly renovated bridge with its artwork and 17 flat panel TVs displaying scrolling UPMC advertisements. If they can't walk that far I can get them some graham crackers and they can look out the window at the UPMC logo on top of the US Steel building. Just where do the priorities lie?

Don't forget about the disposable "wash rags" and little expensive bottles of Dial soap that patients never use and are thrown away.

wonderbee, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2009

How about those UPMC Minutes spotlighting their programs. They own over half the health care in the region. Why spend money on advertising?

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2009

Just a footnote since I first posted this back in the fall. I ran into my friend that works at Shadyside. She says they are bulging at the seams with patients over there. She was saying something about being penalized by the state for sticking in-patients on a short stay unit. However, they had no where else to put them. After I got done talking to her I thought, "gee I should have paid more attention to what she was saying it sounds rather interesting."

I knew Shadyside had been doing this for sometime. Back in the spring, one of my friends went to the ER at Shadyside and they decided to admitt him. He was then sent up to short stay, where he hung out for sometime (I forget exactly how long). I never realized this was a legal issue.

Just one more example of UPMC cutting corners.