January 2008

We are off to a slow start this January. It’s always difficult in health care at the beginning of the year, since deductibles start over again, and patient’s must pay for so much of their health care in cash. This January has been particularly tough because of the frigid weather in Chicago. It’s been very cold and very messy.

The most challenging part of the month is that the new Lead Doctor has asked for a Leave of Absence from the end of February through most of June – basically four months worth of time off. She wants the time off to prepare her wedding, get married, and go on a honeymoon. (I planned my wedding – 160 people - by myself and executed it while I was working up – right up to the day of the Rehearsal Dinner.) I can’t even begin to describe the level of shock I felt, and frustration I feel dealing with this. It’s simply inconceivable to me that someone would ask for something so outrageous, tradition or not.

I have been interviewing other candidates, in fact. (That is part of my regular job duties now.) However, I haven’t found anyone who is a good fit. How do I honor my staff’s values when they cause so much business turmoil? She is a very fine doctor, but not been easy to please since she has been at UHI. I want to focus on what the staff can do for patients, rather than how I feel about them as employees. Yet, in general, the employees want so much of something-or-other that it hardly feels like I can get any business done. I search for information on “The Servant-Leader”, and find all kinds of idealistic nonsense that I can’t apply. What is the answer to this conundrum? In this case: Give her a part-time schedule and lots of time off, slow down our growth, go back to working as the full-time doctor…. She’s happy that her values were acknowledged, but I am left with four months of lowered function. The point is, if I fired her, I’d be in the same spot – maybe worse if I couldn’t find anyone to fill the position. At least with her returning in June I have someone who should be a “fixture” thereafter. (Who knows what request she’ll have next?) Anyway, I decided that the only option for me right now is to have her work part-time, and give her a Leave for May and part of June. It’s the best decision for a rotten situation. I’ll keep interviewing, and be ready for a new problem.

We did not yet get the money from the investor. That’s frustrating, too. I have been working with my attorney to get my ducks in-a-row. I found out that UHI couldn’t even have an investor who is not a licensed physician, so I had to open another company to accept the investment – to manage UHI. The investor assures me that I will get the funds by mid-February, after the paperwork is done. I think we are on track for that part of it. In the meantime, I have had to push back my plans.