Update 7/27/07: This post has been up long enough to make its point, so we’re shortening all of the last names to initials.
Update 2/27/07: A little bird tells us there’s a full-fledged witch hunt going on inside KP HealthConnect in response to this post. It’s being reported that Vijaya Rogers has been running around hysterically threatening “off with their heads!” and accusing innocent people of being responsible, and that just isn’t right. Some people never learn.
We wouldn’t have printed this letter without multiple confirming sources, so if you have a problem with your actions being made public, then might we suggest a change of style rather than more of the same? Try dealing with underlings with fairness, professionalism and respect in the future and you might just get a pleasant surprise. Happy, well-compensated employees, with a good relationship with management tend to be loyal, dependable and enthusiastic members of the team. It’s funny how that works.
[kaiserthrive.org editor’s note: The following was sent to us by a Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect employee, who reported these procedural and ethics violations to Compliance, but as usual nothing was done (a la Justen Deal). The Compliance Hotline is a well known internal joke to Kaiser employees. When a problem is reported, the information provided in the report is used in the investigative process to cover up whatever the issue was that you complained about, rather than to address the problem. The result is always the same: an investigation that finds no violations. Interestingly, we have received several complaints about one of the worst offenders mentioned below — Implementation Lead, Vijaya Rogers — who was personally involved in a huge financial corruption scandal while employed at a non-profit, prior to obtaining her position at Kaiser. It is often asked where Kaiser finds all of these corrupt managers, and now we know.]
To Whom it May Concern:I have been employed with the ‘project’ for HealthConnect in Northern California and have witnessed first hand system ‘outages’. I have called the Compliance hot line to complain about management practices which are along the following lines:
- Nepotism
- Unfair and unethical leadership decisions
Here are the NOTES I used in putting in my complaint. The biggest offenders are Vijaya Rogers and Steve Bornstein, MD.
I was going to mail this to Dr. Pearl and George Halvorson but never finalized the letter. This is just a ‘draft’. (I also contemplated sending this to the news and the NAACP regarding racism).
Robert Pearl
George HalvorsonThis letter is written to inform you of the counter-productive management practices within your company. Specifically, within the KP-HealthConnect implementation project. Kaiser Permanente has achieved recognition as a quality health care program and employer of choice. It is hoped that the following concerns do not fall onto deaf ears:
KP-HealthConnect is an exciting project and the majority of the staff usually join the organization enthusiastically. Overall, we the KPHC staff enjoy working with the facility and the end-users. Your KPHC staff includes people of varying life experiences, degrees and backgrounds and all have a tremendous asset to offer the project as our end-users are just as diverse. However, it seems that after the initial novelty wears off many project team members become disgruntled, feel hopeless and tend to look for job opportunities elsewhere.
Here are the reasons many on the project team are unhappy:
THE HR PROCESSES ARE NOT FOLLOWED
Some people are promoted without interviews, without posting the position internally, externally and amongst an acceptable number of candidates. People who are inexperienced as managers are promoted without appropriate mentoring and are put in charge of employee evaluations that have grave repercussions for their employees down the line as evaluations go into permanent HR files.
EXAMPLE: Analysts and Sub-Team Leads fresh out of college are managing people in there 30s and 40s who have no prior history of HR issues. Because of their inept management experience – the Analysts and Sub-Team Leads create negative work experiences and do not know how to communicate and lead their teams appropriately, then subsequently write negative feedback in performance evals of which they are not qualified to write.
Betty L. received a call one day asking her if she wanted to be an AC. Betty L. has not completed her EPIC certification (it has been a year — other ACs have completed their certifications within a month or 2). It costs the company approximately $20,000 to send someone to EPIC to get certified. Betty is also known by her peers to be unqualified for this position and has been complained about by BACs, Analysts and Sub Team Leads about her performance. Other candidates for the AC positions were looked over and yet Betty was hired because someone somewhere happened to like her. This has negative financial and professional effects on the organization let alone the effects on morale as others who would have done well and wanted this position see this.
Some people are promoted but not compensated within an acceptable amount of time — i.e., pay for a newly obtained position has been adjusted in one case — over 6 months after the position was verbally obtained.
People are routinely told verbally that they have received a promotion. They subsequently work in their promoted role for an extended period of time. When they are finally compensated the paperwork doesn’t back date to verbal promotion date. Staff are told verbally to NOT question or ask about pay raise timeframe for their promotion.
EXAMPLE: An HR training occurred on 7/20 and 7/21. The retention team was present. The issue of pay raises came up. Retention said they would follow-up on it. They took a list of names of the people who would like a response regarding follow-up. The list of names went straight to Lisa J. and Vijaya Rogers. Vijaya immediately came down to the meeting and threateningly asked ‘why did you bring that up?’
Majority of people promoted have questionable connections. Check statistics of who has family members in high places:
- Jamie S. – Father is PIC of Hayward / Fremont
- Kevin G. – Father was with LMP program and worked closely with Donna Y. (Kevin’s father is currently deceased)
- Jason B. – Aunt is Regional med-legal resource: MaryJo W.
- Katie V. – Mother is Diane E., RN Service Manager in SSC
- Emily P. – father is an attorney for Kaiser. (Emily was supposed to be deployed to Fresno – she called her father and had her location changed – others have been told that the policy regarding deployment sites is that there are absolutely NO changes)
- Brandon K. – aunt is employed in NVLY (Shannon K.)
All are young white males or attractive and young white females.
Check statistics on African American male promotions (check for qualifications – most have a degree AND work experience in management yet are routinely looked over when they apply to analyst, STL or AC positions). Only two African American males promoted in last 2 years with KPHC.
EXAMPLE: Kenny W./Ramika M. — 2 African Americans requested BACII positions — they were told they had bad written skills (untrue) and yet Betty L. was practically GIVEN the AC position. Both Ramika and Kenny have college degrees and have run successful Go-Lives for the project which include corresponding with doctors, managers and management.
Others who are not qualified are promoted. Check to see if they had proper interviews:
- Jamie S. — was a BAC, promoted to analyst, then Sub-Team Lead then recently demoted to BAC but gets to keep STL salary
- Micah J. — repeatedly made BIG mistakes in SSC — was a BAC, promoted to analyst, then promoted to Sub-Team Lead (others have been fired for smaller issues, yet Micah is still retained and promoted after costing the company approximately $10,000 with a mix-up at Kinkos
Check for hiring process on the following people:
- Lisa J. – position created – interviews? was the job posted?
- Vijaya Rogers – position created – interviews? was the job posted?
In August 2006 – an implementation lead ‘stepped’ down. The implementation lead is gay and an older white male – all other implementation leads are young, white males with connections. Another implementation lead was later also asked to step down and is also not a young white male with connections. Only the young white males are favored and remain in their positions. There is one Asian Implementation Lead who was a prior KP employee and had a strong connection with Vijaya (i.e., will not make a decision without clearing it with Vijaya first). People who secretly and openly keep Vijaya informed of all details of their sites (whether professional or just plain gossip) tend to do well in their positions. If anything is done without Vijaya’s approval – Their careers with HealthConnect go down the drain – i.e. Mike S., Raj K., Michael S., Rick J. and the list goes on……
KPHC LEADERHIP ACTS INAPPROPRIATELY, THREATENINGLY, AND UNETHICALLY
Vijaya Rogers inappropriately involves herself with BAC activities surrounding corporate housing, (pets, roommates, etc.) acts on rumors, threatens job opportunities, promises promotions to people and does not carry them through, threatens firing, (retention is afraid and HR is her personal advisor), and is verbally abusive.
EXAMPLE: Marsha H. requested PTO. Her STL said no. Marsha sent HR an email regarding the PTO request asking about the appropriate process. HR responded and sent an email to Rose Calhan. Vijaya Rogers verbally attacked the HR representative.
During the HR Trainings at 1800 Harrison – Vijaya verbally told the STLs and Analysts that no exceptionals are to be given on any BAC evaluations.
Clinical content positions were offered to 2 people — then told no — Christina R. was quietly placed into one of the positions
KPHC PROJECT WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT IS COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE, THREATENING AND INEFFICIENT AND COSTLY
BACs are asked to be flexible, however KPHC leadership routinely acts in a way that is counter-productive and unflexible.
EXAMPLE: Next site deployments are announced last minute when leadership already knows where everyone is slated to go. Employee’s life arrangements are not taken into consideration. They are expected to show up the next day without time to move or adjust.
EXAMPLE: In the beginning – deployment sites are determined by leadership. BAC input was requested but it was clear that it was ultimately the decision of KPHC leadership. MOST BACs wanted and requested to work near their homes (which would cost the company less – When a BAC is sent to a site more than 50 miles from their home – they get to live in an apartment paid for by the company – corporate housing – and ALL of their meals are expensed as well as mileage which can add up to about $1400 a month is gas and food – in addition to the rent and furniture for the apartment). Leadership chose to send people to sites that would qualify them for corporate housing, thus costing the project inappropriately. NOW the budget has been exceeded. Leaderhip is now deciding to send people to sites close to their homes to try and save on cost. BACs are told that their addresses will be investigated for fraud. BACs treated as if the project’s budget problems are the fault BACs committing FRAUD due to cost of corporate housing, expense reports etc.
EXPENSE REPORTS: Expense report approval process includes review by 5 different people at 5 different levels: STL/Analyst — Implementation Lead — Project Coordinator — Jamie T. — Vijaya Rogers — Accounting. Which costs a lot of man hours. Any report will tell you that this is a waste of resources.
KPHC LOG-ONs: Previously – it was reported that a BAC documented in a REAL patient chart and changed the demographics to state something derogatory. All test log-ons were disabled which made it difficult for everyone to do their job. Culture is such that it is assumed that BACs are acting unethically. Later it was reported that the incident was actually initiated by a facility staff member and done through mainframe. No explanation or apology was sent out to the regional project team.
Since then, BACs have been assigned individual log-ons. BACs were told that if they document in a patient’s chart they will be fired. REALITY: many times while supporting on the floor – for issues management – a BAC may need to sign in and test out a scenario. If the BAC forgets to secure or log out of KPHC, dept. staff (an end-user) may come and document in a real patient’s chart (this happens routinely amongst the dept. staff). However, Project Leadership acts as if BACs are purposefully opening up real patient charts and charting. Yes this is an issue – but it is an issue across all sites where KPHC is implemented and applies to facility staff as well as KPHC staff. No one addresses this as an issue for the entire organization. ALL staff should be informed and reprimanded regarding the integrity of each patient’s electronic information. Yet the facility staff ( i.e. doctors, RNs and MAs – routinely leave up their screens with patient info on them, routinely accidentally document in wrong patient charts).
FIRING PRACTICES
In August, one BAC – NVLY – did not deserve to be fired. The STL documented BAC tardiness in face of that same BAC working 16 hour days. (shift is 8:30-5pm – BAC asked to come in at 7:45. BAC arrived at 8am – BAC considered 15 minutes late. Most occurrences were 5 or 7 minute late). It wasn’t ensured that the STL clearly communicated to the BAC ‘I have documented the following…….and will take this to upper management, etc.’ Most of the staff do not believe the appropriate steps were followed. If so, all criteria that applies to that BAC then must apply to all analysts AND sub-team leads as well.
Analysts/STL across all sites have been known to go home and nap, work from home during work hours, take 2+ hour lunches, bend the rules to fit their needs, yet treat their BACs like children. Heather Martin in FRESNO worked from home all the time and at the approval of her STL – Jennifer B.
Vijaya herself violates company policy – she has corporate housing in Emeryville. Katie V. is also rumored to benefit from Corporate housing when the policy clearly states you must be 50 miles from the deployment site.
The following FAVORED people had multiple violations yet were NOT fired:
- Ehude N. had repeated sexual harrassment HR issues – never fired
- Michael S. repeatedly disappeared from work ‘working from home’ – his behavior was tolerated
Implementation leads dating staff (BACs, Analysts and/or STLs) and those staff members are eventually promoted or given special treatment.
Report number 0609KPA10227 10/11
There are a TREMENDOUS number of additional events that could be added to this laundry list and more detail. If a full investigation were to occur – am sure there would be more to uncover…
Megalomaniac dictators THRIVE at Kaiser, and HR supports them no matter how obviously egregious the behavior. Kaiser’s ethics and compliance policies aren’t worth the paper they are written on and everybody knows it. I can personally confirm that morale is at an all time low within the project.
There was a mention of “the retention team.” Their function was to keep HC employees from quitting because so many want to. However, after getting so many complaints about Vijaya Rogers, the retention team started trying to help HC employees get other KP jobs. Vijaya put a stop to that: fired them and grabbed their computers and erased the hard drives to destroy all the evidence of all the complaints against her. How can KP employees get an investigation of Vijaya Rogers? How much money has been wasted due to all the trained people who have left Health Connect making it necessary to hire and train more?
Excellent documentation! This HealthConnect gravy train will be winding down in a year or so and hundreds if not thousands of analysts, etc. will be laid off – guaranteed. However, KP HR usually works really hard to keep their inept managers at any cost by offering them similar positions within the org. HC was a troubled child from the start and has been a disastrous ROI for the 8+ million paying HMO members. The only folks who have benefited from this monstrosity, have been the Deloitte contractors and KPIT elite.
When I worked for HC, I also noticed first hand the nepotism and abuse of employees that don’t have connections. HR rabid dogs- namely Zara E. – was thrown at any employee who dared to complain about their managers. “black balling” and other tactics where routinely used , and people fired without any hesitation. All of this will backfire on KP in the next few years. In the past couple of years, I have talked at least 50 people out of joining KP HMO when their employer offered other health plans. That adds up to millions of dollars of revenue that Permanently Kaiser has lost because they treated only one employee (yours truly) disrespectfully. I can imagine what damage has been done to KP by the hundreds of disgruntled former HC employees, and future escapees!!!….
Yeah, and not ONLY disgruntled former employees…
What about all of the former Kaiser members whose lives were ruined due to negligence and coverups of negligence.
What goes around comes around and this is a round i’ll be happily and patiently waiting to see.
Please bring up one of the topics about HealthConnect’s retention bonus. They promised and told BACs that the retention bonus had been set aside for them but at the end no retention bonus.
I can honestly say that I have been around for most of the atrocious things that have been outlined in the “draft” of a letter that I believe should be sent to EVERYONE in the entire Kaiser organization. I will bet my rescinded retention bonus that all hell is breaking loose in the Ambulatory Suite right now. I can picture it already, with the biggest finger being pointed by the infamous, Vijaya Rogers. Please tell me why the retention bonus was taken away. I would not doubt that it is because the funds were needed to help recover for the ridiculous amount of money spent on corporate housing, expenses, and unmerited salaries created by Vijaya and her minions. Of course, ten thousand dollars of that money being paid to Kinkos by a BAC who was just recently promoted and is still currently working for the company. Who said it doesn’t pay to be a moron? I will not add names, mention other incidents, or provide details to all statements in the article, but I will note that the information is very true and I look forward to seeing what becomes of this. What will it take for George Halvorson, Dave Bliss, Rose Calhan, or anyone in upper management to act upon the truth behind the madness? Will they finally realize that enough is enough or will it be covered up once again? If consistency provides any information as to what will take place, it will most likely be another cover up. Thank you, whoever you are, for coming forth with the truth. This website rocks!
Remember Cliff Dodd? When he “resigned, effective immediately” they got the former head of the HealthConnect project, Bruce Turkstra, to take his place. It looks like Bruce won’t be getting his retention bonus, either! He was fired today, replaced from some guy named Philip Fasano, who has never worked in health care before! I read somewhere that he hasn’t even had a job in three years. The Kaiser honchos must be pretty desperate by this point. I suggest they try their search again…
Wanted: Chief Information Officer to try to repair massive bungled billion dollar health care project. Three or four CEOs have tried in the past few years. Where they’ve failed, you can Thrive! Just figure out how to put the CEO’s great big scheme idea into practice. Must be adept at “massaging” media concerns about downtime, patient “safety,” and budgets. Must be willing to serve on outside boards and solicit favorable outside opinions on any IT plan the CEO dreams up. IT experience necessary, but not required. Health care experience optional (this is just the largest health care provider in the country, afterall). Recent employment looks better in the press release, so make something up if you have to. Apply soon, we’re desperate!
How many billions – and billions more – have to be wasted before somebody realizes this project, that CEO, and all of KP-IT is broken beyond repair?
And the walls came tumblin’ down…
So many problems, so many things to repair, too bad they won’t just ditch it all and start from scratch. They would be better off.
With the departure of Cliff Notes guy and now Robert the Bruce, the KPIT elite are feeling the heat… yeah baby, is it getting hot in the kitchen or is it just me?
Replying to Cindy D. above, regarding starting from scratch… well, if you recall, KPIT did try to do just that with CIS project from 2000 thru 2003, and after burning a billion dollars, they kicked IBM out, and hired Epic and Deloitte to do the deed, but can they deliver?? Jury is still out. One thing is for sure, thousands of engineers and analysts will be subject to lay-offs in a couple of years.
Actually, anonymous (above), I was referring to ditch the whole Kaiser, company, business, so-called healthcare provider that calls themselves Kaiser and revamp and start anew, possibly under a different name since they have such a crummy reputation in all health care matters. What good is a health care company if it is not legit to begin with? It doesn’t get any more serious than health care.
Healthconnectly Yours mentioned Rose Calhan. In my opinion, she will never intervene or fire Vijaya Rogers. Either she is just as bad as Vijaya or controlled by/in fear of Vijaya. I know there are others who are actually higher up than Vijaya who are oddly in fear of her. (I am not sure whether Vijaya blackmails people or who she is protected by — or why — or how she is able to intimidate everyone.) I know first-hand that she has backed up Vijaya when complaints of Vijaya’s abuse and harrassment of HC employees were brought directly to her attention.
I also know of a person who Vijaya first harrassed to the point of the person being put on a medical leave for anxiety/stress (authorized by KP providers, by the way) and then fired for “abandoning” their job. When Rose Calhan was presented with proof that this person had communicated the authorized sick leave to many HC people, and the providers had faxed the paperwork directly to the employee’s supervisor, she did not reinstate the employee. No coincidence, the person had made a complaint to the farce-of-a-compliance Hotline regarding the harrassment by Vijaya a couple days before the trumped-up “abandonment” termination.
Also, in case anyone is stupid enough to trust HC HR employees, Roni P. runs and tells Vijaya everything, so do not think that it is safe to discuss your complaints with her.
I think that there is a need for all those who were harrassed/abused/retaliated against by HC superiors and/or wrongfully terminated to join together in a class action law suit. Maybe there is some way to use this site or the others like it for this purpose? Kaiser is liable because there have been so many formal complaints made against Vijaya (and I imagine others) and yet they did not take action and instead allowed her to continue to victimize more and more people.
“I think that there is a need for all those who were harrassed/abused/retaliated against by HC superiors and/or wrongfully terminated to join together in a class action law suit. Maybe there is some way to use this site or the others like it for this purpose? Kaiser is liable because there have been so many formal complaints made against Vijaya (and I imagine others) and yet they did not take action and instead allowed her to continue to victimize more and more people.”
I’m down for that. Where do we start? Who do we call?
So many many abuses of power.
Kaisers polices aren’t worth paper they put them on. Everyone is related to someone.
They protect the weak, and crush the strong like a pack of hyenas.
Anyone who is a threat is dealt with and eliminated. It’s a wonderful place to work if you’re not too bright, and are willing to be constantly abused and beg for more, while watching people with no experience or skills get promoted to higher and higher positions because they are related to someone or to someone who’s screwing someone who has some power in the organization.
Send email to bitemekaiser@yahoo.com
How about creating a genealogy chart of how everyone is connected? That would be interesting!
It is really sad to see these stories have been opened publicly and I can attest that these nightmares are TRUE. I find it amazing how this organization will continue to support and tolerate this type of leadership behaviour with no RESPECT AND VALUE for their employees. I am a HC employee and have never seen such behaviour on this scale. It makes me shudder knowing that these incidents and threats are real. Is this “leadership” so untouchable? The accusations mentioned are just a tip of all the incidents. If you only knew some of the other incidents it will make your hair stand up straight. Leadership’s behaviour for no regard to our employees really shows how insecure our “leadership” is. I wonder if they understand that their actions will eventually be suffered by the patients who pay their salaries and so called “fringe benefits”. It is really sad that we don’t have good role models in our “leadership” to follow to make us all proud.
In KPHC, I believe the true tag line should be “bad news is bad” so “I don’t want to hear bad news”. I got a reputation, which was well-earned, as being a complainer, a trouble-maker not because I complained about how I was treated because I didn’t but rather I complained about how OTHERS were treated and also about how poorly managed/organized the PROJECT was, in general. And after Deloitte left last summer it got even worse.
No systemic analysis of any kind, organizational communication of such ineptitude to make you cry, really a project disaster on a (forgive the pun) Epic scale. The passing of the buck here is really incredible and even though so many employees try their hardest the framework within which they could actually do good work is so poorly constructed as to make that very difficult.
Wow oh wow is this website great. I encourage any current or former KPHC Employee to share their thoughts and grievences in this forum. The idiocy on this project must not go unnoticed or unreported.
As a current employee I can attest to most of all that is documented in the draft letter — well done to who ever wrote it, that takes a lot of guts, thanks for getting the conversation started.
I want to know what qualifications does Vijaya bring the project? What has she tangibly contributed to the project? She delegates absolutely everything that comes across her desk and takes credit for all that is deemed successful (like Sharie N.). She hasn’t even taken a department live on her own, she has her sidekicks Lisa J. and Jennifer O. do everything. She doesn’t even have a college degree and now she is at the director level earning a hefty salary. Her background is not even healthcare it’s hotel / food services apparently. I think the SFWeekly article proves what many of us at HealthConnect have known about her for a long time, she cannot be trusted, she has no ethics or principles and has caused many people over the last couple of years to go to EAP (Employee Assistant Program) suffering emotional, mental distress. Someone should really investigate how she got to her position; she probably never even interviewed for any of her positions or took the Epic proficiency test that everyone else had to pass before getting promoted.
She goes around telling people that the BACs love to give her hugs, everyone does it out of fear and then snickers about it behind her back !! Rose Calahan is mentioned earlier her agenda is to get the project done no matter what the cost (human/emotional or physical) it’s a shame that after Deloitte left they left the project in the hands of Vijaya who took the morale of the entire project down the tube. The project is so over budget due the extreme negligence of Donna Y. (HealthConnect Operations Lead — newly promoted director of patient billing or something and very close friend of Vijaya) for the reasons mentioned above, and so many more like not keeping track of operational expenses including contractors on the Kaiser payroll and housing expenses.
They have had to escalate the rollout schedule to get done quicker to cut costs. I have heard people say that Rose and Dave Bliss don’t care how it’s done as long as it gets done. Again they have just promoted people in the past month without any consistency, some people completely skipped the first step of the interview and jumped to the second step, it’s obvious that “they” were pre-selected and the “interviews” were only formalities. Every person I know if looking for a different position and can’t wait to get out. The long term jobs will also be “saved” for whoever “they” choose, it just shows that things will never change.
Since it appears that heads are rolling at the highest ivory towers of KPIT/KPHC, perhaps we can expect the KING (aka G. Halverson), and hopefully his minions and/or Untouchables – Rose Callahan, and Vijaya will also get to see the gallows (or guillotine for more color). The same thing happened when CIS project crashed and burned in 2003, the mighty and powerful (i.e. the KPIT elite) paid dearly for their arrogance. Although some of the drones and asskissers were hired back rather quickly, due to a “brain drain” that was not to last long, and the vacuum was filled quickly by the Deloitte legions of young and pretty but cocky “analysts”. Millions if not Billions were paid out to the consulting gods, and many sacrifices took place at the HC alter, but to no avail. The EPIC gods wanted even more minions to labor at the salt mines (i.e. KPIT cubefarms), hence over hiring and chaos ensued, with no talented managers in sight, to take the bull by the horn, subsequently a great deal of Bullshit was generated, and documented in the annals of StealthConnect. This fiasco was direct results of the Halverson hubris. He had shady and documented liasons with Epic Corp. back in Minnesota days, but alas KP board looked the other way, and did not investigate his true motives. Now, the gangsters such as Vijaya, Jamaal N., Donna Y., Rose Callhans, and their Gestappo (i.e. KP HR), are out of control, and have no oversight.
Lets storm the Bastille (1800 Harrison Building), and drag out the idiots, and have a fun and jovial hangings at the Snow Park accross the street??!!! ha. Where is Robespiere when we need him?
Do Dr. Bornstein and George Halvorson know that Vijaya Rogers doesn’t even have a bachelor’s degree? She has been harassing and firing people with master’s degrees who are far more qualified than she is. Did she lie on her application? What on earth is going on? Someone who knows tell me: Is this the sort of thing we can ask any state agency to investigate? Maybe the one that has “Managed Health Care” in the title?
Just one thing to say. Just because you have a Masters degree or PHd, does not mean you are smart or qualified. It just means you can attend class and take good notes. Leaders don’t need their Masters to know how to lead.
Well, Tom, I agree with you about giving children harmful drugs that fry their brains, but it is quite shocking that a woman who has been abusing her power, firing more qualified employees, and wasting KP money in many other ways because she is incompetent, has no college degree when she is heading up a huge computerized record transformation. She has been eliminating more qualified employees because she is threatened by their education compared to her lack of education. She values those who don’t know how to think for themselves. Thus, the extreme failure of the project, going over budget, etc. Someone should look at the employee turnover rate for Health Connect. That, including the training, is a big waste of money and loss of talent.
Dear Tom Cruise,
Surely with all your millions you are not a PATIENT or MEMBER of Kaiser, are you? I hope you are using this website to educate yourself about Kaiser.
I think I know why Tom Cruise has been lurking on this website. He saw the articles in the LA Times and realized that his new movie studio could make a movie everyone would want to see about Kaiser. Sort of like “The Firm,” but about an evil HMO instead of an evil law firm. All the killings and abuse of patients, all the abuse of employees, all the incompetence of management, all the lies and cover-ups and PR campaigns, and computers taking over that no one can control or operate with people at the top of IT who don’t even have college degrees, much less degrees in computer science. Tom could play the part of Justen Deal. Maybe the plot could have Justen as an employee who becomes a patient, also, and the HMO top brass try to murder him making it look like more “error” to silence a whistleblower. The Kaiser story is really the kind of big story that cries out for a movie, and it might be the best way to warn the public.
Someone needs to investigate BJ C. practices. He manages phase 1 and 2 BAC’s. His girlfriends daughter was a phase 1 BAC for a few months. She never passed the ADT training and then was promoted to a learning consultant position.
http://www.schneiderwallace.com/
Someone needs to send this link to all the BAC
KPHC INPT Phase 2-IREG@kp.org,
KPHC INPT BAC ALL-IREG@kp.org
Or post it on the BAC website:
http://10.238.100.230/bac/index.php
This Web site is amazing… my hat if off to the individual(s) who maintain this site, and give voice to the voiceless. Just wanted to thank the hard work and diligence of the folks that are running and moderating the incoming comments. Keep up the good work! wish you and the rest of us the best, since we are dealing with this cruel and out-of-control Goliath (aka Kaiser).
Thanks. It’s one of those dirty jobs that somebody has to do 😉
These people obviously work for Kaiser so my question is, why stay there? If you don’t like it leave. Politics Politics, you didn’t get a promotion, maybe you didn’t deserve one. Instead you go drop names all over the place. Why don’t you just go confront the giants of your organization, if you get fired, well who cares, you don’t like it there anyway, and maybe you can get a lawsuit out of it.
Well, I can’t say enough. I’ve been with KP for many years now…and I would not have imagined that this would have gotten so bad. The entire project is a joke, Kaiser Execs have positioned KP as the FAT COW and every money hungry consulting group is suckling on the nipple! Do I hear KICK BACKS, ANYONE??!!This is happening because of underhanded dealings between the “Consulting Firm” that has completely augmented our staff and the wicked men in charge at the executive level. What’s a nice game of poker among friends, with KP in the pot? This whole thing is disgusting. Happy to say that I will be moving on soon. Good luck to all of you who seek out KP’s renewal!
Well – I been on the project for a while and I personally know that almost EVERYONE is searching for new jobs. I have never seen so many disgruntled and poorly treated employees in all my life. Vijaya has definitely created a comfortable niche for herself. I fault those abover her that have allowed all of this to occur. It reflects very poorly on Steve Bornstein. Of all people, he is a physician. His ethics should have prevailed here. Most of us think he is a pompous A-hole telling us in the beginning ‘basically, you all work for me’. He walks right past you without saying hello when it is clear that he knows who you are. He only talks to certain people and is very UNapproachable. Mean people SUCK! And that’s why you jerks have over 2 hundred people pining for your demise. That shouldn’t feel very good. Just note that you all created this for yourselves. It doesn’t take much to be a human being.
has anyone else noticed how Kaiser Physician’s lie in their documentation to cover up what their own personal agendas are (versus what their patients are telling them)?
That’s how they are trained at Kaiser.
Thank You for the response…
Is there any way to obtain or
get records of this
training?
It always comes out in the retaliation lawsuits that doctors and others are admonished for putting complaints in writing that could later be used in lawsuits. A few examples are on this site in the Kaiser Retaliation category.
Thank you…I did review the Kaiser Retaliation section. Has there been a class action lawsuit?
Sorry for the disconnect in the last email…I accidentally sent the message prior to its completion. I am attempting to figure out just how it is that Kaiser has caused so many medical injuries to its patients which result in disability and even death….and yet the Attorney General seems to do nothing about it….Being that I have been a R.N. for 20 years I know that it takes an act from God for DHS or Joint Commission to step up and act against a Facility to ensure proper health care for patients…I can, somewhat, understand why MediCal and MediCare have done nothing and continue to contract with Kaiser…they want to save money and since Kaiser does not follow the current standard of care for their patients (it seems this is due to the massive *training* of their Physicians to follow Kaiser’s antiquated medical guidelines) this in turn saves money (in the short term) for both MediCal and MediCare (however, in the long run it means more people on disability and thus more money out of the Government’s pocket….and I only write about money for it is unclear to me if MediCal/MediCare actually care about their patients health… for if they did, they would not have a contract with such a ‘network’ as the Cult of Kaiser)….but I digress, I am searching for answers on what Legal or Government Agency (besides the OIG) that would bring some justice to the patients that have had their lives ruined by Kaiser and the Stepford Physicians that they have trained.
Simply put, Kaiser lies and falsifies documentation to back up its lies (and we know this from unfortunately very personal experience). We’ve literally never heard of ONE SINGLE PERSON who was treated fairly and honestly in a dispute with Kaiser. Not one. This should worry even people who haven’t had a bad experience at Kaiser, because of the general lack of ethics involved. No one screws up all the time, but if you stay at Kaiser long enough it will eventually happen, and you will have no recourse when it does.
In California the regulating body is the Department of Managed Health Care, but they are only interested in grandstanding when the media shows interest. It’s quite disgusting.
I was thinking the media would have to be the way to go. Kaiser seems to have an interesting way of being able to side step the systems that are allegedly in place to ensure patient safety (ie:justice, regulatory boards). I have researched other HMOs and cannot find another that requires their patients sign a release to be able to sue over medical neglingence versus ‘their’ arbitration preference. I do have to give Kaiser cudos in one area, they certainly know how to manipulate the public with their false ‘customer service’ excellence reports (as they sent to the media in Walnut Creek)…. however, what the public is not told is that the patients who are disabled by Kaiser, and their treatment by outdated ‘profiles for care’, are more concerned with getting their health back and thus do not have the time to fill out those questionnaires…. or they are dead! Once I get my life/health back I do believe that the media will have to become involved, in one way or the other, to achieve any sort of justice or massive outcry from the public to halt this organization. My concern is that Kaiser wants to become the HMO for all of California (one of their Doctors told me it is Kaiser’s main goal to become the socialized health care for California)….and that, in itself, is quite disconcerting… to think people would not have anything better to choose from than the bottom of the barrel “health” care….well, it is more than disconcerting, it would mean the end of any quality of life for so many.
“My concern is that Kaiser wants to become the HMO for all of California (one of their Doctors told me it is Kaiser’s main goal to become the socialized health care for California).”
This is a sickening prospect.
This, under no circumstance, should be allowed to happen. The legislators in California AND nationally need to learn the facts and FAST. Over my dead body will I personally let this happen. This would be the beginning of the end of all decent morality and honest ethics in the healthcare industry.
Kaiser IS total bottom of the barrel. And to JV in Walnut Creek and to Dr. C in Antioch, the facts will come out regarding your negligence and mistreatment in the death of my baby. Lying is only helpful for a short time and then it will come back to bite you in the @*#.
As usual Kaiser has delusions of grandeur. I find it extremely difficult to believe it will ever happen considering that it is well known that most people would not consider Kaiser Permanente for their health care (75% to be exact, according to Kaiser’s own market research for the Thrive campaign).
I have browsed this site and do not see an area focused on listing the names of the Physicians at Kaiser who have lied to their patients (as well as in their documentation), performed unnecessary surgery and/or refused medical treatment because their Doctor’s focus was more directed towards remaining in the the Kaiser listed medical “Profiles”, versus caring for their patient…..Is there a section here?…..I am in search of others who have been denied standard medical treatment and suffered….. Has anyone looked in to a class action lawsuit against Kaiser (or more specifically, against the identified Physicians) who follow this substandard level of care?
To K above… I, for one was denied the standard of medical care which caused the death of my Baby. I have proof in writing of negligence AND destruction/withholding and tamperingof medical records. You can certainly talk to me, i’ve got lots to say and plan to say it more and more loudly every chance I get.
I heard on the news today that a “Group of Doctors” are attempting to get assisted suicide legal in California….
Immediately I thought of Kaiser.
Has anyone else heard of this?…..(please see website below)
http://www.residentandstaff.com/press_release.asp?id=10049010
I for one am scared for their existing patients…..for if you have ever been to Kaiser, you alread are aware of their existing policy to lie, lie and deny care…(ironically, if this report is true, then it would appear that Kaiser does not want to spend the money to treat your medical condition, no matter how small it is….however, they are willing to spend the money to kill you)….
Link BJ C. —–> Stephanie G. ….
How can someone that never passed a Health Connect proficiency exam get promoted to health connect trainer…Hmmmm….I wonder?!?
I was let go from the project in Febuary of 2006, I was blamed for not covering an area of the hospital that I was not assigned to while my sub-lead went back to his corporate housing and slept. They let me go because they said I abandonded my post when I wasn’t even assigned there. I did not get a full investigation, and I was let go over the phone with no explanation or sorry. I started to have problems when people found out I was homosexual.
I was a good employee I still know the health connect system inside and out but I cannot get a decent paying job because this project screwed me over!!! Lanna B. is a crook.
GOD HELP YOU IF YOU ARE A NON-FILIPINO OR NON-WHITE REGISTERED NURSE AT KAISER SACRAMENTO. THESE FILIPINOS WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU QUIT OR GET FIRED SO THEY CAN CONTINUE TO BRING THEIR OWN PEOPLE IN. WATCH OUT. THEY ARE VICIOUS. THEY WILL PLANT LIES ABOUT YOU AND FIND FAULTS AND ACT OH SO SMART…TRYING TO MAKE YOU LOOK DUMB. WATCH OUT FOR THOSE FILIPINOS. THEY DON’T WANT YOU WORKING THERE BECAUSE THEY WANT THE MONEY.
I heard through the grapevine that there is a lawsuit brewing up for the many employees who were screwed over by Vijaya and her minions. If this is true, please get the information out there for everyone to participate in.
I am wondering if the below study about bad bosses and rewarding them with promotions (found on yahoo) was completed at the Kaiser Facilities? :}
http://news.yahoo.com/…
So, is this now a dead thread?
Is there any movement afoot to put things right?
I could write a chapter one of the other
“suites” in HC, the ADT suite.
Promised bonuses given in writing, summarily wiped away?
I want mine! I had it in writing, I signed, where my check?
Is anyone moving forward with a lawsuit of any kind?
Put me down for that.
I just found this website, sorry to hear about all the wrongs. This problem of mis-management and unethical behaviors goes even deeper then the HC project. The managers also receive daily harrassment and have to deal with their chiefs destroying their character only because you don’t agree with their ideas. I know that several manangers finally had enough of the mistreatment and decided to use the compliance hotline. What a sad joke.
I heard that one of their managers Gina Parrish waited until everyone left the office at days end to confront one of her employees which she despised. After yelling at her to finally retire she was also asked how long she was planning on bringing in her oxygen tank to the office, she told her she was sick of it making so much noise. I guess the manager didnt’ realize that they werent the only two in the office. Did she get fired? Did she get disciplined? Was she even spoken to by upper management? Who will guess right?
I have been a KPHC employee for over 3 years and have seen many things and worked on many teams, i Found that kaiser will only fire good people who stand up for what is right, employees who should be fired are constantly getting promoted, i have even been told by a former boss that i am a good employee but i dont play the politics, i was told i need to align myslef with those who can advance my career and to speak out at meetings and really take credit for some things i have done, i always figured i was doing my job and shouldn’t be boasting that i do what i was hired to do.
PROMTIONS: I have seen first hand people with no IT or KPHC experiance become Site Support team managers like Ana Chan in South San Francisco, she had never had any experiance with managing and could hardly use a PC herself yet she was givin the position of Site Support supervisor and KPHC Project Manager, who knew that her Husband was a doctor and she was a student of the former KPHC PM in SSF who by the way was made “Director” once she Hired Ana Chan as PM…Hmmmmmm….maybe hiring Ana Chan as PM got her a pay boost since becoming “Director” none the less there were a Director, a Project Manager, a Regional Manager, and a few key players at the hospital who all managed the site Supports in SSF…they are only a 5 man team well really only 4 since one “Annie” Qin Li was hired by Ana Chan and also had no PC or KPHC experiance, as a matter of fact their was only one person on that team who had come from the KPHC project even though i know for a fact that many BAC’s that were very qualified had applied yet none recieved an interview, a little over a yeat later the one person who came form the project has left that team (he was probably tired of doing all the work) and a couple others on the team left and Ana Chan has been given a new position (probably a raise too) now they are down to 2 Site Supports one being Qin Li “Annie” who knows nothing and users will hang up on her since they are aware that they know more about KPHC then she does, and the Lead Site Support Jon who was an employee of Jamba Juice doing auto visual becuase software support is so simliar to setting up TV’s for meetings,
Retention Bonus: Well if you have worked for KPHC long enough you were supposed to recieve this “Bonus” since there was a huge influx of people transfering to other hospitals, well i can tell you that i dont know of a single person who recived a bonus, i was told i wasnt going to get a bonus becuse i didnt work for the same team the whole time….once a suite of KPHC ends i have no choice but to go to another team and that means i dont get a bonus but all the Doctors at KP get a huge bonus for staying on with this electronic charting system and the only requirment for them is that they need to go to a couple meetings and get free lunchs…wow thats really hard to do, while all the support people who are getting better offers from other Hospitals are staying and getting shafted by the Regional offices that have promised this imaganary bonus.
Expense Reports: I have never gotten a check that was accurate to what needed to be expnsed, I have filled out an expnses report for many thing and here at Kaiser you fill it out and at least with Rev-Cap they just send it back saying there are mistakes but they wont tell you what they are and youi have to fight to try to get a meeting with the person who submits them to figure out what is wrong, i once subitted the same expense report 4 times and the first three times i was told there were mistakes but i was never told what they were so i just kep submitting it till the 4th time it got approved,
Loosing money: I can see why Kaiser is always loosing money…deployment it is a well known fact that on Rev-Cap the scheculer Ryan was only given the position because he complained more than anyone about the schedule and he did many favors for his friends but f-ed over everyone else, i was deployed to Fresno for a week then off to Sac for 3 days then back to Fresno for another week then off to some other facility for a few days then back to Fresno, i said screw that shit and just worked it out amoungst some other BAC’s where iwould stay in Fresno while they would stay in Sac since it was just more convient and cost effective for everyone, While in Fresno there was a BAC who was given a 2 bedroom apartment and i asked if I could just stay in the extra room instead of getting a hotel room and region said no since i wasn’t deployed there for more that 2 weeks so i sayed in the apartment anyway but Kasier paid for a hotel that i didnt stay in and this kind of thing happened all the time
well thats enough for now but if you like i have much more i could expose about KP
yeah, KP healthconnect is a great project to be part of except the freakin management sucks…as a former employee, we know all the dirt that goes around but when someone has the courage to speak on it, BOOOM, they are fired…
Jeffrey Hoffman, STL, ambulatory is another HealthConnect promotion gone bad. At RWC, he was really feeling the power and was seen to be extremely verbally abusive to people working on his team. Now that he is in OAK, he is still at it.
Several BACs were raked over the coals and given a tongue lashing for daring to make a medical appointment without his express approval.
Other BACs are taking night classes to improve themselves. One that Jeffrey likes has had no problems; others have had it made known to them that he was very irritated that they had these prior obligations. It is quite obvious to others that these BACs are performing well in the field, but they were given less than good evaluations. In one case, the review the BAC read and signed, was not the same as the copy given to them several weeks later. However there is no way to prove that he substituted part of the review after it was signed.
Jeffrey takes all grievances, real or imagined, and makes them into large issues and gives bad evaluations to anyone who dares question his judgment or ideas or who causes him any inconvenience by their actions. Jeffrey never forgives or forgets the slightest slight, whether it is intentional or otherwise. Then, he gets even using the evaluation system. There is no way for BACs to give him an evaluation or even any criticism without fearing retaliation.
Having NO trust for the HR system and having experienced Vijaya?s ideas of confidentiality and retribution, it was decided not to report these openly abusive practices. Thank you for providing this forum for us to present our own glowing evaluation of Kaiser?s HealthConnect management.
As a former HC Amb employee who had many negative things occur during my time on the project I wish to defend people named in the article. Many good people have been put in a very bad light. I am not refering to Vijaya or higher but everyone below her. They are just trying to make a living like the rest of us. Time to take this article down.
As if things aren’t tough enough?
It is clear that life isn’t fair, and that project work, is analogous sometimes to a war zone. You have to do what you have to do, to get ahead and live.
A class action lawsuit against Vijaya Rogers will be the tip of the iceberg. The entire project is in jeopardy. Although, there is new leadership in Ed Glavis, more has to occur to prevent a violent catastrophe.
Let’s hope for the best..
I come back here sometimes to see what the new gossip is. Everything appears to be true. There are some people that are listed that can be questionable about their pasts..but overall true. This project is ridiculous. I have seen people on the BAC team from Rev Cap that weren’t really qualified and they make a good living as a BAC, better than Mc D’s. The Rev Cap team was so ghetto, but most of them stayed and got a new job with the project.
Then there are some crappy ass Ambulatory AC’s like mentioned above about Betty L. There are a few others like Cary S.
The management is bad. they don’t show care for their employees. some people are not qualified but what can anyone do about it, nothing.
With IP2 going full steam ahead, it is ever clear that things are in need of adjustment. My hope is with the end of Ambulatory, out with the old and in with the new and improved.
I was terminated from KPHC in July of 2007 after working on the project for nearly 3 years and a Kaiser employee for nearly 9 years. Being in the workforce for over thirty years, I have never experienced this much blatant discrimination. Most managers of Health Connect, don’t even know how to find the policy, let alone adhere to it. It’s insane how much money is wasted on mismanagement. As far as the “Thrive” campaign is concerned, Kaiser does not care about the health of its employees (who by the way are members too), many who have fallen asleep at the wheel (including myself) due to demanding schedules that the inexperienced managers created. After being a Kaiser member nearly all my life, myself and family members have all dropped the coverage.
I was fired from management on KPHC due to a faked complaint from a BAC saying I was racist which I am not. In fact I was dating a black man at the time. It was part of the political subterfuge of so many factions in KP HealthConnect that are present. I did report nepotism to compliance, and nothing happened. BJ hired his live in gf, and his step daughter, and nothing happened. A. in the ED suite hired his son and all his sons friends. It was a joke, yet for my future i have a ‘fired’ on my job resume. It is disgusting.
Yet again, Kaiser is killing me softly. I asked a lawyer about my case and the question of relationships w/in Kaiser professional employees of rank got no response … which was essentially a response. I am so close to naming names it isn’t even funny – the TPMG bunch which haven’t been held to account and the L250 bunch that have done really stupid stuff. And, as someone who Kurt Drumheller thinks that he’s above returning a call to, I’ll be more than glad to bring it …
Well I got my right to sue letter from EEOC and am looking for a good lawyer. So all who want to be apart of this lawsuit, email me
sjordan14@hotmail.com
I was a BAC with over 15 years of IT experience. I’ll be back later to tell my story. BJ C Peggy G Roni P; you are bad people and karma knows you.
Completely disgusting Kaiser Permanente is self-insured. Kaiser Permanente has their employees see their occupational medicine department, isn’t that in itself conflict of interest. Lets have an innocent employee pregnant walking around work with broken hardware for years because Kaiser occ. med. doctors best interest is the company instead of the patient. I have another one, Kaiser Permanente terminates employment for calling out sick, even when the employee has sick time on the books and there is no patterns on the call outs. But of course Kaiser’s employee’s union is SEIU, which allows this bad behavior of Kaiser’s. The one thing that Kaiser has to offer to their employee’s, the pay check. So if you’re willing to lose your self-respect for money, Kaiser Permanente is the best place for you.
I am considering a position at KP working within the KPHC project. I could potentially work really closely with Vijaya Rogers. How are things now? What is the outcome from the class action law suit? I hope everyone involved received something that is fair, ethical, and humane. My heart goes out to all of you after reading through this thread and hope that life has been good to you in other ways.
I don’t think she is there anymore. I don’t have details but it was reported to us quite some time ago that she was no longer employed and was involved in a lawsuit with KP. You reap what you sow! Haven’t heard much lately about current conditions.
Vijaya Rodgers works in the Oakland office on Franklin St 11th floor.
Hmm… Given the last comment I really don’t know. Someone did say she was gone and there was a related lawsuit, but I can’t remember who or how they would have known, or even how the info came to me, and I can’t seem to find it right now. If anyone has more information that would clear up the confusion please let us know.
Also an update on current conditions would be appreciated.
Please consider signing my change.org petition about Kaiser:
https://www.change.org/p/bernard-tyson-kaiser-permanente-members-need-access-to-all-kaiser-regions?recruiter=12876750&utm_source=petitions_show_components_action_panel_wrapper&utm_medium=copylink
She is around. Even more bad news, she is with TPMG (the Medical Group) where leadership is protecting her and she led them to believe that she could do absolutely no wrong. As the previous posts stated, she either blackmailed them, get them nice tech-toys or she manages up VERY well. It is true that she does get shit done, and she won admiration from upper leadership, all the way up to Robbie Pearl. But look at the trail of blood behind her, the casualty of innocent employees who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the people who actually did all the hard work but received no credit whatsoever. When she doesn’t like what you do, she goes behind your back to your boss, and your boss’s boss, so that she appears clean. Then wait for the surprise during the year end review and find all the stuff you never thought would get to your boss. Translation: scrutiny on you and in the doghouse you go. She plays politics and favoritism to medical centers that she believe would be influential in her career – these guys get first dibs on regional pilots. And don’t start with me on integrity and honesty, since she has none.