Hospital overcrowding and testing backup

[Cardboard55]

Couple of recent events with family are anecdotally indicating things are kinda fubar. At least one major (Level 1 trauma) hospital is jammed to the gills in both wait times for ER, pts being parked everywhere in ER, long wait times for rooms to open up for admits etc and also huge backups for outpatient specialty testing, like 4-5 months. Docs are showing signs of burnout. Everybody bitching and snapping at each other. What gives? Thought the pandemic was "over" and things were returning to normal?

All I can say is this: if you have any relatives needing medical tests or procedures on your list, get in and get them scheduled now. Somehow I have a feeling things aren't going to improve, especially with 3rd worlders dragging TB and God know what else into cities from coast to coast.

Same in other areas?

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

Things are OK here for now but my neighbors recently retired, quit, changed careers out of the Hospitals. All of the places associated with Healthcare specialties here locally are short staffed and begging for help.

I think it's part of the crashing of our failed Republic. Local schools teaching nursing etc. are facing record low enrollments. Fewer young people are getting in and as the Boomers retire in ever increasing numbers there are fewer to keep up.

VooDoo

 

[NoDopes]

I've heard illegal aliens often go to ERs for free healthcare. FJB

Texas Dr. Antonio Falcon: We're Facing A Catastrophic Situation On The Border - KFF Health News

A family doctor from Rio Grande City, Tex., says failure of health reform to address the needs of illegal immigrants could cause collapse of hospitals in the region and open the border to public health risks.

kffhealthnews.org

 

[johnnycat]

First, COVID may be over but in the hospital things are NOT back to normal.

Hospitals are short staffed. Nurses are definitely short staffed, but also aides, lab people, all the way down to the ambassadors (what we call our transport staff). Nobody wants to work and especially for what hospitals are able to pay.

Now, I'm not necessarily taking up for hospitals - we have more hospital administrators than ever before and their jobs seem quite safe, but there is some simple economics at play. Hospitals don't exactly make money taking care of most patients. They cant pay the wages to attract long term employees. Yet i've noticed that for some reason they are able to pay high salaries for temporary employees, so go figure.

We have entire nurse's stations/wards that are closed because they dont have the staff to operate them. Several ICU beds are unoccupied, but again, not enough staff to run them.

 

[pmclaine]

February started feeling immense pain to point it made me puke and went to ER.

I suspected a kidney stone but never had one before so didn’t know if it was that or an organ had blown up.

Got checked in than sat for 5 hours before being seen for a 5 minute check so I decided to leave.

Hospital was busy it being urban and a snowy night so every ambulance coming in had a street dude screaming about his immense pain and “needing something”.

Two weeks later I get a bill for $1K. For doing nothing. Disputing it but I’ll likely get screwed.

Medical care is dead.

All this angst about health care worker shortages….they fired 20% of them last year for actually understanding medicine.

 

[DocRDS]

Anecdotally I've noticed a huge backup in just regular doctor visits.

I fell this winter on ice and was having slow recovery--wanted a dr visit and soonest was a month out--sent me to urgent care. Felt bad because it wasn't truly 'urgent'

After move first dr visit had a 6 month scheduling wait..

 

[supercorndogs]

First they fired a bunch of staff, because they couldn't do elective procedures during COVID. So they were running skeleton staff, just emergency stuff. Then they fired a bunch more people for not taking the experimental do nothing shot.

Yes healthcare is dead. The people in charge of healthcare killed it for obscene COVID bonuses. Now they are all, "we didnt have a choice, they would have closed our hospital if we didn't."

If even 10% of them would have came out and told the truth. Blown the whistle on all the bullshit, but no they signed off on the fake death reporting and did tick tock dances instead.

 

[Maggot]

Things are OK here for now but my neighbors recently retired, quit, changed careers out of the Hospitals. All of the places associated with Healthcare specialties here locally are short staffed and begging for help.

I think it's part of the crashing of our failed Republic. Local schools teaching nursing etc. are facing record low enrollments. Fewer young people are getting in and as the Boomers retire in ever increasing numbers there are fewer to keep up.

VooDoo

And there is a shortage on many drugs esp. antibiotics. Tell me, who do we depend on for those???

 

[pmclaine]

First they fired a bunch of staff, because they couldn't do elective procedures during COVID. So they were running skeleton staff, just emergency stuff. Then they fired a bunch more people for not taking the experimental do nothing shot.

Yes healthcare is dead. The people in charge of healthcare killed it for obscene COVID bonuses. Now they are all, "we didnt have a choice, they would have closed our hospital if we didn't."

If even 10% of them would have came out and told the truth. Blown the whistle on all the bullshit, but no they signed off on the fake death reporting and did tick tock dances instead.

Their abandonment of their oath has destroyed any position of respect they had in society.

As trained scientists they knew, or should have known better, yet they all complied.

Don’t forget the first step of the Holocaust was getting the medical community to implement the euthanasia program and from there it became training police officers where to set the point of their bayonet so as to ensure a quick kill when the trigger was pulled on their victims.

I’m unsure if this was willful abandonment of principles or perhaps the result of 40 years of poor training that has inculcated to doctors that they are merely policy hacks not independent thinkers/scientists.

 

[supercorndogs]

It had to be both.

I wish there were more principled people in LE and HC like you sir.

 

[Maggot]

Their abandonment of their oath has destroyed any position of respect they had in society.

As trained scientists they knew, or should have known better, yet they all complied.

Don’t forget the first step of the Holocaust was getting the medical community to implement the euthanasia program and from there it became training police officers where to set the point of their bayonet so as to ensure a quick kill when the trigger was pulled on their victims.

I’m unsure if this was willful abandonment of principles or perhaps the result of 40 years of poor training that has inculcated to doctors that they are merely policy hacks not independent thinkers/scientists.

Many dont have our 'principles'. I was listening to a news story recently and apparently there is such a shortage wer're hiring big time from places like Pakistan.

 

[pmclaine]

If I could find an “underground” doctor I’d have more faith.

Insane as I live in a part of the world that was renowned for the best in medical care…..the ultra wealthy potentates of the world would always fly here to get care in our local hospitals.

They probably still do and they probably still get great care……us though? Not so much.

 

[Maggot]

If I could find an “underground” doctor I’d have more faith.

Insane as I live in a part of the world that was renowned for the best in medical care…..the ultra wealthy potentates of the world would always fly here to get care in our local hospitals.

They probably still do and they probably still get great care……us though? Not so much.

The place I just left has, or had, comparable quality care. When I got to Oklahoma and had an orthopedic guy check out my hip replacement, he asked me who my former doc was. Turns out he was reading a paper written by my former doc. I hear theyre short staffed now as well.

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

And there is a shortage on many drugs esp. antibiotics. Tell me, who do we depend on for those???

I have seen it reported in mostly Right Wing Media that 80% of our antibiotics come from China. I'm skeptical that this is true as I have nieces in the Pharmaceutical profession and a Chemist/Biologist BIL who has several patents on drugs including antibiotics and they have simply laughed at that as propaganda:

Why You Shouldn’t Trust Anyone Who Claims 80 Percent of America’s Drugs Come From China

While reading about the COVID-19 outbreak, you've probably encountered this particularly shocking statistic at one time or another: 80 percent…

reason.com

While reading about the COVID-19 outbreak, you've probably encountered this particularly shocking statistic at one time or another: 80 percent of America's pharmaceutical drug supply comes from China.

It's a statistic that has made the rounds in right-wing publications for a while—offered as proof that China-heavy global supply chains are putting Americans at risk—but it has also popped up in mainstream outlets, including in pieces published in Politico and The Atlantic. Wherever it is deployed, the stat carries an unstated implication: What if China decides to cut us off in the middle of a pandemic? Could America face a dramatic shortage of key pharmaceutical drugs at the moment when we are most in need? And that distorted claim that says America has been too reliant on China has been seized by politicians like Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) as evidence that globalization has undermined America's pandemic response.

So, as usual, the first liars are quickly outdone with bigger and bigger lies. I suspect the real truth is "Who Knows?" I believe very little of what I read anywhere anymore.

VooDoo

 

[Maggot]

I hope youre right.

 

[BurtG]

If even 10% of them would have came out and told the truth. Blown the whistle on all the bullshit, but no they signed off on the fake death reporting and did tick tock dances instead.

 

[jrhtx]

I called my PCP (who happens to be the wife of my cardiologist) because I had gotten into poison sumac. I told them I had tried all the OTC treatments and they didn’t help, could she call in a prescription for something stronger. Nope, it would be 6 weeks for the first appointment. WTF! All I need is something for the rash. Nope, she has to see me. Send photo? Nope!
It’s not like I call them every week asking for pills or special treatment. One appointment a year, and I am OLD. It’s easier to see my ortho guy for knees and shoulders than see a PCP. I use to be able to get an appointment with him in about 2 days, now it’s a week.

 

[hino895]

I’m sitting in a hospital room right now in Odessa Texas after having my gallbladder removed yesterday morning.
There’s only a handful of patients here besides myself, really quiet.
Plenty of nurses but haven’t seen a doctor since surgery early yesterday.
Two days on a clear liquid diet if anyone reads this locally please bring FOOD.

 

[Maggot]

I called my PCP (who happens to be the wife of my cardiologist) because I had gotten into poison sumac. I told them I had tried all the OTC treatments and they didn’t help, could she call in a prescription for something stronger. Nope, it would be 6 weeks for the first appointment. WTF! All I need is something for the rash. Nope, she has to see me. Send photo? Nope!
It’s not like I call them every week asking for pills or special treatment. One appointment a year, and I am OLD. It’s easier to see my ortho guy for knees and shoulders than see a PCP. I use to be able to get an appointment with him in about 2 days, now it’s a week.

Its across the board. Took my dog to the vet for a stomach infection. $750 later we left with a handfull of antibiotics. She go itnothe wrong thing again and got re infected. I called the vet but the one who saw her the first time wasnt in so I asked them to please just refill the script.

NO NO NO

Only the same vet can refill the script, you have to bring her back. $250 later we leave with the same shit.

I was talking to the doc about shoulder surgery and asked about pain meds. The Oxy crap gives me a bad reaction so I asked about dilaudid. He says "we dont give narcotics even if youre dying.".

Oklahoma has many good points but in anything healthcare related theyre retarded.

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

First they fired a bunch of staff, because they couldn't do elective procedures during COVID. So they were running skeleton staff, just emergency stuff. Then they fired a bunch more people for not taking the experimental do nothing shot.

Yes healthcare is dead. The people in charge of healthcare killed it for obscene COVID bonuses. Now they are all, "we didnt have a choice, they would have closed our hospital if we didn't."

If even 10% of them would have came out and told the truth. Blown the whistle on all the bullshit, but no they signed off on the fake death reporting and did tick tock dances instead.

This ^^^^^^ .
My daughter is a travel nurse. She is loving this because of the insane money she's making. I have several friends that are travel nurses and they aren't complaining about the money that they are making. The staff nurses are because they are not making a third of what traveler's are making.
Want to make some money? Buckee's travel stops are paying $30 per hour. Department manager $100K per year. Car wash manager $125K per year. Branch manager $150 to $225K per year.
Tic tok, you tube video paying better than starting salary for bs degree.

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

I’m sitting in a hospital room right now in Odessa Texas after having my gallbladder removed yesterday morning.
There’s only a handful of patients here besides myself, really quiet.
Plenty of nurses but haven’t seen a doctor since surgery early yesterday.
Two days on a clear liquid diet if anyone reads this locally please bring FOOD.

Pizza delivery!!
I've done that. Now there's Uber eats, door dash and a few other delivery options.

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

I guess I'm lucky as our Family Medical Practitioner is a Nurse Practitioner - our old Doctor retired and we were assigned to her and her team. She is fabulous. We have an app on phones and computers and can sign in and access all of our test results and all of that. I have sent my Team messages before and get help in a few hours. Even prescriptions and such.

Wife was diagnosed with Acute Renal Failure and getting her to the various Specialists to get her set up and moving on dialysis was fabulous - the whole team of Nephrology, Urology, Cardiac. specialists were all centrally coordinated by our FMP. Pretty happy with the Health Care Team we have *and* they are all young and Smarty Pants utilizing the latest greatest techniques as well as the time tested variations.

I wouldn't want to have to pay for this stuff out of pocket but the medical care is awesome.

VooDoo

 

[oneshot86]

February started feeling immense pain to point it made me puke and went to ER.

I suspected a kidney stone but never had one before so didn’t know if it was that or an organ had blown up.

Got checked in than sat for 5 hours before being seen for a 5 minute check so I decided to leave.

Hospital was busy it being urban and a snowy night so every ambulance coming in had a street dude screaming about his immense pain and “needing something”.

Two weeks later I get a bill for $1K. For doing nothing. Disputing it but I’ll likely get screwed.

Medical care is dead.

All this angst about health care worker shortages….they fired 20% of them last year for actually understanding medicine.

Have you tried your area VA?
Ours here are good, they don't call it an emergency room anymore the call it urgent care

 

[ggmanning]

Find an independent MD/PA/NP. There are not many because of the whole corporate insurance driven trash that medicine has become. They are trying to do the same thing to dentistry. Always ends up with worse care for more money and no personal connection. In my AO Duke, UNC and Wake Forest have bought up every clinic. Those big liberal groups are all about numbers. Hell they just lifted the mask mandates for their clinics a few weeks ago......when there hasn't been a mask anywhere here in a couple years. That kind of irrelevant dogma from people who are supposed to be health care professionals tells you all you need to know. My independant MD never required masks, spoke out against vaccines and prescribed Ivermectin during the fray......not many that aren't lemmings to the system left any more.

 

[DocRDS]

I’m sitting in a hospital room right now in Odessa Texas after having my gallbladder removed yesterday morning.
There’s only a handful of patients here besides myself, really quiet.
Plenty of nurses but haven’t seen a doctor since surgery early yesterday.
Two days on a clear liquid diet if anyone reads this locally please bring FOOD.

I personally prescribe 10,000 ccs of Smoked Brisket and 2000 ccs of chocolate pudding

 

[DocRDS]

Find an independent MD/PA/NP. There are not many because of the whole corporate insurance driven trash that medicine has become. They are trying to do the same thing to dentistry. Always ends up with worse care for more money and no personal connection. In my AO Duke, UNC and Wake Forest have bought up every clinic. Those big liberal groups are all about numbers. Hell they just lifted the mask mandates for their clinics a few weeks ago......when there hasn't been a mask anywhere here in a couple years. That kind of irrelevant dogma from people who are supposed to be health care professionals tells you all you need to know. My independant MD never required masks, spoke out against vaccines and prescribed Ivermectin during the fray......not many that aren't lemmings to the system left any more.

Any tips on how to do this. I have a H(O)MO and 2 orgs control everything. (That I happen to work for one is ironic)

 

[Maggot]

Find an independent MD/PA/NP. There are not many because of the whole corporate insurance driven trash that medicine has become. They are trying to do the same thing to dentistry. Always ends up with worse care for more money and no personal connection. In my AO Duke, UNC and Wake Forest have bought up every clinic. Those big liberal groups are all about numbers. Hell they just lifted the mask mandates for their clinics a few weeks ago......when there hasn't been a mask anywhere here in a couple years. That kind of irrelevant dogma from people who are supposed to be health care professionals tells you all you need to know. My independant MD never required masks, spoke out against vaccines and prescribed Ivermectin during the fray......not many that aren't lemmings to the system left any more.

Same in Central Virginia, UVA is buying up all the small practices and even more treatments facilities. The one thing good about that is if youre sown on youre luck, being a public and teaching hospital, they have to take care of you.

 

[DIBBS]

Getting Dentist appointments in a timely manner have been ok.

However...

Several months wait to see the eye doctor, 4-6 for an annual physical, and probably 6 months to get an overdue colonoscopy scheduled. And it seems to be getting worse, much much worse. Emergency room waits for appendectomy seemed like a lot of hours, probably pain had some to do with that.

In addition, my general distrust in the medical community continues over the covid bullshit etal, and I will likely not get ANY recommended shots until I have done my own research.

Timely health care and services definitely seem to be a thing of the past.

Costs continue to go through the roof, and it appears that charges are the same whether you see a PA or a MD.

How do I get on that illegal alien free healthcare gravy train bullshit? <sarcasm>

 

[ggmanning]

Any tips on how to do this. I have a H(O)MO and 2 orgs control everything. (That I happen to work for one is ironic)

Just have to find an unaffiliated practitioner.....the difficulty is there are not many left. Your insurance co will try to force you to their PPO/HMO practitioners by paying higher percentages at those locations. I even see them making approval of care more difficult for out of netwrok practitioners.....trying to get them in the fold. It is a broken bullshit system. Only the practitioners that are independent and own their practices have any control over your treatment and insurance companies are sqeezing that away.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

As stated above, the "Wait Time" for anything is increasing.
The Baby Boomer's lived an adult life of timely supplies and services.
Those days are gone forever.
The high school graduates of the Class of 2023 are groomed to wait for things. They see this life as "normal".
The only sure thing on the horizon is death. It also, may come slowly.

 

[Bradu]

It was a 2 month wait for the orthopedic surgeon that was recommended, settled for the other doctor that was recommended and he was 5 1/2 weeks out. Nurse practitioner wanted to get me scheduled for an mri so I can hopefully figure out what's going on, it was a 4 week wait to get my mri scheduled, appointment is Tuesday.

 

[Maggot]

As stated above, the "Wait Time" for anything is increasing.
The Baby Boomer's lived an adult life of timely supplies and services.
Those days are gone forever.
The high school graduates of the Class of 2023 are groomed to wait for things. They see this life as "normal".
The only sure thing on the horizon is death. It also, may come slowly.

Depends on your point, or place, of view. By most world standards, we are spoiled. Rotten.

Ever travelled in Mexico or Central America. The have been trained to wait. A bank transaction that whould take 3 minutes here usually takes a hour or more. Some hire people to wait in line for themm. Postal Service? I mailed a letter from southern Mexico. got home 6 weeks later and the letter hadnt arrived yet.

Our new 'citizens' will feel right at home. Waiting for the room at the Hilton, waiting for the welfare check, waiting......theyve BTDT.

 

[tomcatmv]

Here in most of Texas we're being overwhelmed by the illegals and questionable "legals". The ER rooms are packed with the aforementioned. And guess who is paying for it? All of us. I'm on medicare and a Humana PPO and my wife's Blue Cross is $1,100/month. We are literally being bled dry financially by the .gov NWO. We're retired and on a fixed income and between insurance and property taxes we are hurting.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Depends on your point, or place, of view. By most world standards, we are spoiled. Rotten.

Ever travelled in Mexico or Central America. The have been trained to wait. A bank transaction that whould take 3 minutes here usually takes a hour or more. Some hire people to wait in line for themm. Postal Service? I mailed a letter from southern Mexico. got home 6 weeks later and the letter hadnt arrived yet.

Our new 'citizens' will feel right at home. Waiting for the room at the Hilton, waiting for the welfare check, waiting......theyve BTDT.

My point of view adjusts as I age. It adjusted when I learned that in Washington, DC and every other state capitol where the Legislature's meet, people are hired to stand in line (save a place) for anyone wanting to speak to a "committee". The "man on the street" does not stand a chance to physically bring a point of view to a committee because he can't afford to take off from his job to wait in line.

The highest paid, big business lobbyist are on the golf course and simply waltz in as their place in line is called to testify.

As I have pointed out, many times, America is moving towards Third World status. From my vantage point, that is what I am seeing.

 

[theLBC]

starting to sound like obamacare turned into nhs type waiting in some areas.
we did lose quite a few nurses that switched to "traveling" to escape clotshot mandates.
hc company went from dozens of openings for frontline staff to hundreds during covid.

 

[pmclaine]

It was a 2 month wait for the orthopedic surgeon that was recommended, settled for the other doctor that was recommended and he was 5 1/2 weeks out. Nurse practitioner wanted to get me scheduled for an mri so I can hopefully figure out what's going on, it was a 4 week wait to get my mri scheduled, appointment is Tuesday.

Be ready for them telling you day before you are going in if you don’t get the shot they won’t give you surgery.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Be ready for them telling you day before you are going in if you don’t get the shot they won’t give you surgery.

It will become a matter of who has checked all the boxes. You fully employed white boy's will get a 3 page check sheet. The illegal, still wet from crossing the Rio Grande will only have one box to check......

The world changed. Up to you how much more it changes.

 

[supercorndogs]

View attachment 8155306

Believe me I know. My grandmother was one of the first erroneously listed covid deaths at our nursing home. We couldn't have a proper funeral or memorial service either.

 

[Thumper580]

My wife is a retired RN of 32 years. Hospitals and Healthcare are run by accountants. Understaffed has become the new norm, pinching every penny they can from every place they can. The "old school" nurses really cared and pulled extra weight. Administration doesn't give a fuck anymore. The young nurses stick around for a couple of years and split for the next sign on bonus. Patient care goes down the crapper. It's a shit show.

 

[clcustom1911]

I've heard illegal aliens often go to ERs for free healthcare. FJB

Texas Dr. Antonio Falcon: We're Facing A Catastrophic Situation On The Border - KFF Health News

A family doctor from Rio Grande City, Tex., says failure of health reform to address the needs of illegal immigrants could cause collapse of hospitals in the region and open the border to public health risks.

kffhealthnews.org

That's nothing new at all. The EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, 1986) guarantees anyone can go to the ER for anything and be seen/treated.

Thank Regan for it ..........and post-86 machine gun ban.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

First, COVID may be over but in the hospital things are NOT back to normal.

Hospitals are short staffed. Nurses are definitely short staffed, but also aides, lab people, all the way down to the ambassadors (what we call our transport staff). Nobody wants to work and especially for what hospitals are able to pay.

Now, I'm not necessarily taking up for hospitals - we have more hospital administrators than ever before and their jobs seem quite safe, but there is some simple economics at play. Hospitals don't exactly make money taking care of most patients. They cant pay the wages to attract long term employees. Yet i've noticed that for some reason they are able to pay high salaries for temporary employees, so go figure.

We have entire nurse's stations/wards that are closed because they dont have the staff to operate them. Several ICU beds are unoccupied, but again, not enough staff to run them.

I’m going to argue the pay.

My wife works in long term care.

They recently lost four registered nurses, all who went to a large hospital across the street for $60/hr.

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

I’m going to argue the pay.

My wife works in long term care.

They recently lost four registered nurses, all who went to a large hospital across the street for $60/hr.

We have entered a phase in America where pretty much all skilled labor employees can go anywhere they like, anytime they decide to go there in terms of employment or careers. Folks like nurses and technicians can literally walk across the street or go to a private practice and get more money and better opportunities....all they need to do is go.

Gone are the days when people would stay at the same place for 30-50 years and retire with a gold watch and a party. and it's not coming back. Many of my Family and folks who live close are involved in medicine/health care in one way or the other and the employers that won't take care of their employees will increasingly be short staffed as the existing work force goes wherever they want, whenever they wanna go there.

VooDoo

 

[vinniedelpino]

We have entered a phase in America where pretty much all skilled labor employees can go anywhere they like, anytime they decide to go there in terms of employment or careers. Folks like nurses and technicians can literally walk across the street or go to a private practice and get more money and better opportunities....all they need to do is go.

Gone are the days when people would stay at the same place for 30-50 years and retire with a gold watch and a party. and it's not coming back. Many of my Family and folks who live close are involved in medicine/health care in one way or the other and the employers that won't take care of their employees will increasingly be short staffed as the existing work force goes wherever they want, whenever they wanna go there.

VooDoo

Not for long. Watch how the private equity money moves. PE has been buying up trade suppliers for years. HVAC will be the first to go. I bet it’s rare to see an HVAC tech make more than $75k in today’s dollars a decade from now. They’ll push out the little guys by marking up supplies like mad until they can’t compete and then hire them for a fraction of what they’re used to making through their service based subsidiaries. We’ve seen it in smaller industries like auto glass. Safelite, anyone?

30% of for profit hospitals are now owned by private equity groups and PE has more than doubled its investment in telehealthcare services each year over the last few years. The writing is on the wall. Between AI and private equity owning virtually everything, we‘re all fucked. It’s just a question of when.

 

[Greasly]

Between AI and private equity owning virtually everything, we‘re all fucked. It’s just a question of when.

It's just "the invisible hand in the market" No need to worry. All will be fine!

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

They said the same thing about the last industry I was in - Audio Visual Systems Integration. All the little places went belly up over the last 20 years and have been bought up by the industry giants who sought to corner the market and change the rules/game to make their Top End rich at the employees expense.

Then techs started changing careers/fields (because for Techs there are now and will for the foreseeable future be a need for skilled labor) and when they asked for money the Boss wouldn't pay they moved to their competition who was only too happy to pay them "just a little bit more" because there simply are not enough competent workers out there to fill the need.

I had 3 jobs in 2017 - between 2015 and Summer of 2017 I worked for 4 different companies - and every time I moved I made another $6K -$10K a year.

There simply are not enough technicians (in virtually every field) to lock them all up and starve them out or control them with fear of being unemployed. Until the Big Money Boyz and their minions can actually go onsite and do the job they are desperate for techs and highly skilled/experienced labor. The biggest issue I encountered were the Old Work Ethic guys who thought only dead beats would leave a company flat because they didn't like the hours, conditions, or pay scale. My experience is that if you won't quit/move they'll ride ya like a post horse. In every case, when I gave notice, they offered me more to stay because replacing me or any of the other techs was very expensive.

Ran my own company 20+ years - nothing costs more money than losing trained/seasoned professional because they want more money or more stuff.

VooDoo

 

[Threadcutter308]

They said the same thing about the last industry I was in - Audio Visual Systems Integration. All the little places went belly up over the last 20 years and have been bought up by the industry giants who sought to corner the market and change the rules/game to make their Top End rich at the employees expense.

Then techs started changing careers/fields (because for Techs there are now and will for the foreseeable future be a need for skilled labor) and when they asked for money the Bass wouldn't pay they moved to their competition who was only too happy to pay them "just a little bit more" because there simply are not enough competent workers out there to fill the need.

I had 3 jobs in 2017 - between 2015 and Summer of 2017 I worked for 4 different companies - and every time I moved I made another $6K -$10K a year.

There simply are not enough technicians (in virtually every field) to lock them all up and starve them out or control them with fear of being unemployed. Until the Big Money Boyz and their minions can actually go onsite and do the job they are desperate for techs and highly skilled/experienced labor. The biggest issue I encountered were the Old Work Ethic guys who thought only dead beats would leave a company flat because they didn't like the hours, conditions, or pay scale. My experience is that if you won't quit/move they'll ride ya like a post horse. In every case, when I gave notice, they offered me more to stay because replacing me or any of the other techs was very expensive.

Ran my own company 20+ years - nothing costs more money than losing trained/seasoned professional because they want more money or more stuff.

VooDoo

I'm finally retired. But, while I was working, I really came to loathe employers that would "give you more money to stay".

So, in essence, they were admitting to just how bad they were fucking me before I decided to move on.

Thanks, but no thanks, goodbye.

 

[232593]

Couple of recent events with family are anecdotally indicating things are kinda fubar. At least one major (Level 1 trauma) hospital is jammed to the gills in both wait times for ER, pts being parked everywhere in ER, long wait times for rooms to open up for admits etc and also huge backups for outpatient specialty testing, like 4-5 months. Docs are showing signs of burnout. Everybody bitching and snapping at each other. What gives? Thought the pandemic was "over" and things were returning to normal?

All I can say is this: if you have any relatives needing medical tests or procedures on your list, get in and get them scheduled now. Somehow I have a feeling things aren't going to improve, especially with 3rd worlders dragging TB and God know what else into cities from coast to coast.

Same in other areas?

Yes

 

[232593]

starting to sound like obamacare turned into nhs type waiting in some areas.
we did lose quite a few nurses that switched to "traveling" to escape clotshot mandates.
hc company went from dozens of openings for frontline staff to hundreds during covid.

This

 

[232593]

This type of shit is happening in other places besides the medical industry.

Interesting and somewhat related article

What Happens When The Competent Opt Out? | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

 

[Vodoun daVinci]

In my case I Rage Quit due to changes the company made during the Pandemic. Not really "on topic" except for the fact that I spent a huge amount of time supporting conference rooms, training rooms, and doctors video conferencing rooms at virtually all of the local hospitals so my Rage Quit and subsequent retirement impacted the local hospitals ability to function in a timely and professional manner. Guys I worked with, who have been forced to do my job because, well, there's no one to hire, tell me it will not likely ever be "the same".

In 2020 The Company laid off 286 people April 1 because they said the coming shutdowns in Hospitals and Court Houses etc. would mean they had no work for integration installers, programmer, and technicians. The number of people they let go was the exact number of people they needed to dump to get below the 500 employee limit to be eligible for PPP (Pandemic Payroll Protection) payouts which weren't active yet.

The Company received over $3 million in PPP cash and then discovered that not only was their business not impacted by shutdowns, it exploded as the whole world went to video conferencing. They brought back enough people to get the job done and went on to have the best yearly profit ever had. But they did not bring back any support people - no shipping and receiving, no draftsmen, no field service techs , no one in purchasing. They told the people called back and still employed that they'd have to "up their games" and cover for the leaner, meaner work force so they now had salaried techs, programmers, and integration installers working 50 - 60 hour work weeks for 40 hours pay. Because they were afraid.

I finally got back on 9 months after layoff by calling the Branch Director and telling him that my unemployment was done and my $1200 a month COBRA payment made it absolutely imperative that I get back to work. Their largest competitor had told me I was hired sight unseen as I trained their whole crew over my 49 year career. The they reluctantly agreed to put me back on but I have up my seniority and PTO and was titled as an "Installer" instead of a Field Service Specialist so they could put their 65 YO engineering tech out climbing ladders, pulling wire, and installing cameras and speaker.

Jan 0f 2022 they sent me to a jobsite with no heat, lights, or running water at -12 F. I slipped while unloading cable spools and knocked myself out cold in the parking lot. My 23 YO assistant thought I was dead. When I came to, I busted out laughing, got up off the ground, walked in and quit after reading the asshole Branch Director the riot act. Drove back to the shop, unloaded my personal tools and effects and my Wife picked me up.

I think this has happened all across America and it's part of the reason a lot of places just are understaffed. People quit in droves.

VooDoo