Lawsuits over COVID salary/benefit changes

[mgriffiths]

Among my coworkers there have been some rumblings over the salary reductions, changes to benefits, etc. that occurred when COVID first hit the US.  Some have even mentioned filing lawsuits, and until recently I thought this was just people saying what they wished to do out of frustration.  But, over the last 1-2 weeks I feel like these are becoming more than just wishful statements.  It is being said more and more frequently, and there have even been some providers meeting together to discuss options.  Just yesterday the term "class action" was used.

To put plainly, for a ~4 month period PAs and NPs were forced to accept a 10% salary reduction and physicians 15% reduction.  On top of this we did not accrue PTO for ~3 months and we will not be receiving any 403B retirement match (the only aspect which is NOT guaranteed in our contracts).  Furthermore, several providers were unable to begin employment at their contracted time due to the hospital temporarily halting all onboarding.  Lastly, all bonuses and pay raises were nullified...including bonuses on productivity already performed.  Obviously our sacrifices are significantly less than what others have posted here, but also more than some others.

The interesting part, and what I think has actually directly lead to the potential for legal action, is that while patient visits and revenue were significantly down in April and May, starting June they started to ramp back up and by July 1 were back to pre-COVID levels.  Furthermore, somehow from 01/01/2020 through 08/31/2020 we are essentially neutral in terms of profits and losses.  Obviously a big piece of this is due to decreased expenses from what I described above, furloughs, etc., but as stated during a provider meeting last week it is also because our productivity since 07/2020 has been historically high.  In fact, we are on track to actually be profitable for 2020.  I think many were ok with sacrificing when it seemed like the hospital was in trouble, but now feel that the hospital should retroactively make our pay whole and give back our lost PTO...hard to argue with. I haven't heard quite as much chatter about the raises and bonuses...but those also would not have been universal.

Just curious if anyone else has heard rumblings at work, or if you are aware of true action occurring.

[MediMike]

I haven't heard of anything developing here in the PNW, don't think we got hit as hard financially, have some pretty huge healthcare systems that run everything.

My medical director repeatedly told us to feel lucky we weren't getting furloughed and I was like..."We're the ICU?"

[mgriffiths]

9 minutes ago, MediMike said:

My medical director repeatedly told us to feel lucky we weren't getting furloughed and I was like..."We're the ICU?"

Isn't a medical director a physician? You would think a physician would understand how stupid that statement is...but was probably required to forfeit their common sense as they entered the cult of admin...

[MediMike]

11 minutes ago, mgriffiths said:

Isn't a medical director a physician? You would think a physician would understand how stupid that statement is...but was probably required to forfeit their common sense as they entered the cult of admin...

We actually have a PA as the medical director for our group, and I guess his point may have been referring to your statement...that all common sense is lost once you enter administration so they may do something that dumb.

[GetMeOuttaThisMess]

16 minutes ago, MediMike said:

We actually have a PA as the medical director for our group, and I guess his point may have been referring to your statement...that all common sense is lost once you enter administration so they may do something that dumb.

Remake of the movie "Idiocracy" in this setting.

[thinkertdm]

For profit medical groups and hospitals exist for one reason only- to make the money.  Specifically, to make the shareholders money.  Medical directors and management is there to maximize profit.  They aren't there for you and they sure as hell aren't there for "healthcare".  

Why do you think they ran out of ppe?  Because they had to pay rent on storage of items they felt they wouldn't need, and then relied on a "just in time" delivery system which also failed under stress.

Zero of your management led from the front; they "worked from home" with their charts and graphs.

Healthcare simply can't be turned into a henry ford production line.  

[Cideous]

47 minutes ago, thinkertdm said:

For profit medical groups and hospitals exist for one reason only- to make the money.  Specifically, to make the shareholders money.  Medical directors and management is there to maximize profit.  They aren't there for you and they sure as hell aren't there for "healthcare".  

Why do you think they ran out of ppe?  Because they had to pay rent on storage of items they felt they wouldn't need, and then relied on a "just in time" delivery system which also failed under stress.

Zero of your management led from the front; they "worked from home" with their charts and graphs.

Healthcare simply can't be turned into a henry ford production line.  

Truer words have never been spoken...

[mgriffiths]

1 hour ago, thinkertdm said:

For profit medical groups and hospitals exist for one reason only- to make the money.  Specifically, to make the shareholders money.  Medical directors and management is there to maximize profit.  They aren't there for you and they sure as hell aren't there for "healthcare".  

Why do you think they ran out of ppe?  Because they had to pay rent on storage of items they felt they wouldn't need, and then relied on a "just in time" delivery system which also failed under stress.

Zero of your management led from the front; they "worked from home" with their charts and graphs.

Healthcare simply can't be turned into a henry ford production line.  

100%...my employer is a "nonprofit" hospital, which is a bit better, and while I understand the basic differences between "for profit" and "nonprofit," I don't understand the practical difference when it comes to healthcare...seems they function basically the same...

[ohiovolffemtp]

7 hours ago, mgriffiths said:

while I understand the basic differences between "for profit" and "nonprofit," I don't understand the practical difference when it comes to healthcare...seems they function basically the same...

Exactly...

[Febrifuge]

Our org is back in the mostly-okay range too, in terms of revenue and margin, so as of the paycheck coming end of the month, we will be back to 100% of salary, up from 70% during June-August. And apparently in January the plan is to pay us a lump to get back almost all of the rest. It’s nice to be in MN, where HMO’s legally need to put profit into patient care. 

[BirdDogPA]

I have heard rumblings of a law suite. Nothing concrete though. I just choose to never work again for the types of organizations that treated PAs (and NPs) so badly. 

[roundabout]

On 9/18/2020 at 11:55 AM, MediMike said:

We actually have a PA as the medical director for our group, and I guess his point may have been referring to your statement...that all common sense is lost once you enter administration so they may do something that dumb.

The medical director of the ICU in a hospital is a PA?

[MediMike]

6 hours ago, johncfl said:

The medical director of the ICU in a hospital is a PA?

For our group of APC intensivists, we are separate from the docs group.