Atlantic Health System Reviews

Pros

Not all share the same culture, each institution has its own in AHS. So if you don't feel good in one, try another before resigning. The old family culture was better, now is becoming more institutionalized. As the seniors retire or fired, the new blood brings their own compelling judgement. Good benefits in-network.

Cons

The perception is that money is tight, but they keep purchasing hospitals... yet at some departments supplies are misused, no motivation to use wisely the resources, including the gossip time, down time and wasted time. Someone who attended a board meeting mentioned that an strategy to lower the budget was to fired more senior employees, sure this will eventually come back to them, generation x will not hold loyalty to the institution more than to themselves, I expect turnover to gain momentum, good for young but sad and a sacrilege to those who served, give and would keep on giving until they can and more.

Advice to Senior Management

Management with no formal education and credentials should not exist in a "Magnet" institution, they hurt and fire the wrong people. Lead people, manage inventory... save budget in resource productivity not in firing those who gave you the best of their professional lives, you owe them the opportunity to make it to a gracious (even if early) retirement.

Pros

Salary is competitive. Cash-balance pension plan for all full time employees, which is unheard of at most companies. Health insurance is outstanding. Paid time off (vacation + sick days + personal days) is very generous. In-house day care. Benefits are great.

Cons

As other reviewers have mentioned, very politically charged atmosphere. Bully management isn't unheard of, and favoritism is rampant. 20% work hard, while the other 80% coast toward retirement. Overspending is a real problem.

Advice to Senior Management

Clean house by eliminating the existing management team. Focus on the long term success of the company.

Pros

Great technology, telecommuting, good benefits, great people to work with, not a crazy fast paced environment. great senior managers (directors) technology visionaries.

Cons

No career growth unless you start as a desktop support person, terrible department managers, only 20% of the people does 80% of the work rule in place here.

Advice to Senior Management

Get rid of dead weigh, only promote those that are skilled to do the job, improve the career ladder for those already in each department

Pros

Clinical areas and Administration is good - They communicate messages to staff and give direction on where the company wants to go. Overlook Hospital and Morristown Memorial Hospitals are great hospitals.

Cons

No execution culture to get to that vision. Wasteful spending especially in IS area. IS has a bully style of management; IS employee morale is down; staff with good reviews and are being let go without justification; the area is demotivating and has no direction. Good talent is leaving.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay attention to your IS area. Technology will take you were you need to go. Stop wasting money especially in the IS area. Finance needs to look closely at what is being spent.

Pros

Stable seeming system with very little oversight of day to day duties and seemingly no effort or ability by senior managment to ascertain how/what employees are doing or how things are being accomplished. So - if one is moderately productive and looks good/acts friendly, then it is a stable job for little true hands on knowledge of how to accomplish the job.

Cons

The priorities and understanding of the senior management to recognize talent and growth potential in a direction or in an employee is startingly bad. It's difficult to uncover the reasoning process behind direction changes or timing. There seems to be a lot of opacity and unrest.

Advice to Senior Management

There should be a follow-up of all projects started or undertaken by senior and middle managers on a time line basis. There is a lot of words on paper regarding projects underway or started; there is little follow up by senior oversight as to how these projects are growing/unravelling and/or how much money is being spent on them.

Pros

Good equipment & vehicles.
Benefits great for reasonable cost.

Cons

Inconsistent middle management.
Immediate supervisor petty and self-serving.
Think if they make the vehicles & quarters nice, that buys loyalty.
Favoritism shown.
Don't dare stand out or make the boss jealous..
Seems if manager makes "profit", manager gets away with all kinds of things.

Advice to Senior Management

Upper management needs to review middle management practices. Spending money does not buy good morale.

Pros

Time off, decent salary, small pension, nice staff.

Cons

Management is very outdated and incapable, maybe uninterested, of motivating staff. I had worked there in various roles for 8 years and found some important business areas and especially IS management and leadership to be ineffective, incompetent and just plain rude. I read another reviewer state that Atlantic has no idea of the "real world" and that the management are "bullys" and it's very true. I now work for a professional firm and what a difference. We have even more demanding business objectives than Atlantic and are able to meet the demands with good planning and methods and most of all motivating managers that feel like partners.

Advice to Senior Management

This is for the CEO who I did admire. Audit the effectiveness of your leadership and management better. The surveys are not reflecting accurate behavior issues of managers. Audit where money and managements time is really being spent. The staff are generally great people and willing. I left for the same reason many staff are now looking to leave - the management is demotivating!

Pros

They have a lot of resources and money to throw at problems. The highest senior management (C-level and some directors) truly seem to care about both the organization and the staff.

Cons

Unfortunately the caring attitude of the C-level management does not flow down to the staff. Their corporate structure is clunky at best, and they need to consider vetting some of their long-term employees before giving them promotions. It is obvious some people have been in the organization for too long and have no idea what the real world is like.

Advice to Senior Management

Please make sure that you choose the right people in the right management positions. The bully style of management went out in the 80's, but since some of your higher level people have been there since before then, they are not getting the message.

Pros

The people I work with are fabulous, caring, and kind. My direct manager is open to new ideas and has reasonable expectations of those who work beneath her.

Cons

I know that the health care system as a whole is under stress but, sometimes it seems that the hospital eliminates important people because they are not a direct source of income. However, they are actually saving the hospital a lot of money by eliminating redundancies and decreasing patient's length of stay.

Advice to Senior Management

Upper management should look to the people that work with the patients for ways to improve the corporation as a whole.

Pros

The best reasons to work at Atlantic Health System are:
1). Opportunities for career advancement are contingent upon the willingness, motivation, and determination of the employee. In other words, personal achievement is acknowledged in terms of academic-related successes, and is a major determinant for growth opportunities.
2). There are various opportunities that are available for students in demanding health-related fields (e.g.- nursing) to gain work experience.
3). Professionalism and cleanliness are highly exhibited throughout the organization.

Cons

The downsides of working at Atlantic Health System are:
1). Ancillary personnel are not acknowledged with appreciation for their efforts towards contributing to the well-being of patients, despite stressful working conditions.
2). Advisement for the total well-being (e.g.- illness) of employees are contradictory under obligatory circumstances to be present for work.
3). The issue of being consistently under-staffed is not appropriately addressed.

Advice to Senior Management

Some advice or feedback to the leadership at Atlantic Health System are:
1). To continue to develop opportunities for career advancement for employees.
2). To continue to promote the expertise of allied-health students through various opportunities, especially considering such a demanding field as the healthcare industry.
3). To continue to exhibit exceptional professionalism and cleanliness throughout the organization.
4). To strive to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of ancillary personnel to promote work performance.
5). To enforce advisement towards the total well-being of employees that is consistent with the mission & vision of the organization.
6). To develop strategic planning in an effort to appropriately address the issue of being under-staffed.