Trust
Many people have asked me specifically why so many physicians do not like this administration and CEO. The answer is simply trust, or lack thereof. From my many postings to my responses, it is evident that I, personally, neither like him nor respect him. But there are many other physicians who simply just don’t trust him.
Reasons for these feelings are many, and I don't expect everyone to understand or agree. In my and others 13 plus years and many dealings with him in situations from contracts, to patient care, hospital policies, employee relations, physician relations etc., many have felt burned, lied to, misled, backstabbed, and have witnessed countless numbers of manipulations. These were all done while he smiles and acts as if he likes you. I certainly am not politically correct or as diplomatic as I would like at times, but I am at least open about where I stand.
Trust is earned and once it is broken, the path toward reconciliation is long. When repeatedly broken, it is irreconcilable.
I use the example of married couples. Trust is inherent in the relationship at the beginning, but if infidelity or other things break that trust, it takes a long time to heal. It takes time even when couples live together, raise families together, eat and sleep together and share common goals. Even with these commonalities, it is very difficult to overcome mistrust in a relationship.
Now take physicians and a CEO. We don’t live together, have families together, and may not even share common goals. We rarely spend time with each other except in meetings and therefore the odds of reconciling repeated breaks in trust are next to impossible.
In addition, when a CEO repeatedly thwarts efforts made and fails to acknowledge problems, it compounds the issues. This is especially true when you find out later all of the underhanded, behind the scenes tactics used to manipulate things over the years.
Only those with first-hand experience would understand the depth of these issues. We don’t expect the readers to agree, but want them to hear the other side of the story.
There are many physicians, employees, city leaders, and employers who have similar feelings, but because of personalities, positions and fear, they do not vocalize them as readily as I.
The CEO has some very good qualities as well. When it comes to government relations, involvement in organizations like the VHA and political action groups he seems to do well. He has carried FMHHS into the 21st century, but in my opinion, his management style and interpersonal relations will not carry the hospital much longer. We need someone who has vision, their own ideas, and someone who can truly lead. The status quo is not acceptable for future success.
Again, these are my opinions from my personal dealings over the last 13 plus years. I know others see things differently and I respect those viewpoints. I just won’t agree with them.
Reasons for these feelings are many, and I don't expect everyone to understand or agree. In my and others 13 plus years and many dealings with him in situations from contracts, to patient care, hospital policies, employee relations, physician relations etc., many have felt burned, lied to, misled, backstabbed, and have witnessed countless numbers of manipulations. These were all done while he smiles and acts as if he likes you. I certainly am not politically correct or as diplomatic as I would like at times, but I am at least open about where I stand.
Trust is earned and once it is broken, the path toward reconciliation is long. When repeatedly broken, it is irreconcilable.
I use the example of married couples. Trust is inherent in the relationship at the beginning, but if infidelity or other things break that trust, it takes a long time to heal. It takes time even when couples live together, raise families together, eat and sleep together and share common goals. Even with these commonalities, it is very difficult to overcome mistrust in a relationship.
Now take physicians and a CEO. We don’t live together, have families together, and may not even share common goals. We rarely spend time with each other except in meetings and therefore the odds of reconciling repeated breaks in trust are next to impossible.
In addition, when a CEO repeatedly thwarts efforts made and fails to acknowledge problems, it compounds the issues. This is especially true when you find out later all of the underhanded, behind the scenes tactics used to manipulate things over the years.
Only those with first-hand experience would understand the depth of these issues. We don’t expect the readers to agree, but want them to hear the other side of the story.
There are many physicians, employees, city leaders, and employers who have similar feelings, but because of personalities, positions and fear, they do not vocalize them as readily as I.
The CEO has some very good qualities as well. When it comes to government relations, involvement in organizations like the VHA and political action groups he seems to do well. He has carried FMHHS into the 21st century, but in my opinion, his management style and interpersonal relations will not carry the hospital much longer. We need someone who has vision, their own ideas, and someone who can truly lead. The status quo is not acceptable for future success.
Again, these are my opinions from my personal dealings over the last 13 plus years. I know others see things differently and I respect those viewpoints. I just won’t agree with them.
posted by Anonymous at 5:50 AM
20 Comments:
Not only is it important to end the day with a smile, starting the day with one is good also.
Did you hear about the Doctor, the Priest and the Rabbi...........
Keep firing away HB. I read you all the time whether I agree, disagree or just don't know. "Don't know" most of the time.
OK, so you don’t like Bryant Hanson and you would prefer a different management style. That is an honest opinion and you have every right to it. I would submit that it is no surprise that a strong CEO can create personality conflicts from time to time since you don’t get an executive job by being a shrinking violet or suffering a lot of self-doubt—not dissimilar, say, to being a successful surgeon. Most organizations have political infighting and disagreements from time to time but that doesn’t mean that the organization is not working.
As a consumer of the hospital’s services, I would have to say that I have been very favorably impressed by not only the level of care provided to me and other family members, but also by a lot of visible signs of a well managed hospital. Just walking the halls at Floyd you can see that there is a lot of attention to maintenance issues and attempts to make the facility “customer friendly” (i.e., quick registration procedures, relatively short waits for out-patient services and frequently being asked by employees if I need directions or help). You don’t always see that in some of the bigger hospitals across the river and there is no comparison to the overall fresh look of the building compared to some other hospitals.
So, my question is: apart from the fact that not everyone has great personal relationships with the CEO, what is it about the hospital that I should be concerned about? I was able to attend the open house for the new wing and I was knocked out by what looked like an array of expensive, high-tech equipment and what has to be one of the nicest work environments that an employee could ask for. The new patient rooms almost made me want to be sick so I could spend a night there. In short, it looks like we have a wonderful hospital in our community and I am trying to understand why I should see your comments as anything other than intramural differences of opinion about how best to achieve what seems to have been achieved: a first class community hospital.
Anonymous,
You are absolutely correct. The hospital is beautiful and well maintained.
The outward appearance is everything we expect it to be. The new equipment is cutting-edge.
But what isn’t shown, is the battle scars it took to get these things.
The concern is we are now $65 million dollars in debt and continue to have patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction and physician satisfaction below goals and expectations.
How long do you think outward appearances can sustain this debt?
There are many who believe we have peaked out and will begin to decline. I, as well as most other physicians, do not want to see that happen.
The 65 million dollar debt is just beginning and without continued physician support and patients it will be difficult to sustain.
We have to anticipate and make informed decisions on what the future may bring if we want this facility to last.
I actually have a question.
Did the hospital ever do a physician satisfaction survey
similar to the employee survey? Would be interesting to see the numbers above and below the base. Most doctors that I know do not like the administration of any hospital. Nature of the game IMO, not an argument. That is why the variance # would be so interesting to me. How much better or worse than other hospitals.
You are correct that doctors are the ones referring patients to the services of a hospital. I also believe that a physician, with admitting privileges, should be on the board of any hospital.
There was a physician satisfaction survey done, but it did not give statistical variances like the company that did the employee satisfaction.
The summary from the survey stated that the three most important “key drivers” influencing Physicians perceptions of the Hospital as a place to practice medicine were:
1. Administrations responsiveness to physicians concerns and complaints
2. Operating room nursing staff issues
3. Availability of laboratory testing.
And the “key drivers” influencing physician’s perceptions of overall quality of care were
1. Surgical services
2. Nursing care
3. Administration
These are listed in order of importance based on the surveys. These were the areas that fell below the database numbers from other hospitals according to this consultant.
Do you see the common denominator in the two lists?
You say: "There are many who believe we have peaked out and will begin to decline."
Well, maybe so, but it is the current administration that has gotten the hospital to this high level of performance. It seems ludicrous to suggest getting rid of them over personality disputes.
If you've really read all the information presented in the past 2 weeks and you still only see personality as being the issue, I really don't know what to say to you.
This attitude is all too common.
It reminds me of the phrase:
"Don't confuse me with the facts"
I have read every word you have written. From my perspective, there is a huge personality clash between you and the hospital CEO that colors everything you see. I have no doubt that he is flawed...just like all the rest of us. But as an outsider who is an occasional user of hospital services, I don't care about the feuds that go on behind the scenes.
Show me where the facility, the staff or the level of care is substandard (or even worse than very good) and you will get my attention. Tell me that there are a hundred things that could be improved and I will tell you that there are at least that many things that I could do to improve myself. What we have seems to be very good and getting better every year. If you want to spend all your focus wallowing in hate and negativism then go ahead and be miserable.
Once again, we have a philosophical difference in how to approach problems.
Your solution appears to be "wait till its completely broken" before you'll address it.
My approach is; "there are known and definite problems" as validated by numerous studies, data and facts. Let's address and fix the problem before it gets worse.
As a physician, I do not think my patients would appreciate saying, "oh that's just a little cancer" let's wait till it gets worse or causes a bigger problem before we address it.
I have this impulse control problem.
"Don't confuse me with the facts"
Sounds like something a certain very important political leader, who surely is near to your heart, would say. Perhaps even last night.
Would Ritalin help me?
Sorry, I have not had the chance to read today. But I see the critic is back.
His/her approach is just like administration. Always reactive and never proactive. That is why things hit rock-bottom before anything gets done.
I work with Dr. Dan nearly every day and he is one of the most pleasant and polite physicians. If he is "wallowing in hate and negativism" he hides it better than anyone I've seen.
iamhoosier,
Other than the war issue, what specific policies do you dislike from the speach last night?
Just curious!
You have pointed to several "sub-optimal" situations. I haven't seen you point to a single thing that I would view as in the "danger" or "early warning" phase. You just hate Hanson and you assemble data (and, often, subjective personal opinions) to support the conclusion that he should be ousted. Your crusade was unsuccessful with the board and the county commissioners and I don't see a mass of doctors rallying to your side either. All I see is someone who didn't get his way and is now going to sling as much mud as he can.
Oh, I forgot your question. Ritalin helps ADD but can make impulse control disorder worse. Depakote sometimes help.
I do really enjoy your wit and sense of humor. Thanks
Anonymous,
Once again, we just disagree. And that is ok.
You are entitled to your opinions and I've allowed anonymity on the blog when I could just as easily have posted all of this without allowing any comments.
I think that openess is a far cry from what others do.
I'll take my licks from people like you as I have for so long, because I know I'm right and time will prove it.
EMPLOYEE 101:
ROCK-BOTTOM?
Are you saying that there are serious patient care deficiencies that we should know about? Are employees about to leave in droves? Is the hospital on the verge of financial collapse? Just what are these issues that don't get addressed before they hit "rock-bottom"?
Honestly, I did not watch. Have not watched a SOU in years, by either party. Almost all hype and very, very little substance. I did hear mention of conservation of oil. Seems a little a different from the stance in the first year of his administration. I am surely wrong about that. No way he would ever flip-flop!
Thanks for the drug advice. That's is why you are the doctor. You know about those things. I, on the other hand, am correct on everything else!!
Thanks for the compliment.
The answers are:
Yes there are patient care deficiencies
Yes employees will leave if another hospital comes to town
Yes the finances are worse if you really read the information
You are blinded by your own prejudices and you don’t want to see.
We still think you are one of our administrators or possibly one of the Board themselves
101 just called and told me I needed to contribute.
Anonymous, you are clueless or just don't care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
To anonymous:
I don't think that even if 80-90% of the nurses told you the same thing about the same problems you would believe them. We don't know all the details Dr. D does, but we know there are problems.
Get a clue
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