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January 27, 2007
More On Enloe's Bad Day
This thing with Enloe has really been bothering me lately. It really shouldn't...I don't work there any more. But I do have friends and some relations that work there...or worked there. Most of them don't have jobs any more. Still, I seem to be taking Enloe cutting 170 something jobs, and planning to cut more, very personally.
I guess it's because Enloe is still the regional trauma center and major medical center for my parents, grandparents, one brother, and his family. Being this, if any of them get seriously ill or injured, they'll be cared for at Enloe...and I can't help but think that with all these cut backs Enloe's quality of care is going to, if it isn't already, suffer.
I've always been one to step up to the plate and defend Enloe. I worked there for five years, considered them a good employer, and would have their back if anyone spoke ill of them. I just can't bring myself to do that any more. Maybe that's what's eating me. Is it a fallen idol thing? Now when someone speaks ill of Enloe I can't help but agree with them...and it's not just out of spite, because I want to defend them. But when the criticisms I hear ring true, I'm not going to refute them.
Take this conspiracy theory for instance. I thought this up a few days ago and then wrote it off as BS until I talked with a couple of ex Enloe employees and a couple who still have jobs. They all said the same thing, basically, so maybe there's something to it. Here it is:
Nobody can believe that the powers that be at Enloe could be so dim witted to think that laying off a few hundred employees wouldn't bite them in the ass, especially when it's high-census time. Do they think these people are just going to be waiting around when the expansion project is done and come back to work for Enloe? No hard feelings...start me back with no seniority. Also, nobody can believe that they'd be so cruel as to send a few hundred employees into the Chico unemployment force. These are people who've been with Enloe for over a decade, many of them. They're so specially educated that they have no place outside of Enloe. Also, it's a real pain to get a decent paying job in Chico. The students come in, take up jobs, and under bid each other for wages. It took my wife almost 3 months to find a job...ANY job when she was looking. She's no dummy either...graduated from CSUC 2nd in the UNIVERSITY, honors in the major...la la la....3 months, one job offer, $11 an hour answering phones. Lucky for us she got a great employer out of the deal...I digress. So, if neither of these things are true then what's Enloe doing? My opinion, and that of others, is that they're TRYING to run themselves into the ground. Stick with me here. They lay off all their employees, build a monstrosity of a new campus, then when they can't staff it, sell it to a mega-corp like Kaiser, Sutter, CHW or any of the others. Someone, I don't know who, walks away a millionaire, the city loses a long-time friend and neighbor. I'd dismiss it as crazy too if other people hadn't brought it up to me. Got any other explainations?
I do wish this feeling of sorrow and worry over Enloe would go away. I have other things to be worried about. But it won't go away. Enloe, and Chico, are in deep trouble. Enloe's digging it's own grave, and throwing the dirt into the grave it dug for Chico. Bad bad bad.
Posted by at 06:00 PM | TrackBack
January 12, 2007
On Enloe's Bad Day
Enloe Medical Center announced Thursday that 179 of it's staff would be layed off in the coming days. There's a lot of reasons for this, one is the rising cost of providing health care, another is the rising cost of going forward with Enloe's expansion.
While expanding Enloe Medical Center is absolutely vital let me point one thing out. A hospital without adequate staff to care for patients is a worthless building that takes up space. Last winter Enloe was constantly at or very near patient capacity, it was expected that the census would drop during the summer, it didn't. If the hospital is full and there's less staff to care for patients, then how will patients be cared for?
The majority of the layoffs were handed out to Certified Nursing Assistants. CNA's provide direct patient care, perform vital functions such as taking of vital signs, weights, bed changes, and helping patients bathe and bathroom. Enloe claims that the CNA layoffs are actually a good thing because now RN's will be more involved in direct patient care. After five years of employment at Enloe I can honestly say I've never seen RN's just sitting around idle while CNA's do all the work. The amount of paperwork that's demanded of RN's keeps them at the desk quite a bit, but it doesn't mean they're just sitting around with their feet up, they're performing a function that must be completed. This function is so vital that the Medicare system has said that if it's not done, and done just right, that payment will be denied to the hospital.
I think Enloe has begun the process of sinking itself on this one. Staff will leave and not come back when this expansion is complete. Those who got layoffs will find other work, others will see the writing on the wall and leave of their own accord. Those that will stay will become so over worked and over stressed that their quality of care will be at risk of being compromised. The community will demand a hospital that can meet it's needs, and some other mega-hospital corporation will fill that need. I realize the need for Enloe to cut costs, but this is certainly not the way to do it.
Posted by at 09:08 PM | Comments (2)
January 09, 2007
On 2006
Just in case any of you weren't paying attention last year, here's a re-cap of the major world news for 2006. I wish that I could take credit for putting this together but I can't. Basically, I saw this, saw how appropriate it was, and reprinted it in a feble attempt to keep my blog going while I'm busy moving.
***2006 MAJOR NEWS EVENTS
In political news, President Bush urged Congress to [something involving the Middle East and the U.S. Military]. [Group of jerkoffs] supported the president, but [other group of jerkoffs] strongly opposed the president on this issue.
Also in politics, [random senator or congressman] was embroiled in a scandal when it was discovered that [he or she] [accepted money illegally and/or had inappropriate relations with a minor].
But 2007 wasn't just a big year for politics. The world of entertainment also had a lot to offer us in the way of news. First of all, who could forget when [random celebrity] was busted for DUI and sent to rehab. I think the image of [said celebrity's] mugshot will be burnt into my memory forever.
And who could forget when [B or C level celebrity] came out of the closet. As if that wasn't shocking enough, [celebrity couple] got divorced after [single-digit number] years of marriage. And the release of [lame movie] sparked protests from the Catholic church and helped [lame movie] go on to make over $500 million worldwide.
But it wasn't all bad news out of Hollywood. [Different celebrity couple] gave birth to a beautiful baby [boy or girl] and named it [random object that only a retard would name their baby]. They weren't the only ones with baby news. [Attention-starved, talentless celebrity] adopted a baby from [third world country].
It was also a banner year in sports. [Athlete that I forgot was still playing] broke [some record]. Also, the [random team name] shocked everyone when they won [name of championship trophy for corresponding sport].
Sadly, it wasn't all good news in the sports world. [Asshole] tested positive for steroid use and his case was [quickly forgotten or ignored]. There was also a huge brawl in [sports league dominated by black athletes] that resulted in the suspension of [3-5 dickheads covered in tattoos]. And [superstar athlete] was accused of [rape or murder], but the charges were dropped due to [superstar athlete] paying a large sum of money to [victim].
In world news, a [random natural disaster] struck [country somewhere in Asia] and killed [10,000-100,000] people.
In U.S. news, the entire nation prayed for [kidnapped blonde college girl and/or seven-year-old blonde girl], only to be saddened when her dead body was discovered [one week to four months] later.
Finally, who could forget that 2007 is the year that gave us [name of popular website]. The website that revolutionized [pointless activity] and had the entire world [something that wastes your life].
The great thing is that if I want to, I'm sure I can re-use this next year with very little if any editing.