LANCASTER – Nearly 100 employees at Antelope Valley Hospital were put on notice as early as Tuesday in what is part of a cost-saving measure for the health care facility.
The boilerplate termination letter, which was mailed to an undetermined number of hospital employees on Sept. 9, warns the layoff will affect a total of 105 employees. Signed by the hospital’s Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, George L. Leisher, Jr., the letter informs its recipients that their final workday will be Oct. 10, and that they will continue to receive regular pay and benefits up to Nov. 10, the effective date of their termination. [View the letter here.]
The California Nurses Association responded to the news by sending representatives to the hospital Wednesday to provide informational pamphlets to “every registered nurse at the facility,” a source at the hospital told The AV Times.
The hospital’s decision is not being taken lightly by the registered nurses’ union, according to the statement provided in the CNA flyer.
“Contrary to what they are telling all of you, CNA had no notice the hospital intended to lay off any nurses,” the pamphlet stated, explaining that the nurses’ union was told Wednesday of the hospital’s intention to lay off registered nurses.
In reaction to the hospital’s proposed layoffs, the CNA has sent administration officials a “Demand to Bargain” along with a “Notice to Cease and Desist Change in Working Conditions,” according to the pamphlet.
CNA also challenged a statement, by AV Hospital CEO Dennis Knox, that claimed “none of the staffing changes will negatively impact the quality of patient care.”
Union representatives want to know how this is possible when the hospital is cutting jobs in essential service areas such as Respiratory, Phlebotomy, EKG and Monitor Techs. The CNA pamphlet calls further attention to the unlikely notion in Knox’s Sept. 6 email that “care will be enhanced through more efficient operations and a restructuring of some responsibilities…” [View the CNA flyer here.]
Sean Wherley, spokesperson for the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), shared the same concern, saying his organization is concerned not only with its non-nursing healthcare workers impacted by the layoffs at AV Hospital, but also with the impacts on quality of care for the community.
“Our goal is to ensure that community residents have access to the best care, and we will work to maintain that and protect as many jobs as possible during this uncertain financial time,” Wherley told The AV Times.
According to a source – who is among those who received a termination letter from hospital officials – about 95 workers were put on notice so far. Though unconfirmed by The AV Times, the employee said the number of terminations include 35 in the Laboratory, which is more than half of that department; 24 in Respiratory; the entire EKG department, which includes about 12 personnel; and all of the Monitor Techs, comprised of about 12 people who monitor patients’ heart rates at the hospital.
AV Hospital officials did not return calls in response to how quality of patient care would be impacted by the upcoming layoffs. However, administrators have revealed publicly that reductions to the hospital’s workforce would not be carried out in areas relating to patient care – in other words, staff reductions would take place in areas of support.
But those affected by layoffs in essential service areas – like Respiratory, Phlebotomy, EKG and Monitor Techs – cannot help but to wonder if the hospital’s announced terminations would impact the quality of patient care provided by registered nurses.
“These nurses are going to have to realize they need to be further certified in all these additional procedures that they are going to be expected to perform now – now that we’re no longer supposed to be working there after a month,” an employee slated to be laid off said.
Hospital administrators are faced with the dilemma of cutting jobs because of the hospital’s financial troubles – mostly from having been shorted about $6 million in anticipated government reimbursements for services it provided nonpaying hospital patients, according to recent publicly disclosed statements by officials.
Speaking for United Healthcare Workers West, Wherley does not fault the hospital for its financial conflict. Rather, he said that cost reimbursements for medical care is a growing concern throughout the state.
“The reimbursements that doctors receive from certain low-income patients is the lowest in the country,” he explained. “So the state of California would reimburse Antelope Valley for providing care for someone who is on Medi-Cal. Well, when that rate drops so low, they’re not even getting enough to cover their costs; and so that puts a tremendous strain on the facility.”
Wherley said his organization believes the situation speaks to an opportunity to reform Medi-Cal. “And if we don’t act on it, it’s going to affect more and more hospitals, like Antelope Valley,” he said. “And that’s why our union is working statewide to create a new system – one that maintains care and provides ample funding for hospitals so we won’t have to experience layoffs like this due to financial hardship.”
Officials at Antelope Valley Hospital did not respond Thursday to questions regarding the announced layoffs.
The 420-bed public hospital is the Antelope Valley’s largest full-service, nonprofit hospital. Operating as part of the Antelope Valley Healthcare District, AV Hospital serves about 235 patients a day in in-patient care.
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Jim says
I’ve been going to the Wound Care at AV Hospital for over two years. When I started, my lower extremities were covered with open wounds due to poor circulation. These folks have since healed all but two (which are responding to treatment) as well as an unassociated toe injury. They have saved my health as well as my leg. I believe my care will certainly and quite negatively be impacted should the Wound Care be closed or the caregivers removed and replaced with some sort of gap-filling solution. This is not patient-to-caregiver transference, but the fact that these professionals know my system and its foibles which sometimes run contrary to average prescribed treatment, through experience. With new personnel, these lessons would have to be re-learned. I have called the hospital to get answers to my questions HOWEVER they have not seen fit to return my call.
Anonymous says
In addition to nursing staff layoffs support services have taken huge cuts as well, including the Safety and Security department. As an employee I understand the “nurse = patient care” on the surface, but a quality environment is a safe one. Violence at the hospital is common – not between staff members but there is a high risk when mental health, drug abuse and general emotional issues come into play. Issues are not uncommon in fact, its more surprising when someone DOESNT get yelled at or threatened during their shift. Cutting security seems like a short sighted measure that opens us up to litigation. Worse, it puts our staff, patients and their families at risk since the facility now has handicapped Security from being able to respond appropriately. Many staff members did not feel safe since they took out the metal detectors months ago – now that security is reduced I feel unsafe being at work.
William says
I moved here in 1990 and AV Hospital has been in the news regularly for one controversy after another, one CEO forced out after another and so on. I recall thinking back in the 1990s, “Is this a scam that hospital CEOs do? They work for a few years on their contract, then for one reason or another, they get bought out, move to a new city and for a short time are receiving 2 salaries, 1 from the old place and 1 from the new one”. I wonder if anyone has ever followed the careers of these guys to see if that’s an accurate take.
There are other jobs in government as well, where you can only have 1 such postion in a city, so you gotta move if you want to do that same job. But, if you’re smart, you get fired and get bought out before moving to the next city. Wasn’t a previous Lancaster city manager forced out with a $900,000 severance? I don’t know if he did that on purpose of was really forced out by the city. Either way, it’s an expensive way to run things.
Why, it was just a few months ago there was the ‘birther tourism’ nonsense.
So, what is new here?
It’s been asked over and over if there’s something in the water in Lancaster. Seems like it. Of course, all the controversies in Palmdale with the Palmdale Water Department at least ARE about water.
bird says
William— What you just said is absolutely not true.
William says
Someone here says that what I wrote above was “absolutley not true”.
So, the AV Hospital has NOT been in the news regularly for one controversy or another for the past 25 years.
So, one or more previous CEOs of the hospital have NOT been bought out of their contracts early.
So, the previous Lancaster city manager was NOT bought out for $900,000.
So, there was NO controversy at the hospital earlier this year regarding ‘birthing tourism’?
I stand corrected.
Bill S says
9 of the positions are “Emergency Room Charge (Lead) Nurses. They are being terminated (as union employees) and being told they can “apply” for one of 6 available “non-union” nursing positions and lose any/all seniority.
The CEO has hired over 100 “friends” over the past year to lucrative positions within the executive levels of this organization. The fact that the Hospital was told the “need to cut 6 million dollars immediately or face the cancellation of their state medi-cal (HUD or whatever you want to call it) is incentive enough for them to lay off all of these dedicated personnel.
It’s a very sad statement
Anonymous says
Many of these friends were hired as consultants at top dollar salaries all for political gain because of who they are or associated with.
If your running a leaner organization then they need to loose the consultants, well run organizations do not keep consultants long term. They come in on a short term basis fix a problem and move on to another organization.
morehospitals says
Don’t we have more hospitals such as Kaiser Permante and Palmdale Regional Hospital that should be able to handle the AV area where AV Hospital left off. Palmdale Regional can very easliy add trauma and ob/gyn dept. plus whatever else is missing that AV hospital. Kaiser is about to open a new hospital in West Lancaster that is goin to handle more AV residents and hopefully also aide AV Hospital with trauma, this valley is growing by leaps and bound, so why would AV Hospital not let Palmdale Regional and Kaiser help or assist with the valley groth in trama , OB/gyn and everything else.
allie says
no, Palmdale Regional can’t ‘easily add trauma and OB/GYN’ services! there is nothing EASY about becoming certified for ANY new units or specialties! a hospital has to be certified to even add more beds to what they are already approved for. it takes a huge investment in time, employee education, and inspections to go through a certification process. but the REAL reason that Palmdale Regional does not offer these services is because they DO NOT GENERATE PROFIT. they are money losers for hospitals. and Palmdale Regional is a PRIVATELY OWNED FOR-PROFIT hospital. they are not in business to provide desperately needed services to the local population, they are there to provide services that will generate money for the shareholders. beneath all those shiny marble floors and tasteful lighting, Palmdale is filled with low-tech outdated equipment, because all of their profit is being siphoned out of the hospital and away from patient care!
and also- Kaiser (still!) does not have a local hospital. that new building on L is medical offices. they said they were going to build a hospital on that site over 15 years ago, yet they are still shipping their patients to off to Panorama City or Kaiser Sunset. that is, if they don’t admit them to AV Hospital, which is where they usually come. this isn’t a matter of AVH ‘not letting’ local facilities provide badly needed care, it is a matter of AVH being the ONLY local facility that is NOT a purely FOR-PROFIT entity!
anotherdummy says
You took the words right out of my mouth (or fingertips).
Anonymous says
Are they laying off the consultants that are working there? If you are getting rid of excess and trying to run a leaner organization, why are there consultants working on employee satisfaction or for that matter anywhere?
We need to remember this when we vote for the board of our district hospital..
Clinical staff are being laid off, but administration hires a consultant with ties to LA County…for their own political gain.
The employees should be outraged!
Ashley says
On the contrary you have to have someone dealing with human resource. It’s an investment. If you don’t listen to your employees they go sour and you have less employees but more unhappy employees that are less efficient. Just like you improve processes you have to deal with fatigue, satisfaction and overall emotion of the employee. They’re not robots or numbers. An employee satisfaction consultant is a must.
Anonymous says
Tell that to all the employees that have lost there jobs after many years of service. AVH has more HR employees than most larger hospitals….but they hire consultants?? Everyone knows how the politics works at AVH! Read the other posts!
dumbandblind says
Cost cutting to afford the paychecks of the Administrator and Board. Simple.
Viktor says
The USA spends double what other countries do for the same caliber of medical care. Expenses must be cut to save the country from bankruptcy, and the least efficient facilities will be the first to be cut.
Irena says
Keep in mind that AVH is not a privately owner/operated hospital. It is a health care district which is a public entity. The chairman of the board is an elected official. Don’t like the direction AVH is heading remember that around election time and get out and vote.
sikntired says
The healthcare system in general cannot support an all RN staff.Never should have let those experienced LVN ‘s go.
If they had only got those Chinese women over here to have their anchor babies, dang.
William says
Is there anything that works well in Lancaster?
Anything?
Susan says
Yes, there is. It used to be Lancaster Community Hospital. And now, well, it’s Palmdale Regional Medical Center.
John says
NOPE!
anotherdummy says
Palmdale Regional is a private, for-profit hospital which is not full service. They do not serve pediatrics, obstetrics, trauma, or mental health. In addition to not being able to serve those particular patients, they are also able to turn away Medi-Cal and uninsured patients.
Antelope Valley Hospital, on the other hand, is a full service non-profit facility which does not have the luxury of turning patients away based on their ability to pay for services.
It is not about Palmdale vs Lancaster, William (though by everything you post, every issue is Palmdale vs Lancaster or left vs right to you). Antelope Valley Healthcare District also has components in Palmdale.
Sam says
Actually you have some things wrong about Palmdale Regional. You are right that it is not full service because they don’t have units for pediatrics, obstetrics, or mental health. They do treat trauma patients as often those kinds of patients are not stable enough to transfer to AV.
You are completely wrong however when it comes to turning away patients. No hospital can turn away patients due to EMTALA rules… regardless of ability to pay. They also treat medi-cal patients.
There are many aspects to the struggles of both hospitals… we must be able to discuss these issues without distorting facts so that hopefully we can make sure that our local healthcare is high quality.
anotherdummy says
EMTALA only impacts a hospital’s ability to turn away emergency patients based on ability to pay….
The Palmdale ED can, and does, stabilize any emergent condition then discontinue care. They then either send the patients away, or transfer them to AV Hospital. AV Hospital, being a public facility, cannot turn away a patient (even non-emergency) based on ability to pay.
William says
@anotherdummy
Oh, but it IS about Lancaster versus Palmdale or haven’t you been paying attention?
When Palmdale had no hospital at all, AV Hospital which is LOCATED IN LANCASTER, tried to prevent Palmdale Regional Medical Center from building on its current site and lost that fight, thankfully.
When a bond issue was passed to build a college campus in Palmdale, AV College took the money and built an auditorium on its campus LOCATED IN LANCASTER.
The city of Lancaster tried to give money to a car dealer in Palmdale to get him to LOCATE IN LANCASTER which was illegal. A 2 year time limit made the move possible eventually.
Lancaster has tried to interfere in Palmdale’s politics for many years, the latest being Lancaster’s mayor involved in a lawsuit over at-large council seat elections.
Lancaster’s mayor and council tried to prevent Palmdale from building a clean natural gas power plant by sending mailers and speaking at a meeting telling lies about it ‘killng the children’ and other lies. But, we all know that it was about competition for Rex’s solar farms and his general envy and efforts to harm Palmdale any way he can.
So, I love it when the blvd is turning out to be a mess and economic sinkhole and Rex threatens to close the Metrolink station as a fix to ‘save the blvd’ from the homeless population. The blvd needs ‘saving’ already after only ~4 years? It thought it was the ‘fix’ for the deserted Lancaster Boulevard of old. I predicted that the blvd was going to turn out like it did shortly after it opened and my critics got their panties all twisted up.
I loved it when Lancaster’s bond rating was lowered while Rex boasts and brags about what a great city he runs like his fiefdom.
I loved it when Starwoods moved and Rex sued the company which killed 2 birds with 1 stone. 1. Lancaster lost a business. 2. Lancaster now has a reputation that its mayor sues businesses in his own city. Good luck attracting new business, Rex. You put some $$$$s in your pocket while giving Lancaster a bad reputation. ‘Business friendly’ city, really?
I loved it when Fresca II moved to the Antelope Valley Mall’s Restaurant Row on its own. Same with Smart n Final.
I loved it when Chick Fil A, a conservative company that is closed on Sunday’s, located in Palmdale instead of the ‘Christian community’ of Lancaster, California. Why was that, anotherdummy? L-town has a slightly larger population and, of course, the world famous, ‘safest place in the universe’, blvd and the LBC. It would have been a natural choice for such a company.
I loved in when Dick’s Sporting Goods located at the Mall instead of …………..where in the heck could it locate in Lancaster? Anyway, it didn’t.
I loved it when The Habit Burger and Krispy Kreme located in Palmdale.
Doesn’t it seem, anotherdummy and those others that get all upset when I criticize Lancaster,(too bad) given all the antagonistic behavior of Lancaster’s city government and other Lancaster institutions toward Palmdale that Lancaster is getting its just desserts? And, Palmdale’s hands are clean.
When it comes to Palmdale vs Lancaster, “Living well is the best revenge” comes to mind. Palmdale has done nothing I can recall to harm Lancaster in the ways that Lancaster, it’s leaders and its various institutions have done to interfere with or harm Palmdale.
Palmdale just plugs along providing the best services, retail, dining and recreation that it can given the succession of recessions that have impacted the Antelope Valley. Oh, and Palmdale’s crime rate and unemployment rate has been consistently lower than Lancaster’s year after year.
Consider that Macy’s and the YardHouse opened in Palmdale in the middle of the Great Recession we are still recovering from. These big companies must know something. They both were smart enough not to locate in Lancaster, I’ll give them that.
So, what else ya got, anotherdummy? Solar farms??? I don’t hear Lancaster residents rejoicing about the solar farms or the proposed roundabouts or the closing of the Metrolink station or much of anything.
But, there’s a go-kart race comin’ which will distract them for a couple days. Bread and circuses* and all that.
Did I cause all the misfortune to befall Lancaster with my comments here on the AV Times? I wish I was that powerful. No, it’s Rex Parris and his minions on the council and elsewhere, y’know, the ‘good ol’ boys’ that took care of their own interests first and also the Lancaster residents and voters who turned a blind eye to what is so obvious to everyone else. Are you one of the those ‘blind men’ anotherdummy?
*From Wikipedia (and see how well it fits Lancaster)
“Bread and circuses” (or bread and games) (from Latin: panem et circenses) is metonymic for a superficial means of appeasement. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the creation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through diversion; distraction; or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace,[1] as an offered “palliative.” Juvenal decried it as a simplistic motivation of common people.[2][3][4] The phrase also implies the erosion or ignorance of civic duty amongst the concerns of the commoner.
rooney says
Just in case you don’t know, Palmdale Community is Lancaster Community.
From experience and doctors statements, I don’t trust either hospital. I told my husband if I can get to Burbank at St Joe’s hospital, find a way. I don’t want to be up here in either of these hospitals.
I’m sure sorry for those who are losing their jobs. I know the feeling. I’m also sorry for those who need quality care and don’t get it.
jdizzlle says
You guys think that’s bad???? At least union employees are getting a notice. None union employees are showing up to work just to be informed they are layed off and then escorted off the premises. Any none union employee can show up to work any day now just to be informed on the spot they have been layet off and no longer have a job. The moral in the hospital is really low u feel the tension and can’t help but to feel bad for everyone.
Gloria Apostol says
Don’t blame Palmdale Regional for AV hospitals problems, they wanted the contract for the Trauma hospital and look what Trauma they’ve gotten all the uninsured aliens and other non-insured. Obama care will wipe the Medical field to a halt for everyone. All hospitals will suffer also. Just wait and see how long you will be sitting at the ER dept. to be seen in the near future.
Susan says
Our new private family practice may end up being our closest ER. Sad.
gemini says
One big problem is that it seems too many people go to the hospital when they can go to an Urgent Care office. Flu’s, colds, can be treated at their offices.
tina says
How ACA impacts hospitals:
HOSPITALS
1 The Affordable Care Act allows the federal government to withhold Medicare payments from hospitals if too many patients return within 30 days of discharge for certain ailments such as a heart attack or pneumonia. This means there will be more focus on what happens when you leave the hospital following surgery or treatment. Instead of one quick phone call to see if you’re okay, the hospital may assign a nurse to make sure you fill your prescriptions and actually have a follow-up appointment with your regular doctor.
2 There will be more emphasis on improving the quality of care in hospitals by reducing complications from infections. This has been an industry priority for years, but now, poorly performing hospitals will take a financial hit if they don’t improve. In fiscal 2015, federal reimbursement rates will be cut by 1 percent to hospitals that have the highest rates of infection acquired in the hospital.
3 Hospitals are big businesses with a lot of moving parts behind the scenes. Imagine if your office had new policies to implement, with new partners, new billing, requiring a new set of reporting using new forms. And everyone needs to be trained in all the new procedures. Hospitals are already doing a lot of the training now.
4 Because of all the new regulations and changes to how hospitals are paid, look for more mergers and consolidation. Health systems such as Barnabas or Atlantic Health will benefit from focusing resources on clinics and urgent care centers as opposed to relying on stand-alone hospitals to generate all their revenue.
5 Hospitals are already in their third year of cuts to Medicare reimbursements. The savings were used to help pay for the new law. The thinking is that in the long term, that continued drop in revenue will be made up by the jump in new patients as more people get private insurance. In theory, that means fewer uninsured will show up for free treatment at hospitals — so-called charity care that has drained hospital coffers
via – somewebsiteigoogled.com
Susan says
This was the best post for me, understanding what they were trying to say. This did that well. Thanks for this post, wherever it was from.
ER staff says
The article states av hospital serves 235 patients a day in-patient care areas. What about ER? It’s horrible coming into the ER with 130 patients. Not 235 patients in a day, but 130 patients at that given time! You will have one nurse in the ambulance bay triaging a chest pain, then an overdose comes in right behind that one, and then another chest pain comes in right before a respiratory distress. This is all at once when the RN has barely started assessing the first patient. The RN attends to the overdosing patient and the patients with chest pain could be having a heart attack. This is one example that can and has happened in the ER. I can tell you now, getting rid of our EKG techs will affect our quality of care. Afterall, patient care comes first. I am sure that RNs are competent or can learn to do without our EKG techs but if you cut the hospital’s resources, including lab and RT, there will be a delay. It will be very difficult for nurses to draw their own blood, start their own breathing tx, and do their EKG in an already very busy environment (as mentioned above)with short staffing. Now we have these layoffs?
anon says
But then how come the hospital has money to purchase all those expensive and unnecessary palm trees (heard that average cost is about $10-12K per palm tree), if there is a code blue should we ask the patients to go to the nearest palm tree ???
The RN’s are already pushed to the limit regarding patient care and documentation, now they are trying to load more responsibilities to them. We should have the CEO and his buddies to “walk a mile in our shoes” so they can realistically make a decision that some disciplines are “not necessary in direct patient care”. It is a shame when a new leadership view this hospital and their personnel as a numbers in a spreadsheet, without realizing the consequences their actions will impact negatively our patient care.
Lead by example and cut your outrageous salaries first if you are truly concerned that wages are the cause of your poor decisions.
anon says
Those palm trees and the upgrades to the hospitals were made using Bonds. The Bonds have nothing to do with why this is happening.
anon says
Still that bond money should not be used for such outrageous waste of money, this is not a Vegas Resort; how about using that money wisely in items that would benefit patient care directly?
anon says
Bond money isn’t ever to be used for patient care. When you take out a bond you have to use it for what you said you were going to use it for. The bonds the hospitals took out many years ago were for infrastructure upgrades. You can’t move that money around and use if for something else. The hospital has to stay in compliance with state and federal regulations as far as building codes are concerned. The hospital was aging and was in badly in need of some upgrades in order to stay compliant. The palm trees are just cosmetic. There were millions of dollars in upgrades to the lab, Cat Scans, and other various areas of the building that do relate to patient care. They also had to have extensive earthquake testing done.
Viktor says
Use of bond money may be designated, but payment of bonds must be from revenues which could go for patient care.
outrageous pay says
Is it true that there was a new employee hired to have the the hospitals financial problem in HIS best interest~ and then spent thousands of dollars making HIS new office comfortable enough for HIMSELF!!???
Susan says
As an RN myself who has worked at AV, I applaud your letter. Well said. Patient care is compromised now more than ever after eliminating these jobs.
avh respiratory therapist says
So are we off the hook if we haven’t received a letter? I’m guessing bumping rights will bump me right out.
Lancaster Resident says
No, just because you didn’t get a letter doesn’t mean you are off the hook. The people that send these letters out usually aren’t up to date on the unions rules for layoffs. Usually the last hired- low seniority go first, then perdiems, casuals, part timers. They usually keep higher skilled and those with more certifications. When all those people are gone, if the numbers still aren’t low enough for them they can request cuts to full timers. This letter is just the beginning could take weeks past the given date, even months before anything happens. The Union and all members need to stand Strong! If you are given a load to that’s not safe, high points, miss breaks and or lunch, and a union member you must fill out an objection of work load. Start today and really push it after Oct 10th. Oh and all of you that have been on LEAVE forever aren’t safe either, you’ve become burden on your dept, so don’t be surprised when you don’t have a job to return to.
S says
The hospital lab just hired several new employees some of which are not even off training. Why spend money on hiring new employees just to lay off half the department?
bluiblnd says
It saves them money. They hire new employees for lesser pay and let go the ones that have been there awhile. A**holes!
K says
No they get rid of everyone from part time down including employees with 30 years, 12 years, 10 years, and 8 years experience.
Anon says
The way the hospital went about it was terrible for some people to just receive a letter in the mail no warning no nothing . People have families and people have given this company 30+ years with a slap in the damn face . Yea let’s retire early what if we are not old enough. Wow . But yet you expect the upmost in entirety from your employees. Patient care would not be affected is what was announced in the email when in actuality patient care is going to go down . Not all nurses are going to want to pick up the slack left for them when they are already overwhelmed with their job as it is. This company expects way too much when given nothing to the employees to work with .. Most days and nights are already under staffed causing less patient care given. Nothing will ever change. Everyone thought Obama was going to save the day when in actuality it’s worse.
bluiblnd says
…they expect employees to conform to high standards but mgmt has nobody to answer to…they pretty much do what they please! I’ve worked there many years and I can tell you first hand what goes on there! They probably wouldn’t have to layoff if they let go the useless mgmt! And, they practice a LOT of nepotism & cronyism, whether theire qualified for the JOB or not. Most times I would skip my lunch & breaks in order to get my work done, and what did I get in return? LAYOFF! I will never work in that sh#t hole again!!
Susan says
Good for you! I hope your next job is the one you want until you retire.
Alex says
Healthcare has always been contingent on profits, even before Obamacare. It’s really sad healthcare is reduced to the profits that those that do not even see patients receive! Not enough profit, get rid of your staff and let patient care suffer? Who’s plan was this??
Jim says
I certainly do not know how efficient the hospital administration is but there are questions that need to be answered.
How much does the CEO and administrative staff make in salary and pension. Is their compensation in line with other hospitals that are facing similar financial difficulty?
What is the nurse/patient ratio compared to like facilities?
I article seems to indicate that much of the problem is due to unreimbursed/under reimbursed costs attributed to serving certain low income patrons. Is that code word for illegal aliens?
Does that mean that everyone served by the AV hospital will received less than adequate care do to the fact that they are forced to serve illegal aliens at unreasonable rates?
Sound like they should consider a lawsuit against the State of California.
Lancaster Resident says
No it’s actually all the medical Medicaid patients that don’t pay for healthcare that the hospital won’t get paid for serving due to OBAMA CARE not being a hit ! and last time I checked it was ALL RACES on MEDICAL !
Dean says
Yes Obama fever has come fullcircle and there is no way you that voted for this ____ can take it back. SO SAD, READ FOR YOURSELVES NEXT TIME…. Please for the good of the nation!
anon says
It’s only 420 beds and the census has been low for over 2 years. The hospital was averaging more around 280 beds. It’s a struggle to keep the hospital functioning with so little help. They were already pushed to the limits. The Affordable Care Act is going to cause the closure of hospitals all over this country. It cuts the reimbursements to hospitals for those on govt medical insurance such as Medicare. The state of California has also cut it’s reimbursements for MediCal patients. You cannot expect a hospital to provide care for free. Someone has to pay for it.
Anonymous says
Low census??? Then why do ER patients have to wait hours, sometimes DAYS for a bed??????
common sense says
Because the are no staff available to care for them.
Anon says
420 bed facility, not 460.
Lancaster Resident says
Patient Care is already on the boarder line of poor at AV Hospital, due to staffing problems, short staff, members on leave, no registry relief. The hospital also has a poor billing system and staff that defer treatments/care for patients when they are over loaded. Patient to staff ratio’s are higher at AV than they should be on most days/nights and shouldn’t be deemed safe, but are administors. Less administors, more medical staff and billing personel would benefit this hospital. Good luck finding qualified nurses to take on the extra work of all the techs that may be gone, especially with winter around the corner. Few nurses have the skills and knowledge they will need with this possible loss and CAN’T by any means acquire it in 30 days.
av defend yourself says
Idk why the hospital isn’t clarifying more. First the remodeling has nothing to do with it. Those construction grants were set up by our last ceo and are completely separate. Those grants can not be used to save what’s being lost in the patient care area because the company who gave them won’t allow it. Second palmdale regional has nothing to do with it, they are a completely profit hospital and yes as with every hospital they sure aren’t perfect either. Third, It’s Medical and Obama care screwing the hospital. People don’t realize the amount of people AV serves even with palmdale regional open and the lack of payment the hospital is reimbursed by government contracts like medical and Medicare. We have soo many people with government funded insurance treating the ER like it’s an urgent care it’s not even funny. Not that I’m excusing it, but the majority of the patients coming in are extremely rude and act like we’re a hotel and EVERY THING is free. It’s hard to get your job done when you’re already understaffed and are treating difficult patients. Maybe if the general public understood a sore throat or twisted knee isn’t a reason to call an ambulance for a ride to the ER, ER staff would be able to give more attention to critical patients and we wouldn’t have to fight for reimbursement on government contracts we’re not receiving.
lisa hadley says
I’ve worked there for over 15 years and this is my 2nd layoff and I can tell you first hand that the problem is management! They have way too many in mgmt who sit in their offices all day and don’t have a clue as to what’s going on in their departments. I’ve had fellow employees taking 2 hrs lunches instead of their allotted 30 mins since we were not required to clock in & out, I had a supervisor that was racist whom bullied me & discriminated against me on a daily basis, my manager once threw papers in my face! When I complained to my director nothing was done so I took it to the union, they did absolutely nothing even though $70 was taken from my pay every month for dues, THE UNION IS ABSOLU TLY WORTHLESS!! After I complained about my working conditions I was laid off within weeks! And my black supervisor? There were no repercussions to her actions! I bet if it had been reversed I would have been fired on the spot! I had an employee in the business office who visited the ladies room several times a day to snort something up her nose and would disrupt other employees, we all complained but it was not addressed b/c she was the only medi-cal billet! I could go on & on with the travesties that go on at that place. Their crooks!!
SMHx2 says
Wow, they could at least use “mail-merge” and add a “Dear John Doe” to the letter, this sucks!!!
lucy says
They have questionable accounting if for no other reason than on the website “transparent California” where you can see what local, regional employees, and school districts and hospital districts make and what their pensions are, AV Hospital refuses to publish their numbers. Its a glaring omission when the others include theirs.
anotherdummy says
AV Hospital employees are not public employees.
lucy says
Look at transparent California
anon says
Look again, it can all be found on the State Controller website under the special district section. However, employee compensation aside – the majority of patients are either uninsured, or insured by govt backed programs such as Medi-Cal or Medicare, which has an extremely low reimbursement rate which is only set to go lower once ‘Obamacare’ is done being implemented. This is not “code” for illegal aliens as someone previously suggested, but rather a reflection of what this A.V. community consists of: Low income, homeless, jobless, under/uninsured residents who (as mentioned previously in the comments) use the E.R. as a urgent care center. When you have little or no insurance there are not many other places to turn – and the Non Profit facility simply cannot sustain itself when the majority of its reimbursement is literally pennies to the dollar.
Logan says
Of couse Palmdale Regional had something to do with it. It’s economics. If there is a void in care or if it can be done more efficiently, it will be filled by the market.
anon says
This has nothing to do with Palmdale Regional. It has everything to do with the Affordable Care Act. ACA cuts reimbursements to hospitals. The hospital is losing 6 million in reimbursements from the Govt. Whenever the hospital treats a patient on Govt medical insurance such as Medicare or MediCal the hospital has to send in paperwork to be reimbursed. Hospitals cannot continue to provide free healthcare.
Logan says
Obamacare at it’s best. I bet most of the nurses voted (if they do vote) for Mr. O but in the end they get the boot. This is what happens when you vote with the heart and not the brain. In the end, no one wins except the business and people who knew the end game and were in position to capitalize on it.
ANONYMOUS says
FINALLY! I was waiting for someone to break the news publicly. Thank you for uploading the letters. Employees have not been kept in the loop with this whole thing and most of us have not had the opportunity to see the actual letters, so all of our information is coming from the grape vine.
nick says
Pathetic, the vice president needs to be freaking fired!
anotherdummy says
The vice president / CHRO didn’t decide who was laid off all by himself. The entire executive team and board of directors no doubt made those decisions together.
Big Rick says
I wonder if Palmdale Regional had anything to do with this?.
anon says
No.