This is really powerful. Early in my career I was in private practice. In 1995 my practice became a cog in a big healthcare system's wheel. The financial discrepancies in healthcare are appalling not only physician salaries amongst specialties but especially between management and frontline workers. A clinic I worked in offered healthcare benefits but a majority of the nursing and maintenance staff were uninsured because they couldn't afford it. Healthcare is a right not a privilege and the system is really broken. I think the pandemic has revealed these glaring discrepancies but I'm not sure anything is going to be done to fix them
It's heinous when health care workers can't even afford health care. It's unforgivable that we still can't get this right, especially when it's so obvious to the rest of the developed world.
Thanks for posting this. It's good to know that others from HealthFire felt similarly. Recently, we had a company town hall in which one of the higher-ups started crying while talking about the "unrest" a few years ago. It was sickening listening to this guy try to elicit sympathy while completely ignoring the heart of the issue.
Their cult definitely seems to run HealthFire. I think that you were present at at least one of the company events in which we had to listen to leaders evangelize their revolting idol. (Can I say "at at"? Unexpectedly Star Wars...) They celebrate their own and quietly ignore more sensible people.
Despite the fact that I'm not leaving (yet), I've been considering writing my own letter, similar to yours. A while back I wrote a letter exposing non-compliance, massive waste, and gross incompetence. I sent this to a few executives. The company's response was to send Legal to make sure I wouldn't sue, then to effectively isolate me. Our leaders share many traits with their idol. They double-down on their mistakes and value loyalty over competence. There is a distinct lack of wisdom that goes all the way up the ladder.
It was good to read your words again. I signed up for substack so I can follow you! Hope you're doing well.
P.S. - I don't think we're mid-size. It's a Fortune 50 company that doesn't seem to have any problem casually wasting millions of dollars...
Hey, good to hear from you! I was a little nervous posting this to LinkedIn, with all the former coworkers there, but hey, I did send it to, er, Mr. Poupon, who I gather is no longer with HealthFire? I was pretty sure I couldn't be alone in feeling the way I did. I'm glad there's still an internal rebellion.
It's weird to say, but I don't think I ever quite registered how big the company is relative to the other players in the field, mostly because so many medical professionals didn't seem very familiar with it when I tried to use my insurance. But I stand corrected and have updated the post accordingly.
It's one of the many shameful mysteries in a country who wealth has slowly and methodically been raided by the worst aspects of capitalism. And we've been brainwashed into thinking unchecked capitalism is good!
None that I saw. As I said in the introductory paragraph, I sent the email from my work account at the end of my last day on the job, so if there was any response I wouldn't have received it.
Still, violence begets nothing good. That’s why I wrote the novel referenced below instead of trying to go out and deep-six some poor misunderstood CEO of a rapacious, death-dealing corporation.
No, but violence was just done in an attempt to deal with the same sort of injustice you’re talking about. I’m talking about it too, and came closer than I want to admit to doing something about it physically. I wrote a book about the experience instead. A cautionary tale. You wrote a resignation email and this piece. We’re ok, right? I hope so.
This is really powerful. Early in my career I was in private practice. In 1995 my practice became a cog in a big healthcare system's wheel. The financial discrepancies in healthcare are appalling not only physician salaries amongst specialties but especially between management and frontline workers. A clinic I worked in offered healthcare benefits but a majority of the nursing and maintenance staff were uninsured because they couldn't afford it. Healthcare is a right not a privilege and the system is really broken. I think the pandemic has revealed these glaring discrepancies but I'm not sure anything is going to be done to fix them
It's heinous when health care workers can't even afford health care. It's unforgivable that we still can't get this right, especially when it's so obvious to the rest of the developed world.
Thanks for posting this. It's good to know that others from HealthFire felt similarly. Recently, we had a company town hall in which one of the higher-ups started crying while talking about the "unrest" a few years ago. It was sickening listening to this guy try to elicit sympathy while completely ignoring the heart of the issue.
Their cult definitely seems to run HealthFire. I think that you were present at at least one of the company events in which we had to listen to leaders evangelize their revolting idol. (Can I say "at at"? Unexpectedly Star Wars...) They celebrate their own and quietly ignore more sensible people.
Despite the fact that I'm not leaving (yet), I've been considering writing my own letter, similar to yours. A while back I wrote a letter exposing non-compliance, massive waste, and gross incompetence. I sent this to a few executives. The company's response was to send Legal to make sure I wouldn't sue, then to effectively isolate me. Our leaders share many traits with their idol. They double-down on their mistakes and value loyalty over competence. There is a distinct lack of wisdom that goes all the way up the ladder.
It was good to read your words again. I signed up for substack so I can follow you! Hope you're doing well.
P.S. - I don't think we're mid-size. It's a Fortune 50 company that doesn't seem to have any problem casually wasting millions of dollars...
Hey, good to hear from you! I was a little nervous posting this to LinkedIn, with all the former coworkers there, but hey, I did send it to, er, Mr. Poupon, who I gather is no longer with HealthFire? I was pretty sure I couldn't be alone in feeling the way I did. I'm glad there's still an internal rebellion.
It's weird to say, but I don't think I ever quite registered how big the company is relative to the other players in the field, mostly because so many medical professionals didn't seem very familiar with it when I tried to use my insurance. But I stand corrected and have updated the post accordingly.
Much better than a bullet, because this essay will haunt this asshole for the rest of his life…if he has a conscience…
Let’s hope he does.
Health care needs a big fix. As does the wealth gap, and climate change. Those are the 3 biggest issues of the moment.
FUCK that guy. Really well said.
Bravo!
But your country really is a basket case, Bill…!
How can it be that these people earn so much on the back of people dying for lack of medical care…in the richest country in the world?!
It's one of the many shameful mysteries in a country who wealth has slowly and methodically been raided by the worst aspects of capitalism. And we've been brainwashed into thinking unchecked capitalism is good!
What response, if any, did you receive?
None that I saw. As I said in the introductory paragraph, I sent the email from my work account at the end of my last day on the job, so if there was any response I wouldn't have received it.
Still, violence begets nothing good. That’s why I wrote the novel referenced below instead of trying to go out and deep-six some poor misunderstood CEO of a rapacious, death-dealing corporation.
https://biffogram.substack.com/p/subscribe-to-the-biffogram
I don’t recall having advocated violence.
No, but violence was just done in an attempt to deal with the same sort of injustice you’re talking about. I’m talking about it too, and came closer than I want to admit to doing something about it physically. I wrote a book about the experience instead. A cautionary tale. You wrote a resignation email and this piece. We’re ok, right? I hope so.
No problem at all. I was just puzzled by your lead-in. Best of luck with your novel!