It's possible that things have improved at Placentia Linda Hospital in the last 5-10 years, though I seriously doubt it. They used to be an open department where 30+ anesthesiologists kept privileges, even though a busy day at the hospital was two GI rooms and one full OR day spread among three operating rooms. Most of the "staff anesthesiologists" were old timers who had stable ASC gigs elsewhere, but felt like having hospital privileges was convenient for credentialing/dealing with insurance companies--and many didn't even do any cases at the hospital anymore. The surgeons were very much in charge. They could get their own room for something as simple as knee manipulation or carpal tunnel release, or weekend colonoscopies. They could (and did) request anesthesiologists--and all the surgeons who had insurance or cash-pay cases did precisely that.
They were playing musical chairs with their chairmen. One guy had to step down (and the hospital itself was fined) because the anesthesia chair didn't immediately discipline an anesthesiologist who was witnessed to
molest an anesthetized female patient; instead, the anesthesiologist was allowed to molest another patient, this one a teenager. (Here's the story:
Placentia-Linda Hospital fined $50,000 for sex assaults on patients). That chairman (who, to be clear, hadn't molested anybody; nor did he have proof that the molesting anesthesiologist had been a very bad boy) stepped down. They have had a couple of "chiefs" since, but that guy is back in charge.
Now, that guy is probably a nice guy, competent, professional, and up on all the latest trends, business buzz words, CME requirements, and clipboard mandates. But, for over a decade, he was unable to recruit a stable team of anesthesiologists in what should have been a decent gig, because he insisted on giving himself all the best cases.
So, yeah, $37/unit makes it much more attractive to be scheduled a bunch of medicaid podiatry cases. But, you're still going to be scheduled in the rooms with the big gaps, no blocks, and low starting units. Rest assured, the chief (and his friends) will get all the good cases. You'll do better than you would have done this time last year with a surgeon toying with the da Vinci for 8+ hours on a Medicaid patient, but it's still going to suck.
The big improvement should have been at Fountain Valley. Previously, those slobs were working for $18.50 a blended unit while their chief drove a Lambo. It appears that the slobs got a 100% pay raise. They should be ecstatic--even if they still have to work for the guy who had been playing them for chumps all these years. So, why is the hospital closing rooms under Envision's management? That's a good question, and one that doesn't seem to have a single positive answer. Maybe all the Fountain Valley guys are helping out at Placentia Linda. I don't know.
