Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Just a Note...1/27

Good morning Mr. Connery,

Just a note from one of the former employees at your cash cow -oops, I meant to say hospital- in Paris, Texas. For 12 1/2 years of my healthcare career, I was gainfully employed in this facility, working with dedicated, motivated coworkers achieving a common goal- that of quality healthcare to the residents of this area.


Until shortly before I left, I was never ashamed of calling myself a McCusition/Christus/PRMC employee. That is, of course, until 2005.... What burned me on the facility was the policies brought down from Nashville- total disregard for employee handling procedures, reliance on agency personnel (who I feel are just as competent as any home-guard folks hands down), your mismanagement of the radiology affair, and the reliance on a former typist to handle the complex position of human resources.


Your remodeling tactics looked good on the north campus, but made the south campus look like the lobby of the No-Tell Motel. Vinyl flooring poorly disguised as wood is still vinyl. Paint and flat-screen TVs are poor substitutes for proper equipment needed to take care of patients. I have yet to hear of a TV that can properly monitor a patient's IV, or check vitals, or assist in reviving should the patient go into cardiac or respiratory arrest.

A broom closet does not an ER make. Even after remodeling, it's still a broom closet. There is too little room for nurses, doctors, allied health personnel, or EMTs to do anything except squeeze past each other. The ER is 1/2 the size it should be for a facility the size of PRMC. You can slap paint on a piece of feces, but it's still feces.

Your former CEO had no people skills, and I seriously doubt that the interim you brought in will do any better. By the way, wasn't he a head of a hospital that was sinking slowly in the west? Oh yes, just like Arcon- you DO remember Arcon, do you not, Mr. Connery?

As mentioned before, your HR department is under the control of a glorified typist who has little to no prior experience in this field. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this to you yet, but she is failing miserably. She has no more knowledge of what a certain department needs than the man in the moon.

What is the result of your leadership? Increased patient census (at other hospitals, not PRMC), low morale, general distrust among the locals. You may have the Paris News bamboozled or bought off, but not me. Not us. Not the good folks of Paris.

You, sir, are the captain of the Titanic, and the best you can do is rearrange the deck chairs. Your failure with Arcon, and the difficulties you have with Essent, are evidence that you have no idea about healthcare outside of what you feel is the bottom line.

Can I give you a hint? You're wrong. In the regular corporate world, maybe the money is the bottom line. In healthcare, however, the REAL bottom line is patient care. Patient care by motivated, caring people, working with modern equipment, by dedicated physicians (which we still have, no thanks to you), in an environment of compassion and care. In an institute backed by folks who care about, motivate, and encourage their employees to be their best.

Sadly, none of these are found at Paris Regional Medical Center.

This is not a letter from a disgruntled ex-employee. Rather, it's a notice to you that such facilities as I described 2 paragraphs ago exist and thrive. And, sadly, used to thrive in Paris until Essent came along. But, hopefully, can return if and when Essent is no more than a bad dream.



Thank you very much, Mr. Connery. Enjoy your coffee & Danish.




Must not be Starbucks...frank

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