NorthIowaToday.com received the following letter in the mail this week. We make no assertions that anything in the letter is necessarily true. We invite our readers to comment as to whether they have heard anything about these statements, and if you work for Mercy, leave your thoughts as well.
My husband was in an accident about 5 years ago. We also had terrible care from our Doctor who released him with no restrictions even though he had a Grade 3 concussion and a torn knee ligament. We followed up with our family physician because we knew this ER Doctor was a wack. We were right. Last year my mother was being seen by both the Cancer Center and the Internal Medicine docs for Pancreatic Cancer. Her bowels were blocked (7 days) and the 2 docs sat there arguing with me about what should take place. One said take her straight to Hospice and the other said she should have surgery. Long story short, I would rather die than be treated for anything there. I will NEVER forget that experience and have spoke to my entire family about it so they are never put through that or me as a patient.
I worked at mercy for almost 2 years starting in 2005…I trained as a phlebotmist and really enjoyed it for awhile. The problem was mercy tells you they want you to treat patients good and the truth is they want you to do work like slaves. I was making a little more than eight dollars a hour to draw blood…I was up for a ten cents per hour raise and did not get it because I was told I took too much time “comforting” patients in the ER. I looked at the supervisor and said “what about the poster that hangs in the hallway with a caring hand over a hand” about how much Mercy “cares” about it’s patients? She just shook her head…but a girl I worked with used to take the cap off the needle to draw blood with her teeth, to save time…she got the ten cents…I am not making this up…this is the kind of crap that happens in probably most “non-profit” corporate greed factories….i do think the employees at mercy give the best care they can in spite of all this, but I left when “lean” came in….such a joke…
This problem is not unique to Mercy North Iowa. There is a nursing shortage everywhere. Yet nurses continue to be underpaid. However, due to the poor economy and dropping population it is difficult to attract the more skilled doctors as the primary payment method around here is most likely Medicare or Medicaid. . I don’t think there is a fix for this in the near future… at least until there is some resolve to the healthcare situation.
Management needs to go at Mercy. It’s time for change Mercy!
I was a recent overnight patient at Mercy – following a surgery. The care & respect I received were excellent, top of the line ! I could not have asked for better care – they were superb .
This is why nurses love what they do. Because of you, our patients! Thank you for posting.
Well, if you think Mercy care is bad now just you wait until Jan. 1, 2013 when the 30% reimbursment cuts ( Medicare) take place ( thanks to Obamacare). Yes, this will affect everyone, especially seniors who are on Medicare !
Republican blame game.
Democrat Denial. Fact of life, just wait for it, libby
I think we need to look at the date of March 23, 2010 and compare healthcare employee satisfaction rates before and after this date. The date on which President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It will now be harder than ever to attract and keep hard working happy employees in the healthcare field.
Have a friend who’s mother had surgery in Mason….during so, the surgeons cell phone rang in which he left to answer it…never scrubbed back in. She got staff infection. Was transported to Mayo…later died because of it. The doctor from Mayo spoke to the mother’s son and specificity stated…”We are sick and tired of fixing Mason City’s screw-ups…we’ve been trying to close that hospital down for years!” My opinion….I wouldn’t take my dieing dog to that place….additionally, negligence from a doctor in RRMR, killed my father…have no faith in the medical field….its all about filling their own pockets…
A lot of charges, but I don’t see any proof.
Take your blinders off.That place is filthy..Some of it due to budget cuts.But most of it due to the some of the help.Only about half of the cleaning staff works.The rest walk about and look busy.They still have to clean up the worst messes you can imagine..
My last experience with Mercy was lackluter for sure. I was there because I had to have a baby by c-section. The delivery went grea, that was the good part. The first round of nuses I had were nice and not so irritating. The last round were irritating, rude and unprofessional.
I had asked for a pertussis booster, which I never recieved. With whoooping cough having come around I wanted to be able to protect my then newborn. Their food was horrible too. The doctors were awesome but overall hospital stay sucked.
I love my job (of 15 Years) at Mercy. I suggest if you have a complaint, to follow the chain of command and go to your leader or supervisor and NOT post something like this on a social media site. If you do not feel like you have gotten resolution, there is a chain of command for that as well. Try and be part of the solution. It is discouraging for those of us who LOVE our jobs to see something like this in the media. Very unprofessional.
If you love your job so much why not post with your real name?
Sounds like to me you work in a office or management somewhere.You either have blinders on,or you are a puppet.I have seen it in all departments, what goes on there.Nurses and staff are overworked and understaffed.Yet each department has managers,Directors,Team Leads,Foremans,Etc.Basically too many chiefs and not enough indians.For example look at the security staff.Half of them either cant walk or are perverts,the other half are good people.They have to cuts jobs just to make budget!I dont feel safe at all with some of those people and half couldnt help you.Also look at the housekeeping staff.They are treated like dirt ,and clean up some of the nasty spills you will ever see.I think some of you management people should walk in the employees shoes before you cast another stone.As far as take it to your management,I have done this.They dont care at Mercy!Cutting the throat of your employees,while the rest live high on the hog.I hope you can live with yourself! Mercy Visitor
Heavens no! My talent in nursing lies at the bedside. I have not the education nor the desire to work in management. I love patient care and my job. Yes, nursing is very hard work. But we all knew that when we signed up for it. I am greatful (in this economy) for a great job with great benefits. Mercy paid for my education to become a nurse and that changed my life. Even on the tough days, I leave work every day feeling that I have made a difference. I am sad to see such negetive comments. I hope it gets better for those dissatisfied. I truly do.
My wife worked for Mercy of North Iowa for 8 years as an RN. She tried to follow the chain of command to deal with her issues with Mercy management. A paper trail of “misconduct” came of this until she was pushed out of her position. The only place she has had any issues with “misconduct” is with Mercy of North Iowa. She has never had an issue before or after her time with Mercy. Her opinion of the management in her department is “cliquey”, “immature” and “unprofessional”. It is her opinion, but I would be interested in hearing from others their experiences with Mercy management.
My father died in that rathole and he didn’t have to. There was never the same doctor around and no one could answer our questions as to what was going on. If I was like the rest of this sue happy nation of ours I am sure I could have won a lawsuit. I chose not to. Within 15 min of my father dying they asked me how much longer I would be because they needed the room. I wanted to break the guy’s nose who told me this. A distraught son grieving over his father dying and hospital staff have the audacity and insensitivity to ask a question like that. If me or any member of my family is in that situation again you can be sure I will go to Iowa City or Rochester. Mercy is pathetic.
Yep, they did the same thing to me when my mother died, and acted offended when I didn’t have the funeral home telephone number handy to remove her body.
Has it occurred to you that if the doctors and nurses didn’t know what was wrong with your father then maybe it was something that was beyond their control and would be beyond the control of any hospital? The problem with some people is that they take their loved one to the hospital after they have watched them abuse themselves with alcohol,drug and over-eating for years and years and then expect a healthcare worker to fix them in a matter of hours. It takes a whole lot more than that. It’s just like when someone who get a kidney transplant goes out and ruins it by drinking and not taking their prescribed medications and then when it fails they expect to get another one. NOT! Grow up people. Sometimes it’s God’s way of saying its the end of life. Exactly how old was your Dad anyway? Was he 25 or was he 95? Did he live a good life? Before you judge a whole hospital by the action of a few people, stop and think about the whole picture. There are a lot of good healthcare workers in Mason City and a lot of good physicians. I would take my family to Mercy in a heartbeat! Why? Because it’s close to home and if something is going wrong and I need immediate care I will get attentions there. If I need to get more and better attention I am smart enough to ask to be transferred to another hospital. You have to have some common sense when you go to the hospital just like when you go to the store.
You are an idiot, debsue, and I will tell you exactly why. You have NO information nor do you have ANY details on how or why my father died….nor do you have ANY idea why he was in the hospital in the first place. That in itself makes you look like a rambling fool. You jump to the conclusions of alcohol and drug abuse and that nonsense. I am pretty sure most people who had friends or relatives die from such reasons wouldn’t be blaming the hospital. Sure is funny, when it was time to make out the death certificate they knew EXACTLY what he died from yet we could find a person in the entire hospital who knew his or her head from their ass when it came to know what was going on on a day to day basis. We’d be sitting with my dad and would ask for a doctor and I could have watched to full pro football games and still no one would show up. It was pathetic. And the bedside manner of the doc I finally saw AS my father was dying and AFTER he died was a pathetic display. I hope you never have to experience what I had to experience at that sad excuse for a hospital…. and unless you have all of the details of what goes on with something it might be better if you just kept your judgemental, stupid mouth shut.
Wow! Not sure what Mercy you’re all talking about. My experiences there have been fantastic with great employees taking care of me and my family. They’re the biggest employer in North Iowa – not a cancer spreading around as mentioned by someone previously. I feel lucky to live somewhere with such great healthcare! The unhappy employees need to become part of the solution – sounds like they’re part of the problem.
I worked and retired from Mercy after many good years. It was a fine place to work and I only have pleasant memories of it.
I was a patient several times within the hospital and have only good memories of how I was treated by the professional and caring staff.
It appears a lot of the comments place pertain to the Doctors offices which Mercy has little or no control over them.
Unfortunately the staffing problem is throughout the entire hospital.. I know of very few departments that are regularly, adequately staffed.
WHAT??? Almost ALL the doctor’s offices are owned by Mercy and the have total control over them. They dictate to the doctors how many patients they have to see in a day and how long the appointment time can be. If an office has too many doctors not making the quoata, then they downsize them, and that will include staffing also.
I wondered about what Dick Smith said because my doctor said their office was not allowed any more help by Mercy even when I pointed out how badly they needed more help at the reception desk. One person was having to answer the phone, check people in, and it was crazy busy for her.
I currently work at Mercy. I’ve been there nearly ten years and even in that very short amount of time (compared to many who are still there) I’ve seen great times and I’ve seen low. It certainly does seem that job satisfaction has been on the decline over the past 3-4 years. We try to be cheerleaders for eachother but it does get hard when you never get ahead. I love my co-workers and patients, and our community, and truly hope things turn around. For everyone’s sake.
I am just curious, does that coinside with the birth of the Lean system @ Mercy? Approximately? Just say’n.
Okay, don’t kill the messenger.
Are the nurses at Rochester or Iowa City represented by a Labor Union? If they are being treated like human beings they are more than likely Union Nurses. They are not there to bankrupt the system but to be treated fairly. Dont disrespect them for standing up for themselves and don’t be jealous of them for doing so. Maybe the local nurses should look at being represented as a whole. Just saying……
Now that the dreaded U word has been said. They do need a voice. Because they sure aren’t listening now. Complaints fall upon deaf ears. This is exactly why Unions got started in the first place.
Mercy is now considered Trinity Health. So is Trinity supposedly not for profit? Mercy has been claiming non profit status for years and that’s why they are constantly remodeling, adding on, etc. They have to spend those extra dollars somewhere. Too bad they don’t spend their extra dollars giving back to the community.
I have been a patient at Mercy quite a few times, and have a physician at Forest Park. I could not be happier.
Yet, I have seen where quite a few nursing temps have come and gone elsewhere in recent months. In one case, someone “forgot” to re-enter the contract, and the woman (quite qualified I may add) in the position went out of state instead of waiting.
My daughter who graduated in 2007 refused to work there because of the low pay ( she was given $10,000 more out of state ).
Of course, include Iowa’s low reimbursement rate for Medicare/Medicaid compared to neighboring states, and one can see why there are troubles at some medical facilities.
It’s about time Mercy started paying taxes here. Enough is enough.
Agreed-they are no longer a Catholic Charity and should lose that exemption. They are part of the reason our medical costs go up every year. It would be different if the money was going to the doctors or the staff but it is going to the stakeholders. It is a business and should be taxed as such.
I agree that it’s time for the government to revisit separation of church and state. To me, separation of church and state means that they shouldn’t get any breaks and should have no more standing than individuals. Get places like the Johnson building and all those parking lots back on the tax rolls.
Lean is a failure, no matter what people say, it fails everywhere.
It is supposed to make a more productive workplace. It is really used to get rid of people that actually do the work while keeping or increasing the number of management people.
I have been through this lean process before.
Mercy a non-profit???? really.
Why does Mercy spend so much money on advertising?? Does that even make sense? They are a monopoly in this area. They should team up with Alliant and Mediacom. But of course advertising is a big write off. Maybe if they used their advertising budget for ER staff they would be better off!!
Mercy is non-profit. They don’t need write-offs. They don’t pay taxes.
Whatever the reason, why would you spend so much money on advertising? I don’t see to many advertisements from Alliant bragging about themselves.
at WHY??…Alliant always brags about trimming and planting trees. They are a monopoly at least you can get a dish if you don’t like mediacom! Anyone else hear Allinat workers going on strike??
You are absolutely right. Mercy is a not for profit, 501 c(3) Corporation and they do not pay many (but not all) taxes.
However keep in mind that for accounting purposes, the more “loss” they show on paper the more bucks they can direct toward building projects, executive salaries and other expenses.
Its known as Corporate Welfare.
Mercy should learn from Alliant and treat their employees as well as Alliant does. Alliant will pay for their employees to have custom concrete patios…
What does that mean? That has nothing to do with bieng a monopoly.
Mercy will not change as they are doing exactly what the stakeholders and CEO’s want which is making money. The only way it will make any adjustments is when it hits them in the pocketbook. We must remember, it is just a money making business to them but so much more to the employees and patients. I had some experience about 3 years ago with Mercy and have to say the nurses and doctors I had were excellent. My wife just had surgery with follow up and again the care was excellent. My doctor at Regency spend as much time with me as needed and my check in time is in seconds. Maybe I am the exception as I have heard of the problems and understand them.
I don’t work at Mercy, but I’ve had two children there, and in my experience, it’s gone sadly downhill. The waiting room at the O.B. clinic was always overflowing, and at all of my appointments, I had to wait for over 45 minutes. When I gave birth to my son, the aftercare was terrible. Our first night in our room, my son started spitting up blood(which I guess is fairly common after birth…but I didn’t know that), my husband and I were frantically pushing the call button, and nobody came. My husband had to go in the hall and search for a nurse. When they came, they informed me it was normal and don’t worry. I then asked for clean sheets and a new gown (mine had blood and spit-up ALL over them) and the nurse rolled her eyes and said “You want me to bring you new sheets? I’ll try to find someone to do that for you.” It took HOURS for them to bring me fresh sheets and a clean gown. All the nurses seemed overworked and annoyed. I had to use my page button several times when I needed something, and I felt like there was no communication between one shift and the other. It costs TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars to give birth at Mercy, and the experience was terrible.
What is the deal with being called into an exam room for your (or your child’s) appointment, and then waiting in the exam room for another 20 minutes or more? Please let me wait in the waiting room where there are distractions like TV and crayons. It is hard to entertain a toddler in the exam room! I would love an alternative to Mercy…maybe they’re status quo but I sure would like to compare for myself. Anyone tried Gabrielson Clinic in CL?
If you have reason to see a physician, do not leave until you are satisfied. Ask questions, require clarification on tests, prescriptions you are given, what are they for and what could the side affects be. If he tries to rush you out, be adament. Don’t leave until you have all your questions and needs taken care of. If you feel intimidated in the dr. office, write possible questions out before you go in. If he acts like he’s in a hurry, ask him point blank, “are you trying to rush me?” You’re paying his bill, make him accountable to you.
The process of checking in was lengthy in both Mercy clinics due to a new program. This took way longer than before, even though the staff was very efficient. These are very busy offices, so a slower admission must be quite burdensome, especially when you have patients backed up and you know you must be efficient. As for the doctor, they were new to me and I needed a family dr. They were ok, but appeared under pressure and really did not interview me about my health. I am not criticizing this dr., they performed the best they could, with the time they had. I am wondering if this is all corporate driven rules and regulations they have to work under.
I was at the doctor’s office the other day, (a mercy doctor) and he was complaining to his office manager about his schedule being overbooked and how he cannot give adequate treatment to his patients with the overbookings. I used to work for the Mercy clinic network and overbooking was always an issue. The administration wants the doctors to see a certain number of patients every day, week, month, etc to fill their quota on their contract. So by seeing more patients than what they can actually handle in a day, good patient care goes right out the window. It’s ridiculous, with Mercy administration, it’s all about the almighty dollar and they don’t care if people get adequate care of not.
I was on the 5th floor recovering from an accident and have to say the staff there was the finest I have ever been around. The problem lies with the management and it’s warped use of the lean program to work people to death.
Hold up I thought 5 East was on the 5th floor? What type of “accident”
Most floors of Mercy have 2 sides…East & West. i.e. 5th floor has 5East AND 5West
Matt likes the Mercy of the chinese approach.
I have many friends that work in the phlebotomy department & they all say the same thing: the supervisor treats the employees like crap & many of the employees walk around texting & taking personal calls when they are suppose to be working. also they say, there is no equal enforcement of the rules. one friend has asked for her vacation time & has been denied 99% of the time, because they are too busy letting the suck ass people call in sick ALL THE TIME. yet the people that call in sick all the time are given their vacation time.
I quit Mercy back in 1997 shortly after a surgery procedure went bad and was taken back into surgery to correct the problem (an artery which hadn’t closed) and without medicine the wound was reopened, closed and IO was sent on my way. (A wonderful experience!) That was the last…from then on I went to U. of Iowa and was treated like a “king”. And after four more surgeries, nine stents, etc. etc., I’m doing pretty good here in sunny Florida.
Before this, my first complaint was not being able to see the same doctor about my main problem (heart). Then this clown, who when he talked with my wife told her he was “pissed” because I messed his “perfect” record. No he wasn’t a cardiologist.
My initial contact with Mercy was in l995 when the doctor, who I really liked, asked about my records (I had had open heart surgery two years before) and I told him that I was just looking, as there is a hospital just 90 miles down the road that has a pretty good record with heart patients. He said, “We have a better survival rate than they do!” Within the year I learned that was true…because they shipped the hard cases elsewhere.
The nurses…they were great!!!
20 rooms In the new ER over half do not get used they are there for what? Not enough staff to make waiting in the ER shorter. Not only that no privacy!, You set in the waiting room and hear why people are there how high or low their blood pressure is. I can give you names of people I don’t know but I can tell you how they fell at work, one had something fall on his head. I could go on and on put you get the picture. It will never change.
I understand the new E.R. is state of art. But not nearly enough people to staff it. What good is one without the other????
The rooms in the new ER are great and they are being used and they are as well staffed as they have always been. The privacy is just as good in the waiting room as it has always been and just as good as I have been in at St Mary’s and Abbott NW. You’re in a waiting room of the major hospital in the area. Security is supposed to be watching the whole area. There are several pods where you can sit. If you don’t want to hear what everyone else is saying don’t listen to them. Watch TV or read a magazine instead of collecting gossip to go out to coffee and tell your friends. Some people just can’t appreciate anything can they!
Really is Mercy becoming more of a cancer to this city. Now they will bulldoze how many nore good average homes and beautiful trees and for what. Because they couldnt plan ahead. Mercy is now situated in a sea of concreate parking lots that are so far away you need a bus to get to the buildings. Now we will lose another street and more homes off the tax base because of Mercy. They could have put that generator anywhere this is just the easiest palce and the council never looked into this at all. and what about the fumes and micro particles from the generator what will that do to our air?
Nothing new. Been hearing this for years.
Please don’t condemn the “lean system”. Used correctly, it trims deadweight, increases productivity,and facilitates a smooth running and efficient business. It’s when employers don’t know how to use it, or intentionally misuse it for their personal gains that it becomes a monster.
If Lean is implemented and managed the way it is intended it works real well both for workers and management. The problem is that management sees it as a way to reduce costs by eliminating people until whoever is left is disfunctional and the end result is the company goes under. If it is run the way it should be management will use it as a tool to increase productivity and efficiency to improve and increase business. They always end up using it as a negative instead of a positive. The greedy stakeholders just can’t help themselves and of course the CEO only wants his bonus. It never ails. Even Toyota has failed in its lean programs. Look at their recent quality which is part of the lean initative.
It is interesting you would say this LVS as this is exactly what Romney wants to happen in this country. Let the rich corporations take over, trim the fat until there is nothing left, and take the money and run. This is what BAIN Capital does in all of their acquisitions. And you want him to run the country. He will run it right into the ground.
@bodacious-My comments had nothing to do with Romney and I really wish you wouldn’t put words in my mouth. I am capable of making my own mistakes without help. My comments were to point out what is wrong with lean, not support it. The problem with LEAN is not the program or the thought behind the program. It is with the management and with people being the way they are (greedy) I don’t see that changing. That is why it isn’t working at Mercy. Greed by the Top Management and that attitude feeds down to the floor management. Will it change?? Only when people have had enough and quit supporting it.
Greed is exactly why this economy is in the state it is in. Trim the fat, lean the system, cut benefits, do more with less people, be happy you have a job. This is the first thing they teach now in Upper Management 101. The upper management and CEOs aren’t happy with more money than you. They want lots,lots more money than you. So one way to get it is to reduce what you get.(eg: insurance,wages,overtime,and other benefits)Three decades ago CEOs made 40 times as much as the average worker. Now CEOs make nearly 318 times as much as the average employee.(source New York Times) What the Hell is wrong with this picture??? GREED,GREED,GREED.It takes alot of money to pay for all the people at the top who don’t generate any income for the Hospital at all. But I guess if you can do it on the backs of the little people it’s OK. How can you sleep at night??????
Not for nothing is LEAN frequently referred to as Management by Stress.
Joint commission needs to check into this facility. I question the integrity of those who have been in charge of providing documentation to this agency for audits.
Matt, this is most certainly true. But I would guess most employees will not comment here for fear of losing their job. Complaints fall on deaf ears because they don’t want to hear it. Make it work!! The answer to all staff problems. The lean system is the biggest joke of all. I hope other people will place their comments on here so the public can see what is happening.
I used to work at Mercy as a nurse. Nurses were so disrespected, yet always expected the most from their positions. My office manager, once a nurse herself, treated us like crap. You got in trouble if you had any overtime, though you had to stay late when the doctor was running behind. They cut down on office employees, so we had to file all dictation and lab papers in the charts, somehow fitting that inbetween rooming patients, filling out lab slips, charting, answering patient calls ect. Their motto is “You are appreciated” and Mercy spends alot of money promoting themselves. How many times do we have to hear on the radio “Voted top 100 in the nation?” Do they really need to advertise? (like where else are we going to go around here.) Guess they need to spend those non-profit dollars somewhere.