Poor management who care little for their staff. - RN Case Manager VITAS Healthcare Employee Review

Vitas just keeps admitting patients, with little regard to ongoing staffing issues. They promise patients/families with things that can never happen (call anytime for anything, a nurse will be at your door in 15 minutes, we supply unlimited medical supplies and drugs, etc) Patients are admitted from highly dangerous areas where it is unsafe for staff. Filthy houses, and ones in total disrepair. Safety of their staff was never a concern for them. They keep patients on service for up to 7 years, including those in nursing homes. They were recently fined by the Dept of Justice for Medicare fraud for about $55,800,000. Just a cost of doing business, and the fraud continues. Got tired of seeing patients going to lunch, going deer hunting, working etc. Patients got irate when they weren't getting what they were "promised" by admission RNs, who told them anything to get them to sign up. Cursed out frequently because they felt they weren't getting enough freebies or fast enough responses, when I was trying to provide quality care. When seeing patients in a large territory, patients/families demanded certain times, and became upset when the RN couldn't adhere to their desired schedule. In house nursing management was constantly trying to get the RNs to see more patients, and refused to utilize per diem staff to help. When families would call for petty complaints, it was always the RNs fault for not meeting their demands. Always short staffed, so staff was hired who were often incompetent and unqualified. Poor staff would be kept employed because it was difficult to replace them. High turnover. Crisis care was provided for such crisis situations as the family wanting to go to theme parks for the day. Not a criteria per Medicare for high paying care by the taxpayers. No raises for years. Received a $1 raise in over 15 years. Company is for profit, which is not all bad. Vitas is owned by Chemed, which also owns Roto Rooter! The general manager was there for too long, and was finally let go. Long overdue, and perhaps some local policies may change in the future