Hospital didn't hesitate whatsover to eliminate a fully functional and contributing medical social work team of Master's Level professionals (we covered all floors of a 10+ story hospital -including the ER- and all outpatient clinics) which was ironic in terms of our location in the middle of downtown OKC surrounded by homeless shelters, bus stations, etc. and their "mission" to care for those who are "suffering". Ultimately, only floors MANDATED by hospital credentialing requirements were afforded a Master's level/licensed social worker - not full-time but one that would respond only to a doctor's order for social services. A Bachelor level social worker was hired to cover all other "social work" needs. Sooo many MANY patients fell through the cracks - particularly on one of the Units I covered. As a social worker who covered the OB/Labor/Delivery Unit, you were NOT able to discuss reproductive care (ie. birth control (anything other than abstinence), abortion), etc. even if the patient was 15 with her 2nd pregnancy and committed to remaining sexually active. The "they can close their legs" mentality [if not married] was shocking. Many patients who gave birth were not made aware of the fact that their tubes could not be tied during a Csection. Some found out the day of their delivery. The Catholic belief system is applied to ALL and some patients who were involuntarily assigned to doctors at the hospital (thus had to receive care there) were not aware of the implications for their healthcare needs. The belief that doctors reign supreme is strong and if you have to go up against a doctor you better have all of your supporting material ready - and even sometimes that was not enough. Indigent patients were treated very differently compared to those who came with "standard" insurance benefits, you did on-call with no extra pay should you have to go in, and the salary was thousands less than what other hospitals paid. I am not referring to social workers within the mental health care system - only medical social workers.
