Despite all UHS Management's claims of being experts in implementing transitions, citing their broad experience and unparalleled resources in owning multiple hospitals across the U.S., I felt no plan; each day it was free-fall. Every morning, my gut was in knots not knowing what to expect.
Organizational policy, procedure, and communication systems -- basic infrastructure required to perform one's job -- lagged. I had no phone in my office for months. Faxes and photocopiers -- the staple of every business -- were replaced with inferior models that broke down, disrupted work flow, hence productivity, hence negatively impacted patients' treatment.
From the period of March 2014 - August 2014 when I was a member of line staff, I can assert that conditions were often unsafe. Patients appeared on the units with no admission papers. There were staffing shortages. One weekend, patients on all three units were without toilet paper. Is this not appalling?
Does this truly reflect "Premiere Treatment" UHS's glossy new PR brochure advertises?
Working under such a level of double-speak and denial is absolutely antithetical to the credo of psychotherapy. I started to feel crazy myself and soon found another job as a therapist in a more stable working environment at a company that endeavored to abide by its ethics and principles.
