Banner Health Reviews in Phoenix, AZ Area

Pros

Pay: The pay is pretty good, although I have heard a lot of complaints about the 2% pay increase cap. I am happy that we are still receiving pay increases, but would appreciate it more if our benefits weren't slashed as badly.

Work/Life Balance: My department and Manager have been very accomodating to my school/life schedule. This is not true of all departments though.

Location: It's super close to my house and right off the freeway.

Co-Worker Competence: I have had some horrible people that have worked with me; however, I have had some great people too. It seems pretty difficult to get fired from here. You'd be amazed what people get away with here!

Cons

Respect: My manager is a great manager; however, our SCM and Director couldn't care less for us and see us as expendable. We were actually told that the next person to make a mistake in our department would be "thrown into hot oil." This was the first meeting with our department after we had made one billing mistake in 3 months. Since that time (and prior to) we have never heard any words of encouragement from anyone other than our direct manager.

Benefits: This is an extremely sore spot with me. I came to Banner Health because I was interested in their benefits, mainly the Tuition Reimbursement plan. Banner paid for 1 year of Nursing school then they told me that 1) they wouldn't pay for my LPN and 2)I had too much time before I completed and they denied my reimbursement. (I had only 2 semesters left to my RN and had already completed my LPN - which they paid for already.) I requested an appeal and was denied with no reason. I applied again for my last semester of Nursing School and was told it wasn't part of their "Strategic Initiatives" and denied my request again and told that everyone who wasn't in a BSN program was being denied. (This was from our SCM who took a class on what lies to tell everyone that was denied.) Also, when I was hired, tuition reimbursement was for everyone. Now you have to apply by a ridiculous deadline with tons of paperwork and signatures then they require a contract for anyone who receives reimbursement. Sorry, I don't want my education paid for that bad.

Medical benefits are a joke here as well. I pay more than I paid for United Healthcare and Cigna with other employers. Plus, the Banner Network is extremely rigid! There aren't very many providers to choose from and you must go to a Banner facility or you will . I pay more for specialists, inpatient hospital stays, diagnostic tests, physical therapy, than my friends who have insurance through their employers. Everything requires prior authorization and it took me 1 year for my Dr. to get me cleared to have Singulair for my asthma (which they only authorized for 1 yr)!!! I also have back issues and they denied my claim for a portable electrical stimulation machine after I had it for (& they'd paid for it) 8 months and it was the only thing (minus meds) that gives me any relief.

Job Security: They think you're expentable in the clinical area while my area not so much since most people are new.

Career Potential/Growth: In my current department, there is no future. Supposedly, the clinical areas have more opportunity, but I see that it's all very political and definitely not where I will be. For me, I am just using this place to get enough experience to go somewhere better.

Work Environment: My department is crap in this area. We are lucky to get pencils/pens! We seriously have to beg for post-it notes or steal them from other departments. We also don't get to use our budget for employee morale boosters like in other areas.

Summary: As long as you come to Banner realizing that they don't care about you, I would recommend the experience you can receive here. If you can't get hired at any better hospitals, Good Sam is not the worst one out there. Just realize most "benefits" you get won't live up to what they're touted as. I am using Good Sam for what I can get then jumping ship as soon as I am able to get into a better hospital. Hopefully soon so I can have my BSN paid for!

Advice to Senior Management

I would recommend that they start placing employees first. Also, it would make sense to amend all new employees ability for tuition reimbursement; however, those that are already in the program should be grandfathered in. More open communication should be utilized in the corporation. It seems that only a bit of information is given when any changes are made.

Also, why if Banner is "tightening" it's belt are new hospitals being built, areas being redecorated, new uniforms being bought, etc? It seems like employees would be more interested in having their benefits then getting an ice crea, free dinner, or a tote bag. In addition, is it truly necessary for residents to be allowed $300 to use in the silent auction? Should they even be given the tickets for a fundraiser? That seems like a waste of funds since they aren't even spending their own money on the silent auction. Residents seem to be funds spenders instead of adding to the revenue we're supposed to gain from the banquet.

Pros

good benefits, fairly good pay, some good co workers

Cons

Worst place I've ever seen in over 40 years of health industry employment as far as middle and upper management. They're incompetent, rude and poor communicators. They don't care about patient care, only how they can boost profits to give themselves bonuses. They don't listen to employee complaints or suggestions and have ruthless vacation policies. You can work a 70 hour week with no overtime then they expect you to take some of your limited time off if you work part of a day. They publish great sounding mission statements then ignore them. They tolerate incompetent workers because it's easier to ignore them rather than improve them or fire them. They're lax in bill collection and often allow patients to stay in the system without paying when they should be removed, yet they fire employees key to good patient care and overload others in order to improve profits.

Advice to Senior Management

Institute a company wide suggestion plan, start listening to employees and deal with the problems above

Pros

large has access to a lot of technology and talent which it puts to use in a haphazard way there is lip service provided about putting the patient first appearances are valued over substance

Cons

poorly run behemoth that seeks to stretch every single penny patient care and excellence are sought only if within the budget which is the gold standard not patient safety nor clinical excellence

Advice to Senior Management

resign bring in a new crew who focuses on delivering patient focused clinical excellence you are at a cultural crossroad and poorly equipped to do the job needed

Pros

Locations in the valley which are close to home. Benefits are comparable to other organizations. In general, coworkers are collegial.

Cons

I would reiterate what was said previously- management sucks. The system is based on cronyism, with promotion from within. There are way too many people who simply fill a job title and are either not qualified or lack serious vision, lack the intelligence and experience, and seem to be collecting a paycheck. Nobody can be removed from a management position barring an act of God.

 The mission statement is highly misleading, since roadblocks to providing excellent patient care are constantly put up by anyone at a management level. Too much passing the buck - nobody really makes a decision, it simply gets passed on to the next person, or corporate, or whomever. Corporate office makes decisions that affect patient care without really understanding what is going on in the facility. When you look at the "health system", why is it that there are not more health professionals (doctors and nurses) in management positions? It is all business people. That seems a strange way to run a medical business.

Advice to Senior Management

Look for outside talent, especially seeking medical professionals with business experience and education. Quit promoting the mediocre. Gut, aggressively, the management, and trim down to the necessities. Live the mission statement and eliminate roadblocks on recommendations made by the providers. Give authority to individuals to make decisions. Ask the person at the bottom "what can I do to help you do your job today" rather than run from the top-down.

Pros

The benefits, compensation as well as the pto are very good.

Cons

On occasion you might become micromanaged which is a pain in the neck, especially when you know how to do your job without guidance or supervision.

Advice to Senior Management

bring back the spot awards

Pros

Convenience to where I live

Cons

VERY disrespectful to nurses. Intimidation, harrasment and retaliaton are the "NORM " from management at Banner.

Advice to Senior Management

First of all, there is FAR too much management in any Banner Facility. Secondly, management should be respectful to all employees. It has been my experience that management is promoted to their highest level of incompentency and with no people skills. This will eventually be a serious downfall to the Banner System. They need to take lessons from Mayo on how to run health care!!

Pros

Some mid-level managers really care about their employees.

Cons

The PTO is really awful, although this is my first hospital organization I've worked in. The salaries are also lower than other industries I've worked in. There are too few promotion opportunties. There's too much of a dichotomy between day shift and night shift. Staff members are not respected equally. The doctors are not being held accountable for their bad behavior.

Advice to Senior Management

Walk the talk. They require "rounding" of all of the managers in the hospital, but they themselves don't get out and meet the employees. 90% of the nurses don't even know who our chief nursing officer is. Also, management needs to weed out the bad apples. If they don't want a job (or are behaving like they don't want a job), get them out of that job. Hire someone who will be accountable. Why is poor accountability tolerated? Some leaders tolerate too much bad behavior, while others focus too much on the budget and not enough on the people. Overall, there's not much genuine focus on the people (but they sure talk a good game).

Pros

There are some people at Banner Health who are very engaged and care about doing a great job

Cons

Finance first and foremost. Patient care second. "Caring for our own" last. Banner Health operates like a small town where the old boys network control everything. Human Resources/People Resources or whatever they are calling themselves now is an absolute joke. They change the department name and direction depending on whatever they heard at the latest conference they attended.

Advice to Senior Management

People first. Provide great care. Practice fair, ethical, caring business and a healthy financial picture will be the result. Stop the tail from wagging the dog.

Pros

The benefitsc are comparable to other organizations in the healthcare industry.

Cons

Management is top heavy. There are too many lifetime employees that are unqualified with useless job titles.

Advice to Senior Management

There's a lot of corporate waste and too much praise for mediocrity. In order to be competitive a management clean-up from the top down is absolute. Also, in light of financial "book padding" at major US corporations a true independent audit is a must. Do away with the "status-quo" business as usual audits.

Pros

Dedicated staff who believe strongly in excellent patient care. Patient care and patient safety drives all decisions. A large system enables employees to broaden their skill sets and learn different parts of healthcare. Each facility/hospital has its own culture. Competitive salaries and benefit packages. Retention of employees is still a focus despite this economy. A continuous improvement mentality is prevelant in most parts of the organization.

Cons

Some highly tenured staff have an entitlement mentality. When cuts are needed due to budget constraints a small minority of staff pout, instead of understanding that this is a different economy than it was 3 years ago (it seemed to be the highly tenured staff who were the most vocal.) Lack of a rigorous leadership development program, which is a problem because many leaders are home grown and could really use some revised leadership competencies. An IT platform that seems antiquated for the size and scope of the company.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more visible. Get a pair of scrubs and start rounding at a hospital on a floor. Continue to commmunicate in as many ways as possible as often as possible so your messages trickle down to floor staff.