Shriners Hospital cuts staff

Erie Shriners Hospital for Children can't recruit any full-time surgeons, so hospital administrators Thursday laid off the equivalent of 39 full-time employees.

[Chuck Walczak]

I think it's a shame that it has come to this. Having been in health administration for over 20 years it is my opinion this was completely avoidable. It seems to me poor leadership from an administrative standpoint is the root cause for such poor succession planning and what appears to be very little proactive efforts to address major issues. I have heard the problems at the Erie unit are far deeper than just physician recruitment. Among such talk is a lack of clinical infrastructure for pediatric subspecialty care when needed and that many other Shriners national standards have not been properly adopted. I think the Board should seriously assess the current leadership and make some tough decisions at that level - not too dissimilar with what just occurred with the front line staff.

[Questions]

The Shriners will close for good in July.

[missy]

I think it is stupid they need the people they are cutting and what are they gonna do when they need them back some might not want to come back. I've been going to Shriners since I was little and the docotrs there know evertything about us plus everyone is gonna miss them. Dont cut people.

[Owned]

Chuck Walczak wrote:

I think it's a shame that it has come to this. Having been in health administration for over 20 years it is my opinion this was completely avoidable. It seems to me poor leadership from an administrative standpoint is the root cause for such poor succession planning and what appears to be very little proactive efforts to address major issues. I have heard the problems at the Erie unit are far deeper than just physician recruitment. Among such talk is a lack of clinical infrastructure for pediatric subspecialty care when needed and that many other Shriners national standards have not been properly adopted. I think the Board should seriously assess the current leadership and make some tough decisions at that level - not too dissimilar with what just occurred with the front line staff.

Maybe you should volunteer your services since you are so qualified.

[curious]

whenever an agreement is reached so the "released" employees can say nothing detrimental towards the administrators or lose their severance pay I would say that there are RATS among their midst- D-con them!