Competitors are reaping the benefits of the massive LGH staff exodus

Competitors are reaping the benefits of massive LGH staff exodus.png

I don’t think Lancaster General Hospital’s new out-of-town and out-of-touch leaders get out of bed in the morning determined to run your hometown hospital into the ground.

But that’s what they’re doing.

Here’s how: local competitors are reaping the benefits of LGH attacking and destroying itself from the inside.

When you’re on a fake moral crusade, business sense goes out the window.

I showed you last time how bad LGH’s hiring catastrophe has become, but that was an internal look. Now we’re going to look at the bigger picture, and ask, what’s the rest of the central PA health system doing?

Anecdotal wisdom has led a lot of people to say things like, “Boy, Hershey and Ephrata are lucky that we’re handing them all these good nurses,” or, “I guess Penn State’s gonna have an easy time staffing their new hospital in Landisville.”

Is that true? Let’s compare LGH’s situation to the local competitors that, unlike bullying Penn Medicine, have thus far refused to label a huge percentage of their own healthcare professionals as miseducated, foolish, or irresponsible.

Again, courtesy of the nonprofit internet Wayback Machine, this is all publicly available and verifiable information. (Links at the end.) Here is LGH compared to the four closest hospitals of (somewhat) similar size.

Since early 2021, LGH has now almost doubled in its need for employees. (rubs eyes and looks again)

One of these things is not like the others. It doesn’t appear that the economy or the strange worldwide circumstances can be blamed. No one else seems to be experiencing a stampede out the door… In fact, Hershey has 486 LESS openings than they did before LGH ordained this mandate.

Shoot. That’s awfully telling.

But, to be fair, these facilities are not the same size, so let’s look at the data as percentages instead of hard numbers.

(Gasp) What’s happened to LGH’s competitors? My goodness, it’s almost as though these other hospitals know something Penn Medicine doesn’t. It’s almost like Hershey in particular is suddenly experiencing an influx of talented, educated healthcare professionals to fill all their available positions!

What could this source be? What secret do they know that LGH does not?

Where, oh where, are they getting all these registered nurses? Where, oh where, are they finding all these surgical techs? Where, oh where, are they getting LPNs, care managers, laundry workers, clinical research coordinators, lab supervisors, transporters, medical assistants, and utility plant operations mechanics?

Where could LGH’s competitors be getting all these great employees?

Generally accepted business wisdom will confirm an organization’s people are its most important asset. Even at the best restaurant, food isn’t going to prepare and serve itself. Even at Apple or HP, technology doesn’t sell itself. No matter what state-of-the-art medical equipment you put in a building, that plastic isn’t going to treat patients without skilled healthcare professionals.

People matter. More than just bodies in a space, well-trained, dedicated employees matter the most to move the needle from good to great.

Lancaster General Hospital must stop throwing away many well-trained, dedicated employees. These are the nurses who made this place a MAGNET hospital. These are the staffers who were recognized for the US News & World Report Ranking, the Blue Distinction, the OSHA VPP, and the Joint Commission Certification. These are the people who built the LGH legacy.

Why is middle management bullying x-ray techs, security team members, dining services staffers, phlebotomists, housekeepers, and nurses out through a mandate designed to limit an educated healthcare professional’s autonomy over his/her own body?

I hope you like driving to Ephrata, York, or Hershey for care because LGH’s talent pool is shrinking by the day.

Lancaster, you deserve better from your hospital. Tell LGH that Penn Medicine’s mandate has got to go.

Use the phone numbers and email addresses I’m giving you, and get involved to support the legal defense fund for the healthcare workers who want to maintain bodily autonomy.

And, once more, because some of you are still reading what you imagine to be here instead of what is actually here: I am NOT advocating for or against any medicine or medical procedure. I am NOT suggesting we take away anything people need or give them something they don’t want. I am explaining to the spineless leaders at my local hospital with numbers and pretty charts that it is a bad business decision for LGH to be hemorrhaging valuable employees to their competitors.

Wayback Machine Links

LGH (archived by Wayback on Feb. 4, 20210)

WellSpan Ephrata (archived by Wayback on Jan. 21, 2021)

WellSpan York (archived by Wayback on Jan. 24, 2021)

Penn State Hershey (archived by Wayback on April 23, 2021)

UPMC York (archived by Wayback on Jan. 25, 2021)

If you want to know what the internet Wayback machine is, do not email me and ask. Read this.

Current hiring numbers were accessed on Aug. 13, 2021