registered nurse

research assistant

senior research assistant

medical assistant

health specialist

Oregon Health & Science University

This is specifically for working in the healthcare "zone" as they call it. There is also the research zone which is a totally different environment. As a facilities technician assistant, you will be given the least desirable tasks. You will often be on dispatch, perhaps for weeks at a time. This requires you to listen to a radio (walkie talkie) for dispatch calls. There may be zero calls in a whole day, there may be 20 or more. These calls are supposed to be emergencies but the problems described by the radio dispatch worker are often exaggerated in an attempt to make you show up quicker. There are many other issues with this such as showing up to the location and not being able to find anyone who knows what is happening, not being able to get access to a patient room to make a repair, or finding out you brought equipment for one problem and it turns out to be a different one. You will cover a large part of a large campus. This isn't a job for anyone who gets lost easily.

Typical tasks are unclogging toilets and sinks, investigating ceiling leaks (these are incredibly numerous, especially when it is raining, and a massive pain to deal with), replacing lights, performing preventative maintenance (replacing water filters, going to look at something and make sure it still works, pressing a button on a panel to test it and marking it on a spreadsheet...), and attempting to make heavily abused doors open and close correctly. There are many more things you could potentially do but don't expect them to get much more glamorous than what I have listed. The upside of some of these tasks would be that you'll get to see the inner workings of several buildings, from over 100 years old to completed just a few years ago.

I learned a lot about plumbing and looking around in ceilings. Much of what you learn will be from your coworkers rather than your management. There's generally a culture of throwing people in the pool and expecting them to swim. You're expected to be an assistant for two years before becoming a regular Facilities Technician, which is pretty much the same job for a few more dollars per hour. You may end up learning HVAC, refrigeration, or pneumatic tube maintenance if you make it long enough.

Management generally seems more interested in when they get to go home or go on vacation than helping you be successful in the workplace. Despite this place existing for a very long time, it appears that nobody wrote anything down regarding maintenance work. "How did they do this before?" will often be answered with "I don't know, just go figure it out." There was much discussion of how things could be improved and very little implementation of improvements in my time in the department. Coworkers vary in competence but they will probably be your most helpful resource, even if you just need another human present to help you lift something.

Dealing with entering patient rooms all the time was difficult for me. You're often left to yourself to knock on a patient's door and explain what's happening. Some are happy to see you, some are confused because you were directed to the wrong room, and some are angry or otherwise not in a state to be interacting with a stranger. Nursing staff could be extremely helpful or annoyed that you exist. The most enjoyable part of the job was repairing things that had a real effect on patient care.

This review is for the OHSU Foundation, which is technically a separate entity from OHSU proper.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with the Foundation until the end when it became clear I was being pushed out. The hybrid work structure was wonderful and the Foundation trusts employees to not need a babysitter to do their work. That's something other companies should strive to do. My coworkers were amazing people who were very supportive and upbeat.

However, management is a problem.

It took over three years to find a permanent president, after many successful candidates pulled out for not wanting to live in Portland or could get paid more elsewhere. That's a problem overall at OHSU to attract talent. The pay is subpar compared to other similar facilities around the country.

Leadership often goes elsewhere after a couple of years, which leads to frequent restructuring. Unfortunately, many good, dedicated workers have been displaced and let go for no longer being a "good fit." With a current hiring freeze, a history of high turnover, and suspicions that finances aren't doing so well (despite the record breaking fundraising), quite a few coworkers have disclosed to me that they are looking elsewhere, especially those who have experienced the negativity of favoritism that many managers show in their team. It doesn't look good when popular employees with high work ethic are suddenly reported as "no longer with the Foundation," either. 

It's clear that just like OHSU, the Foundation is having trouble. I would not be surprised if layoffs are announced due to financial struggles in the future.

There has also been a recent trend of "demanding perfectionism," which many coworkers have expressed as harmful and holding back the organization. It has cost a few people their jobs who were otherwise model employees. Employees with recent histories of sickness or injury, or are not "perfect," that are not in management or leadership are feeling like they are being pushed out.

Don't get me wrong: it's good to have high standards, but not so high that good workers are being cast out for making the mistakes others do. I shouldn't hear my coworkers trying to muffle their crying in private rooms because of the way their managers are allowed to treat them.

HR is also a problem. Like many HR departments, they look out for the foundation, not the employees. If a higher-ranking , high-fundraising manager is reported for bullying those they manage, HR just ignores it. If said managers decide they no longer are happy with someone they manage, they get HR to go with some lame excuse other companies wouldn't consider an issue so they can push out that issue. There's also a concern of how a health-focused organization seems to be against workers with certain health issues and potential disabilities.

Many older Foundation staff love to talk about how they got rid of the toxic and unsustainable people and practices during the pandemic, but they really need to look in the mirror and realize their attitudes and practices are just as much of a problem.

My overall experience with OHSU Family Medicine has been a very positive one.  I was tasked with building the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative program for one clinic which then expanded to three total clinics.  Another program, Patient Centered Primary Care Home, was also added to my list of responsibilities and I now manage/facilitate the PCPCH program for six clinics that range from Pediatric to Family to Internal medicine. The responsibility of building such large programs across multiple clinics has been a challenging, positive learning experience.  

A typical day at work includes anywhere from one to three meetings, management of email, research into current milestone focus (i.e. shared decision making tools, care management, care plans, disease specific exacerbation plans, etc.), troubleshooting issues with pilot programs, data analysis, and marketing efforts.

Management was very good about allowing me the freedom to build the program and manage my schedule as needed.  However, management was not very good about positive reinforcement of efforts and direction of the program. 

The co-workers and environment were very positive and ranged across multiple clinics and staff levels. Making the programs successful required me to interact effectively with general staff, medical staff, and clinic and division leadership. 

The hardest part of the job was in the beginning when initially building the programs due to the vagueness of the program outlines. The programs have overall measures and milestones that must be achieved but are very open to how clinics may go about achieving those goals. This required a large amount of research and ingenuity as many of the goals were brand new efforts to the clinics. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is the creativity and collaboration required to achieve goals. Working with pilot programs and figuring out what does and does not work and refining the process until best practices are found and efforts can be disseminated to other clinics and become even more refined.

Our work in the office per person was rated by production. We had a new monthly money goal each month.

Our office was very busy, however; the CO and office management brought in enjoyable events for us for job well done. Our office was well known for it's team playing associates, and team building.

My typical day was busy helping patients with their accounts. I turned disgruntled clients into happy people when they left our office. They had a much better understanding of their bills they received.

Our group was a very large group; largest in the company; we had about 25 associates. The group was separated by two parts. One was collections and the other was the call center/customer service for patients.

I learned a lot from this company. I came into it with basic clerical. I walked away with knowledge in medical billing, tons of clerical experience, word processing, and became proficient in Excel, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Publisher, Professional Adobe, Technical Support and became the main support person for our CO in the office, Office Manager and my Supervisor. I created new catalogs, brochures, specialty forms for OHSU and our office.

In our group we had a great team that worked well together. Communication is very important and we always stood by that. If we had someone out sick, any one of us would fill-in and help with the work load.

Employee appreciation luncheons were always fun. We also celebrated Birthdays, Years of Service Awards. We also had yearly staff employee events with luncheon/dinner cruises, golfing, bowling or anything they might think of that showed appreciation to all in the office.

My enjoyable part of the company was the appreciation awards that were given to those that went above and beyond their job descriptions.

The hardest part working for the company was our month end work. We had to have a certain amount of work overall and it had to be done before the end of the month.

The company supported us with great medical, dental and 401K packages. With a company that has all that; it definitely kept you stationary to that company. We were known for it's associates staying with the company for years. You could't beat it.

It seemed like a "dream come true" to work for this organization!  I was awed by their "reputation" and felt privileged to work for them.  

It took about a week for me to get on board (learning tools, tests and compliance.)  Then more delays as they worked on getting me security access to the programs I needed.   

The atmosphere was very alienating and the workers did not socialize.  In fact, they hardly spoke to one another.  I was confined to my small and filthy cubicle most of the day, meeting production standards.  

If you know the specialty for which you will be coding, you will be fine.  If you can "hit the ground running", you will be fine.  If you have a photographic memory, you will be fine.  If not, BEWARE!  

Trainers are non-existent, essentially.  During my 6 weeks' employment, one or the other was on vacation, leaving only 1 trainer for many, many coders.  KNOW:  Their function is to "evaluate" you, not train you.  I was criticized for not asking questions, then dunned when I did.  Because there was essentially no timely review of my work, I continued to make the same mistakes.  When a trainer finally reviewed my work, those mistakes were held against me.    

I was assigned to a specialty of which I knew very little, was expected to perform to a 95% standard within weeks, then terminated because I did not perform!  It was a humiliating and degrading experience.  If I had known these expectations beforehand, I would not have accepted the position!   

I saw my boss very rarely.  She hired me; she fired me. She was very impersonal and aloof.  I guess that's no surprise if she's being required to treat people the way they do at OHSU.  As she explained to me on the day she fired me - her job is to defend their business model.

Sadly, now I understand more about the reputation of OHSU.  They hire many people and fire many people, weeding out the ones that cannot withstand their demands.  People are functions under their business model.  It's a coding factory.

OHSU is a good academic center with several strong departments though I doubt few if any people move for OHSU rather that it is in Portland. 

OHSU has no money which is not conducive to academic endeavors. Also physicians must do much more than average clinical work compared to other academic centers due to financial issues which gives little time for research. OHSU administration is supportive of academic endeavors but support only goes so far with little financial resources available. Excellent medical students, residents and fellows which makes for a great teaching environment. 

Anyone serious about academics is not coming to OHSU, they got the memo or can read the writing on the wall. If (which is not an if) you are coming to OHSU because of Portland be aware of the pay and cost of living for the area which are very much not in line. 

As others have stated management is not great but not terrible. In my experience they at least stayed out of the way and I perceived they are too busy making sure their departments do not go into the red than anything else considering OHSU’s poor financial status. To be fair Oregon is overall a poor state with little industry outside of Intel, Nike and Columbia. 

Overall you will grow at OHSU and if able leave for local private practice in 3-5 years. Basically no one levels up at OHSU and goes to a better academic center.  It seems to be a dead end on a he academic front. The Portland/Oregon area is a nice place to raise a family so I fault no one for wanting to stay in the region. Also OHSU does not inspire one to continue along an academic path in my experience. 

After I got my fill of the PNW I have returned to the NE at a “big” academic center and I am happy for my experiences. 

Middle and upper management is heavily populated with small-minded, mediocre or subpar individuals that crush the most competent individuals below them through targeted bullying in order to bolster their own self-esteem. Most of the good employees are driven out within months to a couple of years so there is a very high turnover. At the same time, under-qualified people are often hired because the pay rate is so low most qualified people can make more elsewhere and there is virtually no training provided. As such, there is constant change but little to no improvement and very few people have any institutional knowledge or understand how things work, sometimes even what their own roles entail. I've heard other employees refer to the organization as "a hot mess" and feel I that is accurate.

Much of the "culture" is reminiscent of a junior high cafeteria with the clear presence of cliques and an unprofessional lack of personal boundaries. There is little to no documentation of policies, procedures, or processes and the documentation that is place generally relies on vague "manager discretion" allowing management to treat similarly situated employees unfairly. Discrimination and harassment are a serious problem. I have witnessed multiple employees being ostracized and forced out because they are the best performers or those above them feel threatened by their prior knowledge and experience. Employees are wary of raising any problems (in culture, work processes, or even minor errors) or asking questions because they know that if they are not management they are themselves viewed as the problem. 

Recommend that highly proficient professionals save themselves a lot of grief and steer clear.

A typical day depends on where I am assigned for. My rotation is every two weeks in outpatient, inpatient, fluoroscopy, ER, and OR. Normally, I receive an order, set the room/equipment/technique factors for the exam, call/escort patients from waiting room to dressing/exam rooms, either ambulatory, wheelchair, or in stretcher. 

Perform diagnostic radiographic images (x-rays); provide appropriate patient care, safety, comfort, and response to the patient’s condition during the exam.

Demonstrate problem solving/critical thinking skills. Review/critique radiographic images for diagnostic quality. Maintain HIPAA/patients. 

Assist the physicians/radiologists during the fluoroscopy procedures; adhere to infection control/ body mechanics protocols. Set C-arm machine and perform quality diagnostic images using C-arm in OR for surgery team. Perform a lot of exams using portable machine on our ICC, CCU, NICU patients.

Clean and organize rooms after exams (supplies, linen, equipment, etc.).

I've learned and performed a lot of trauma/regular exams on neonate, pediatric, middle-aged and geriatric patients and I am very confident working with any type of medical conditions. 

During my internship, I've been working with professional and super friendly co-workers, managers, radiologists, and surgeons. 

The hardest part of the job is positioning of pediatrics with congenital deformities, orthopedic injuries or neuromusculoskeletal system disease that is inconvenient for the patients. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is when patients are satisfied with my service and appreciate me for what I have done for them that encourages and gives a lot of energy for working harder.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The onboarding process is robust. They have a transition to practice program that includes education modules that you can test out of or take. Full of good information and CEs. It is a big medical center with a strong union.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It is big!  Lots to learn but manageable. As with any big company it has it room for improvement which are harder to fix due to it's size. An example is simple EPIC changes that enhance work flow in one department have to be approved across the board. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The unit I work on is full of knowledgeable experienced RNs and a couple exceptional CNAs. The unit is welcoming with good team work and support.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
One of the things I love best is the commute. Best commute of any job I have had. There is a bike valet where I can hand my bike over and it is kept safe while I work. There is also nice facilities for it to be locked inside if I choose. There is a program where I get paid for riding my bike, walking or taking the bus. They offer a discounted bus pass too. I love riding the Tram up the hill, it has beautiful views and nicer than sitting in traffic.  Parking isn't the best but with all the perks listed above I never drive.  
Starting the day with a nice commute sets me up for a great day. 
The day on the unit can start slowly or be busy. I work in the procedure area. 
The days go quickly most of the time.  We have break staff ensuring breaks happen in a timely manner. 
I am relieved on time at the end of my shift helping me get home on time to my family.

Transport patients and items throughout the hospital.  Poor Management and scarce supervision and when initiative from management was taken towards an employee it was often a negative approach mostly in the forms of micromanagement, gaslighting, and intentionally stabilizing a "Gotcha Culture" to instill fear and abuse of power through position with a high lack of competence and narrow understanding of leadership or the skills necessary to enrich the staff/department. Low levels of accountability and blame shifting while disregarding solutions and providing goal oriented  regimes meanwhile failure to appropriately express respect, appreciation, and knowledge to the staff in a meaningful way. Workplace culture is at a loss, mostly due to the toxicity of the environment and lack of morale, motivation, or satisfaction for doing hard work for minimal gain.  Hardest part of the job was interacting with other hospital units and staff who mistreat and devalue transporters mostly due to the reputation of the department in which cannot be changed on an individual basis and has no excuse being a factor in the workplace. The most enjoyable part was interacting with grateful and intriguing patients who came to the hospital to be healed and hopefully come out better than the condition in which they arrived.  I would certainly not recommend working in Transportation at OHSU.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 29 salaries reported	$71.37 per hour
Research assistant 14 salaries reported	$45,313 per year
Senior research assistant 16 salaries reported	$52,191 per year
Medical assistant 8 salaries reported	$26.75 per hour
Health specialist 61 salaries reported	$29.79 per hour

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