February 12, 2010

Racine doctors preparing to split from Wheaton-Franciscan;
Half of Racine's physicians prepared to leave


Local doctors are preparing a revolt against Wheaton-Franciscan Health Care that could dramatically reshape Racine's medical services.

At least 50 doctors are prepared to walk out on Wheaton-Franciscan over numerous concerns of mismanagement and poor billing practices, according to anonymous sources. Tension between doctors and the company have been building since the Milwaukee-based Wheaton-Franciscan (background info) completed its takeover of All Saints Healthcare three years ago and eliminated local control of Racine's hospitals, clinics and doctors.

Insiders close to the showdown say at least half of Wheaton-Franciscan's doctors in Racine will demand the non-profit corporation release them from their contracts and allow them to create their own medical group. Doctors want their own group so they can improve billing services, hire their own nurses and run their medical practices how they see fit.

The tipping point for many doctors was Wheaton-Franciscan's decision to replace its anesthesiology department with a Florida-based company that relies on highly trained nurses instead of doctors to provide anesthesiology to most patients. The decision came after negotiations broke down between Wheaton-Franciscan and Racine's anesthesiologists; , some had practiced locally for over 20 years.

But doctors were also upset by a series of business decisions that forced Wheaton-Franciscan to siphon money away from Racine to prop up its other buildings, a doctor said. The company is in the process of converting Racine into a "charity hospital" that primarily see patients without insurance. Other patients will be diverted to Wheaton-Franciscan's facilities in other cities.

"You cannot have a business survive like this," a doctor said.

More than 100 local doctors met Wednesday night to voice their concerns with Wheaton-Franciscan President and CEO John Oliverio. The 2-1/2 hour meeting did little to assuage the doctors, according to sources. At one point, someone asked the room how many wanted to leave Wheaton-Franciscan. More than 100 doctors raised their hands, according to a source.

"It was the first time I'd seen that many doctors in a room together in years," one source said.

The group of 50 doctors - which is roughly half of Wheaton-Franciscan's doctors in Racine - has been meeting privately with Wheaton-Franciscan's competitors to explore options. All local doctors employed by Wheaton-Franciscan have a restrictive covenant in their contracts that prevents them from practicing medicine in Racine County for 18 months after they leave.

If Wheaton-Franciscan refuses to let the group go on its own, the doctors are prepared to set up shop in a neighboring community, wait out the 18 months and return to establish the new physician-led medical group in Racine.

One doctor said there is little hope of repairing the relationship between Wheaton-Franciscan and a majority of its doctors. Thirty-eight doctors have left - many out of frustration - since Wheaton-Franciscan completed its merger with All Saints, a source said.

"They're incapable of fixing things," a source said of Wheaton-Franciscan. "They haven't done one thing in the last three years to make our jobs easier. They implement systems that add hours onto our long days, and they (the systems) don't even promote good health care."

The hope is Wheaton-Franciscan allows the doctors to split away, but still maintain a relationship with Racine's hospital. This will allow local doctors to keep their patients and improve service, a doctor said.

Doctors feel they can pull off the split now because a majority of Wheaton-Franciscan's doctors have agreed to leave.

"We wouldn't do this if we didn't think we had a solid group," a source said.

In order for the split to work, a doctor said, local patients and the community will need to support the doctors' efforts to improve Racine's health care.

One doctor wrote RacinePost with this account about their time in Racine, and the need for change:
I came during the last upheaval which saw many physicians leave. At that time morale was low-very low. Then Ken Buser and Thad Johnson took over and things literally turned around overnight. Until four years ago things were going great and physicians were happy as well as most of the staff.Patients were getting good care. Then came the formal merger with Wheaton. Most of the physicians new nothing about this, and, we certainly did not clamour for it as stated in the Journal Times. This was a move solely orchestrated by the Wheaton leadership (Mr. Olivario). We were only one of a few, maybe the only one, of their hospitals operating in the black. We paid for our women's center with cash. After the merger all of our money - the community's money - was basically siphoned off to Wheaton for many of their other failing hospitals. Our medical group has been literally dismembered piece by piece. Many good physicians have left,and, many of those physicians had been in town for a whole career. These physicians, who live in our community, were thrown away like yesterdays trash by administrators - many of whom do not even live in our community.
The fact that so many physicians are unhappy (not just physicians but nurses, clerks, operating room technicians - EVERYONE - including patients) means that the Wheaton organization has broken a fiduciary obligation to the Racine community it is supposed to serve. In the next few weeks there will be a large contingent of physicians who want to break aweay from Wheaton and still continue to care for their patients independently in the community. We will need the support of the community to do this because of restrictive covenants we were were forced to sign. You have some excellent physicians in this community who have been handcuffed. They want to provide excellent care. Please help us to be able to do this by calling the Wheaton organization and community representatives and tell them you suppport us. This is our community, you are our patients and we do not want to leave!

285 comments:

  1. I addressed some of these issues with out family's doctors over the past months and they all agree with us! I guess this is thier way of taking a stand!

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  2. I've always thought the care at All Saints was first-rate, but this doesn't sound very good for the future. I want my hospital as it is (was?) and I want my doctors there. I depend on this for my life.

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  3. We had to have 5 surgical procedures last year between myself and the Mrs...

    We had none of them done at St. Mary's. We will have nothing to do with Racine's disfunctional health care system.

    God Bless St. Lukes Hospital in Milwaukee.

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  4. When is Aurora going to build here?? One can only hope.. They have bulit them everywhere else but here..why ?? Weaton has noone to blame but themselves..thats why I will drive elsewhere before I go there.

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  5. The only way that I will go to All Saints is if I am unable to speak, think, eat or drink due to tramua or already dead. No thanks. I will make the short drive to Freordrt (sp).

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  6. I follow my Doc. The Wheaton system as a whole is a cancer on this community! I have threatened legal action NUMEROUS times regarding their imbecile billing practices. It is about time this has come to a head.

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  7. Wow, what an arrogant bunch of physicians we have here!

    After their substandard service, substandard care, ignoring patients concerns, treating us like a commodity....why the hell should the community support you now? Are these doctors going to wake up tomorrow and all of a sudden be better physicians and give a damn about their patients?

    I'm not saying Wheaton is a good company. By the looks of it, they suck. But what makes these doctors think they are any better? Why do they think they get a free pass for their crap work the past few years?

    I'm all in favor of the uprising, but if you want our business then EARN it. I would be willing to give them a shot, but they shouldn't take it as a given.

    Re-hiring the anethesiologists and billing properly won't magically fix this situation.

    I want more details from the 50 docs on how exactly they plan on delivering better health care and why we should trust them. A good start might be an apology to Racine.

    You can blame the system all you want but at the end of the day YOU were the ones delivering the care.

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  8. They can't deliver the care if the system had thier hands tied! Duh! You must be a Wheaton employee.

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  9. I love Aurora and ProHealth. I just wish they accepted Dean's insurance though. It's not the doctors, it Wheaton that is the problem. Glad to see so many others voicing thier displeasure too.

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  10. I've been seeing a number of specialists at All Saints over the last six months and have an appointment with a new one in a week or so. I'm wondering if I should cancel? Does anyone know if a patient's medical records at Wheaton can be easily transferred? I've invested a small fortune in very expensive tests and have no desire to start over.

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  11. 3:28

    Are you kidding me? Wheaton management (aka "the system") didn't make my prompt care physician ignore my symptoms because they were not part of the primary reason I was there - even though I explicity told them and then had to come back a week later because it got worse.

    Don't get me wrong - I think Wheaton is a terrible business and changes are in order but I am unwilling to give these doctors a free pass for their share of the responsibility. I'm glad they are bucking the system to make it better but don't pretend you're not part of the problem either.

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  12. They couldn't even take my credit card payment correctly. I gave them my credit card information and then 2 weeks later I get a notice in the mail saying they didn't take my payment because my expiration date was wrong. It was one digit off. Why didn't anyone call me to let me know to avoid the 2 week wait? They could have saved postage, saved time for them and me, and had their precious money. Oh that's right the credit card dept. closes at 4 and doesn't take that kind of information! So that is why I go to Aurora and I don't even want to deal with them. See ya!

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  13. What is that idiot Dickert going to do about not having a ER to go to when I get shot by an unemployed factory worker looking for my sandwich. He should be addressing these issues with the hospital directly instead of raising my taxes and hiring his buddies. For god's sake we are day's away from not having a hospital in this crap hole and the mayor is at some conference in the Hampton's talking about some endangered duck. Maybe his PR guy and Camera lady can use this line in their PR Video, "Come to Racine, it sucks so bad that we don't even have a hospital." Good job Mayor Dickert!

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  14. I just love it when they ask you if you want to pay a portion of your bill while your an inpatient...how tacky!

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  15. I am not surprised why these doctors would up and leave. Our Racine hospital has never been the same since the take-over. Why hasn't the hospital given an answer about the "siphoning" of money to other Wheaton locations? I have heard of the many frustrations regarding the mismanagement. It's about time the public hears about all of this. Where is the Journal Times investigation on this???? I hope more people stand up with those doctors to take back our Racine hospital!!!

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  16. Here's a bunch of practical questions:

    So what would this look like?

    Our hospital all of a sudden shuts down and 50 doctors walk out? What about the people there right now?

    Is the intention to shut down Wheaton and leave that building vacant?

    Will Wheaton just hire new doctors?

    Where will this new band of 50 physicians practice? And what will they practice?

    Just some quick thoughts about the whole thing.

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  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  18. I don't think that the employee that makes $28K has 12 years of college and $150K in student loans to pay off

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  19. "Come to Racine, it sucks so bad that we don't even have a hospital."

    Our new slogan I like to see Mr. Racine spin that.

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  20. Gee, you'd think our health care system was broken or something.

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  21. I agree, this lame mayor is more worried about hiring his friends and our local cable access channel, then he is with REAL issues in this community! What a loser! What say he on this hospital issue? Let me guess, Racine is a great place with so much positive going on, we residents are just to stupid to see it! Pack your bags lying Johnny boy, your outta here!

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  22. Why wait. Boycott Wheaton right now.

    Spread the word.

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  23. I feel bad for the employees. There are a number of good employees there, but administration has created such an atmosphere and aura of fear of losing their jobs.

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  24. Racine is a very great city on a great lake with a "Blue Wave" beach. The major problem is that we have negative bloggers who throw blognonamous statements at good institutions. Negative bloggers are like rectums. They just spew waste and stink up the webspace. Racine will only change when we take back our locale with local businesses and homegrown enterprises. Invest locally and outsiders will bring cash instead of taking it out of Racine. Don't listen to naysayers. If they are not part of the solution; they are part of the problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  25. Where's the signs around the hospital about being one of the area's 10 best places to work at? It would be one of the 10 best places to work if it was located in a prison camp!

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  26. Some very ignorant commens here. Know the facts before you post. Not a Wheaton employee. However, undersatnd business enough that is takes two to make a problem.

    As for the one post saying it is tacky to ask for payment at time of service, let me ask, do you drive a car off the lot and pay two months later?

    Let the doctors leave. I heard we also gained 35 over the past two years. 38 out - 35 in. Sounds like a wash.

    Wheaton does need to fix their billing. However, All Saints is an asset to our community and a true blessing.

    Let Aurora build here. They can have half the bad debt as well. Oh wait, they already have have doctors offices on the outside of the bus lines to avoid the poorest of the poor. They will do the same with the hospital. Then what kind of care.

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  27. They are on the bus line, both the Caledonia clinic and the Washington Ave clinic for Aurora are bus line accessible.

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  28. Dah, if I were buying a car I wouldn't have my infant in the NICU and crying all the time and wondering if my child was gonna make it! Let me ask you, how can such an asset to our community justify to have the nerve to ask you for money when you are at your lowest point in your life?!

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  29. 5:29 Mr Racine earning his 25K a year.
    Try spinning on high speed

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  30. How about the doctors just stay put and totally disregard the stupid rules. What are they going to do, fire you? Who cares? You already said you are willing to leave. I say start running the hospital how you want right now and make them do something about it.

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  31. Wheaton may be the problem...but is All Saints?

    As I see it, they are a good community hospital. Encourage the hosptial to leav Wheaton and we can go back to a good hospital as it was 10 years ago.

    Good cardiac care. Good cancer care. Good pediatric care. All close to home.

    Again I ask where the problem is - Wheaton or All Saints?

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  32. RW Brown, MD2/12/2010 6:25 PM

    Clarification: Aurora has been on the city bus lines for more than 10yr, having specifically requested bus service to come further out the Highway 20 corridor.

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  33. The problem is not All Saints, it was once a fine hospital. The take over by Wheaton took care of that. How can the Doctors deliver good care when the "Wheaton Regime"
    makes them see too many patients on a daily basis, and if they don't keep up their quota, they are made to pay the consequences. The staff are totally overworked and underpayed while the Top Management sit in their offices making terrible decisions that impact the whole community in a negative way. It's well known that Racine has a large uninsured population and Aurora don't want that. Get rid of Wheaton and bring back our All Saints!!!!!

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  34. When I had surgery I got 2 bills from the hospital. One for the surgeons fees and one for the hospital fees. The doctors bill was $2000 and insurance paid the doctor $200 or 10%. The hospital fee was $20000 and insurance paid $ 19000 or 95%.

    Why does the hospital get so much more than the doctor?

    Is this normal everywhere else?

    Please advise.

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  35. Im remember getting the bills all messed up when my daughter was bron c section.We got bills from the hospital and wheaton combined, then separated, then combined again. We made payments each month that they were supposed to apply all the bills. We found out WAY later that they didnt and the hospital side they sent to collections WITHOUT telling us! They reverted back to some old address we lived at years ago and that was where the notices for that side went to despite telling them everytime what our current address was. They said there was nothing they could so. I also remember our daughter in the NICU and having the financial person come up with her clip board to make sure all the payment information was in order. How cruel and tacky can you get.

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  36. I agree that management should be the first to go! They sit in their offices and only come out when its time for lunch so that they can all eat together and talk about the extravagant vacations they take and after that its back to the office (or vacation)whichever is more convenient. Or you have the ones who will only sit at the front desk and bark out orders, but not bother to get up and help out in the department, probably because its too far to walk from the front desk. We're alse blessed to have those who sit and drink coffee/soda all day, sit on the computer and plan trips, and make personal phone calls! The hard-workers are fed up, overworked and underappreciated!!!! I'm all for the Doctors!!! And shame on Wheaton for their disloyalty to the anesthesiologists! Talk about Mission, Vision, and Values. Where are yours??? Why don't you people practice what you preach!!!!!!!

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  37. Wheaton has a lot of good physicians and if i were one of them i would not like to be told "you have to take a cut in pay" either. Wheaton probably employes 4 thousand or more... and i am sure they count themselves lucky they have a job even after they cut a lot of positions in 2009. I agree their billing system needs severe help but i dont agree that Aurora is any better... try going there with no money in your pocket when your sick and try going there with a letter that says you have Community care thru Wheaton. They dont offer any help and they dont care. why do their physicians leave? I dont expect to walk into any clinic or hospital without making a payment for services. I dont tell the grocery store "i didnt bring any money." I highly doubt 50 doctors will walk out, everyone has bills to pay. Give that Ken Buser guy some time to fix the rift and make the doctors happy and stable so they can continue to take care of us in a good way. If the anonymous person above thinks they work in a prison camp?? whats holding you there? If you hate it- Just quit! go somewhere else! i would love to have a full time job with benefits and not scrape by on two part time jobs and no insurance! be thankful for what you have and that we even have a healthcare facility staffed in Racine.

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  38. I love the fact they they outsourced thier exray department to a service that is not vovered under the insurance. I went thinking I was all covered and got a bill from some medical office in Milwaukee for the exray work that was don AT THE HOSPITAL! When I called they said "well you should have see the little sign on the wall".

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  39. Anon 2/12/2010 7:43 PM

    I was at the store once and I heard one woman who worked there tell her other girlfriend that she could "hooker her up" and get her a job in the office and the they "don't do sh*t" but deal with patients "bullsh*t" all day. That's what happens when you give jobs to minorities from the inner city.

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  40. My mom went in for a routine procedure and was given medication which led to cardiac arrest. St Mary's didn't have her on a monitor. They found her on the floor of her room, blue. They got her heart beating again, but by then the damage to her brain was severe. I had to watch my mom slowly die over a period of six weeks. All of this because someone at St. Mary's didn't follow procedure for that medication and monitor her heart/breathing. I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER allow anyone in my family to go to St. Mary's Hospital. I think there are good doctors there, but I believe Wheaton All Saints limits their quality of care. I go to an "Independent" physician, now. Great doctor, great staff and still in Racine. I don't miss the extra long waiting room times, goofy billing practices, and the fact that I rarely was able to see my primary physician. Good luck to the doctors. Hopefully things will improve for the next ones.

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  41. Concerning the Doctor bill versus the hospital bill.The majority of physicians in Racine are employed by Wheaton. What happens is that when Wheaton negotiates its hospital and physician fees with insurance companies it cost shifts. That is they make a deal with the insurance company that goes someting like this: you give us %15 percent less for the physician portion of the fee and
    we'll give you %10 more for the hospitasl portion of the fee. Everybody wins but the physician.We frequently have patients who bring in bills for thousands of dollars charged by the hospital and a few hundred billed for the physician.

    There are many procedures that could be safely done in an office setting,but, because of the large facility fee the hospital gets for use of its operating and procedure rooms we are prohibited from performing them in the office.

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  42. Well folks must be the oddball here.

    Outside of calling and telling them to resubmit bills to the insurance company we never have had any problems with them at all.

    I had my heart surgery there in 1992 and I'm still here. I have some of the best Doctors I could ever have anywhere in the world.

    They may be hard on the staff but they've been good to me.

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  43. RACINE'S GENERAL HOSPITAL

    The soap opera begins. A never ending story of health care in Lunch Box City!

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  44. thanks WF for screwing this whole community. docs: 18 months will fly by - go for it and we'll travel to see you and wait for you to come back. i wouldn't dare have surgery in racine right now - take me to froedtert thank you very much

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  45. For the woman whos mother passed away due to the wrong meds.. i am sorry for your loss. If you lived in MN and this happened at Mayo clinic whould you forbid your family to ever there again? if this happend in Milwaukee at StLukes or Froedert, whould you forbid them to go there too? Sometimes we lose a loved one under an "accident" type situation. You cant blame the hospital for everything forever.

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  46. To the blogger who "overheard" the minority talking to her friend about hooking her up with a job, we have a lot of non-minorities in my department who don't do sh*t all day but sit on their A** and drink coffee and brag on their kids and vacations, so that's what happens when you give lazy-as*es jobs PERIOD!!!!!!!!

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  47. By the way, 'minorities' don't run the hospital, non-minorities do, so enough with the 'minority comments, that's not what this is about!!!!!!

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  48. All Saints posted a notice to it's employee's about this subject as "damage control". The damage is already done.

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  49. Look at all the opportunity in this sad story. Our Realtor Mayor can make the old St. Mary's campus a future redevelopment site. Then they can expand local government so they can employ all the previously employed people with positions in government. Then he can raise taxes even more so that the one employer in Racine that is not government, jwax, gets fed up with this hole and leaves. Then everyone with either work for the city or collect welfare and then it won't matter where he puts the water fountain. Get your head out of your butt and do something about all these jobs that are going to be gone.

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  50. I would challenge the restrictive covenant in court. Courts often throw them out for being unconscionable, especially when the effects on the community are as great as it would be in this case.

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  51. This comment is directed to Wheaton-Franciscan President and CEO John Oliverio:

    You can not win this one. You have operated Wheaton-Franciscan in this community like a monopoly but clearly without conscience. The conscience of the community will ultimately arise and defeat your lack of decency in decision making.

    Many people, for years, placed blame on local doctors for their lack of time with patients. I was one of them. This ultimately causes human error. It is clearly not in the best interest of providing good healthcare.

    It is now very clear to me it was Wheaton-Francisco management policy which was at the core of that lack of time for patients. This is very bad for morale both for the doctors and patient alike. What doctor would want to use a patient's shoulder and try to explain their woes when a patient has their own health problems to deal with.

    Combine this with a community with a terrible economic problem and you have the formula for disaster. Mr. Oliverio, you obviously thought you could just get away with it. What you forget is these issues will only make US all stronger.

    Doctors of Racine, thank you for the courage to stand up to poor management. Thank you for giving us a real option again. We patients don't want poor management any more than you doctors do.

    I will follow you doctors out of town to get medical services if required. Maybe then Mr. Oliverio and his cronies will begin to get the message. In the meantime, I suggest in the most strongest of language that Mr. Oliverio leave Wheaton-Franciscan. He has done enough damage to the Racine area.

    Racine area residents, support these doctors. They actually have our best interests at heart.

    p.s. where are the Sisters/Nuns who are ultimately the real owners of All Saints?

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  52. Make Racine gluten free. Say no to Wheaton.

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  53. It saddens my heart to think that all these doctors want to leave but as resident of Racine I will stand behind you 100%. a great man once said "If you dont stand for something you fall for anything". I'm glad your taking a stand. Management makes come face to face with reality now. Poor quality care, poor billing, poor facilities. Unfairness across the board with management treating staff like their nothing. I would like to go to a close hospital if I need care but if I have to stand out in the waiting area for 2 hours without a doctor or nurse but front line staff watching me that is ridiculous. You can barely get an appointment with your doctor because the staff is over worked, depressed themselves and just plain tired. Wheaton needs to know how to treat everyone fair. Stop being prejudice in every since of the word. Stop discriminating against people. If they dont have insurance help them get it and in the meantime help the billing department get in order. Charging people bills they dont even have.. When will this stop!!!anonymous

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  54. Just read the JT article on this and it tells a different tale. Sounds like the doctors are all mad because of their compensation being altered.

    Well, welcome to the recession you greedy m'fers!

    I thought this was about "management" but noooooo....it is about your wallets! Patient care, whatever! Show me the money is what this is all about.

    And you want sympathy???

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  55. and btw - the JT did not credit the Post with the story, but what's new

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  56. Wake up, Anon, 11:51-2, et. al. Don't you see what's going on here?

    The hospital's squeezing docs at one end and patients on the other.

    Meanwhile, the health insurance industry reports record profits based on higher fees for each service performed (Wheaton's new billing system), and by dropping 3 million patients who either can't afford their insurance anymore or are deemed "too expensive" to be covered.

    They're all running scared, so they want to milk all they can from the system while they still can, and they think they've won for another year, at least.

    Patients are paying the price, and now the docs, whose AMA, not coincidentally, endorsed reform.

    Change this picture. Tell Congress to pass the health-care reform bill this week, or we'll be looking at this kind of service deterioration and soaring costs for another decade.

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  57. The Journal Times made this nothing but a compensation issue which it is not! Judging by the majority of the posts on here, All Saints has a lot of cleaning up to do!

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  58. Hey All Saints if you want a place that has a good management model try to look at Cancer Treatment Centers of America...they have A LOT of happy employees! Oh yeah, some of your previous employees work there.

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  59. 12:22 Take a look at West Racine and see what happens when you let greedy people manage business. All of the money will be taken by management till there isn't any money in the bank to paint the buildings or fix the doors and then you will eventually have empty buildings, like West Racine. Could you imagine what St. Mary's would look like if it was to be shutter and boarded up, like a ghost town or Detroit. We need Obama's plan right now!

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  60. Dustin,

    I smell a rat. There is a very real possibility here that I think people have to consider - and that is you are being used.

    Read the Journal Times story. The whole issue is centered around compensation. These doctors are upset that they are making less money and feel jipped by the company changing the rules halfway through the game. They even cite this as the main reason doctors are leaving.

    If you were a doctor, what would you do?

    Have a meeting with managment, which they did. Problem is it didn't go well and a few of them realized their compensation wasn't going to be altered and now they are bitter and angry.

    The next move is to try hardball negotiating techniques: namely go to the press and start a story that doctors are fed up and going to leave. They manufactured this story to try to get public outrage on their side in order to use it as a baragaining chip to get their salaries increased. In other words, there is a very real chance that we are all being used.

    They appeal on your site to the quality issue when all along, it was really about the money. The JT interviewees probably just told the truth and didn't stay on message. Nothing is noted about quality, it is all money.

    I bet the real aim of these doctors is not to leave. They're bluffing so they can get paid more. I'd also bet that if it worked and all of a sudden their pay is increased, that all of their quality concerns might quickly fade away. These guys are laughing all the way to the bank and using public outrage to drive them there.

    They demonize the management and have tried to largely leave the hospital out of it so that they could go back to business as usual when it was all done. These doctors didn't intend on leaving, they intended on bluffing for cash.

    Brilliant plan, that is unless the public catches on. Brilliant plan, unless doctors have exposed the fact that they, in addition to Wheaton, also stink.

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  61. There is a very different depiction between the Post and JT versions? Which one to believe? Was the meeting a "near riot" or "cordial"?

    I'm interested in your response to 7:24.

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  62. Is there a different, and maybe more obvious money goal, expressed by the doctors the JT interviewed ? Who wouldn't want more?

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  63. FYI the meeting with Mr. Olivario last Wednesday night was not about compensation. It was discussed ,but, at the very end and was not a major point. I will tell you that the specialists in this town over the past three years have taken a %30-%40 pay cut. Of course no one is happy about that and how it was done is a whole different story. The physicians I know who have left have actually taken a pay cut. One physician still does not have a job she just could not stand the dishonesty anymore.
    The issues that were discussed wednesday night revolved mainly around patient care issues,patient access issues,implementation of an onerous electronic medical record that is bad for the patients and physicians.Also discussed was the letting go of our fine all M.D. anasthesia group and their replacement by nurses.Do you want an M.D. or a nurse putting you to sleep?
    The issues are so much more than compensation.But, if you want to talk about that why don't you ask for the pay record of our administrators. We are a not for profit organization and it shouldn't be a problem. I guarante Mr. Olivario ,Busser,Meyer,Davita
    have not taken the hit the specialists in this town have. They are
    not the ones making life or death decisions in the middle of the night. They do not bring one ounce of revenue into our system.
    To be honest, everyone trusts Mr. Busser. We all realize he has had his hands tied by the higher ups.
    This community has not been well served by the Wheatons for a variety of reasons.Unlike most physicians most of the administrators don't even live in this town. This is not about physician compensation.This is about having a long term viable hospital in Racine that the community is proud of.

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  64. I never took from either article that it was a "near riot". But having spoken with people on the inside it is quite clear they are very serious about their concerns. And not just about compensation.

    What I find so concerning is Wheaton's own disregard for their own Mission and stated values. What they say and do are two different things.

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  65. Ask yourselves-----who the Anonymous commenters really are? Doctors? Patients? Former Racine doctors ? Competitors? Ex- staff ? Management ? How do we know ? What if it's the same few people who have the time to comment? I wonder......

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  66. I'm not buying the story that this ALL about compensation. That may be part of it, but as a patient, I've witnessed the shortcomings of one of the issues mentioned - the electronic medical records.

    I've undergone a number of tests recently and every time I see my physician, he has to run to his office, scroll through tons of patients on his computer to try and find me (once he was reading test results from another patient) then try to find the results for the latest test I had performed. Used to be all that was right at his fingertips for easy reference in the (paper) medical chart. Could it be more inefficient?

    I've also found from visit to visit, my phsician doesn't always remember the results of all these tests (who could expect him to with hundreds of patients) so treatment plans are discussed based on his recollection - which I sometimes have to correct or remind him of a certain test finding. I believe the electronic system probably is an issue - If I was a physician it would be HUGE with me.

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  67. I would classify the meeting wednesdayh night as a "cordial Riot"

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  68. I 100% support the physicians on this. And as far as the JT article goes, I have learned over the years that they do not always report accurate information. And another possibility to consider is JT interviewed the management who is most likely not trying to intimidate the physicians into not breaking off. That would totally crush their business in Racine and they would take a great hit on their entire system! I have seen first hand over the years since Wheaton took hold the doctors have less and less time for each patient. They must meet a quota each day as well as get all their dictation done on time. It's an assembly line that makes for poor quality care. They are told they can not do certain procedures except in the hospital because it generates more revenue for Wheaton, but clearly could be performed safely in the office setting. And as far as the anesthesiologists go, they billed separate for them anyhow and it was not covered by all insurances and patients were not told until they got a separate bill in the mail with a note from their insurance company saying it was out of network. That was another Wheaton idea to contract with separate anesthesiologists instead of hiring their own. It was probably cheaper. I have heard of too many wonderful physicians over the years walked out by security or forced to quit before they were fired because they failed to meet the quota that was expected of them and they "weren't bringing in enough revenue". They actually cared enough and wanted to take time to listen to the patients instead of ignore things while trying to keep the quota on their minds. You can't have good care when you force good physicians to see a certain number of patients per day. If they are in fear every day of being fired or having to quit you can guarantee lower quality of care, which is not the physician's fault. I say let these docs leave! We will follow them and make their own rules, and practice as they see fit. It would only benefit their patients. Bring back the days of the Racine Medical Clinic. We were all happy with our care then. ONe last thing, I believe somewhere in Wheaton's mission vision and values is something about a "physician friendly" environment... HA! Doesn't sound like they are making that happen!

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  69. To the blogger who said this is a clever ploy by doctors to get more cash-WRONG.
    The administration loves to turn it back on the "greedy doctors".

    Do you know what the All Saints bond rating was five or six years ago? The correct answer is we did not have one because the communities money stayed in the community and the All Saints projects were paid for in cash.

    Know what our bond rating is now? Almost junk. Go look at moodys bond rating for Wheaton. The fact is Mr. Olivario used the merger to take local financial control away from the health community in Racine abd shift the decision making and therefore the money to Milwaukee. You should ask Mr. Olivarion to open his books.We have asked him too and he won't. I wonder why.

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  70. I am a mother of 3, married with good health insurance. My son is epileptic and my one daughter is Type 1 diabetic. We had ER visits with them 2 years ago and are now being sued. We set up payment arrangements and they decided after a whole year of us paying EVERY month..it wasn't enough. Wheaton and their practices rape the good people in this town and they need to be stopped. The bottom line is their ONLY concern. They should be ashamed. Needless to say, we avoid St. Mary's/Wheaton/All Saints at ALL costs!

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  71. Obama's plan? He doesn't have a plan. He never did. He outsourced the Health Care Reform to Nancy and Harry. And they buried any ideas he might have in in 2000+ pages of back room deals designed to ultimately give the Federal government (NOT YOU) the last say.

    The only plan anyone from either side of the isle has presented has come from Paul Ryan. And unlike Nancy and Harry's scheme it has been available for scrutiny for months.

    Bad management and poor communication appears to have made a mess of things at All Saints. You can't really expect bad governance with little or no communication to fix health care for America.

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  72. I have to say it's not just the Doctors who are feeling this, it's the rest of the "Wheaton Employees". Because of the mis-management jobs in support positions have been cut and the rest of the employees have been stretched beyond belief. You want to know why mistakes are being made, it's because the Doctors and Nurses are not only trying to do their work, which is already overwhelming, but they are also trying to do all of the support work. Their workload has increased tremendously while the management get paid the big bucks for making poor decisions. The Doctors are fighting for their right to practice medicine in a safe manner and not be told they only have a few minutes for each patient and "step up the pace". Many healthcare workers went into this field because they cared about people and unfortunatly it is now being run by a management that cares only about money. Shame on you Mr. Oliveri for allowing this to happen, you have ruined a good hospital and taken the morale of it's employees down with you!!!

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  73. To the person who said they wonder who the anonymous commentors are:
    Many of us are probably Wheaton employees who are sick of everything that is going on there and being treated the way we are as professionals. Of course were anonymous for fear of reprisal Dah!!!
    Second, if there are this many employees posting don't you think there is a real problem!!!

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  74. Any way you slice it there are SERIOUS management issues at WF from the top all the way to the floor, including the doctors!
    Many of the managers base the decisions on how to manage people based on personalities not a professional attitude and demeanor, performance of their technical skills or patient care.Someone who works there and is a hardworker committed to being successful personally, as an employee and human being has described situations of behavior by management and staff that would not be tolerated in most respectable organizations. Managers dicriminating against workers based on personalities not principles, which causes tension between people who go to work to actually do their job and those that show up to socialize, do face book and milk the time while collecting a paycheck.Unprofessional behavior from the doctors,that act like spoiled children, degrading others and throwing tantrums. Not exactly the behavior you see in succesful organizations! Looks to me that they (management)have created a hostile work environment which will eventually drive away employees and patients and eventually end up sinking their ship. No company dies from the outside, they die due to decisions and actions taken from within. It is managements responsiblity to ensure this doesn't happen. Doesn't appear as they are doing a good job from what I see. Looks like we are now publically seeing symptoms of what any reasonable employee has been watching happen for some time. The death of an organization! Maybe a bit of press may open their eyes, and maybe some doors to toss management out and get their ship back on course before it sinks.

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  75. OK, Anon, 10:03 (against ‘Obamacare’),

    Let’s review the situation: Doctors who are now compensated on the numbers they generate instead of their training and quality of the care; Impossible billing that caters to the insurance companies instead of patient needs; Decisions taken out of the hands of patients and their doctors, now in the hands of non-medical bureaucrats solely interested in the bottom line; Poor record keeping that imperils patients’ lives through repeated medical mistakes …

    … no, suppose you’re right. Nothing needs reforming in there, huh?

    Wake up! Tell Congress to pass health-care reform today.

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  76. Mr. Oliveri sounds as though some of the managers need to first be trained as managers, then get out on the floor and start to working on solutions to what's really going on! Oh by they way that would mean it would have to start with you!!!

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  77. As a patient, you have the freedom to choose whomever you want. And it is not just physicians. Next time you are referred to physical therapy, x-rays, whatever. specifically request to go outside of the system. I guarantee you will get better care!!

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  78. As I read the various blogs of others I can't resist putting my two cents in to this discussion.
    I had worked for the Wheaton’s several years ago and was walked out due to disagreeing with there Method of operation. I have known several Drs. who have been walked also because they wouldn't bend down to there rule.
    Where the bottom line comes first and then the patient second. When the Wheaton’s came into power they came with the soul intent of having a hostel take over of the Medical treatment in this community.
    First they had the merger of St. Luke’s Hospital and then they took over the Alcohol /Drug treatment by grabbing the A-Center, which later became West wind Treatment. after a short period of time they then took that program and merger it with the Psych Unit at St. Luke’s Hospital. When they did that they took AODA treatment back fifty years. What they did were mix people with Mental Health issues with people who had Addiction issues. Then they began to diagnosis people with Mental Health Diagnosis just so they could collect more monies from the Insurance companies.
    The problem with that is they don't treat the primary problem you also place another diagnosis on a person which can affect them later in life. Especially when they try purchasing insurance or even finding work once they are told they are disabled due to having Mental Health issues.
    I can go on for ever about the injustices that I have seen, but I won't. What I want to do is encourage these Drs. to continue there fight and hopefully someone at the top may finally listen to the professionals and not just the suits who don't care about this community or the people they serve.

    This hostility has to stop as this community can not afford to lose any more good Doctors to the bottom line. As it stand now I and my family with drive the extra miles to Milwaukee or even Kenosha just so we can get the proper treatment for our medical needs.

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  79. Someone tell Dickert to wake up and fix this thing. I know that he is not part of the hospital but he is our Mayor. Do something before Racine loses its medical care. Racine's successes are vastly eroding and will soon be replaced by failure. Do something Dickert, you are our leader.

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  80. How is this have to do with Dickert?

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  81. Exactly 11:46, how does it? I for one would rather not see "Johnnie Boy" invovle himself in this issue, he F's everthing up that he works on!

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  82. Every doctor I have visited complains that the new computer system they must use slows them down, rather than making them more productive. The problems get worse instead of better. They have already lost some great doctors. Merging with a bigger organization was a train wreck. So does this now make them too big to fail?

    It sounds like the top people aren't skilled enough to run this operation or get themselves out of their own mistakes.

    I guess if I really get sick I will have to go to Milwaukee. Stay healthy people it is our only hope.

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  83. "America has the finest health care system in the world." - Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell

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  84. “We have the best health care system in the world.”
    -Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, House Minority Leader

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  85. “Most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care in the world to the federal government.” - Virginia’s Republican Governor Bob McDonnell

    NOT WHEN WE CAN TURN IT OVER TO THE LIKES OF WHEATON-FRANCISCAN INSTEAD

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  86. If this isn't about physician paychecks, then I suggest simeone call the JT and clarify because right now it looks like greed.

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  87. 12:29 You're right it is about greed. CORPORATE GREED. They have taken your health care facility and broke it. Siphoned your money to Milwaukee to pay for failing buildings. Clearly your ignorant if you think this is about physician pay.

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  88. How is it that docs used to make twice as much money in the 80's and early 90's than they do today yet the bill for the same services has gone up 12 fold??? Sounds like corporate greed to me.

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  89. I've been reading all this today. I'm a former Racine doctor who now works for Aurora. Don't for a minute think they will be better ! Check out their charity care policies. They are much tougher than Wheatons. When my site went on an electronic record last[it's called Cerner], it was a disaster for me. I had a colleague leave us after 14 years there because his volume dropped so much they cut his vacation time. I don't have time to keep up with this. Just wanted readers to know, there's another side to the story.

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  90. All Saints should put a new sign out there.... Scary Mary's! After poor care by Dr. Brockman, I went to Froedtert Hospital and told them that it we call WFHC, Scary Mary's the dr told me at Froedtert that what they see coming out of Racine for medical care is truly scary.

    My dad was treated by Dr. Omdahl, now Vice President of Medical Affairs, who I fired because I truly believe he failed Diagnosis 101 after my dad's blood levels kept dropping and I inquired as to why he thought that was happening. He told me didn't know. I then told him that perhaps the patient was non-compliant and not taking his medication as prescribed and would that not cause blood levels to drop. He looked at me and stated, "I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT!" Now they promote a private care physician who couldn't keep patients after Dr. Little retired to chief of staff, he quits his private practice, joins WFHC, continues his practice even though no one will go to him and then they promote this jerk to Vice President.

    The whole place is poor quality of care, poor physicians, poor management, poor employees, etc.

    If you are not dead when you get to WFHC, you will be when you leave!

    Everyone in this town should go to Milwaukee for health care and don't even think about it in this town.

    I sure wish Froedtert would open up a facility here.

    Oh and by the way, I have a cousin in Madison who is 86-years-old who e-mails his doctor with how he is doing and his doctor responds via e-mail. I don't think Scary Mary's has even figured out what e-mail is!

    Wake-up Racine!

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  91. Anyone that rails against the MD's for being frustrated over their compensation needs to have their own heads examined. Yes, everyone is getting pay cuts, but not retroactive for 6 months, then told that their new payment system promotes over-utilization and nothing performance based and if they want to leave, they would have to either not work for 18 months, or move out of the town they are vested into. Yes, MD's make lots 'o money, but they also have 15 years of school debt, malpractice insurance, and a hard job!

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  92. Just adopt the Republicans' health care plan - don't get sick.

    Problem solved.

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  93. Adding to the "Scary Mary's" Would be "St. Flukes" for their Mental Health Facility.

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  94. Mr. Oliveri when you create a hostile working enviroment for your employees you create a hostile health care facility for people to go too. Guess what, we stop going there and the organization will start to self destruct from the inside. I suggest you start from the inside and quickly it's gonna take a lot of mending for trust by the employees and community to return.

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  95. Again it's not about compensation.The 50 or so physicians involved in this actually don't want any compensation from Wheaton. They just want to be let go.

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  96. Wheaton built a fancy new hospital in Franklin with the idea "build a hospital and they will come". But "they" didn't come, meaning the insured, affluent, of south Milwaukee and Racine. That is when they started siphoning money off All Saints, and things started to change here. Staffing was cut, low quality supplies were ordered. But they did have money to hire Press Ganey for thousands of dollars to send out surveys to help get "service Excellence" numbers up. They even have a Service Excellence consultant following staff around to tell them how to better talk to their peers and their patients. What they don't understand is that if people are happy in their jobs, it is reflected in their work..from MD's, Nurses,down to Environmental workers, Dietary,and the lowest paid people in the system. Nurses could have gotten a 3% raise last year, but many found out at their reviews that the very smallest infraction gave them 0-1% instead. These are the same nurses that work 12-14 hrs.a day and many days without any lunch breaks. The same nurses who get their vacation requests denied, but are daily asked to work extra because the hospital is short of staff. There is a beautiful ICU that recently opened, but many beds are empty because they do not have the staff to open them...there is a reason why there is not enough staff. As am employee I fully back the physicians....there are excellent Drs. who work there. Yes there are some no one should go to, but that number is very minute. What they are doing to the Drs., they have done to the nurses, but fortunately Drs. have a louder voice. What the Administration does not understand is that without Drs. and nurses, there is no hospital.

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  97. had great service at froedert recently. the doctors wf wanted us to see had no vowels in their names and were wearing braces to correct their teeth. third world docs will not cut it in todays world. if that is a cost cutting measure then they can keep their hospital. we will continue the 35 mile trip to froedert for excellent medical care.

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  98. This is real people!!I work side by side with all levels of employees at All Saints. We are all suffering.. There are a lot of good doctors that are going to leave. There is to much management that sit and spin all day, bark orders, intimidate, retaliate and make working here hell. A unit that is suppose to be one of the happiest units to work on, is truly a PRISON. Our dirtector is referred to by many as the "WARDEN"We have 6 people sitting in 1 office, not able to help us when we are short staffed, because they simply don't know how! Build another hospital you Napolian, we lost great anesthesiologists, now we have a group that don't know how to work pumps, can't find med's, some don't even know where the OR is. What the heck, Mr. Buser??? You put how many through Notre Dame? Some of us can't even pay a light bill? Make our Doc's happy, so we are happy and still have job's. If they go, that means a lot of us will follow. Then what? This is the Titanic waiting to sink.

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  99. There are dangers with this new group of anesthesia people. Beware!!! Have babies elsewhere! Pray you come in when we are staffed correctly, staffed with experienced nurses. Hopefully we have equipment that works. Lets hope the maggots are gone off the phones. Auroa come and save us!!!!

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  100. Obviously, quite apparently, the Racine Journal Times is the damage control agent for Wheaton.

    As a doctor or an employee of Wheaton, I would never, ever expected any reporting of the Racine Journal to be straight up, honest and keep their sources confidential. I do respect the Racine Post as they do keep their sources completely confidential. Dustin Block was a reporter for the Journal and left and started Racine Post, along with Pete.

    If anyone cares to tell them the truth about Wheaton, now is the time. The truth needs to keep coming out, it won't with the Racine Journal. It stopped being a good newspaper a decade ago.

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  101. How many managers took a pay cut? How many managers/adminstrators freak out about being 1 or 2 minutes late to work? How many "Oliverio's" get written up, retaliated against for voicing their concern? Doc's stand up for us, and get told to "shut up". I say you shut up! Clean house with some upper management at All Saints in all departments. Do we really need 5 or 6 leadership people? No we need good doc's that are happy, and nurses, housekeeping, huc's, techs etc that are happy. They closed Guatanamo Bay right? Or are we working at it?

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  102. Someone get the new's involved. People in our community need to know. New's, new's, new's

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  103. The administration at All Saints is getting exactly what it deserves. I see a lot blaming Mr Olivero (and I'm sure he is partly to blame). However, in my opinion, as soon as Mr Buser became CEO of All Saint's a few years ago, the climate changed to a cut throat, watch your back environment. To simply say this is only about physician compensation and a computer system is laughable. Shame on you Mr Buser, Dr Omdahl and the rest of the hatchet men!

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  104. Well if you have 12 years or 2 years of schooling it should be a team effort. The doctors and employees work hard. The management should listen to their employees and get rid of Wheaton and become a family hospital.

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  105. The outcome is always interesting when a company like Wheaton hires a "consulting" agency who only makes their money based on how much they can save the "consulted". The result is always the same, chaos. Wheaton gets their advice from "consulting" agencies. They have uprooted entire departments (and not necessarily for the better). The previous post from the aurora doc is right too, Aurora is definately more of a coorporation.

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  106. I work in a department that has seen many cuts. But the management team has seen no cuts. U have a management team of 5, managing maybe 20 staff. Why have all the cuts been from the bottom of the tree?
    Fear is a daily feeling in this department with our manager she tells us many people are looking for jobs and we need to work harder and smarter as she sits behind her desk.
    Hey Rosie thanks for nothing and Cheri is the Heart of All Saints

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  107. I told 12 people about this today. Spread the word.

    What date are the doctors walking out?

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  108. I just hope all of you that are Wheaton employees that are admitting you are, aren't found out who you are and lose your jobs... Seems like an organization that would do something like that... Be careful! They are on the defense now! Or maybe everyone should strike?

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  109. I heard the doctors were leaving in 2 weeks if their demands are not met. If you have an appointment, I would hurry up and find alternatives.

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  110. I plan on following my doctor outside of Racine County when or if he leaves. Wheaton thinks they "own" the patient. Well I have never met Wheaton administration (and it sounds like I wouldn't want to). Wheaton does not "own" me! I trust my doctor and will follow him anywhere. The only thing Wheaton has given me is billing headaches because of their horrible billing system. My insurance company says Wheaton has the worst billing system in Wisconsin. Follow your doctor!! LEAVE Wheaton behind!!

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  111. Health Care Vision:
    Our health ministries will be recognized in
    each community we serve for superior
    and compassionate patient service,
    clinical excellence, as the health care
    employer of choice and the preferred
    partner of physicians.


    Quoted directly from Wheaton's mission vision and values....

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  112. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  113. Not to mention that Wheaton is replacing all the docs with Nurse pratitioners! These people are IDIOTS, DumbSh!ts to say the least. You get crap care from these people. You get a bill as if you saw a DR. but in actuality you saw a nurse! But they introduce themselves as Dr.! Shameful. Anything to save a dollar. which by the way goes straigt into the corporate pocket! Take a stand and demand Quality! Demand to see a DR Not a nurse!

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  114. I am going to make a number of phone calls to make sure my friends know about this. Even if some of it may be in error I believe most of it is accurate. It's midnight now but tomorrow I will for sure letting everyone I know about this issue. It is too important to ignore. I hope everyone else feels the same.

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  115. I left All Saint's a couple years ago, My Dr. was top notch, even his Nurse Practitioner was excellent last I seen him. My new insurance was not in network. For the first time in 35 years, I went to a new Medical center, Aurora in Kenosha. I now actually see my Dr at Aurora, no need for a six month wait to see Dr. Bob at WF, and their billing is accurate. I have no complaints and the Dr. at Aurora is not rushed and takes his time. All in all Aurora is much better even though I miss Dr. Bob at All Saints.

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  116. I am one of the MD's at Wheaton-Allsaints and thought I should contribute to this discussion. I just want to comment on the negative remarks that are being made on the health care provided by Allsaints. I am sorry that many of you had bad experiences at Wheaton be it at ER waiting for hours or having nightmares with the billing dept. I and my family are also patients at Wheaton and we had our share of unpleasant experiences. By the way, I am not an ER doctor so I cannot speak for ER dept. However, I've had similar if not worse experiences at other hospitals. For example, my wife had to wait for hours before seeing an MD at an ER at another hospital that I would not name and received a care that I wasn't too happy with. I guess what I am saying is even the best hospitals can make mistakes and have unhappy patients. I hope Wheaton would be better than that but unfortunately we have to work with what we have and cannot see everyone immediately. There are only a few of us MD's and many patients who walk through our door. I can say that most of the doctors that I work with at Allsaints are very dedicated and competent. It is common to see my collegues at 7 or 8pm at night seeing patients even though they are not on call. There are times when I don't get to see my kids (for 2-3 days) because I leave before they wake up and come home after they go to sleep. There are days when my wife is suffering because I cannot help her when she needs me because I am at Allsaints seeing patients. Don't get me wrong, I am doing my best to come home early for my family but again, there's only one of me and many of you asking for my time. So before you make any blanket judgement on us doctors, I would like to ask you to understand that we are doing our best and that we also need to have our personal lives. How many of you are willing to miss out on your family because of work? Well, that is what many of us AllSaints doctors are doing for you. In regards to some of your comments about Allsaints being inferior to St. Lukes or Aurora, Allsaints should try to improve to earn your trust and I hope we can do that. I can only say that the collegues that I have worked with are top-notch and both myself and my family rely on them to take care of us. If I didn't trust them, we would be someplace else. I have patients from Aurora / St. Lukes who switch because they were very unhappy with the care there so I guess it goes both ways. I am sure that Aurora and St. Lukes provide very good health care overall but so do we. But what separates AllSaints from Aurora is that our doors are open to people who cannot pay for their care. Frequently, I get patients referred by doctors who normally send patients to Aurora and all of them have either no insurance or state insurance such as Title 19. We also have community care. All of these patients get good health care at our expense. Many of us can be independent doctors and cherry pick only the patients with good insurances like other hospitals do, but one of the reasons why I like to work at Allsaints is that we don't do that. So to all of you who had unhappy experiences at Allsaints, I am sorry for what happened but please do not pass on a blanket judgement on all of us.

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  117. It's really too bad it has come to this. First, most of the people that I know would say that the hospital care they have received in Racine is 2nd rate---at best. There are certainly some exceptions to this statement, but for the most part, it's how people feel. The fact of the matter is we have the care we have, but when politics become the driving force behind our future care, we should expect poorer care will follow. A doctor will not become more proficient with a better infrastucture, but he/she will provide less/worse care with a poorer one. This bickering has to stop, and leadership has to prevail. The situation requires an "adult" sit-down between both sides of the aisle! I'm sure the physicians from the "left" feel that the administators from the "right" have acted in poor faith with respect from the retroactive contract "cram-down", whereas, I'm sure the the administrators believe that they are within their right to deviate from the spirit of their original agreement with their physicians. This one is easy, since there are at least two case that will be presented to the courts with both sides having the opportunity to state their case. Interpreting an employement agreement is usually fairly straight forward, so this portion of the debate will be answered soon. As I see it, the problem becomes polarizing once this decision becomes a matter of verdict. What will the physicians do thereafter? Will they stay--will they threaten to leave--will they actually leave--will precident be set that they can or can't leave without violating their non-compete clauses--if so, will they fly away or just be disgruntalled physicians? Herein lies the problem. Either way, this, in my opinion, will lead to an almost endless scenario that will serve the interests of patients poorly! My advice, for what it's worth, is to bring both side together, as adults, and take a deep-dive into this complex debate, with patient best interest serving as the guide. Physicians have taken the hypocratic oath, and business leaders are responsible for profits, but it seems that few see that one will lead to the other. Good medicine, practiced practiced profitably for ALL, will serve Racine well. Greed on either side, will fracture this community for a long time to come. To both side of this debate---SHOW SOME LEADERSHIP!

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  118. I find it more than a bit interesting that only two sides are being told to come to the table to discuss this. What happened to the representative of the patient? There is a third side. Where are the voices of those of us who have been treated with less than respect? And only now we have insult to injury that it is now suggested that "adults" come to the table to discuss this from only the administration and physician side?

    I have to tell you that without our patient input both other sides will not have the benefit of our experiences. You believe you can do this but I am suggesting otherwise.

    The values and mission of Allsaints are in writing. But my personal experience is it has been ignored by the administration. Doctors too have not played well in that sandbox too.

    So, you go ahead and work out all those details but without our input you will not have a long term solution. Trust me, it will take a long time to recover from this from the patients point of view.

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  119. I wish the bloggers on this site would stop thinking that this is about contract retroctivity and pay.IT IS NOT.It is quite simple.We all want to take a %100 pay CUT from Wheaton.We want to continue working in the community giving our patients the excellent care they deserve in the manner we see fit.

    We are tired of the lies and dishonesty,the unhappy staff and patients. We do not want our patients going to Milwaukee because they feeel they can't get good care in Racine.The problems that brought us to this point have been known to the administration for years.They have done nothing.Now that we have a large group of physicians banded together they want to hear our concerns.I have seen Mr. Olivario once in the four years since the merger. That was this past wednesday night.

    He is head of the Wheaton system. His overriding concern is the Wheaton system and not the community of Racine. The only administrator who lives in town is Ken Buser.However,until last wednesday night he had been emasculated and sent up to work at Franklin.We do not believe him (Olivario)when he says he will give Mr. Buser free reign to fix things in Racine.It is a matter of trust.Once that is violated so severly it just can't be repaired.

    Why does there seem to be no realization by the bloggers on this site that the health care dollars being spent in Racine are no longer staying locally ,but, being sent up to Milwaukee to the Wheatons. There should be outrage in the community that this money does not stay here to be invested in staff and service to support our local patients and improve the care they recieve.

    Please support this group of Doctors. With your support our numbers will swell even more as more timid physicians come on board.

    Unlike the majority of our administrators we are invested in this coummunity with our families,our children, our patients and our homes.We want nothing more than for us and our staff to be able to come to work in a non threatening environment and take excellent care of you our patients in the mannner in which we see fit.Please support us!

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  120. In response to anonymous 2/13/2010 10:57 PM post: If the anesthesia nurses are truly introducing themselves as "Doctor" and you are getting a bill from a doctor this is FRAUD!!! There are laws against this especially with Medicare. If this is happening, Wheaton is in more hot water than just some doctors leaving! If it's true report it!

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  121. No way I would ever go there for care. It's not actually the doctors, its the assembly line for care. They book too many people into a single time slot. I go to Froedert for my specialty care. My doctors calls me when there is a problem, I have never gotten an answering service. We even email back and forth as a form of communication. Believe it or not, my Doctor is head of a department up there, the head of a specialty unit and also teaches. He still has time for his patient. I have never been rushed while up there, the nurses and everyone there has been outstanding. My PCP is at Aurora here in Racine. I would never step foot into WF. In an emergency I will go to a Kenosha hospital

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  122. Bring back Dr. Chomiak, why did he leave? I don't think by his choice, right? He really cared about his patients. Buser came and bye bye.. Where is he now?

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  123. Why the heck is Wheaton doing so bad? I thought they spent millions of dollars on Wells Spring to come and clean house in order to "save" us money. I know Wells Springs went thru just about each department and made "recommendations" on how to get more reimbursement out of the system. Oh yeah, by firing staff and making others work harder in order make up for their loss. I say go thru each dept. and get rid of the dead weight people but then again if they didn't see it the first time what makes me think it would correctly happen the second time around?

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  124. Management at Wheaton in Racine has to be held accountable for all the comments made in the blogs, but as usual they will blame others instead. I know I worked at Wheaton in Racine for over 30 years. It was a great place to work at when I first started at St. Luke's but changed in a hurry when Wheaton Corporation and thier hired consultants started running it. Believe me patient care is being affected at Wheaton. This Management has changed so many policies, have added so many rules and regulations, and have cut so much staff that mistakes are being made on a daily basis even in the critical areas like Surgery, and ICU. Some of these pollicies, rules, and regulations are being made by Management just to jusify thier own jobs not to improve service or safety. Most employees at Wheaton are good people who really want to do a good job, but are really handcuffed by this Management Staff from TOP to Bottom. Like I said this situation at Wheaton has been going on for years and will not go away, until ALL WHEATON MANAGERS ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND QUALITY IS DEMANDED BY ITS CUSTOMERS.

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  125. As a former employee at Wheaton in Racine I am not surprised by all the negative comments made. Management at Wheaton top to bottom is a disaster. There has been so many incidents that has been covered up by this Management Staff. It is shameful. Incidents that include Nursing Areas being shut down and moved because of mold found in the walls, ICU shut down and moved because of poor air quality 5 years ago, recent incidents of patients in Surgery who wake up in the middle of thier procedure because of improper Anesthesia given. This is only a few of the incidents that are happening on a daily basis at Wheaton in Racine. It is time for everyone from Patients, Citizens, and our Elected Officials, to ask for an investigation of this facility. Management cares more about thier personal growth than they do about the Customers they serve or thier employees. I did not write this blog because I am a disgruntal employee, but some day either myself, or my family might need to use this facility, and if I do I want to make sure it is the best. In reading all these blogs sent the last few days, I know Wheaton Healthcare is not.

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  126. Anonymous said...
    "I am a former employee of Wheaton Healthcare in Racine who is retired........"

    Sounds EXACTLY like a few companies I have worked for.

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  127. I cannot disclose names or details, but I recently took my daughter to the ER and voiced my concerns with a PA in the ER about Wheaton, billing, patient care, and process issues. She quiently shook her head in agreeance and said they all feel the same way and have thier hands tied at times. The way she said it and acted was like she was afraid the room weas bugged. How sad.

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  128. I am a former employee of All Saints. I retired a few years ago and have since moved away. I recently was surprised when I received a bill for services provided to me 18 months prior. When I spoke to the billing department they blamed it on the insurance company. I set up a payment plan to retire this debt. Two weeks later I received a letter saying my bil was going to collections for non payment (I had actually made the 1st payment as had been arranged with the person I spoke to...obviously the communication stopped with that person. Not only getting the bill 18 months after the fact, but also getting threatening letters to pay my bill in full immediately doesn't reflect a well run system.
    This has nothing to do with the Doc's, but speaks volumes on choices Management makes and implements. I still have many friends at All Saints and many who have either chosen to leave or have been forced out. Working inside the walls of All Saints there were many of us who saw the writing on the wall. I was one of the lucky ones who got out!

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  129. What should matter to all patients entering the front door of any hospital are its clinical outcomes. I'm part of large Catholic family with 7 brothers and sisters and 10 ants and uncles, with cousins left and right, many of whom live in Racine. When we get together for holidays, the topic of All Saints/Wheaton patient treatment always makes its way into the conversation. This past Christmas, the conversation was especially lively. On one side of the table, two of my dad's brothers were singing the praises of the surgeon who did their hip replacement, the same surgeon won more kudos from a cousin who recently had his knee replaced. This group of happy customers was joined by my sister and my aunt who both had successful carpal tunnel surgery by a surgeon in the same group. Finnally, my own 78 year old mother, with an enlarged heart, sang the praises of her cardiologist of the past 35 years. He has always served her well.

    On the other side of the debate, we had another aunt who has been suffering badly from her spine fusion, who as it turns out, will probably be getting her second fusion, this time at St. Lukes, (vowing never go back to Wheaton again), my oldest sister who experienced major problems during her hysterectomy surgery, another uncle who had his prostate removed the old way and is still suffering from urinary problems and sexual health issues two years later. And finally, my middle sister weighed in on her ER fiasco with my nephew who was suffering from an inflamed appendix and had to wait nearly three hours before someone figured out that he was really sick and in need emergency surgery. Thankfully he is alright, but it could have been really ugly.

    All of this happened within the past 3 or 4 years, and the thing they could all agree on is that billing was a nightnare!

    Healthcare delivery, as a product, is not easy to get right, but with poor processes, it's a very easy thing to get wrong. However, what concerns me a great deal at this moment is the apparent unrest between our care-givers and their bosses. And if this blog is any indication of how bad things are, or will be, I'd say the situation will soon be TOXIC, which bothers me as citizen of this fine city.

    I'd like to see this spat between money earned or owed, improved working conditions, and restored anesthesia and staff support, resolved quickly, so that all parties can go back to focussing on improving health care outcomes! At the end of the day, without good outcomes, you'll all be out of business, which would eliminate our family's healthy holiday debates.

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  130. Four years ago I switched completely to Aurora - new doctor, new hospital care, new urgent care. Best decision I ever made!!!

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  131. anonymous

    It's about time something is done with the billing dept. I receive the same bills(which have already been paid by my insurance co) two or three time. Sounds a little fishy if you ask me.

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  132. Isn't it amazing a MD writes in and doesn't even know that All Saints is two words!

    Isn't that scary?

    I wonder how many of his prescriptions are written correctly!

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  133. This is a sad state affairs. I am glad that I am able to go to the health food store and know my way around. I would hate to have to depend on some Dr. who pushes Rxs, and a hospital that wants to cut.

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  134. Just two more weeks until the walk-out.

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  135. after reading these blogs I wonder how the nuns that started Wheaton Medical feel about this i bet they are turning over in their graves also sometimes new system services like electronic health records are purchased as cheaply as they can find and not how functional they really are also, cutting back staff and adding more work does not benefit the staff or the patient as for the billing process, years ago, bills were sent out correctly with quality being the driving force now it seems its quantity no quality just get it out the door no matter how accurate is it what a shame i really feel that most employees want to give the best care possible and do their best to achieve this but because of low staffing (cut back by administration) they are unable to do this hopefully this will be corrected in the near furure.

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  136. I don't ever want to go there ever again. After reading this, I have no confidence in managment, nurses or the doctors working there.

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  137. I am a former Racine physician now working in a different Wisconsin community, but I still have ties to Racine. I read these blog comments with interest, because these are the very same issues which prompted the exodus of fifty-some physicians from Racine in 1996-1998, and lead to my highly publicized termination from All Saints in 1998. From my former experience, I will say that Wheaton's leadership will be unresponsive to community pressure to change. The corporate execs and public relations personnel will always put a WFHC "positive spin" on the issues, and paint the doctors as greedy. For those who hope Wheaton would release All Saints from its umbrella - forget it! Wheaton OWNS St. Mary's. The only thing which will change WFHC's behavior is competition from another hospital system which would impact their revenues. That's an issue the mayor and city government could facilitate. Otherwise, the Racine Common Council really cannot interfere in the operation of a private business. As for the Journal Times reporting, recognize that WFHC is one of their largest advertising clients. They are not going to bite the hand that feeds them. And the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters? They get their information, if any, on these events from their CEO, John Oliverio. What bias do you suppose he has? The one thing doctors and Racinians can do is to make certain the Chairman and Board of Directors of the hospital system are aware of these problems. They, too, get a biased presentation from Oliverio at board meetings, but at least some of these corporate citizens have an interest in Racine's future health care. Do know that you still have many well trained and caring providers at WFHC, but they are fearful of retaliation if they speak out publically. Fortunately, I don't have to fear them anymore. And a word of support for all the frustrated doctors and staff who are fighting for your principles and patients' best interests - take heart that situations are NOT like this all over the state. There are many hospital systems which have respectful, trusting, collaborative relationships with their medical staffs, employed or independent. I now work for one of them.
    Rodney W. Malinowski, MD

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  138. The only way for things to truly get better is if the Doctors walk out. The community darn well better stand behind them. We are the ones that have suffered with second rate everything through WF. If we don't demand better care and billing from them and stand behind the doctors, it's basically waving a white flag and giving up our medical rights

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  139. The ideal seniro would be for thsee doctors to setup independent practices. This would bring competition into our community. The new offices will be forced to provide quality healthcare at competitive costs, to stay ahead of their competition. The worst scenerio would be for Aurora or other large compeitors to buy up the doctors, because then nothing would change. Patient care would remain the same (poor), high healthcare cost would continue and billing issues would continue. These large groups are about revenue and they see patients as $$ not people. Independent practices would be a great boost to our local econonmy and but a number of industries back to work. We should all rally around these doctors and support them as a community!

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  140. Anon, 3:27 said:

    "... it's basically waving a white flag and giving up our medical rights."

    Uhh... you have no medical rights.

    At least not until the health-care reform bills pass.

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  141. To the person who said that Aurora coming in there be no changes; they're wrong. Look at Aurora policy at St. Luke's in Milwaukee. I have relatives on the South Side of Milwaukee, and if they lose their insurance, or go on Medicaid, and get sent to St. Luke's.....guess where Aurora sends them? Wheaton St. Francis Hospital, that's where.

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  142. "I think health care is a privilege. I wouldn't call it a right." - Rep. Zach Wamp, Republican, Tennessee

    “Health care is a right: something’s fundamentally wrong now.” – President Barack Obama

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  143. "I think health care is a privilege, not a right." - Republican Senator Jim DeMint, South Carolina

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  144. I know that a lot of you want to talk about your personal experiences.
    Bottom line: Our health care system is much like our education system. We can not have the best doctors for our health care if they are not paid for the quality of care that they provide. They will go somewhere who will pay them fairly and recognize them for abilities and dedication. Who will loose, we the people of Racine. Please support the doctors to be paid what they have been promised and deserve. Or they will be replaced with less educated, less experienced, and lower quality of health care will only be available to our people!

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  145. Last year my three children had their annual physicals. I paid co-pays for each child's exam. The billing department at All Saints(WFHC) had no record of receiving my co-payments. According to the billing department the burden of responsibility fell on me to prove that I had made these cash co-payments. Luckily, I had 2 of the 3 receipts showing that the co-payments were made. I had to re-pay the co-payment for my third child, or else I would have been sent to collections. The lesson to be learned is don't make payments with cash, and if you do, make sure to receive and hold on to the receipt(s). Even though the billing was inadequate, the medical care was good.

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  146. It's critical that all residents of Racine stand up and support our doctors, nurses, and all healthcare providers. The wheatons will spin this with their public relations people as an issue about money and greed. This is bigger than that. They need to learn that they can't push us around. Call your congressman, Milwaukee sentinal, local alderman, the mayor, all local unions, churches, schools and anyone else that wants quality healthcare. Now is the time for change.

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  147. I dare someone from top management at Wheaton-Franciscan come on here and deal directly with these issues presented here.

    Think they will? I think they are cowards and will hide behind their corporate spinners.

    How I hate what Wheaton-Franciscan is doing to our community.

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  148. Some enterprising lawyer out there might wish to take a look at this situation from the patients’ point of view.

    I’d imagine the doctors who wish to leave would look for some legal justification for breaking their non-compete contracts with All Saints, but there may very well be a patient interest to be argued in those considerations as well.

    Several state courts, including Tennessee (don’t know about Wisconsin), have ruled that hospital policies that are too restrictive on patients’ choice of doctors can’t be upheld because they violate established law or accepted public policy.

    These cases have generally involved restricting hospital privileges for certain doctors, but perhaps a similar idea could also apply to a hospital contract that prevents doctors from practicing within a reasonable geographic area that would make them generally available to their patients.

    In order to be enforceable, a contract cannot violate public policy.

    If it’s public policy that patients should have their choice of doctors, exiling their doctors to a distant place may very well run afoul of that basic tenet of contract law.

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  149. I trust the physicians at All Saints. However, if they leave, I am going down the road to Aurora Kenosha. An excellent facility and an excellent medical staff!

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  150. Labor and Delivery leadership team sucks! Krista, Margaret, Robin and newly absorbed Terri. I have heard that the staff is not happy even after voicing their concerns to Mr. Buser, Mr. Oliverio, and Mary Quimet! They are not listening to the staff, and labor and delivery management is prejudice! If Margaret and Mary would stop being BFF's and Mary Quimet actually take a step back and look at the big picture things could be resolved! They have turned their staff against each other, half of the nurses work in Milwaukee, this new group of anesthesiologist cannot put in a simple epidural without doing a wet tap,and lastly my daughter was there and asked for a popsicle while she was in labor and they said management won't let them order snacks anymore because too many people beside the patients are eating them I mean geeeeez as much money as we pay for childbirth and for anesthesia to keep messing up can we at least get a popsicle. Lastly I want to say that Wheaton is paying for anesthesiologist and CRNA's to stay at the Marriott while here as well as a rental car! The CRNA's are also getting overtime! BRING BACK THE OLD ANESTHESIA GROUP BACK FROM AURORA!

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  151. The old anesthesia group is NOT coming back! We in Racine are stuck with the decision of Buser and Omdahl! These decisions have NOTHING to do with quality but with power, bullying and greed! I suggest you follow these fine anesthesiologists to Aurora to get the excellent care we in Racine once knew.

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  152. Not just a few of us, at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare, take the Mission statement that invokes the name of Jesus seriously. Many of our patients do too. I would so seriously entreat all that work with that Mission in their hearts or because they believe it as a worthy philosophy of care (and not required by a signature), pray earnestly for this organization. The pressures of the industry and our current economy can cause many to dismiss the Mission as irrelevant in the "real" world of business when in fact it calls us to do things verrry differently in the face of these challenges and requires a "vision" that would appear foolish to all others. Pray that we have the courage to not just talk but walk the Mission and that our leaders will lead the way.

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  153. I think the employees of All Saints need a Union.

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  154. No profit margin no mission- bottom line

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  155. "No profit margin no mission- bottom line"

    Spoken like a true businessman. Then take "Jesus" out of the Mission statement and re-educate the community ...no, the nation, what this is REALLY about. A little sumpin sumpin or nuthin.

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  156. It is interesting to know that there is a big prob with the billing system as I thought I was alone in my struggles, although I suspect they are relatively minor compared to some. Several months after I delivered my child and my commercial ppo had long since settled up, I recieved a random bill for one particular ultrasound from a billing company out of San Diego. They threatened collection because the dr was out of network, and they had a totally different insurance company listed (no prior notice by the way). The burden was on me to prove that I received care at the same location as all the other prenatal services(how would I ever possibly know that one radiologist I never even physically saw was out of network)and that in fact, I did not have the insurance they had on file. In addition, I have had multiple conversations with different WFHC billing reps re:payment arrangements, and after the 6th or 7th conversation, they finally got it into their "system". Prior to that, it was as if the previous conversations never existed and I was given different info from every different rep I spoke with. I am about to go double check all my bills vs. payment history right now!

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  157. There are a lot of half-baked ideas and personal complaints being thrown around on this blog, so let's do a level-set; what are we talking about? Is this about doctors making back the money they were owed under their old contract, or, is this an anonymous petty b..ching season for sore employees of Wheaton? I'm lost. The quality of Racine health care probably peaked in the late 80's, I don't think the quality has changed much in the past 10-12 years. It's still average, perhaps a bit below, at best. The way to improve it is simple; get rid of the below average physicians and staff, and hire more above average physicians and staff. If 50 physicians leave and 50 physicians take their place, we will most likely be left with the same balance. Most of the companies in Racine, or for that matter, America, are in real trouble. I'd like to improve the health of every local company, but I have no sympathy for greedy employees at any of them. We live in America, we have choices. I have no trouble going to Milwaukee, Kenosha, or Chicago for that matter. I'd prefer not to, so would anyone else, but I will if I have to. To the doctors looking to make more income, I'd say do what you have to do make the income you seek---and as patients, we'll do what we have to do.

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  158. Anon, 9:23,

    I don't know what stories or blogs you're reading, but I see nothing here to suggest the problem is "greedy" doctors or employees.

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  159. I have a family member who is a physician in another location. As an ER doctor, they would get 165.00 per dictated patient record. One of her co-workers would literally run through as many patients as he could as quickly as possible to make as much money. Like factory piece-work. The other ER physicians took more time with their patients and would have to step in and "clean up" the work of the other doc. The system is set up to generate greed, at least where that ER is located.

    Going "off on your own" means having to obtain your own malpractice insurance and so much more.

    I just don't see greed as the source of contention here in Racine. I see a real desire to practice medicine in a competent fashion, not one based on generating a certain dollar amount per patient or else.

    Wheaton would have you put out a sign "Specials on Pap Smears today" if they could to get business.

    We go to Aurora Kenosha for surgery. I was able to bring my medications, yes my own medications to take. I didn't have to pay big bucks to get the same stuff I had sitting at home.

    What has happened here is pathetic and I for one applaud the physicians for banding together and taking a stand.

    When the last group left and were replaced by NP, that scared me.

    As for the Racine Journal, don't think for one minute you aren't being spoon fed propaganda. Look at all the ads Wheaton runs, major, major revenue for the newspaper. You don't think they aren't going to spin a story of greedy docs and make themselves look like white knights? Think about this, why do they ship the profits away from Racine to another facility and make this one suffer.

    There is so much going on with this.

    Dustin, thanks for keeping ontop of this.

    For the physicians out there following the story, donate to the Racine Post. You can do so by Paypal. Dustin and Pete run this totally on ads and donations. Keep the only decent news source online and accessible.

    Thank you.

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  160. Has anyone noticed in this thread of comments that we have near consensus concerning this issue? This has certainly shown how, when people are seriously affected, we still have the ability to come together. GO RACINE.

    This should send a huge message to the top management of Wheaton-Franciscan to clean up their act here in Racine. If it doesn't, it will merely show how stupid they really are. Either way, Racine will survive this. We will be stronger for it and we will have sustainability. We won't stand for anything less.

    Again, GO RACINE.

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  161. I would suggest everyone that works at Wheaton to cancel your Journal Times subscription if you have one because they downplayed this and made you all look greedy. If you buy that newspaper, you actually helped finance that insult.

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  162. 7:20 I totally agree with what you said. The JT is nothing more than a PR machine for them. They are hurting for money so bad, they'll say and do anything to make a buck these days. I have to give the Post a lot of credit for this story. You can see they aren't full of crap and are running a true story. When you start looking at the complaints by the residents (boy we are in trouble aren't we?) and peopl that work for WF naming names (that is telling it like it is) and previous employees and doctors who say this is true. The residets better stand up to this BS support the doctors and tell WF to F off

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  163. Racine residents sure to love to complain and blame about RUSD, Wheaton-Franciscan Hospital, and recycling carts.

    Wonder what you all do in leadership roles in the city and it's businesses?

    chris

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  164. you guys got a thumbs up at racineuncovered.org because of this

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  165. Oh while we are all outraged at the bull WF management are trying to pull, let's just divert for a second.

    Did you know that people with a Wisconsin Quest card [food stamps] buy lobster, shrimp, filet all on your tax dollars. We were personal witnesses to a load leaving a local grocers. The clerk says it happens all the time. Call your elected officials. It is a simple fix, really. The system is set to knock out beer, wine, etc. automatically from the purchase. All someone has to do is code in at least lobster. That will prevent the resale of the lobster for other things like booze and cigarettes. Get mad, get angry and act!

    Now back to WF. Don't let the Journal Times off the hook.

    WF billing department has been out of control for several years. Totally inept. And demand an itemized bill even if your insurance company pays.

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  166. Chris you are correct, we do complain about these things - RUSD has the worst grades in the state, 50% of the students do not graduate and you have to put up with gangs and violence. The Dr.'s at Wheaton are incompetant - they cannot diagnose a problem - they refer to the internt for their diognosis. And lastly the carts are a horrible idea for seniors and individuals with disabilities. How does the city expect these individuals to get the carts out and back even in good weather conditions, throw ice, snow and cold weather it makes it virtually impossible. I could give you more reasons for complaints, but I thnk this should cover it.

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  167. I disagree with the negative comments directed at the physicians and the Journal-Times article which portray them as greedy and callous. (The byline should have credited Buser & Oliverio) I worked for Wheaton for a number of years and I've found the physicians to be genuine and compassionate. I cannot say the same for Wheaton Administration. Over time they have eroded the Wheaton mission & the delivery of healthcare with an onslaught of consultants & mismanagement. They are far removed from their employees & the patients in this community because of their own arrogance. Administration's philosophy is "if you don't like it, you can leave." And that goes for employees and patients alike. Several people lost their jobs last year at Wheaton-Racine and there have been a number of cutbacks in the last year which are affecting patient care. Why is money being siphoning from Racine to prop up the Oliverio's failures in Milwaukee? It trickles down to every employee in Racine and every patient in the community. It's an outrage. Oliverio is a crook.

    As far as the billing situation, it's been a problem for YEARS and that should tell you something about how well Administration listens and their ability to make improvements. But don't worry, I'm sure they'll hire a consultant and set up a committee who will spend all their time in meetings developing pie charts, acronyms and sub-committees.
    Go Team Doctor!

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  168. John Olivero and Ken Buser live in 2 million dollar homes. They didn't even give their employees their raise this past year because of the economy! GET RID OF MANAGEMENT! They are the cause of all of this unruly behavior and they poke and prod on the their staff! Ask yourself why does every department need a
    Mary quimet - you know this mess is happening too!!!!!!!
    We see it!
    1. Executive director - a racist evil witch - margaret uggghhh
    2. Manager- drunk
    3. CNS - with implants who cannot speak fluent English
    4. Education - who does not know how to orient new staff
    this is a so called "leadership team"
    get rid of them STAT!
    We HATE YOU AS OUR leaders!

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  169. We are oficially calling for Margaret Mallnory, Krista Bergers resignation. You can't possibly manage the great group of people that cover your ass over and over again! It's because of us, that patients are safe. Us who bust our asses night and day, short staffed, no breaks, not even to urinate!! While all you and your posey huddle up for lunch ervery day. You have no trust, have'nt for a long time. You have OFFICALLY lost controll over us. We are not backing down this time. Get your shit in boxes, cuz you'll be the next ones escorted out.

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  170. This is scarey when the doctors are fed up with the state of things in the hospital. I remember the old St. Mary's and the many excellent physicans from the old Kurten clinic days.Once this medical monopoly started, every good doctor I had would end up leaving. Some of the best left us and keep leaving. Instead what we recieve now is the kind of care my mom got, when they do a complete cardiac workup and tell her she has acid reflux when she actually had 95% blockage to her heart artery. I waited recently in the ER in severe pain for 3 hours. I saw 4 families leave and one stated they were headed for Froedert. Recently at a checkup, because they misfiled someone else's paper in my file they were trying to get me to take insulin shots! And for the past two years they cant seem to find my MRI report that was in my file in the past. It isnt only biling that is a big concern, its medical care.I have already told my family I will never have any operation in Racine nor have any major medical issue treated here. I support the doctors. I was told confidentially some years ago, that our physicans here are told they MUST see 60 patients a day, no wonder my doctor doesnt listen and flies in and out the door.

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  171. The Journal Times won't post any of these comments because the publisher and Ken Buser all sit on the same worthless non-profit organizations in Racine, i.e., RAMAC, Downtown Racine Corporation, the former Sustainable Racine, etc, etc.

    It is called cover each other's butts!!!!!

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  172. I wish the Doctor's well in their quest... I felt the frustration from one Doctor in perticular and he took his anger out on me. - Well Bye Bye Wheaton and welcome Aurora. I have been with Aurora for 3 years now and I love it. Also, I am not missing the Collection bills for $7.00 from Wheaton from a visit I had a few years before which I never got billed - oh and by the way forget about calling - they have so many billing departments, I am surprised they haven't merged but oh well, Not missing the Drama @ Wheaton - Also... In case of an Emergency, I too will Drive to Froed. Then let the Tension Driven ER staff take care of me.. What's with the Phys. Asst.'s now a days, can't even go there and see a Doctor but get stuck with a stuck up PA who doesn't know what the heck she's doing besides mis-diagnosing me - hmmm

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  173. Don't blame the Mayor for this situation. This all began well before he came into office.
    This problem started back in the mid 80's, when the medical takeover got its start.

    First for some people who don't know All Saints is the Wheaton’s as the Nuns were Wheaton Franciscans. They stepped aside an allowed this to grow to where it is now.
    Now they have brought in Antitheist to replace our Anesthesiologist. Who incidentally are far more trained and are Drs' not a nurse with some extra training.
    all I know is if someone is going to put me under an bring me closer to death than ever I want the most trained person available.

    So let’s stop blaming the Drs' for taking a stand. This use to be a strong Blue Collar town, and now we are acting like wustes by allowing this business to dictate to everyone including our Physician. Let’s support them and if they have to practice in Franklin, Kenosha or Milwaukee lets follow their lead.

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  174. Everyone registering a comment should click on the sideline where you can donate to the Racine Post .These guys are doing this on their own. Dustin is a season reporter and knows what confidential is so no concerns if anyone wants to email him. These guys work had to bring out the real stuff that the Journal Times shys away from.

    They don't even allow comments when Paul Ryan writes a long commentary. You know Paul, the one who is NOW on the move to privitize social security.

    Back to Wheaton, support these guys so they can spend the time and energy to keep this story up front and center.

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  175. WHEATON WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELVES:


    VULTURES - MANAGEMENT, JOHN OLIVERIO, KEN BUSER


    PREY - WONDERFUL STAFF, AND TREAT PEOPLE OF THE COMMUNITY FAIR AND EQUAL!

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  176. DONT FORGET TO HAVE ROBIN MOTLEY and TERRI BUCKETT RESIGN TOO! INCLUDE THEM F@*)ERS!! TOO!


    WE ARE HUMAN HEAR OUR CRY! HELP!

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  177. I work tonight at Wheaton at 7. I am glad I don't have to witness the managers there walking around on eggshells and staring everybody down to see if they wrote any of these comments! Perhaps, maybe they will show up late tonight like a "thief in the night"! Ken Buser, John Olivero, Mary Quimet, and whoever else is at that damn CORPORATE OFFICE if you would get your assess up and out to actually see what was going on at the St. Marys campus, you would be able to see how out of control these departments and units are. But, no you would rather sit and get fed a whole lot of BULLSHIT! LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTORS. LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES. STEP OUTSIDE THE BLOCK SOMETIMES! STOP ACTING LIKE BECAUSE YOU HAVE A DEGREE IN BUSINESS THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO RUN THINGS! It is also a shame how we as employees used to get free food card on our birthdays, that Wheaton has stooped so low to just offer popcorn and a soft drink! Maybe we should all just meet at Kens and Johns house or our managers house when we cannot provide food for our families because they chose to keep our raise to their hateful selves! Lets see if they do something about how broken hearted their staff is?

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  178. Hey leadership team: Your new anesthesiologist group or individual locums that we are paying for to live at the Marriott: they are going to kill somebody! so make sure your liability insurance is paid up!

    you should have just game the other guys and gals what they wanted!

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  179. Sad that they cannot even give thier staff a free lunch......While they go around town at lunch eating $20 lunches and suckng down wine only to find a way to write it off and bury it. Don't even TRY to deny it! Good managers listen to thier people and lead by example, bot from a throne.

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  180. I wonder how day one went for the employees - post Wheatongate went today.

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  181. L&D is a great place to work. The nurses, huc's, cna's, tech's,in that area r wonderful.We work hard, so hard at times. I think what we are saying or trying to say, and maybe not so harshly is, please listen this time to our legitimate complaints, it is the truth. People are training elsewhere, looking into job's. This will only leave the inexpereinced nurses to care for the patient. Maybe some nurses will stay around because they are so close to retirement, but we have voices that have gone unheard. Listen up, react and respond.

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  182. I was wondering what it would be like at Wheaton in Racine today, and it was just what I thought. Managers telling thier employees to ignore the comments and to not read the blogs because they are too negative. Do you believe it Managers even trying to control what employees read on thier own time. And I thought Communism was gone. NOT at Wheaton in Racine. The Managers are telling employees that the comments made are not true. In reading the blogs myself, thier is not only 1 comment made on a particular problem but at least 10-15 comments made on each problem whether it is DOCTORS, MANAGERS, BILLING, CUSTOMER SERVICE, OR HOW EMPLOYEES ARE TREATED BY THIS MANAGEMENT. This tells me that thier is a great deal of truth being said in these blogs and somethng needs to be done immediately. As a employee and customer of Wheaton in Racine I ask for action before this Management screws it up even more than it is. PLEASE BOARD OF DIRECTORS DO NOT IGNORE THESE PROBLEMS AND FIRE THESE MANAGERS TOP TO BOTTOM AT ONCE.

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  183. Could someone distill the actual problem for me? Other than total agreement on All Saints billing skills, and the naming of certain admin folks, I can't find a solid discription of the "problem statement."

    All Saints employees probably number between 3000-4000, many of those jobs on "average" are among the highest paid in city, physican income probably ranges between $160k (GPs) to nearly or just over $1,000,000 (CV surgery, spine surgery, some ortho, neuro, interventional radiology and some cariology), top admin is most likely in the mid 6 figures, nurses/techs $50-100K, so on and so forth. When you factor in the requisite lead time for appointments, only to find full waiting areas when you arrive, not to mention a jammed ER, gov't policy aside, it would seem like it's a perfect supply/demand recipie for a healthy business. What gives? Could an informed blogger please distill the problem statement for me? Thank you.

    Ray

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  184. I've seen a lot of comments about not blaming the Mayor. Well the Mayor invited the big wig at WF to his exclusive big buck fund raiser. If that doesn't raise suspicion and who is in whos pocket.

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  185. I think there are a lot of unneccessary netative statement out here. As with all healthcare organizations there are going to be happy and unhappy experiences. I have had two major truma situation at All SAints and I can tell you that i can only speak worlds for the fine healthcare professionals that comfortied me. However, that was many years ago and I cannot speak from current instances but rest assures 99% of the people who go into healthcare are there to provide just that.

    I do know and cannot condon how the JT will try to twist the slant on this whole thing that is taking place.

    Going through these blogs I recognize many names with negative comments on their names and i can attest that almost every negative I have read is pretty accurate.

    This place has serious troubles at the top where there is no medical considerations taken into account, only bottom line. the place is so heavey with uselsss management producing nothing but eye candy for some other CEO or someone like Susan. Particularily in Racine.

    Remember when All Saints used to be a good place to go and they were always operating in the green under Ed D. Well once he left it was all down hill. Ken may have been somewhat effective in the beginning but lost his clout when Milwuakee sat him down and said "listen this is how it's down and you will do it our way".. Yes kind of a Chicago style gang.

    Milwaukee rules and if it is not the way you like it they will just bouce your butt right out of there. As the old saying goes. There is a right way a wrong way and a Wheaton Way and the only one that matters is the latter one.

    The medical staff have been cut to a bare minimum and they are doing their best. Trust me the Medical staff is on your side. The over load of work on the mode important people is a travesty.

    Yes I know the billing systems are real screwed up and We to have had the same experiences as many of you have had. Once again there is only one correct way...

    I am for all these 50 Doctor heading out on their own and giving this organization reason to correct their current top management deffiencies.

    While I am on it the the Model for the Franklin Hospital was a failure before it got off the model table but they pushed forward anyway. Very good planning on their parts. Oh yes it was so successfull they have recently rented out one or two floors to some other hosplital in and attempt to cover their loses and embaressment.

    I would sugges that from the top down to the 2nd lowest management postion that every second person should be off the payroll and out of the place.

    But please Racine don't blame it on the Heatlh care people, they sincerily care. I see them in tears over the fact that they just cannot keep up with all that is to do.

    Go Doctors I'll come with you. Maybe this is what it will take to wake up or shake up this organization.

    As for the Wellspring group, well thats kind of a luaghing joke. Once they got their feet in the door they just keep sucking. and clearly not hitting areas that need to be hit. There is an eye candy group costing the organization somewhere in the order of a millin annually that provides nothing but pretty charts. they take information from the existing databases and present a different picture of it. Now this sham is only going on in one site. I would suggest not only the group doing this and the person supporting it be examined and excorted out if you need to save money.

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  186. One aspect of this discussion that has not been covered is the recent domination of the local Racine marketplace by United Healthcare. Prior to the take-over by Wheaton, All Saints contracted independently with insurance carriers and because they were the only game in town, they were able to negotiate highly profitable contract terms; as one doctor mentioned, All Saints used to always be profitable and "in the black". When Wheaton acquired All Saints, that stopped the practice of independent contracting with insurance companies; being part of a larger corporate entity, All Saints now had to contract as a group along with other Wheaton facilities. This eliminated the leverage All Saints used to have due their status of being the only game in town… this opened the door for United Healthcare and other PPO networks which had strong contractual agreements with Wheaton Corporate. So, if you are following me here, what happened is that All Saints now collects approximately 15-20% less from their most profitable customers because over the course of 2-3 years, the insurance coverage of all those customers migrated to UHC. Look around town, with the exception of Case and Ruud, almost every large business in the area moved to United Healthcare because they had significantly lower rates as a result of their strong contracts with Wheaton Corporate. Whereas SCJ and RUSD used to pay All Saints $.75 on the dollar, they are now paying Wheaton $.55 on every dollar billed. Wheaton's management made an enormous mistake when they stopped letting All Saints contract independently in my opinion. Combine this with the problems resulting from their new billing system (that cost time/money and patients) along with a down economy where fewer people have insurance and those that do are not paying their deductibles and out-of-pocket costs, then throw in the increasingly high medicare/medicaid patient mix (that for the most part lose money), and you have an economic disaster on your hands. Not to mention, this all took place while major capital investment projects were going on. So in the end, All Saints was hit by a perfect financial storm that was due to hit us like this eventually. If you're interested in understanding more about what I am talking about, feel free to email me. sclark@trend-edge.com Steve Clark - TrendEdge Consulting (A local Racine based company).

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  187. As a provider at All Saints, I have to say that I am proud to work for a system that will take on any patient, regardless of whether they have no insurance, state/federal insurance, or private insurance plan, unlike our competitors, that will take very few patients who cannot pay (in some cases, none at all).

    Administration has no doubt made some major mistakes, but much of our financial woes stem from that fact that we ARE willing to take on patients that cannot pay for our services. We give millions of dollars in charitable care and donations, which is something to be proud of.

    My main concern as I read these posts, are all of the complaints about the quality of care received at Wheaton. We can blame our administration, the insurance companies, or the new electronic medical records, but the bottom line is that as medical providers, our top priority should be patient care. We are lucky enough at Wheaton to have many doctors, PAs and NPs that are excellent clinicians. We have to strive to provide excellent care to our patients at all times. Most of us sacrifice money, time with our families, and social lives for the benefit of our patients.

    I'm not saying that we don't deserve better benefits, better compensation, or a better administrative staff, but in these tough economic times, we should be happy to have a job and a roof over our heads, and should be proud to be a part of a great organization that is willing to provide quality care to all who walk through the door.

    We want to be a pillar in this community, and we want patients to continue to have faith in our mission. Let's start from within, whether it's from the top dogs down, or from the bottom up. Have some pride in your workplace. That will bring back the public's confidence in our organization!

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  188. I ask Patients, Employees, ex Employees, and anyone else who has a issue to tell about Wheaton in Racine to please, continue to tell your story. Do not let this Organization, and Management Staff off the hook, it is too important to the people who have to use this facility. MANAGEMENT NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL THE ABOVE ISSUES. IT IS UP TO US TO DEMAND ACCOUTABILITY. SO PLEASE KEEP THE PRESSURE ON, THAT IS THE ONLY WAY EFFECTIVE CHANGE WILL HAPPEN AT WHEATON IN RACINE. AT LEAST WE CAN HOPE.

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  189. Management at Wheaton blows ass by whatever means necessary. They want you to believe them but they are very manipulative, especially that Margaret Mallnory. But we as employees see that they are only trying to focus on pleasing the physicans right now. They say FUCK the staff they dont count. I just hope when they are done with pleasing the doctors they jump down on the bottom of the card deck and help us out! PLEASE
    John Olivero --- I sent you a letter about management in the Womens Health Pavilion before and you brushed it under the rug.... Oh yeah you must be fucking them too!

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  190. I am a former employee of All Saints. The corporate medicine model is not only fighting for its life in Washington but in our community as well.

    I've always said people can only be oppressed for so long and then you will have a revolt. The community, doctors, employees, and patients must stand together if we want to change the system.

    Bringing it to the public now gives a voice to those who for so long have lived with this. Hopefully we can all use this to change our local healthcare system for the better.

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  191. Alright enough is enough from W&I staff. These comments on here are really unprofessional and you should be ashamed of yourselves. I have been working on the unit for 13 years and I have a lot of pride and joy when I say that I work there. If you are that unhappy then LEAVE! You negative, unprofessional employees on the unit only hold me and others BACK! You should be thankful you have a job! You know how many others would kill to be employed. Be professional or don't let the door hit you on the way out! I give daily nursing care and I am proud to work there!

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  192. We SHOULD be happy to have a job and a roof over our heads, and SHOULD be proud to be a part of a great organization posted 2/15/2010 @ 8:04...
    SHOULD, but ain't!!!That is the mentality of management. Given the current economic crisis perhaps we should be thankful we have a job, but not when your job requires you to lie about the actual conditions which we work under. Many (not all) of us have had our job security threatened by dictives from managers to put on a happy face, don't discuss issues with other employees, if you don't like your job you can leave (it's not the job that I don't like...I love my job!)I don't like that I have on many occasions had to put my job before family...that many people in the community think it is simple to move or to relocate or commute to Kenosha or Milwaukee.
    I am a registered nurse and know I can easily find a job somewhere else...nurses are in demand in almost every state and city in the country, BUT Racine has been my home, my children's home, my spouse's home and place of employment...Why does management have to use threats? And how can one be proud of their employer when treated this way?
    As I started out SHOULD but AIN'T!!!

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  193. All Saints has always struggled with customer service and care for their patients. As a Milwaukee resident in the healthcare field, I always noticed that their clinics felt and looked like DMV service-take a number. No one acknowledged you when you walked up to a desk or seemed to care. It is a no wonder that the physicians are finally sick of this. How could you work under those circumstances?
    My advice, come to Milwaukee. We have great physicians and surgeons and people who have stepped up the customer service to levels beyond compare.
    Anonymous

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  194. FOX 6 GO CHECK OUT THE CRAP GOING ON AT WHEATON! LISTEN TO WHAT REALLY HAPPENS AT THAT FACILITY. YOU HAVE YUCK MOUTH MANAGEMENT AND A CORRUPT BILLING SYSTEM! PAY OUR DOCTORS WHAT THEY DESERVE! THEY WENT TO SCHOOL TO DO THIS JOB NOT US! STEER CLEAR AND LET THEM CONTINUE TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY, BUT AS FOR ST MARYS STOP TRYING TO CHARGE 50 DOLLARS FOR A 10 CENT BANDAID! THE NERVE OF THEM THEY ALSO STOPPED GIVING THEIR EMPLOYEES 15%-20% OFF IN THE CAFETERIA AND RECENTLY CHANGED IT TO 10% - GREAT GO ST MARYS GO! I WOULD BE ASHAMED IF I WAS MANAGEMENT WORKING THERE TO HEAR ALL THESE TRUE COMMENTS ESPECIALLY LIKE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WHO LEAVES EARLY ON ST PATRICKS DAY AND GETS PISSY DRUNK! GO FIGURE! THATS THE TYPE OF THINGS THEIR EMPLOYEES DEAL WITH! THE MISSION VISION AND VALUE STATEMENT SHOULD READ WE ARE ALL DEVILS AND WE STRIVE TO LIVE UP TO OUR NAMES UNDER THIS STATEMENT. MANAGEMENT JUST RECENTLY MANDATED EMPLOYEES TO TAKE PHOTOS SO AFTER THEY ROUND IN THE MORNING PATIENTS WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN WHICH NURSE TOOK CARE OF THEM - THEY CAN GO GET THE BIG PHOTO COLLAGE AND SAY POINT HIM OR HER OUT! THEN THE LEADERSHIP TEAMS HOLDS THAT GRUDGE IN THEIR POCKET AND TWO WEEKS LATER THEY SEEK OUT THAT STAFF AND BRING UP ANY CONCERNS OR ISSUES IN REGARDS TO THAT PATIENT! IDIOTS A BUNCH OF IDIOTS! GET RID OF MARGARET THAT OLD HAG HAS TO GO!

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  195. @0848 ASSKISSER STOP TRYING TO GET BROWNIE POINTS! STUPID BECAUSE THEY WILL FIRE YOUR ASS TOO! GET A DAMN BACKBONE YOU IDIOT TOO! THEY ARE OUT TO GET YOU, SO HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT STUFF! OH YOU MUST BE THEIR SNITCH!

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  196. These comments about specific individuals are heartwrenching and sickening to read. I am with the other person- You should be ashamed of yourself, you are one sad individual. Do everyone a favor and leave the organization.

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  197. HAHAHAHA!!!! THINGS ARE GETTING INTERESTING ON HERE.

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  198. Attention all WFHC Employees don't forget to take the employee satisfaction survey next month! Remember they are going to send you a PIN number in your packet so it's personal and you can't be identified... Come on! They will track you and I have heard they have used it against certain employees during their review. Press Ganey was paid by WFHC to do the survey and the information is WF. Dah...come on we are smarter than that!

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  199. Ray,

    To sum it up, over the last few years they have lost some major contracts with local companies. This loss of paying patients combined with the stock market crash and recession which followed dealt wfhc a huge financial blow. They made cuts to stay viable, people where upset with where and how the cuts where made. So now you have this blowup. Thats my take on it.

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  200. I agree 100% with the commenter @0848! Do you have someone on the floor named "Anonymous"? I highly doubt "Anonymous" is getting brownie points. The people that are swearing and badgering people by name do not belong in healthcare. You work on a birthing unit? The patients and newborns must love your foul mouth! And I think thats a great idea with the pictures. You sound pretty worried that your Lazy and poor work ethic is going to be found out. If you are doing your job as you should be, then a picture of you is the least of your worries. I hope that person is a "snitch". Looks like there is some dead weight to get rid of!

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