Pros
Highly reputed institution that serves a large number of really sick and complex patients, with excellent doctors, nurses and other providers.
Cons
The main problems are with the higher echelons of leadership. Having worked here for some time it is sad to see how dehumanized and how impersonal the culture has become, especially after Dr. Feigin passed away. The organization is very top-down and is run in an old-fashioned authoritarian manner. Employees are managed through intimidation and punishment rather than coaching or encouragement. The nurses are treated like factory workers, not as trained professionals or as humans. The hospital administrators and executives are all afraid of the CEO, Mark Wallace, and everything they do is designed to please him and give him only positive news. He seems to encourage this as his favorite saying is ’We are perfect and improving’. As a result, executives are scared to ‘speak truth to power’ and try to manage problems on the ‘down-low’ while making everything seem perfect on the surface. However this game is often obvious to everyone. The fear is justified because every few months an executive is fired or disappears mysteriously - a fact that be easily verified. It just does not feel safe to work here, even in a mid-level position. There is a lot of gossip, rumor-mongering and back stabbing. People are not used to having crucial conversations and talking it out in straightforward ways. Lower level administrators and executives use their connection to those in power to get ahead and to undermine others. Another unfortunate fact is that the compensation of many executives is tied to making budget and making a large margin, so these executives behave as if they work for a for-profit hospital. Money drives all decisions. There is a big focus on building and buying more buildings and on expanding and this often leads to shortage of personnel and resources - a cycle that has been repeated many times in the past few years. It feels like we are always playing catch up. Surprisingly the Board does not seem aware of the culture of the organization and its effects on employees. Neither does the media. The organization periodically does surveys of employee engagement and culture but the results are never shared with us.
