Opinion ID: 795770
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Management Problems in the Respiratory Care Department

Text: 10 St. Vincent contends that it outsourced the work of its RC department in February 2000 because it was unable to find and train suitable managers. St. Vincent's difficulty with management of the RC department had existed for a long time before the work of that department was actually subcontracted out. In fact, while the RC department's problems became more evident in the three years before the outsourcing decision, the hospital had comparable problems with its RC department for nearly thirteen years. 11 Despite the replacement of the RC department's manager in early 1999, the department's productivity standards continued to remain lower than those of other departments. Several RC employees testified that during 1999 they encountered problems that hindered them from accomplishing their assigned tasks. During that time they complained regularly to management about a lack of proper billing codes, lack of proper respiratory equipment, and general staffing problems. 12 The ongoing problems in the RC department did not go unnoticed by upper-level management. 2 In the summer and fall of 1999 Ray Hancock and Ramon Suarez, both RC department managers, met regularly with Zita Uy, assistant administrator for the RC department, to discuss the problems in the RC department.