I Want A Refund

Well, the Cambio Healthcare Solutions consultants had an epiphany; they realized they have run off many of the caregivers they need to run the hospital. Half of the image technicians (people who work in x-ray, ultra sound and MRI) quit or threatened to quit in one week. Pharmacy, respiratory therapy and nursing have the same problem.

You can’t run a hospital with all of the critical service providers running out the door and what exactly have our leaders done to keep them here. Well, lets review, they told these highly trained employees they were overstaffed and threatened to lay them off. They also threatened to lay off all the support staff (nursing assistants, medical clerks, housekeepers, food services workers) all the people you need to make things run. What about wages, well these groups get paid 5% -20% less than people doing the same job in other hospitals.

Then there’s the public relations war, fought internally with piles of meaningless annoying memos and externally with “Bring it on Braley” saying the medical center just needs to cut the fat. They’ve got the medical center crawling with state inspectors and they started a war with the union represented workforce, apparently Cambio Healthcare Solutions had never heard of organized labor before they came to Alameda County.

So now that they realize they will have to pay workers or they will continue to quit, what now? Well guess what, now they say they don’t have any money. As Charlie Ridgell pointed out, “the medical center had money when they signed over millions to Cambio for consultants, they had money for PR and PG &E, they even had an extra million for more Sheriffs at John George, they had enough money for a walkout and a lockout (over a million dollars), but now that they have to pay the people who actually do the work they’re flat broke. This is entirely unacceptable.”

I’ve got a bright idea, consultant costs and expenses would pretty much cover the cost of a fair raise for hospital workers, how about if the board of supervisors just goes to Cambio and asks for a refund? I don’t know about Cambio, but most of us little people doing the work don’t think this relationship is working out, maybe its time to say, “Adios Cambio! “