Hourly vs Salary?

[WM75Guy]

I would stick it out if you can. You might be surprised. I have worked for both types and there is not much difference in the way they operate as far as employees are concerned. What I would find out early in the operation is when discussing financial decisions is the first question "how does it affect patient care" or "how does it affect the bottom line". That would help me determine whether or not to stay.

Most people outside of healthcare don't understand the difference between a "non-profit" or "not for profit" and a "for profit" hospital. Both have to turn a profit to keep the doors open. The difference is where the profit goes. In a "for profit" system it goes to shareholders in the form of stock dividends. In a "non-profit" it goes back into the system. Taking a look at the most recent IRS Form 990 for the system will give you an idea of where it is going.

 

[ultrarunner]

Just to clarify: What you are asking doesn't exist ! ANY form of payment IS A SALARY, this can be hourly daily weekly monthly or yearly for a certain number of hours a day. This hourly offer can be construed as part time work even if the number of hours are the same, they do it so that they can make you work as long or as little as they wish without legal consequences Lay-off or personnel reduction or overtime. It can work at your advantage sometimes and sometimes not. Not good for career or long time potential.

The old employee handbook lists several classifications... Salaried Benefited, Full Time Hourly Benefited and Per Diem no Benefits...

 

[ultrarunner]

I would stick it out if you can. You might be surprised. I have worked for both types and there is not much difference in the way they operate as far as employees are concerned. What I would find out early in the operation is when discussing financial decisions is the first question "how does it affect patient care" or "how does it affect the bottom line". That would help me determine whether or not to stay.

Most people outside of healthcare don't understand the difference between a "non-profit" or "not for profit" and a "for profit" hospital. Both have to turn a profit to keep the doors open. The difference is where the profit goes. In a "for profit" system it goes to shareholders in the form of stock dividends. In a "non-profit" it goes back into the system. Taking a look at the most recent IRS Form 990 for the system will give you an idea of where it is going.

The new company been penalized for having too much cash on the corporate level which they said was necessary for a construction reserve... Many say the Not for Profit is simply a business model that provides advantages... we have always been a For Profit that happened to operate as a Non-Profit... always got the bills paid but shareholder investors Doctors were not always happy...

At one time the ESOP had a significant ownership... these employee interests were all recalled while at the same time saying they had little value... now they are worth quite a lot because of the sale...

Follow the money...

The one big difference I see is the new company is big enough to affect market pricing... whereas we as a small community hospital were subject to market pricing...

The Accountants figured simply changing the name (Reimbursement Contracts) would be a tremendous boost to the bottom line... simply being able negotiate higher reimbursement.

They also said supply costs will drop... this does not appear to be the case as we have always kept a close watch on costs and actually have some areas with significant cost advantage... both supplies and wages.

In addition... each facility must now support corporate for services to be provided.

 

[Trillium Farm]

The old employee handbook lists several classifications... Salaried Benefited, Full Time Hourly Benefited and Per Diem no Benefits...

Don't know about the employee handbook, but any pay is a salary, derived from the latin Salarium as often people were paid in salt in those times,Salaried Benefited is unfortunately an expression by someone who flunked english language in school for the understood word in it and the following is the word "Pay" Salaried Benefited (Pay) redundant in as much as a salary is a pay; Full Time Hourly Benefited (Pay); Per Diem is not a salary/pay, but a re-imboursement of expenses. Please don't misunderstand me I'm not trying to pick a semantic quarrel I'm only trying to be precise. Happy New Year to all

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't doubt you... just trying to be a team player.

 

[oldpilgrim]

My stagnant SS check says I'm on salary.

 

[newbury]

I don't doubt you... just trying to be a team player.

I think we all have read your writings and you seem to be a very good team player.

However the team has been sold, the rules rewritten and chaos may be imminent.

It seems that usually the new management comes in, lowers costs by getting rid of the most expensive items, then expects everything to function fine.

Getting rid of the upper layer of experienced but expensive employees usually results in the loss of corporate knowledge which is very expensive.
Like the old joke

A rabbi, a priest, and a minister are out fishing in the middle of a lake.
The priest tells his two colleagues, "I left my fishing rod in the car; I'll
be right back." He gets out of the boat, walks across the water to the
beach, goes to the car, walks back across the lake, and gets into the boat.
The rabbi stares at this in amazement.
30minutes later, the minister says, "I need to go to the toilet." He, too,
gets out of the boat, walks across the water, finds the nearest men's room,
walks back across the water and gets into the boat. The rabbi is absolutely
dumbfounded!
The rabbi keeps thinking, "My faith is as great as theirs!" So he speaks up
and says, "I need to get something to drink; there's a refreshment stand on
the beach."
He stands up, puts his feet on the water, and SPLASH, he goes straight down
under the water. The priest and minister help him back into the boat. He is
embarrassed, not to mention wet, but he knows he can do it if the other two
can. So, he stands up again, steps out onto the water, and again, SPLASH!!
Again, he is dragged out and again he decides to try. As he is going down
for the third time, the priest turns to the minister and asks, "Do you think
we should show him where the rocks are?"

You know where the rocks are.

I've seen probably millions of $$ wasted because of people attempting to do things found not feasible years ago and there has been no change in technology. But there was no person who would tell the boss "We already tried that".

If the hospital loses you it will probably save thousands on your salary and spend millions on things you could have prevented. But there is a strong chance that the thousands they save on you will show up as positive mark on someones appraisal. And whoever ends up spending the millions to fix what you could have prevented will get positive marks for their project.

 

[kc5dlo]

If things go sour, perhaps you could offer your consulting service?

 

[jerrybob]

Can you retire and go enjoy life? I don't remember????

 

[ultrarunner]

Can you retire and go enjoy life? I don't remember????

I don't think life would change all that much... I live simply.

Looks like I would have to come up with a good chunk for Health Insurance each year.

One of the reasons I've stayed on outside of knowing people depend on me is I have wanted for a very long time to find that perfect property where I could enjoy life and have a home for my old car collection... getting a mortgage becomes very problematic if you are not working or have a pension income.

A couple of acres not too far out but most definitely not inside the city limits with a 5,000 square foot shop/barn/garage and a paved circular drive with easy access to the interstate... has to be close to a fire hydrant as this is required for my old car insurance policy... no dirt of gravel roads as this can be problematic with show cars...

I guess I still want a lot but "Need" very little... if that makes sense.