SilverCity4
12-11-2002, 08:21 PM
Just venting some steam, my cyber-friends....
As many of you know, my paying job is a dispatcher for Hillcrest AirEvac in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I just got back from a general staff meeting that was called at 1600 yesterday. Management assured us "it wasn't bad". Those of us that are pessimists--er, realists --thought that management's definition of 'bad' was likely different than our definition of 'bad'.
We were right. :(
Turns out Hillcrest hospital is doing away with it's air ambulance division (read: AirEvac) as of January 13, 2003.
The management lingo flew across the room like it was some ESPN2 Xtreme sport, and the VP that had the most points got keys to the executive washroom! What it boiled down to was--anyone? anyone?--money.
Hillcrest spends $2 million a year on AirEvac, and has worked a deal with AirEvac Lifeteam based in West Plain, Missouri to be their "preferred provider".
What that breaks down to is this: Hillcrest doesn't spend $2 million a year, Lifeteam puts a base in Tulsa and transport the patients and accepts the financial liability. Shrewd from a management standpoint, I guess, but a crappy Christmas bonus for us employees.
To Lifeteam's credit, they brought representatives out to the meeting (not exactly a "friendly" environment) and offered everyone a job, from mechanics to medical crews to pilots.
Too bad they do central dispatching from West Plains, Missouri and I live 45 minutes west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. For those of you who don't want to look it up on a map, that's about a 5 hour commute for ol' SilverCity4.
So...I'm still planning on starting Paramedic school in January, but I guess I won't be working part-time at AirEvac as planned.
Anybody got some good recipes for Roman Noodles and Spam?
:D
As many of you know, my paying job is a dispatcher for Hillcrest AirEvac in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I just got back from a general staff meeting that was called at 1600 yesterday. Management assured us "it wasn't bad". Those of us that are pessimists--er, realists --thought that management's definition of 'bad' was likely different than our definition of 'bad'.
We were right. :(
Turns out Hillcrest hospital is doing away with it's air ambulance division (read: AirEvac) as of January 13, 2003.
The management lingo flew across the room like it was some ESPN2 Xtreme sport, and the VP that had the most points got keys to the executive washroom! What it boiled down to was--anyone? anyone?--money.
Hillcrest spends $2 million a year on AirEvac, and has worked a deal with AirEvac Lifeteam based in West Plain, Missouri to be their "preferred provider".
What that breaks down to is this: Hillcrest doesn't spend $2 million a year, Lifeteam puts a base in Tulsa and transport the patients and accepts the financial liability. Shrewd from a management standpoint, I guess, but a crappy Christmas bonus for us employees.
To Lifeteam's credit, they brought representatives out to the meeting (not exactly a "friendly" environment) and offered everyone a job, from mechanics to medical crews to pilots.
Too bad they do central dispatching from West Plains, Missouri and I live 45 minutes west of Tulsa, Oklahoma. For those of you who don't want to look it up on a map, that's about a 5 hour commute for ol' SilverCity4.
So...I'm still planning on starting Paramedic school in January, but I guess I won't be working part-time at AirEvac as planned.
Anybody got some good recipes for Roman Noodles and Spam?
:D