Pros
The clinical staff are pretty amazing. They can be snippy, but they are caring and seem to generally be doing the absolute best they can for their patients. They have good bedside manner and given how busy they are, they do their best to make themselves available to patients regardless. The office and medical rooms are bright, clean, and have recently been given a fresh coat of paint. Generally speaking, clerical management is fiercely protective of their staff, which is a blessing in a medical work environment where things can become very hectic. There were multiple times when clerical would deliver conflicting information that was needed for clerical to do their jobs, and the clerical management did their best to try to iron out the creases. The computer system is one of the best I've encountered in a medical practice, and the training to use the system is extensive. The PTO system is very clearly lined out and easy to keep track of. I was also never denied a request, though I am also the type to make my requests early. Company representatives are hands-on, friendly and readily available. The holidays in the office are quite lovely, and there are small gifts for staff often year-round. Most often this is food, and it's appreciated.
Cons
Keeping in mind that this is the Walton branch in particular, because that is why a lot of problems arise. This is a more rural area, and the practice was brought into the UHS system after existing as its own independent practice for a long time. UHS practices that exist within their larger system may not suffer from the same issues. The clerical staff is frankly awful. They mock patients behind their backs, are prone to gossip, and spend more time participating in that than working. I believe a part of the apathetic attitude is due to the understaffing and high turnover rate. There were also more than a few employees that probably needed in-person refreshers on how to use the computer system in place, as it is frequently updated and not really paying attention during online seminars is the norm. Across the board, there was some obvious transphobia directed towards patients. It took multiple instances, but eventually I noted how the other receptionists would close their windows, ignore or even go as far as leave the front office when a trans patient (there are multiple) would enter the building. I was the only one to readily invite our trans guests to my window. There had also been several (incredibly loud and heated) discussions about trans issues that made their views clear to everyone in the office which solidified that this behavior towards the patients was not a coincidence. As can be expected from an environment where some employees feel free to yell about their political views whenever they feel slighted by a news article, there is a lot of drama and gossiping. This is the norm, and trying to 'stay out of it' by being silent will only get you so far. There was rarely a patient interaction that went by without some sort of comment on the patient's attire, weight, attitude, or some other 'problem' once the window closed or the phone was disconnected. The clerical side is also very disorganized. If it's not put into place by the UHS system as a whole (aka the computer system), it is unlikely that any solid guidelines exist. There seems to be a lot of communication issues between clerical and clinical that they are unable to find the time to hash out. As I said in pros, the good side of this is that the clerical management is trying very hard to sort things out and makes sure their staff is treated fairly during these common issues, but the practice is so busy that there is no time to relay the necessary info clearly when each doctor has different preferences. The hiring staff are not upfront about hours. It's a small nitpick that they were actually hiring for someone to work late on Wednesday nights, but did not make that known until after the onboarding was completed. That said, it is a sneak peek into how things are managed. To this day I deeply regret not reporting this behavior to my superior before leaving, but seeing as there were (very few) times when I watched her participate in the bad behavior (such as stalking a patient on facebook to mock their very obvious mental health issues with the staff) I'm not sure how that would have gone.
