Corporate hellhole cosplaying healthcare
Pros
I loved my team, my direct supervisor, and the opportunity to engage in work that made a REAL difference for people who otherwise would likely be tossed aside or forgotten about.
Cons
Let's get one thing out of the way right out the gate: Salt Lake Behavioral Health is owned by UHS, a company well-known for engaging in deplorable practices. A simple Google search will quickly give you a feel for the sort of company this is :) - For starters, I was lied to about student loan forgiveness and only found out it was a lie AFTER I went into debt. I was not the only person this happened to, and I will not be the last. - Upper management is a joke made up of people who would sooner fling themselves into the sun than ever actually work with patients or attempt to glean an understanding of what those they consider to be beneath them actually do. - HR was a disgrace who regularly and actively protected abusive staff (such as a nurse who nearly knocked another staff member unconscious with a unit phone, or multiple staff members who waged vicious campaigns against others for bizarre reasons, or countless sexual harassment-related issues) while gaslighting, ignoring, and sometimes even threatening those who dared to report. It got to the point I would secretly record EVERY interaction with HR (Utah is a 1-party consent state, folks!) and I'd strongly advise others to do the same. Protect yourself. I poured my heart and soul into this godforsaken hospital. I was well known not just at this facility, but in the field in general as someone who could be relied on and trusted to do high-quality work on behalf of my clients. What it got me in the end was the CEO himself - someone who I did not report to, and had not spoken more than 5 words to for the entire duration of my employment prior to this - thinking it appropriate to wage a literal weeks-long smear campaign against me. You see, the way things work at SLBH is to sacrifice others to save the skins of upper management when they get in hot water for their wild incompetence and poor business decisions. It was truly the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. The insane lies that were made up about me and my work were only made more comical by the fact that quite literally not a soul who worked with me would EVER believe them. Multiple people attempted to come to my aid, but they were all steamrolled. In the end, I was unceremoniously sacked after yet another bizarre, easily disprovable lie from the big man himself. Oh! They took my insurance THAT DAY, too :) How kind! I am so glad I was unable to attend the multiple important doctor's appointments I had the following week. Also... -Dangerously understaffed, sometimes nursing to patient ratios are as high as 1 to 16. -There are entire units that rely on the compromised mental state of Medicare patients just to get them in the door, then trample all over anything we know about acceptable care -Your entire unit or job can and will be changed at the whims of upper management EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. How will you find out, you ask? Well, you'll get a group text message at 5pm on a Friday night, of course! Who needs stability when you have the nEeDs oF tHe cOmMuniTy [read: a new short-sighted, knee-jerk money-grubbing scheme] -Staff morale is literally the worst I have EVER seen: management knows this and simply doesn't care -Staff often just as exploited as the patients -Facility has a reputation in the field for engaging in extremely shady practices -Raises are not based on merit so you will never, ever get one aside from a laughable yearly 1% raise. -They are so desperate for staff at times that they will literally hire ANYONE, resulting in people with zero boundaries or skills working directly with vulnerable patients -At the same time, they purposefully remain understaffed because it means more money for them - If you're a good employee, you will be rewarded with *drumroll* the opportunity to pick up the slack for other staff who don't do their jobs! Or maybe you will be forced to take on the responsibilities of another position entirely in addition to your already-existing position! ALL FOR THE SAME PAY :D This place will eat you alive. Salt Lake Behavioral Health is a facility built on a culture of exploitation, misogyny, greed, and bullying (and I really hate that word, but it's the only one I have for it). It's not normal to have staff on the verge, or fully in, a mental breakdown on any given day. I don't mean that as a figure of speech - it's how it goes there. They will use you up and spit you out. They want people like them: mindless corporate shills who sold their soul a long time ago in the name of corporate greed. If you have a heart and are in the field because you actually care, DO NOT BOTHER. The emotional, mental, and physical toll this place takes on you isn't worth it.