No value given to medical social workers plus Catholic Hospital belief systems negatively impacts patient care - Licensed Clinical Social Worker SSM Health Employee Review

2.0
May 21, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Supervison for licensure requirements was covered at no additional cost. Support for social services was strong within the nursing/case management professionals (for the most part). You really did feel like you made a difference. At 1 point (with cooperation from fellow social workers) we were able to work (4) 10 hour shifts. That was eliminated when the social work team was disbanded.

Cons

Hospital didn't hesitate whatsover to eliminate a fully functional and contributing medical social work team of Master's Level professionals (we covered all floors of a 10+ story hospital -including the ER- and all outpatient clinics) which was ironic in terms of our location in the middle of downtown OKC surrounded by homeless shelters, bus stations, etc. and their "mission" to care for those who are "suffering". Ultimately, only floors MANDATED by hospital credentialing requirements were afforded a Master's level/licensed social worker - not full-time but one that would respond only to a doctor's order for social services. A Bachelor level social worker was hired to cover all other "social work" needs. Sooo many MANY patients fell through the cracks - particularly on one of the Units I covered. As a social worker who covered the OB/Labor/Delivery Unit, you were NOT able to discuss reproductive care (ie. birth control (anything other than abstinence), abortion), etc. even if the patient was 15 with her 2nd pregnancy and committed to remaining sexually active. The "they can close their legs" mentality [if not married] was shocking. Many patients who gave birth were not made aware of the fact that their tubes could not be tied during a Csection. Some found out the day of their delivery. The Catholic belief system is applied to ALL and some patients who were involuntarily assigned to doctors at the hospital (thus had to receive care there) were not aware of the implications for their healthcare needs. The belief that doctors reign supreme is strong and if you have to go up against a doctor you better have all of your supporting material ready - and even sometimes that was not enough. Indigent patients were treated very differently compared to those who came with "standard" insurance benefits, you did on-call with no extra pay should you have to go in, and the salary was thousands less than what other hospitals paid. I am not referring to social workers within the mental health care system - only medical social workers.

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5.0
May 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Great company to work with

Cons

Not i can think of

1.0
Jul 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The people I shared my office with were nice.

Cons

If I could give this place negative stars, I would. I suggest ANYONE looking at SSM for a job, to run the other way. This has to be my absolute worst company I have EVER worked for. It is ok for people to completely ignore all emails and voice mails - all levels. So if your job relies on someone else to get info from, good luck. And, you'll have ZERO support. Business managers face no consequence's, so they don't even bother to do their job (answer emails, annual reviews, sharing information regarding your department or the hospital, addressing issues causing conflict within your work environment, people come and go as they please, do nothing but stand around and talk, then leave. You take on tasks because if not, it won't get done and there are still a few people that actually take pride in working. Doctors have zero regard for the staff that keep them in compliance. The lie to staff, applicants, allow their children to come in and run wild, destroying others property, and even going to the procedure rooms!!! NOTHING HAPPENES. My "manager" didn't bother to term me, and so when my benefits were supposed to end, they didn't and while I had NO ACCESS to my benefits (and I didn't want it, the benefits are the worst), they took my money and two months later I am STILL dealing with BS excuses from HR. It should NOT take 2 months to refund money you stole from me, because my manager didn't complete his job. Now, lets talk about those "benefits" they say are so great. It's Medica. It's run by SSM and they cover just about nothing, and the only doctors that take the crappy insurance, is SSM doctors. So, then you go to them, they bill you multiple different times for the same thing (that's a whole other fraud issue on the patient side), you're supposed to get an employee discount, no one gives it to you unless you repeatedly request it and wait weeks for billing to respond. SLU employees create divides, and give attitudes while contributing nothing to the office. It's just a terrible, terrible work environment and it won't get any better until they start actually enforcing the code of conduct, ethics and really care about the employees, because now, they could care less. You can't even contact anyone in HR directly, you have to "put in a ticket". Orientation is all online and it's all just so blah from the start. Their pay scale is well below average and their turnover shows it. And now, they are forcing employees to take PTO when THEY say, not when the employee wants to (doesn't matter if you're saving PTO for a vacation in a few months), so what's that say about the longevity of the company? They say they are not for profit, but it's ALL about the profit there, so even that's a joke.

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