registered nurse

screener

nursing assistant

medical assistant

licensed practical nurse

Summa Health

I have been employed at Summa for over 15 years.  The sad fact is that the culture of Summa has gone downhill over recent years.

I work in a 24/7 office that also handles life and death issues for the patient.  We are constantly overworked and short-staffed. 

 In my role at Summa, I am left alone to work two hours, three times a week to handle phone calls and serve all four Summa Hospitals, including all emergency calls.  That's a total of 12 hours per pay period, in a fast-paced and highly stressful job.  (Barring the regular office equipment and communication equipment outages and emergencies!)

In stark contrast is the fact that we used to have six workers managing the busy afternoon workload, but now, due to recent/multiple retirements in our office, and no equivalent replacement workers being hired, the same heavy, afternoon workload is now being handled by only TWO or THREE employees.  A 1/2 to 2/3 cut in manpower.

As if that is not challenging and difficult enough; customer service is suffering because we are frequently interrupted from our primary duty of answering our phone calls because of having been given new responsibilities that used to be handled by other Summa departments, (which no longer exist, due to Summa's downsizing of other departments in the Summa System).   Essentially, Summa is expecting more and more work from fewer employees. 

It's disturbing to me because it appears that Summa has evolved into a company that is far more interested in its financial 'bottom line' than it's employees and prevailing customer service.  

In my role at Summa, I speak to Summa customers who are noticing and voicing their dissatisfaction due to the decline of Summa's service and it is very distressing.

I have a great mathematical equation for Einstein to solve:  How can you subtract help, add responsibilities, multiply job duties, and divide them between the few workers that remain, and ever hope to get the same results in customer service?  It's a mathematical impossibility!

I was offered a position in CDI- hired with no experience. I was assured I would be taught the basics and not to worry. Education materials were provided and reviewed which this part of the education was great. The program seemed very organized and well structured. Then we spent 2 days in the computer lab going through charts and the other 3 days going over MDC's. From then on you were on your own reviewing charts. To ask questions (even in the office setting) you had to email your questions to the Educator. The trainer is very "specific" and "nit-picky" when it comes to assessing your progress. My concerns were voices several times through reviews on why things were counted wrong in my training process. Basically it was "how things are done at Summa." From there on, I basically taught my self. The other trainee quit due to satisfaction and the same feelings I had. Management does not seem to like being questioned or challenged when it comes to supporting reasoning behind questions/answers. I continued to show a slow progression in improvement with voiced concerns on my part and theirs. I continued to study materials, ask questions, and do the best to my ability. My last two reviews, there was concern in my "lack of improvement" and was verbally made aware that if I lacked improvement it could lead to an extended probationary period or termination. During the next review I was terminated because they "didn't think I would get there" even though I was at an 86.9% after review charts for only 6 weeks! Before this I had never signed any paperwork or corrective action. This also happened to be 1 day before my 90 day, which is the only time the organization can legally go straight to termination without implementing an improvement process plan. I was not offered the ability to resign or extend my probationary period. Based on my interaction with the other staff, I'm willing to bet if a satisfaction survey was performed, this department would not receive the scores they desire. 

I would never recommend the access center.  Though work from home is appealing, after training youre on the phone constantly all day leaving literal seconds between documenting and the next call drop.  Supervision was garbage.  Team leads were good.  Kind.  Andrea was the only one who cared.  We were overworked and underpaid and soooo micromanaged.   All my evaluated calls scored perfectly and yet Id get "dinged" on taking too much time to add notes.  Further, triaging was a nightmare.  Patients I knew needed to go to the ER were left on hold till a nurse was available (they were overworked too), but "clinically" I couldn't tell them to go to the ER.  During covid I felt job insecure.  I got covid and was pointed.  Then I returned to work.  I have 4 kids.  One by one they'd get sick.  Id get another point.  Return to work for a day.  And another got sick.  Pointed again.  Even though I was willing to take extra shifts and flex, I was threated so many times that I was going to lose my job, but their rules were 5 day quarantine at a time.  I was following their rules.  I got pointed to the point that I was going to get fired but I had an unplanned emergency surgery taking me into fmla for a few weeks which was just long enough to find another job.  
Trust.  Accepting this job means you will literally be tied to your computer 8-12hrs with absolutely not a moment to breathe.  Buyer beware.

Every job opportunity I was awarded, I performed with the best of my ability. I truly care about my work performance and communication is my number one priority. I believe that an organized work atmosphere can improve balance, progress and customer/client satisfaction. I am familiar in working in a fast-paced environment. I work well with others and even better independently. A typical day at work would consist of mostly desk work, converting hard copy material into the patient care system. I have been through many ups and downs within the workplace and located my strengths and weaknesses while overcoming these challenges. The hardest part of my job would be attempting to spread organizational communication skills throughout the office. Many people would interpret my work ethic into negative traits. My only goal would be to improve efficiency and customer/client satisfaction. The most enjoyable part of my job was meeting co-workers and maintaining relationships with customers/clients. I learned many aspects in working in the restaurant and healthcare industry. I convert my academic knowledge into my work performance and every year I see more positive improvements that I hope to carry on with me throughout my career.

This company is very pretty from the outside, but deadly on the inside in more ways than one. After about a year of employment, employees begin to look for employment elsewhere. In my third year at Summa, 4 employees quit in the same week, all of which had been there less than 2 years. This facility becomes a "training" revolving door. Once employees receive experience they can easily obtain other hospital employment and quickly do so. Throughout my career, co-workers quit about 3-4 months apart. Management refuses to train, while forcing pier "evaluation". Regulations, such as USP 797, are constantly ignored by management causing employee health and safety violations as well as patient safety issues. Management’s lack of organization can cause personal vacation and scheduling issues. My supervisor specifically hired new employees based upon personality compatibility and not job experience or education. While working with other physicians outside the network, they have made comments about the inconsistencies within Summa Health Systems.

My co-worker and I abstracted STEMI and NSTEMI cases plus Cath/PCI cases which were submitted to the NCDR.  This resulted in an Executive Summary which showed how well our institution performed on various metrics.  The work was gratifying in that the outcomes were used to affect patient care protocols on a number of occasions.  I learned quite a lot about cardiology plus my knowledge of IT programs greatly increased.  Management was fine there.  The institution is undergoing changes and unfortunately this results in staff reductions on an ongoing basis.  The workplace culture is one of teamwork which I really like.  My former co-worker and I worked very well together as well as did  my former co-workers in the cath lab.
The hardest part of my Clinical Information Analyst job was the sheer volume of cases that needed to be abstracted and submitted.  There were miscellaneous tasks that needed to be done prior to submission  as well.  The most enjoyable part of the job was presenting cases to our monthly physician meeting.  I enjoy speaking in front of people.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people that I worked with and all different areas. From doctors to nurses to transportation staff to OR staff.  People care about each other and about their job and their patients.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
my last job with the company was a triage for 550 doctors. Dealing with everything from a scrape on a knee to suicidal ideation, chest pain, heart attacks, etc..  You never knew when the phone rang what you were going to be stepping into which made it very stressful.  But it was also very rewarding.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
of course, depending on what department I was working in and who I was working with and what my responsibility levels were. As in any type of employment, the culture is created by those in management.  I had wonderful managers that handled things very well and I had a few managers that were awful and were asked to leave Summa. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I retired two years ago in order to help out with family issues and to be able to go to the gym daily. After 44 years of employment, it was time to take care of myself.

A typical work day for me involves cooking out in the cafeteria. providing patient families meals to get through their visits with their loved ones. Holding conversations and asking about their day or why their here and giving empathy while being an active listener to anyone who wants to talk. When passing trays I'm one on one with the patients setting up their dinner and assisting and any needs. for example cutting up food or opening containers they may not be able to do themselves. I always have a strong belief in customer courtesy. I have learned a lot from working in the hospital from the work environment of health care and the different interactions with different patients on a daily basis. The most enjoyable part is being around people, I am a very out going people person and there's nothing id rather do then take care of or just listen to what's going on with patients and be that someone they can talk to about anything.
Patient interaction and care is the most important part to me.

I gave this a 5 star review for everything because I was simply a volunteer and I can not fairly rate those aspects stated. 
A typical day while I was there would consist of mostly janitorial work when I first got there, and then for the rest of the day I would just sit around and wait for instructions from one of the nurses that something needed to be taken to a different department of the hospital, and then the same janitorial work I was assigned to before I left. Management was outstanding, they were all very nice and very helpful whenever I had any questions. My "co-workers" were just the nurses that worked there and they were all very friendly and very hard working. The hardest part of the job was seeing all the families visiting their loved ones in the intensive care unit. There was a lot of emotions going on in that department. The most enjoyable part of the job was getting to know all the nurses there, and occasionally I would get to talk to one of the patients who was slowly recovering, and I would get to listen to stories from them which I thought was really cool.

I was let go\FIRED from Summa about a year ago.  WHICH WAS ONE OF THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF MY LIFE. The stress level was intolerable.  And a few people (most co-workers were awesome) where petty, went to the supervisor if any thing did not go their way, and all of the other co-workers would only work with them if FORCED. I called HR because I felt I was unjustly fired.  They said well Summa does NOT pay unemployment.  Funny, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services also said I was unjustly terminated and I have been receiving unemployment benefits ever since.  The reason I have waited so long to review Summa, is because I never felt the need.  But Monday I received a letter from ADP who provides payroll-related services for Summa and it stated that in April my name and social security number were inadvertently embedded in a pdf document provide to ANOTHER Summa employee.  However, ADP truly regret this happened.  I truly believe this was a mistake on Summa's part because other incidences similar to this happened on a regular basis to me.  Oh well, such is life.  At least I don't hate getting out of bed every morning any more.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 6 salaries reported	$46.41 per hour
Screener 9 salaries reported	$61.00 per hour
Nursing assistant 2 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Medical assistant 1 salary reported	$15.80 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 5 salaries reported	$24.40 per hour

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