Take Care Health Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Take Care Health part-time for more than 3 years

Pros – As a physician, I can focus exclusively on patient care and not worry with any details of actually running a practice. There is tremendous internal support for the physicians with a wonderful work environment filled with grateful, respectful patients who are thrilled to have a workplace physician onsite.

Cons – If the client decides to close their onsite health clinic or go with another clinic management company, then the job disappears through no fault of your own as the physician. So there's not the element of geographic stability that one can get with a typical private practice in a community setting.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep spreading to more geographic markets and keep up the good work!

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Take Care Health full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – used to feel like the NP's had support and the retail health model was attractive because it was structured and we only treated acute illness (which made sense because its inside drugstore)

Cons – Out of the clear blue sky, the company is now treating chronic conditions= HUGE PROBLEMS and threats to our NP license.

There is only one NP that works in the clinic by themselves for 12 hour shifts. Rarely, a clinic will have a part time medical assistant, but most clinics never do. How is one NP supposed to treat the ENDLESS line of walk in patients waiting to be see for acute illnesses, school physicals or vaccines AND treat patients' chronic diabetes, COPD, emphysema, severe blood pressure problems, thyroid disease all in the back of a Walgreens store? We as NP's do not feel equipped (with staff, reliable EMR, or structured clinical guidelines for these conditions or EXPERIENCE in treating these conditions).

Yes, many of us have NEVER treated these conditions before as our only experience is in the retail clinic (quick, small acute conditions only such as colds, flus, UTI's, and strep throat). Many of us are new grads (with NO previous experience), and those of us who have experience in previous jobs in physicians offices treating more serious long term conditions are out of practice and have not treated them in several YEARS!

Our company announced that we are now going to start treating these chronic conditions OVERNIGHT, with ZERO training involved. We were given a reference to a random website that has medical journals regarding these conditions but no actual Take Care clinic guidelines (no plan, no quick references, NOTHING) . Also, we do not have list of exactly what conditions these are. Just a vague idea.

So what are we supposed to do if we've never treated these conditions before? How do we know when to refer out and when to treat in store? We work by ourselves and can call a physician over the phone (the MD we have never seen in person, and he/she does not practice at all in the stores) and ask them a few of the questions but that is not a substitute for actual experience and honed clinical judgement.

It is just not SAFE nor realistic to say we will be treating chronic conditions, ordering blood work and xrays etc at least without the proper training and support and staff. We dont have a lab, an assistant to draw blood, any machines) Who is supposed to follow up on that blood work and read the xrays etc? Especially if we do not really know how to read labs?! This should all really be done in a primary care setting where there is a staff helping us- other NP's , other MD's to help us, our nurses to take vitals, an entire front office staff etc. The worst part is that patients who are VERY sick with these conditions are being mislead that it is safe to be treated in a store while running their errands. The line has to be drawm somewhere in the name of safety.

Our computer system barely works properly and is very unreliable (EMR), we do all the front office work ourselves (checking in patients, verifying insurances, follow up calls, cleaning the office, mopping, sweeping, trash,housekeeping etc) all by ourselves and play referee with the patients waiting in line who dont want to wait to be seen at the clinic (even if they are walk ins without an appointment) Our compensation remains the exact same. Why are we not getting paid to be the NP, office manager, and janitor?

If we start to treat chronic conditions with no valid support whatsoever, we are being set up for failure from the beginning and we are definitely at risk for losing our licenses. Especially if we have little to no recent experience treating these conditions comfortably. It is a HUGE problem that we are now facing and us NP's do not know what we are going to do .....Its just not realistic and we feel slapped in the face because we were hired to work in an actue illness setting and suddenly the entire job scope changes overnight with no support, or game plan.

We fear for patient safety, our jobs, and our licenses...... and its disappointing because we want to be successful.

Advice to Senior Management – You are approaching the expansion of services all wrong. You need to provide REAL guidance and a structured PLAN for these conditions and need to take the time to make sure each NP feels comfortable. Anything less is unfair to the staff and to the patients who depend on us.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Take Care Health full-time for more than a year

Pros – Salary is fair, Benefits are good, PTO accumulation is good, policies in place to encourage evidence based medicine

Cons – Poor managers make poor teams. Office gossip is frequently the order of the day and is not curbed. When the managers participate in ofice gossip, it's a challenge to put a stop to it. The clinic creates an illusive atmosphere of friendship and commaderie that is only at face level as employees have learned to say the right things to the right people. There is quite a bit of kissing the bosses behind, staff members are often fake.
Lots of policies which are ok, but the managers often forget the reason for the policies is to improve patient care and satisfaction.

Advice to Senior Management – Discourage gossip, this should start at the top. Create an environment where your staff is willing to come to work because they enjoy it, the majority of staff are only there because they need the salary. It takes more than meetings and activities to create a real team enviroment. People who are friends hang out, hanging out does not necessarily mean people are friends.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Take Care Health full-time for less than a year

Pros – organized system all clinics are clones of one another,

Cons – always shorthanded, constant change, numerous meetings before, during and after work that are mandatory, market managers never happy with your work, demanding patients, work on every holiday except christmas and thanksgiving and many times you just it there all day and see no one. The company trips over dollars to make pennies. New services always being implemented without asking the practicing clinicians for their imput.

Advice to Senior Management – we don't need as many of you, and the ones at the top need to ask for the nurse practitioners input who work there about what they are experiencing every day before giving them new duties that do not belong in a retail clinic

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Take Care Health full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – great benefits, discounts with other companies are good

Cons – very restrictive in giving you vacation time, hard to climb up for promotion unless you know somebody inside company to give a push

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Take Care Health

Pros – Monday throught Friday position with weekends off.

Cons – Poor communication from upper management. Do not receive the tools or backing to do the job. Management is top heavy.

Advice to Senior Management – Improve communications to associates in the field. Make the work experience a positive one. Management should be more supportive of associates.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Take Care Health

Pros – The people I worked with were a great asset to the clinic and the patients.

Cons – Management doesn't communicate. Vital information is not disseminated. Some managers are under-skilled for thier job titles. Management doesn't lead by example. Management won't/can't admit thier own mistakes. Some managers aren't truthful when placed in situations that would reflect negatively on their job performance.

Advice to Senior Management – Ensure that managers have the education level required for their psotions. For example, don't put a high school drop out in a position that requires a bachelor's degree. Properly train and monitor management and their communication styles. Listen to the colleagues - if a site has a 40% turnover rate in a 9 month period, that should be an indication that there is a problem.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Take Care Health

Pros – They really want to be a destination employer and so there is much encouragement to find the best work/life balance. The company offers solutions for working people to take part in their healthcare in a very convenient manner and setting. I see about 1000 clients a year and it is fun getting to know employees and provide information to them to keep them motivated to maintain their hearing health.

Cons – The platform they use for the multiple applications is often non-functional, causing delays in work and efficiencies. However, they are working on improvement. They have too many layers of upper management and it takes multiple persons to approve some decisions and that, too, takes valuable time. Some of the managers are too far removed from the front lines and make decisions for which they have no real knowledge base. It is a very hierarchical structure.

Advice to Senior Management – Streamline the decision making processes.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Take Care Health

Pros – Good pay, Good Benefits, initially. flexible schedule on the ESG side of the company.

Cons – They changed their health insurance provider in 2011 and it went downhill. I used to recieve $2500 in CME and 5 days off for CME. That was cut to only $1000/yr. There is no contract, so you can get axed anytime- WHICH IS WHAT HAPPENED T ME!

I went on maternity leave and received a call during my leave that my full time job was gone and I was being offered a per diem NP position- no benefits and no per diem level of pay. You can guess what I told them.... Working without a contract opens you up to alot of bad stuff. Your offer letter doesnt hold up at all under the law-

The job started off great and sounded good on paper, but once you get into it, you realize how disorganized the ESG (occ health) side is.

My "boss" was an RN. the other NP's had a "boss" that was an RN. My educational preparation and medical rank supercede hers- so why is she my boss? She has no insight into evaluating an NP or understanding how to support an NP. Take Care calls the DSO's- most are nurses- most with 2 year degrees managing Masters prepared nurses. Is that a company that you want to work for???

Advice to Senior Management – Respect NP for their value and preparation. You would not treat a physician the way you treat your NP's. NPs are respected medical providers and you should treat them as such.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Take Care Health

Pros – Pay scale is fair
Currently not on a timecard system
Not overaly micromanaged by managment
Location is good-close to home

Cons – Will be switching to timecards in the near future
They changed staff from salaery pay to hourley
They are changing the way personal training is paid-trainiers will be receiving less per session
Benefits are terrible-heath insurance is too expensive and doens't cover enough. "Take Care Clinincs" are free-but there are none in the area.

Advice to Senior Management – TCHS used to feel like a small company with coroporate beneifts. Now, it feels like we are all just working for the "Man" and there is no indiviual appreciation anymore. Take advice from the people that are on the front lines doing the actual work.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend