Mercy Hospital layoffs/furloughs. Why?

[SoonerP226]

Basically, by shutting down the elective surgeries and focusing on Covid, the gov't has done the same thing as if they'd told Ford and GM that they had to shut down their truck and SUV lines and make nothing but econoboxes. Even if they could keep the lights on like that, they can't afford to keep paying all the workers in the other plants who are now doing nothing. Really, I think it's more surprising that more hospitals aren't simply closing their doors entirely.

 

[Hobbes]

The hold on elective surgeries from gov. Scott's office expired 10 days ago on May 1.
Hospitals should be up to their armpits in elective surgeries by now.

My sister works at NW surgical hospital and she has had her work hours expanded.

 

[dlbleak]

My wife is an RN at the Heart Hospital. The chest painers as they call them, are home relaxing without stress. It’s SLOW up there. She got her second mandatory LC on Friday. The other one was 10-12 years ago. The elective surgery moratorium was lifted but people are still hesitant to go into any kind of medical situations.
OHH is 51% owned by the docs and 49% by the sisters of mercy. We’ll see how this goes.

 

[Hobbes]

NW Surgical patients are mostly seniors having hip and knee replacements, back and neck surgery.

It could be that people in pain are eager to get their problems fixed.
At the same time, everyone is willing to postpone a colonoscopy or a heart stress test nearly indefinitely.

 

[JD8]

That makes sense. Maybe I have been under a rock, but I seem to recall reports that hospitals were overrun with CV19 cases. Was this not enough to pay the bills with the thousands of confirmed cases and hundreds of deaths? Was this not the case at all?

I can only speak for Tulsa hospitals. Their designated Covid units never got full, so they dissolved them.

 

[Jwryan84]

Drive by there, it's been a ghost town for a month or more.

 

[John6185]

Got a call from my Mercy appointment center and they told me I have an appointment and to come in... Correction-they called me today and due to the virus it will be a telemedicine call.

 

[Dale00]

In the fog of war, mistakes are made. Hopefully, the outlook is good for medical workers going forward. I think their jobs are secure unlike folks working in restaurants and anything else that depends on crowding customers together.

 

[RickN]

NW Surgical patients are mostly seniors having hip and knee replacements, back and neck surgery.

It could be that people in pain are eager to get their problems fixed.
At the same time, everyone is willing to postpone a colonoscopy or a heart stress test nearly indefinitely.

Now who would put off a colonoscopy????

 

[dlbleak]

LC #2 today. They have a rotation system on LC’s so she should be ok tomorrow. Some RN’s work a ‘flex’ schedule and some work part time. They get better pay but less or no benefits. Those are the ones really struggling. This is also a good example of why it is important to not abuse PTO.