Essential Access Health reviews

Senior leadership has no faith in their staff and leads through fear and intimidation. There is no transparency about decision-making and a general sense of distrust for staff and external partners. There is talk about giving staff autonomy and wanting their input and contributions, but absolutely every decision - from consequential to minor - is made by the CEO. Even the Senior VP and other VPs are not empowered to make decisions. Everyone is basically scared of the CEO. This creates a very negative organizational culture and work environment and morale is VERY LOW. In the last year, 5-6 Director-level staff have left - some without other opportunities lined up - because it was so unpleasant. There is no mechanism in place for staff to provide feedback or seek support. HR is a consultant who is completely ineffective. The Board should be aware of these challenges and institute a thorough and confidential 360 review of both the CEO and the Senior Vice President.

Senior leadership is ineffective and kowtows to the CEO’s every whim. Tremendous time can be wasted on minor projects focused on pleasing the Board of Directors. This has a trickle down effect as senior leadership delegates much of their actual work to their staff, who have their own jobs to do. The effects can be seen in the very high turnover rate in middle management positions. Some departments have such high turnover, its quite rare for someone to stay for more than six months, despite the hit that kind of short tenure takes on one’s resume. Strategic decisions are often based on passing fads. The organization has become increasingly top-heavy over time. Some jobs have been moved to consultant positions. Unfortunately the Board sees none of this, and only sees what is presented to them at their quarterly meetings. They have shown no interest in conducting any sort of 360 appraisal... it’s easier to take the CEO’s word that everything is “super” than have to deal with the actual facts that the organization is very sick. Unless this changes, senior leadership will remain dysfunctional to the point that all staff are effected, and to the point that it is impossible to recommend CFHC as a place to work.