Laid-off employees say White Rock Medical Center, formerly known as Doctors Hospital, appeared to be in serious financial trouble.
DALLAS — Multiple former employees of White Rock Medical Center say they are encouraging patients to avoid the East Dallas hospital, raising concerns about staffing, financial and supply issues.
The hospital confirmed last week that it had laid off 158 people, more than a third of its staff. Due to staff reductions, the hospital has stopped accepting patients transported by EMS. A spokesperson said it resumed accepting EMS patients at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
Staff who lost their jobs at the facility, formerly known as Doctors Hospital, said they had been anxious for months before receiving their pink slips. They detailed restrictions on ordering basic supplies, delays in repairing critical equipment, and staff shortages due to repeated layoffs.
“There's nothing wrong with saying that. I wouldn't want to be a patient at that hospital,” said Nichelle Runnels, a former telemetry technician. “I had some people I knew who were patients there, so I just reached out to him and said, 'Hey, maybe you should go somewhere else.'
Runnels said she was limited in ordering pens and paper because she “didn't have the money.” She also claims that her hospital delayed payments to her several times, but a hospital spokesperson denies this claim.
“As part of our ongoing efficiency improvement efforts to reduce waste and corruption, supplies will be distributed strategically to all departments while limiting 'stockpiling,'” said Terry Fokas, the hospital's chief restructuring officer and general counsel. “It was redistributed,” he said.
He said there were no problems with the supply of supplies needed for hospital operations.
Several employees described a chaotic termination process. Runels said she was released around 8:30 p.m., shortly after returning home from a 12-hour shift monitoring patients' heart monitors.
She called her boss to ask if she needed to report to work for her next shift, scheduled for a few hours later, but he told her it didn't matter. She had just lost her job too.
In a memo shared with hospital staff on Tuesday and provided to WFAA by a spokesperson, hospital owner Heights Healthcare CEO Mirza Baig thanked the remaining staff for their continued service during the layoffs. expressed his intentions.
“Your cooperation has been invaluable as we navigate these changes in prioritizing patient safety and adapting to a reduced workforce,” he wrote. “I am pleased to report that staffing levels have stabilized across all critical services required to effectively handle EMS operations.”
Baig said all systems and staffing at the hospital are fully operational, but “in view of reduced capacity,” there remains a “recommendation” for stroke and severe heart attack patients. He said that he would continue to “repurpose the project.”
“I would have recommended it in the past, but I don't recommend it now,” said Laura Cooper, the hospital's former director of case management.
She said the hospital's CT scanner was out of action for nearly a week because “we didn't have the money to fix it.”
As a result, treatment for patients arriving at hospitals and by ambulance was delayed.
“It can put people in a precarious position,” she says.
Last week's layoffs came amid ongoing litigation between current owner Heights Healthcare and California-based Pipeline Health, which Heights acquired the hospital last fall.
The complaint, filed in Dallas District Court in early February, alleges that Pipeline Health misrepresented the hospital's financials to the tune of $11 million, which is more than the total purchase price of the hospital. Pipeline had asked a judge to force Heights Healthcare to resolve the dispute in arbitration, according to court records.
