Vanderbilt Hospital layoffs today

[Guest tdoccrossvilletn]

I know a doctor who works there. He said people were being let go and told it was poor performance. These are employees that always had great reviews prior to this. If you're gonna can someone, don't make excuses...just do it. It irritates me that they try to make the employees look bad just to "justify" letting them go. Especially when everyone knows the truth.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

I know its not much but being fired for performance issues allows you to draw unemployment. Some money is better than no money. Maybe they thought they were doing them a favor by allowing them to draw unemployment even though I'm sure it wont cover their bills.

Sent from my mind using ninja telepathy.

[npgunner]

from what I was told the poor performance layoffs had no previous performance issues. Funny how someone can have years of great reviews and then when layoffs happen, all of a sudden they have poor reviews.
I don't know if this is true but I trust my source completely.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

Oh I don't disagree at all.
From the people I know that got fired, a few did have performance issues, (mostly time and attendance) but I also know of many many others in the situation you describe. It's a sad story all the way around, especially because 1.) there time and attendance policy has gotten so strict over the last few years (an "occurrence" for being 1 minute late?) and 2.) many of the previously good workers who suddenly had issues were some of the longer employed/higher paid people.

[Dolomite_supafly]

It was our representatives that passed ACA, yes Obama drove the final nail in the coffin but he did not pass this alone. Nancy Pelosi was the driving force in getting the ACA passed but we even had representatives vote FOR the ACA and subsequent bills related to it.

 

Jim Cooper and Steve Cohen both voted for it and they are up for re-election in 2014. Steve Cohen I can see because he is the rep for Memphis. Jim Cooper represents Nashville and I am willing to bet a few of those being laid off voted for him. It does suck that those who voted for him, and got what they wanted, are taking good people with them. But in the next year we need to support their opponents to get them out of office.

 

For me I don't care who is up for re-election as I am voting for their opponent. I will never vote for another incumbent. And I have said there is nothing wrong or illegal about contacting representatives in other districts or states. Anytime we contact our representatives take a few minutes and contact someone else's. They will not verify if you are in their district and maybe those few extra calls can at least lock up their phone lines or extra emails can slow down the office.

 

It feels awful and is a scary time when you loose your job. I have been there and had I not been on unemplyment benefits I would have had a very rough time. I hope all those who were fired find work quickly but I suspect that will not be the case.

 

I honestly believe hard times are coming and most Americans refuse to see it or think we are too big to fail. By hard times I don't mean being on unemployment or unable to buy gifts for Christmas. I mean unable to feed your family or get life saving medication. Or unable to keep your power on or even keep your house. I can honestly see at some point a national emergency coming related to our debt. Imagine if the government all of a sudden decided that it could not longer afford unemployment? That would cause a significant upturn crime as people who would not normally break the law struggle to feed their family. Or even worse if the government decided it could not afford thoes who are on welfare or similar benefits. If both of those things happened, which I believe one will at some point, we will be transformed into a third world nation in a matter of weeks. We are not even close to the end of where we are going but in the end everyone will be hit hard, even those with jobs. We have had our credit rating, as a nation, degraded because the world sees it coming. It may not happen in the next 10 years but it is coming.

 

Also look at what we, as a nation, are doing globally. We are involving ourselves in countries that we should not be. As a member of the UN perhaps but never on our own as a nation. But because we are doing these things as a nation other nations are begining to warn us about staying out of other nation's affairs. At some point either we back down or those who are warning us need to back up their threats. Either one is not going to be good for the US. And if we find ourselves at war with a major player we are, without a doubt, going to see ourselves in a rough spot at home.

 

It is almost like what is happening today was planned out as a means to topple our nation from the top.

[Guest nra37922]

Wonder how many voted for Obama if they voted at all

[Lumber_Jack]

Well Vandy was the number 1 trauma center in nashville and middle tennessee and all ambuances where ordered to take all trauma patients to vandy. I wonder if they will still be able to hand;e that kind of case load. What will happen if ( God help us it doesn't) there is a shooting or disaster like that and vandy doesn't have the staff to handle it? I know my doctor pulled out of there over a year ago as her hospital to send her patients to and moved to Centennial as her hospital of choice. She has a private practice and only makes rounds if she has a few patients in there. I think she may have seen this coming and bailed with time to spare.

Most of the layoffs were nurses, admin, and auxiliary staff.

Vanderbilt is still a Level 1 Trauma Center and will continue to be so (although level of care may suffer in future). This change will save money, but likely add stress and longer shifts for those still working. In my mind that only equals lesser quality if care.

[enfield]

from what I was told the poor performance layoffs had no previous performance issues. Funny how someone can have years of great reviews and then when layoffs happen, all of a sudden they have poor reviews.
I don't know if this is true but I trust my source completely.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

 

In the end it always comes down to politics - who likes ya.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

All the Hospitals in the Nashville area have been having a PR campaign to tout they're best. St. Tom the Baptist finally

changed their name. They are embracing what they can to get dollars in the door. Can't say I blame them.

 

A few years ago, it was United Health Care and Aetna battling it out with the billboards. And Humana was flooding the

TV with ads, probably still are. The ACA has upset the apple cart and hospitals are trying to stay afloat, due to the

shrinking government dollar.

 

The government should have never been in the health care system, except for the VA. Insurance companies get us

addicted to this pay system a long time ago and we are suffering the consequences. Now, you have government

and insurance cohabiting what was once a fine health care delivery system, all for a bunch of liberal altruism, and

throw in the world's largest collection agency to do the bidding to private companies, and you make a disaster.

[Worriedman]

There are layoffs every where right now. It's getting bad folks!

 

DaveS

Driving around Texas a bunch this week, numerous billboards with "now hiring" on them.  Lots.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Worriedman

[Guest ThePunisher]

Driving around Texas a bunch this week, numerous billboards with "now hiring" on them.  Lots.

Texas is a state that still has American values that us old folks grew up with.

[1pointofview]

If the cuts where due to the federal pocket book closing then it is what it is. The longer state a d federal money floats something while itself running deficits, the harder and wider the hammer will drop. Vandy has been there for us a few times but i have worked for healthcare companies for years and every hospital spends money in weird ways that could be avoided. I hope for the best for these folks, i have been in their shoes

[Dustbuster]

I always wondered how a hospital that charges 10 bucks for a coke and 15 dollars for a big band aid would lose money....,,
I like vandy but the place is always dirty,chaotic, and crazy but they have always had good docs nurses and top rate trauma unit. I don't get it....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 of course it ate my spelling.

[TN_Jim]

Not sure if the caused some cost concerns at Vandy. Lawsuit was filed in 2011.  Earlier this month the judge unsealed the lawsuit, therefore was made public.

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130912/NEWS07/309120046/Vanderbilt-Medical-Center-hit-Medicare-fraud-suit

[frankmako]

get ready for more of the same all over.  get ready for the part time worker, that is if you are lucky to have/keep your job.  when all this goes down within the next several months, who will be around working and paying taxes so the "low information voter" can have their free money?  

[TGO David]

Not sure if the caused some cost concerns at Vandy. Lawsuit was filed in 2011.  Earlier this month the judge unsealed the lawsuit, therefore was made public.

 

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130912/NEWS07/309120046/Vanderbilt-Medical-Center-hit-Medicare-fraud-suit

 

This is exactly what I've heard is the reason these jobs are being cut at Vandy.  I'm surprised more people didn't know about this, but not surprised at all that VU is keeping a tight lid on it and not allowing the media to speculate.  VU is about to get their ass handed to them by the government if the claims of Medicare fraud are true.  It will cost them MILLIONS in fines and the only way they can offset it is to cut some of the fat they've accumulated over the years.

 

My daughter was treated at VU years ago and that place is the most bloated, disorganized, disjointed medical facility I have ever seen.  There's no doubt that they do a lot of good work for people who desperately need it, but the stories I keep hearing on the street say that the government has a pretty clear-cut case against them and it's going to take years to fully investigate and it's going to put a massive hole in their budget.

 

It sounds like this has less to do with Obamacare and more to do with fiscal negligence.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I hate to see people lose their jobs but if VU was involved in fraud they should have to pay. There should also be some people who go to jail over it if it can be proven. Fraud is widespread and rampant, especially TennCare fraud. It has grown to be such a large animal that it is hard to fix without letting the entire system fail. I have seen it first hand with my brother who gets meds paid for by all of us then sells them to fund his illegal drug habit. He isn't shy about it either and almost braggs to some people about how he sells his benefits.

[Lumber_Jack]

This is exactly what I've heard is the reason these jobs are being cut at Vandy.  I'm surprised more people didn't know about this, but not surprised at all that VU is keeping a tight lid on it and not allowing the media to speculate.  VU is about to get their ass handed to them by the government if the claims of Medicare fraud are true.  It will cost them MILLIONS in fines and the only way they can offset it is to cut some of the fat they've accumulated over the years.

 

My daughter was treated at VU years ago and that place is the most bloated, disorganized, disjointed medical facility I have ever seen.  There's no doubt that they do a lot of good work for people who desperately need it, but the stories I keep hearing on the street say that the government has a pretty clear-cut case against them and it's going to take years to fully investigate and it's going to put a massive hole in their budget.

 

It sounds like this has less to do with Obamacare and more to do with fiscal negligence.

 

 

I find it hard to believe that VUMC would fire over a 1000 employees based on the possibility of loosing a lawsuit.  Im certainly not versed in how to manage a corporation of any size, but I would think they would wait and let the suit get under way before layoffs. I dont know though, maybe someone can share some insight

 

If they are loosing money they need to restructure, and unfortunately that almost always involves people loosing their jobs. 

[Guest TankerHC]

Not just Vanderbilt, dozens of hospitals across the country are laying off. And as mentioned above its because of ACA. Cleveland Clinic one of the top Hospitals in the Country announced layoffs yesterday, 12 Hospitals announced they were laying off 2 days ago, one Hospital in North Carolina went completely out of business and shut down. 9000 jobs in the medical field went away back in May. Funny thing is, prior to the SCOTUS upholding Obamacare, every time I looked at future job market articles, the Medical Field always had at least 8 or 9 out of the top 10 prospects for job growth over the next 10 years. 

 

I saw that the UAW and AFL-CIO leaders were marching and protesting the other day because they were losing their health care benefits. They didnt want Obamacare to go away, they wanted exemptions, for them. No sympathy.

 

IBM sent letters two weeks ago informing ALL of their retirees that they were losing their health care, IBM would be sending them checks annually to find their own health care. They seem to be a little upset about that.

 

McDonald's yesterday asked for relief from Obamacare or they will begin laying off full and part time workers.

 

The company my BIL works for, I mentioned this last month, cut hours back on every employee to 30 except for a few positions that necessarily had to be full time. It's a National Company.

 

Walmart, nationwide has hired hardly nothing but Temp employees since May. Normal number of temps is 1%, today its 10-12%.

 

Even Bill Clinton wasnt dumb enough to destroy his own Party with this garbage (Remember Hillarycare?).

 

Only difference is, it isnt just the Dems, other than a few voices in the wilderness, both sides are trying their best not to do anything. Extending Obamacare implementation by a year will do nothing, so what, in a year, it will still get implemented, that 1 year thing is just to get people (Citizens) to calm down until after the elections and give them enough time to forget about it. 

 

One thing I dont see anyone mentioning. Starting October 1st, any Hospital, Clinic, Doctor who fails to begin electronically submitting their patients records to the Federal Government (IRS) will lose all Government Incentives. Last year that was 12 billion. That will lead to gun confiscation. Dont believe it? Its already happening in NY and California. And you dont have to be adjudicated, you only have to have been prescribed certain drugs. 

 

And in 2014, 89% of Congress will still get re-elected. 

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Instead of the dozens of hospitals, try all of them. They are all getting the refittting of Obamacare in place.

 

I didn't know of that lawsuit, David, but I did know of the disjointed hospital. That place is a zoo, like a lot of

big teaching hospitals that rely on Medicare. What you mentioned doesn't surprise me one bit.

[Guest Bassman17SC]

For the record, any layoffs that are related to Obamacare are related to the employer mandate (which, by the way, was postponed by one year).  Medicare reimbursement should have no effect on the revenue side of things as long as the patient volume remains constant.

 

However, the sequester is reducing payments (and have been since 4/1/13) by 2%.  This 2% reduction applies to all Providers of services to Medicare beneficiaries: home health agencies, hospitals, clinics, physicians, nursing homes, etc.  To make a statement that research dollars are being reduced and not also saying the MC payments are being reduced is disingenuous at best.

 

The crying about the loss of Medicaid revenue because the state is not expanding, however, is total and complete BS.  As any accountant knows, you cannot budget for lost revenue if it is not there to begin with.

[1pointofview]

That is why we need an alternative to the insurance modal. Hospitals spend loads of money in places that need to be cut and cut where they need to spend.

On the other hand, the float interest free loans in the form of "your portion of the bill" that folks haggle over and pay minimal payments on. Remove insurance as the primary form of payment and empower the people and make them in charge of the hc dollars and everyone will become more accountable

[Defender]

It is patently obvious that this crap is happening all over due to Obamacare...and RINOs like John McCain refuse to support defunding or repealing it...Why do we continue to keep these people in office?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Because people quit voting, thinking their vote will be wasted, when getting involved in the process is what changes it.

Or voting for the opposition, which just dumps more tyranny in our laps, thinking it will make people angry, which it does.

Doesn't do the republic any good, though.

[Guest TankerHC]

Instead of the dozens of hospitals, try all of them. They are all getting the refittting of Obamacare in place.

 

I didn't know of that lawsuit, David, but I did know of the disjointed hospital. That place is a zoo, like a lot of

big teaching hospitals that rely on Medicare. What you mentioned doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

 

This is true for sure (I was referring to dozens at a time, didnt make myself clear, sorry). one of the (NOT) funny things about it. There were articles in the news all last week, Obama's Reps and talking heads stating that 1. This was only happening in states that refused to implement Obamacare. Which doesnt explain all the layoffs in New York and Connecticut., including the famous St. Jospeh's which is not only laying off but closing half a dozen units. and 2. That the reason they are having to lay off is because their Governors are not implementing ACA fast enough.

 

Are they f'n kidding? 

Edited September 21, 2013 by TankerHC

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Oh no. That's why I liked your post. Just expanding on it because of the nationwide effects of the ACA some

refuse to believe. Your post was on target, Tanker.

[1pointofview]

I get so tired of talking to my liberal friends about obamacare. They only know what the emotionally driven narrative they have been fed a d now that rates are going up, and quality will start going down, they only know how to blame dr, insurance companies and hospitals because it obviously cant be their ideological wet dream of socialized hc.