Where a primary care physician’s career goes to die
Pros
Good benefits. Close to home.
Cons
Dysfunctional is the best word to describe this non-profit organization that only cares about the bottom line. Concerns are not addressed and suggestions are ignored. Pay for staff at all levels is well below market. Support staff earn more at Costco. “Managers” have no authority and simply toe the company line. Hiltz only cares about major donors. In my seven years of working at NCH, he has, shamefully, never stepped into my practice. Staff, including physicians, are expendable. Staffing is completely ineffective. They will hire when not needed due to a 2-fer (physician is hired so they will hire spouse who is also a physician) and drop your salary for not “making your numbers” due to over staffing decisions they made. And, they see nothing wrong with this. NCH outsourced their call center to Costco Rica a few years ago (probably so they can pay rock bottom prices). Terrible experience for the patients, with errors the norm, and these workers can hardly speak English. Patients regularly complain to me about the experience and are leaving for other practices because of this. Had hoped to spend the remainder of my career at NCH, but thrilled to be going to a practice that is physician-owned and run. Frankly, anywhere would be better than NCH. I’m not the first physician leaving due to the myriad issues and definitely won’t be the last.
