Layoffs Expected at Mass General Brigham - Part 1

Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in Massachusetts, announced its plan to lay off hundreds of workers, citing a roughly $250 million budget gap. MGH said the layoffs will focus on “non-clinical and non-patient facing roles.” What are some of the challenges MGB is facing that might have led to the layoffs? How will MGH’s restructuring impact the hospital system?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray WBZ Constin's Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Well, first off, the little breaking news here. Let me
announce publicly the winner of our Super Bowl challenge from
Friday night. In the twentieth hour on Friday night, we
asked our listeners to call in and predict the final
of Sunday evening Super Bowl game. Obviously, the Philadelphia Eagles

(00:27):
prevailed over the Kansas City Chiefs. So about half of
our group on Friday night, and we had a lot
of callers on Friday night during the eleven o'clock hour,
about half picked the Eagles and the other half picked
the Chiefs. I didn't break down the numbers. I'm almost
looking at it right now and figuring out. Let me see,

(00:48):
we had one, two, three, four, five, six seven, there
were more Philadelphia. Philadelphia probably was actually more like two
to one, not quite, but it was the majority picked Philadelphia.
So we had a wide variety of scores, and the
listener who came closest rob We probably should have had

(01:10):
a drum roll with this. We didn't prep this very well.
But the listener who came closest with a predicted prediction
of thirty four to twenty four. The reason that this
person was the closest. The final score was forty let's see,

(01:31):
it was forty to twenty two, so he was off
by six points. He predicted thirty four for the Eagles,
so he was six points below that. But he was
very close with the score for the Chiefs. They scored
twenty two points, and so he was only two points

(01:52):
off there, and that was the key to his success.
He was off a total of eight points. There were
several of us who were in the low double digits,
including yours. Truly, I was just throwing a suggestion and
I predicted the Eagles would win thirty five to twenty eight.
So I was five points short on the Philadelphia score

(02:19):
and I was six points over on the Kansas City score.
So not that I was in the competition, but our winner.
If we got a drum roll here or anything like that, Rob,
if we don't we don't have a drum roll, okay,
no problem. You know, we can't left the we can't
let the band off on Monday nights. Rob, when we
have these, you know, you've got to be able to queue.

(02:40):
The drummer should have been here tonight. But that's okay.
Is Sean from Beverly. So Sean nice rode applause though
from the digital studio audience. So Sean, if you're listening now,
or if anyone knows Sean from Beverly, you need to
call in with your address and you of the winner
of a fabulous night side Cobalt blue night side coffee

(03:05):
mug courtesy of our friends at the at College Hype.
Is that Sean on the phone with you already? Yeah,
let's put him on. We'll give them congratulations on the air. Yeah, Sean, Sean, congratulations,
you're the winner. You're the winner.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Man.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
You're thirty four to twenty four. You were just eight
points off in total. I mean, you almost nailed it.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Well, I'll tell you, Kenna City scut a couple of
cheapies at the end. They to make it close. I
had no idea that close. But yeah, that was all right?
Is that right?

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Yeah? No, No, you were fine. I mean you had
it thirty four, you had it as a ten point spread.
Thank god Kansas City made it that close. Actually that
that was really the key to key to your success.
I'll have to ask you this question. Did you wager
on the game at all?

Speaker 3 (03:54):
Or no?

Speaker 5 (03:55):
I did not.

Speaker 4 (03:56):
I did not know.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
I'm not gonna wager.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, you leave your name and your address and all
of that. I appreciate you calling in. Uh, this is great.
You you got the the the night side mug coming
your way. Will get it up to you certainly by
the end of the week, and you're gonna enjoy it.
It's really it's a nice coffee mug. You you're gonna
you're gonna like it. And also include a phone number
so we can get in touch with you if there's

(04:20):
any any problems at all with the mug. You'll they
wrap it up at College High. They put it in
a good packing and it'll arrive at your door hopefully
by week's end.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
Okay, I'll look forward to it. Thanks again, d I
appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Well, keep calling the show. Go back and talk to
Rob and make sure that Rob you got the name,
address in phone number. That's all we need. Well, that's great,
Sean was actually listening. I'm thrilled about that. I am
absolutely thrilled that Sean would take the time not only
to call in the other night, but also to follow up.
He probably knew he had a shot at it. And Uh,
for those of you who didn't win. That's okay. We'll

(04:54):
have some other contests, I'm sure going forward. And again,
congratulations to Sean from be Really Massachusetts our winner. He
predicted thirty four to twenty four. If he had bet
that game, he would have won some money. Philadelphia was
an underdog, so he would have easily covered. He would
have not only would have recovered, but he would have
won the bet straight out as well. So congratulations. Okay,

(05:18):
to a less happy note, we're going to talk about
an announcement. Actually the Globe. Credit to the Globe broke
this story to the best of my knowledge today and basically,
we have seen a lot of activity in hospitals mergers
and it is now it's no longer the mass General Hospital.

(05:40):
It's MGB, which is Mass General combined with Brigham and Women,
so it's Mass General Brigham. And they have decided that
they need to take a lot of jobs away from people.

(06:01):
They have between Mass General and Brigham eighty two thousand people.
They're the biggest employers in the come walth of Massachusetts.
They have an economic impact of fifty three billion dollars.
Mass General Brigham employees about seventy five hundred physicians, three

(06:26):
thousand advanced practice providers, which I assume mean physicians, assistance
and the most important group the fifteen thousand nurses who
care for millions of patients a year. They intend to
I guess, trim the payroll, the financial finances in the

(06:50):
payroll by two percent, two percent of eighty two thousand people.
It's some one and forty positions, and it might be
more than that, because I suspect that most of the
cuts are going to be not necessarily at the top

(07:12):
of that economic pyramid. They we have a statement from
Mass General and Brigham. From there, I didn't see anyone
from Mass Mass General uh and and and Brigham on
television tonight. I saw some analysts, but we didn't see

(07:35):
the head of the the this huge, this huge medical complex.
And so what I want to do here, to be
really honest with the chief executive is doctor Ian Klebanski.
And she sent this email out to her employees, which

(07:55):
was which was obtained by the Globe. Sure that once
you send an email out to eighty two thousand employees,
one of them are going to send a copy to
the Globe. But I believe the Globe broke the story.
So when we get back, I want to talk about this,
and here's the context in which I'd like to talk
about it. It was about ten years or so ago

(08:18):
when Obamacare passed, and I think we were all lulled
into this sense of security, that false security, that Obamacare
was the greatest thing since slice bread. I don't think
it's turned out to be the greatest thing since slice spread.
We have a shortage of doctors, of personal care physicians.
We have longer and longer waits at emergency rooms. I

(08:41):
don't know how many of you have had to go
to an emergency room in a well and in New
England hospital, or in a hospital anywhere. I spoke with
someone earlier today and I'm just not going to get
into a lot of the specifics, but the individual had
to take his son to an emergency room yesterday. And

(09:05):
this was Sunday, the Sunday of Super Bowl, which is traditionally,
and I know this from experience, one of the slowest
days in emergency rooms in hospitals anywhere. And you know
why because most people are already at home or they're
planted in front of their television sets at three o'clock

(09:25):
watching the Super Bowl pregame show. So on this one
of the slowest days of the year. At this particular
hospital which I'm not going to identify. This dad was
told it would take seven hours, seven seven hours, think
about that for his son to be seen in the

(09:46):
emergency room by a physician. That is I think unacceptable.
It's unacceptable in America. I'd like to get your reaction.
Are you satisfied with the medical carrier you're getting these days?
I suspect that mass general. I hope they don't cut
one doctor. I hope they don't cut one patient some

(10:08):
you know doctors, you know, assistant patient advocate. I hope
they don't cut any nurses, they don't cut any physicians
assistance let them cut. In within the administration, I think
that all of these big institutions have become overly reliant
upon administrators. And just as in government, by the way,

(10:33):
the bigger something becomes, the more people who were there
who were not providing the service. It's as simple as that.
And it's ironic that at a time when President Trump
is being his his efforts to reduce government is being
stopped by federal judges across the country. There's even a
federal judge in New Mexico which has decided to uh stop,

(10:57):
restrain Trump from President Trump from sending some of these
most violent criminals, criminal aliens to Guintanamo. What's wrong with us?
What's wrong with us? I mean, who has Why would
a federal judge come to that conclusion? I mean, we
got some bad people. Put him in get Mo, we

(11:19):
got the beds. What are you gonna do? Put them
in local jails, put them in gim for a while
to figure out what to do with them, simple as that, anyway,
let them take a vacation at get Mo. That's not
the subject. The subject is how you doing in terms
of getting medical treatment? Forget the expense. We all know
the expense is like over the top at this point,

(11:41):
But how is it that Mass General Brigham, one of
the most solvent medical institutions in America, has to cut
two percent from its budget. We'll try to break it down.
Numbers are not good on radio because it's difficult to conceptualize,
but I can try to put it. They're going to

(12:02):
lose I think a minimum of two thousand jobs, and
it's going to be people who are providing some level
of care. Maybe they'll be a nurse's aids. But will
they be cutting in the administration. That's where the cut
should come. It's as simple as that. There's a lot

(12:22):
of paper pushers in any business. Okay, there's a lot
of people who are not contributing. They are there, they've
been there a long time. Let's I want to know
how you How are you doing with your medical care
at this point? You're happy with it? We're in America.
Are you happy with your medical care? When you have

(12:44):
to go to the emergency room, when you have to
find a physician? Are you happy with it? I suspect
that most Americans aren't, and I suspect it's about time
for us to start to talk about it. And this
is our launchpad tonight, Mass General Brigham and they send
out I'm going to read to you a little bit
from the statement from the head of Mass General. And

(13:06):
it's written by lawyers, and it's written by speech writers,
and it sounds great, But guess what, it doesn't say anything.
It doesn't say anything other than, oh, we're going to
do our best. Well, let me tell you they look
at all the buildings that have gone up around Mass
General itself in recent last couple of years. Anyone who

(13:28):
who lives on Cambridge Street, lower Cambridge Street in downtown Boston.
Downcoach store or drive. There's nothing but mass general buildings
going up. Where's the money going? What are we doing?
What are we doing? That is supposedly the best medical
facility in the world, and it is, it is, but

(13:49):
they they got to get rid of the fat. Back
on night Side six one seven, the only line open
right now, six seven, two four thirty. Let's light them
up back after this.

Speaker 1 (14:00):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
night Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
All right, we got full lines. Let's go and see
what people think. They say. I was done today when
this person who I was chatting with mentioned that I
had to take a sun I mean, you know, it's
as your own visit seven hours, seven hours. I mean,
this is America, this is Boston. Seven hours. And by

(14:31):
the way, any emergency doctor, I think will tell you
that generally Super Bowl Sunday is one of the slowest
days of the year because people are off the roads.
I was on the road for a little bit. I

(14:52):
really missed the halftime show. I had to watch it today,
and I do say I had to watch it today
because going to talk about it later on, but we
drove from We watched the first half at my son's
house with his family, and then drove home to watch
the second half, and the roads were just nothing was
going on. And seven hours in an emergency room in Boston,

(15:17):
Great Boston, Larry down to the Cape. Hey, Larry, welcome
first this hour nightside, Good.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
Evening, Dan. I'll tell you my nightmare story with the
Brigham and Women's. As you know, I'm involved with the
long COVID recovery.

Speaker 2 (15:31):
Group there, Yes, yes, sir, yes, And so this all.

Speaker 4 (15:36):
Started after the vaccine in twenty twenty one. Then I
got long COVID. But you called the Brigham and Women's
Recovery you have an intake, and then they send you
to a specialist. So my problems are more neurological. It
took me over a year to get the first appointment.

(15:56):
Doctor saw me. I went over all my symptoms and
they said, no, you have diabetes. I said, I'm telling
you I don't have diabetes. Who wanted me to do
a work up with my PCP, and she said call
me and I'll get you back in. So I got
an a point where the PCP had the whole work
up came back negative, you don't have diabetes. I called
the office. They said, I'm sorry, we're booked up. I said, wait,

(16:21):
They told me to call back. That was the first author.
It took me another year to get into a neurologist
at the Brigham and Women's. So first one was at
the mass General and at the Brigamo and Women took
me another year and then threw his hands up in here.
They don't know what to do anyway, but the nightm areas.
I don't know if you saw the micro Bodette report

(16:44):
last week about the Long COVID Center. No.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
I have a friend. I have a friend, a former
professional tennis player who's one of the sharpest.

Speaker 4 (16:54):
People I know in the world.

Speaker 2 (16:56):
His name is Cliff Richie. Anybody who followed ten Us
in the Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe era knows the name
Cliff Ritchie. And Cliff is dealing with long COVID, and
he and I have had some very long conversations.

Speaker 4 (17:10):
Larry, it is you understand tough. Yeah, you understand the
difficult I.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
Have a pretty good idea how difficult it is, because
my friend Cliff Richie was, besides being a great tennis player,
great golfer. His I've done. I've had him on the
show a couple of times actually with experts on this one.
COVID's a very real thing, very really sure.

Speaker 4 (17:36):
Yeah no, And I remember you interviewed Julie Sullivan, the
head of it, the administrator of our group. So anyway,
during the report, and I didn't even realize this because
I am involved. We do twice a month, we do
what we have a support group that we do through zoom.
He said. There is now over five thousand people registered

(17:56):
in the Brigham and Women's one. It's the largest one
in the country. So they start cutting administrative staff, and
then the administration starts cutting research funding. They're never going
to find a cus of this. It's a nightmare. It's
an effort nightmare.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Eric, thanks for putting that out on the table for
conversation today, because all of these things have to be
talked about. It's as simple as that. And when I
when I read the press release today from you know,
talk about putting a shine on a sneaker. The headline
is maximizing our impact, they say, as a not for

(18:35):
profit healthcare system and the largest private employer in Massachusetts,
mass General Brigham contributes an overall economic impact to Massachusetts
more than fifty three billion dollars, employing over eighty two
thousand people, including roughly seventy five hundred physicians, three thousand
advanced practice providers, and fifteen thousand nurses who care for

(18:56):
millions of patients each year. You're having trouble getting cared for, uh,
and they just go on a bold future. As we
forge ahead, it is imperative that we accelerate our efforts
to invest in and fulfill our mission. We must handle
our financial health with the same precision and innovation that
we apply to our patient care, research and education. Blah

(19:18):
blah blah blah blah. Talk about a food salad, I
mean a word salad. I mean that what it really means,
you know, crazy, Larry, Thanks for getting that's going here.

Speaker 4 (19:31):
Anxious to hear what other.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Callers and keep me posted. We'll do we can do
something again on long COVID, trust.

Speaker 5 (19:37):
Me on that.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
Okay, thank you, I appreciate it, Dan, Thank you.

Speaker 2 (19:39):
Here comes the news at the bottom of the Earth.
Thank you, Larry. Coming back on night Side right.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
After this, Boston's News Radio.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
Thanks Nicole. We're talking about the the cutbacks and mass
general brighams MGB layoffs are coming. Probably hundreds, could be
a couple of thousand. Jack and Newton. Jack next on nightside.
Ooh moo moo, hello, Hello, hello Jack.

Speaker 5 (20:13):
Yeah, just that's my voice.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Sure it sounds like you're doing cow imitations. Moo moo moo.

Speaker 5 (20:20):
Go ahead, Jack my voice to make sure I speak well,
you know, because I've been a little horse.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Well that's okay, a little horse. Okay, I get the joke. Okay,
what's up.

Speaker 5 (20:34):
Basically, I've had a very good experience. I don't know
if it's unusual through a Medicaid. Medicare they take care
of everything, but there are only two areas they don't
take care of. It's dental and h and healing. So
dental can run anywhere. Then I went to three or

(20:56):
four different dentists, and they can charge for a thousand
dollars to do a crown to three thousand dollars a crown,
so people really need to check three or four different places.
But still they don't cover that. So I've had good
experiences with Medicare, and I also have good experiences with
Saint Elizabeth Hospital and Doctor Chill for my prostate problems

(21:19):
and also Milford medicals.

Speaker 2 (21:21):
That are okay, well, you're you're happy, camber Jack. Again,
what we're trying to talk about today is that this
this decision by Mass General Brigham to lay the largest
layoff in its history amid ongoing reconstruction. Every time I
drive by Mass General, I see more buildings going up
into the skyline, and I those two pictures in my

(21:44):
mind don't connect big layoffs of personnel. I hope I do.
I hope that they are not laying off frontline medical people.
And that's what my that's what my concern is. And again,
I'm glad that you're having good luck with Medicare, and
maybe some night we'll do a whole couple hours on Medicare.

(22:05):
But this is this is not the experience a lot
of other people have had.

Speaker 5 (22:11):
I don't know what the reason is. Maybe they hired
too many people, Like so it's such a huge place.
I got too big, and that could be part of
the reason for the delayers because it is too big.
Maybe people went too smaller. I'm concerned about the closing
down of smaller hospitals, but I go all the way
out from Newton, all the way out to Milford Medical

(22:33):
Center and it's very nice. There's not long.

Speaker 2 (22:38):
That's good, but I'm gonna I'm going to thank you
for your call, but I'm going to move on because
we're I'm looking more at a micro conversation than a
macro conversation, which is when when when the big one
like mass General Brigham announces they're going to lay off
hundreds of employees, that's kind of scary, that's kind of

(23:00):
ski in terms of what's going on. And as they say,
I talked to a dad today that had a was
was told seven hours for his kid in an emergency
room on what is probably one of the slowest days
of the year. Doesn't compute. Doesn't compute. Thanks Jack, we'll
talk so good night. Let me go to John Is
in Hanover. John, you are next on nightside.

Speaker 4 (23:22):
Go right ahead, John, Hey, Dan goodenon.

Speaker 6 (23:24):
I was actually just discharged from Celshoe Hospital the other night,
and you'd be surprised how many people were in there
with the neuro virus and influenza A.

Speaker 4 (23:34):
I got hit with the SAM combo.

Speaker 6 (23:36):
And it's an on observation on that night specifically, I
think it was Friday. The number of people brought in
by a police for like psychiatric hold had that whole
yah pact with people, but the care itself. I was
on Pratt five and Pratt six.

Speaker 4 (23:54):
It was outstanding. I'm not as huge like five star.

Speaker 6 (23:56):
Review person, but I mean I was blown away. I
really was nothing about horror stories about some hospitals. But
I can't say enough good things about these people.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
What the okay? Again, as they say, my focus is
on mass General Brigham. But since I gave Jack some
some freedom, what what? What hospital do you want to
give a positive review to? Which one are you talking about?

Speaker 4 (24:17):
Social Hospital in South Weymouth?

Speaker 2 (24:19):
Okay, South Show and South Weymouth. You went in with
what that that cough and that upper respiratory thing and
all of which I assume is what you're talking about.

Speaker 6 (24:28):
Well, the symptoms of the virus with the vomiting. I
had a fundle plication when I was younger, which is
an acid reflux surgery, and it prevents you from vomiting
basically as a side effect, and I broke that because.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Of it by heaving.

Speaker 6 (24:40):
So I went in like gray. They had to give
me morphine and a bunch of other stuff.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
I was like, oh, you were you were in big trouble.
What were you seen immediately?

Speaker 6 (24:50):
I hope, yeah, yeah, the care and the I was outstanding.
They saw me on the floor, I came off the
stretcher and they just win seconds. I mean, I can't
say enough good things about these people.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Fair enough. Well that's good. I'm glad. The problem is
not everybody's receiving that sort of treatment. As they said.
There was a absolutely yeah, I agree, was concerned with
with a with a with a young boy, I think
thirteen year old boy who had to go to the
er and was told seven hours seven.

Speaker 6 (25:18):
I think the only way we can really help any
situation like that is by finding a place to bring
the psych transports, because the majority of the beds in
this hallway was actually psychles and it's not.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
Really crazy, which is which is absolutely crazy.

Speaker 4 (25:33):
If the stave let people people up.

Speaker 6 (25:37):
That maybe that's one way that could actually kind of
help these eis open up their availability.

Speaker 4 (25:42):
And it could be just the governor with a pen like, hey.

Speaker 6 (25:44):
Open up that hostel they just closed designated psych Let's
take some of these people getting laid off, Let's.

Speaker 4 (25:49):
Staff them over here.

Speaker 6 (25:51):
Maybe that's some way forward. But I can't imagine what
they're going through in Boston with the population density.

Speaker 4 (25:56):
But thanks for the time, Dan, you have a good night.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
Brother enjoyed the conversation. Thanks, John, appreciate it. The point
I was trying to make was that we have basically
turned people out of psych hospitals, which is tough, very tough.
Let me go to Alyssa in Kingston. I also see
Sandy in Boston as a nurse. That's great, Alyssa, you.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
Are too, You're welcome, Thank you.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
I'm a nurse too, so I'll go right here.

Speaker 7 (26:24):
Micro piece of it. Yes, So I've been in bedside
nursing and administrative nursing for over thirty five years, and
I want to touch on a couple of things. So
the reimbursement rate from insurances has dramatically decreased, which is caused.
I mean, I don't know what the problem is. I
was involved in the whole Stuart read candle there but nightmare. However,

(26:50):
I don't know if it's you know, they don't you know.
I'm sure the reimbursement of a lot of things now
have been really lowered. So in defense of the hospital,
you know, they have to operate. They are a business. However,
the other side is, you know, they're so used to
bringing in so much money, some of these for not

(27:11):
for profit or what have you, that you know, when
they don't see that big money coming in, you know,
they go bankrupt or they start cutting personnel. So I
kind of feel like the insurance companies and the reimbursement
and whoever's regulating the Medicaid in our South and all

(27:31):
of that too has really put a crunch on how
providers get reimbursed.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
Man, oh, I do the dirty little the dirty little
secret of Obamacare ten years ago was that the biggest
supporters of Obamacare were the insurance companies.

Speaker 7 (27:50):
Or middle class I mean not middle class, but we
would be affected the most, so we didn't have a trouble.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Really, what it says the insurance companies they felt that
Obamacare was good as it was pushing patients to you know,
customers to them, so they benefited dramatically from Obamacare. Now
we have just think about what's been going on in
this country the last ten years, with the influx of
people coming into this country from who knows where, all

(28:16):
of a sudden, they're going to hospitals, they don't have
personal care physicians, to go to. They're using hospitals.

Speaker 7 (28:23):
Emergency room right exactly, and we're paying that.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
Yeah, we're paying.

Speaker 7 (28:29):
That, and there's just there's not enough. You know, they
cut in corners because you know exactly that. But the
reimbursement before, say of a gallbladder, you could stay in
hospital for a week, and now a gallbladder is like
two hours. So it really does have to look at
the check and balances and try and maybe not having

(28:51):
for profit or any profit kind of hospitals and have
some beduling state maybe reimbursements who assist the system.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
Again, that sounds great. If the state had this little
thing called the money tree, I would be all in
favor of that. I just think that that the more
money that you throw at a lot of our problems,
then the prices. The prices go up. You know, when
you talk about gallbladder seven days to two hours, you
know as well as I do. Why is that? Because

(29:23):
they want to get another patient in that bed who
they can charge.

Speaker 7 (29:27):
You know, right, what the encurrent companies have come down
to say, you know, now we're only going to give
you twenty five hundred versus ten grand. However, you know
it's not even that the patients don't come and go.
You have to see who the payers are, so whether
they really reimburse well or not. I mean, one of
the things, I know, throw money at it. That healthcare
is very important, especially in Massachusetts, where we can be

(29:49):
so proudly to say that we have the best health care,
one of the best health cares in the world, and
all the great hospitals we have around us.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
It's great, great, it's great to say that, okay, and
I believe that. However, when the then the flagship you know,
mass General brigand announces that they're going to lay off
hundreds of employees, I'm not so sure that's that's a

(30:19):
harborder of good things to come, That's all I'm trying
to say.

Speaker 7 (30:21):
No, however, I think, like you know, it's a business too, right,
So are they trying to mind me a pockets for
the bigger half of the chop or are they just
trying to survive? You know? And just lastly to your
point Dance you said about throwing money, I mean, one
of those things we all pay for is this mass
medical leave. And I mean I'd rather have healthcare for all,

(30:44):
you know, in better line in the emergency rooms, and
all those things, and you know, because it's it's the
field that you want people to want.

Speaker 4 (30:51):
To go into.

Speaker 7 (30:53):
And if you're that overwhelmed and overworked, whether you're a
doctor or a nurse or you know, a NARS assistant,
you know it really needs to run more soothingly. I
think without I think it would.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
All be a favorite. Let me ask you, how would
you feel if you brought your son or daughter to
an emergency room at a Massachusetts hospital on.

Speaker 4 (31:16):
Supervisor then there and they're.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
Told it's going to be seven hours.

Speaker 7 (31:22):
No, I know, I've been there, but I've also been
on the other end where you have really sick people
that can't move. There's no beds, there's no floors, there's
no nurses, there's no doctors, and they end up, you know, needing.

Speaker 2 (31:35):
So yeah, listen, you're telling me no floors, no beds,
no nurses, no doctors, and we are the best hospital
with the best medical providers in the world.

Speaker 7 (31:46):
Those two well, I'm sayings right, I'm saying it's the
reality of the healthcare system today. In order to get
patients into the bed, you need to get them out right.
And now, if you have people without insurance, so without
with all these barriers to discharging, you can't get them out.
So there's like a long stream of you know, trying

(32:09):
to rebuke this, you know, reboot the whole system, I think,
because no, it's not right.

Speaker 4 (32:14):
However, the one I thought Obamacare was going to read.

Speaker 2 (32:16):
I thought that Obamacare was was the solution.

Speaker 7 (32:20):
Did you like Obama? What do you like Obamacare?

Speaker 4 (32:25):
No? No, I didn't like it with that thinking.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
Okay, right, all right, Alyssa got to run. I'm way
past my break. Thank you for the call back on
night Side. Right after this quick break.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
nights Side Studios on WBZ News Radio.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
We have another nurse without Sandy and Boston. Sandy. She's
a nurse at MGH. Welcome and welcome Sandy.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
Oh hi, love the show.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Well, thank you, I'm on your side. Tell me what's
going on at MGH. You guys in trouble over there.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
Well, it was surprising today because a specialty branch off
of the Mass General and we're not unionized, but the
Brigham is unionized. So I was trying to keep up.
But the thing is, they did let forty people go
today and they said it was just managed. Yeah, they

(33:23):
said it was just management. But they did get rid
of one of my colleagues who was a great manager.
She had all kinds of degrees, she was hands on
and code situation and she made a pediatric unit, buffed
it all up beautiful. And they let her go today.

(33:49):
And there's other managers that aren't as qualified as her,
and they're the air. But you know, it's kind of
like maybe who you know, I'm not sure, but it
was very disappointed to have someone that was very a
manager but very hands on that they let go today.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
And how long how long had this individual worked at
Mass General?

Speaker 3 (34:15):
Well, we're in General for a long time. But transfer
jobs to higher position.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
The people who were let go today, you said that,
you said there were forty people let go today. Boy,
that's pretty abrupt. Meaning the press release or the news
release was written today. What sort of salaries did they
did they take out? These were not I assume highly
compensated employees.

Speaker 3 (34:48):
Well, I don't know what the managers make that the
paid nurse is like one hundred of dollar yeah, and
then and then the it's what they did, like call
pay would be they made call pay instead of four hours,
they they gave us the pay raise, which we were

(35:09):
behind anyways from the Brigham and then with the call pay,
they now it's two hours instead of four hours of pay.

Speaker 2 (35:21):
Do you think do you think that they will actually
lay off you know, people in the upper management, the
administrators who uh is probably it's probably heavy uh in
the top in the top management. I hope that it's
not nurses and doctors, uh and providers who are impacted. Uh.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
Wells as far as we know, they need the nurses
and it's well staffed, and there's a lot of great things,
great doctors, great people. Everybody's you know, works well together.
But I think it came oh in the new buildings
that that they that they're making it putting a lot

(36:06):
of money into. Like we said, wow, come, where's the
money's going there? Well, supposedly there, that's for the Supposedly
that building is going to bring in future more money
for them. That's why the you know, the money is
going towards that, and they're trying to maybe cut back
on other positions as far as I could understand, but

(36:27):
I could be off.

Speaker 2 (36:28):
You know, this is just well, it just seems to
me that it's it seems to me that I get
the expansion, but the expansion has been incredible. There very
last question standing in a quick answer, what is the emotion?

Speaker 3 (36:42):
Something to say, what is.

Speaker 2 (36:43):
The feeling like amongst the staff, knowing that already forty
people have been laid off?

Speaker 4 (36:49):
Is it?

Speaker 2 (36:49):
Is it apprehension? Is it concern or what is how
would you describe there?

Speaker 3 (36:55):
A little concern that maybe there should be a union
and there to protect people. And then the other thing
is is it just became very woke and there was
there's been there was not recently, but on the summer
there were buses of illegal that emergency room and tied

(37:18):
up that emergency room.

Speaker 2 (37:21):
Well, all all factors that have contributed to this. Sandy,
thank you so much for the call. Please keep us
posted on this, okay, and periodically check in because I'm
very concerned about what's happening at mass General Briger.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
Yes, but everybody is well taken. Everybody's well taking care
of that.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
Okay, I think we lost her that all right? Thank you, Sandy, appreciated.
Here comes to ten o'clock news, will be back. I'd
like to stick with this for at least a little while.
If you're on the line, stay there, we'll get you
up right after the news.