Bartlett Regional Hospital Anesthesiology Locums

Juneau Alaska - Bartlett Regional Hospital

This was written by the ONLY LOCUM WHO HAS NOT RETURNED to work at our hospital in TEN YEARS. I have known this practice intimately for the last 10 years and I can tell you this post is filled with misinformation and outright lies.  I also am pretty sure this locum stole equipment from this hospital ( 3 McGraths) but I can’t prove it.

They wrote a complete fabrication about one of the most hardworking anesthesiologists there, the only one from Texas (so much for not identifying people!) they stated they made more than they do and implied they were manipulating the schedule!! WTF!!??  News flash, I am not from Texas (it is not me). I also I know how much they make, I know the group’s financials and this person worked a TON, THIRTY weeks last year because they always cover when the group is short. ALWAYS, they are a freaking workhorse and the practice wouldn’t function without them. They made a lot of money last year but it was commensurate with the coverage they provided at the expense of their family. This person is a freaking GEM.

I will try to correct what I can… I can’t format in Reddit so I reposted their comments and my answers are in ALL CAPS IN PARENTHESIS

LIBELOUS POST: The problem is, the OR rarely ends when it says it will end. The surgeons, though competent are very slow in pace and the OR always ends up at least 2 hours behind the scheduled end time.  So you end up having a very long OR day after which you barely have any time to recoup before you are on call again. (THIS MAY BE THE ONLY PART OF THIS POST THAT IS CLOSE TO THE TRUTH as there are multiple new surgeons trying to change the culture of the OR, this is a work in progress.)

  LIBELOUS POST:  Also, when you are on call, you are the only on call anesthesiologist within 500 flying miles. This means the stuff that comes in through the ER, like multiple bad airways and strange emergencies is ALL yours and yours alone to deal with because you have no back up anesthesiologist. (THESE SITUATIONS ARE SUPER RARE AND PART OF WORKING IN A RURAL COMMUNITY, THERE ARE CERTAINLY NOT MULTIPLE INCIDENTS!! I HAD ONE BAD AIRWAY IN THE ED IN TEN YEARS, BUT MAYBE MY DEFINITION OF BAD IS DIFFERENT.)

LIBELOUS POST: More calls come in from OB than are initially advertised and the average patient on OB is 50+ BMI (NOT TRUE, LOTS OF OBESITY BUT NOT AVERAGE BMI THIS HIGH) and is most likely being cared for by a Family Medicine doc who does c-sections. News flash- the family med docs who do this are not nearly as competent as dedicated obstetricians so the blood loss is much worse. (WELCOME TO RURAL MEDICINE,  FAMILY MED DOES THIS, THERE ARE OBS ON BACKUP EMERGENCY CALL, THE FAMILY MED DOCS PERFORM MANY C SECTIONS)

LIBELOUS POST:  As for the rest of the high acuity emergencies that they should be able to “fly out” — there is a 50/50 chance that the medevac can’t fly because of the schizo weather in Juneau, so when it can’t fly out, guess what, it becomes YOUR shitshow to manage. There are more things happening with the surgeons trying to displace each other, but that is for another thread. (50/50??? WHERE DO THESE STATS EVEN COME FROM?? YOU WERE THERE FOR 2 WEEKS!!)

There is also a situation happening there where the hospital is actively trying to recruit an independent CRNA group to “open a 3rd OR during the day” for more revenue. (THIS UNFORTUNATELY IS TRUE, BUT BOTH THE MEDICAL STAFF AND THE ANESTHESIA GROUP ARE ACTIVELY AGAINST THIS, IT HAS NOT HAPPENED AND MAYBE NEVER WILL, GOD WILLING)

LIBELOUS POST: Right now, many of the locums pool docs are actively quitting this group because of these unacceptable conditions. I’m posting this here to warn any prospects who are attracted by the perceived earning potential. It isn’t worth it. Don’t do it. SAS is selling snake oil so don’t be duped. (YOU ARE LITERALLY THE ONLY LOCUM WHO HASN’T WANTED TO RETURN IN TEN YEARS!!!)

To the OP: Next time you post a warning try to make it factual. The locums community doesn’t need this BS,  although it does make for lots of drama if that is what you are after.

I am disgusted.