By Jesse Oberoi – Freelance Writer
Former employees who were recently laid off from the White Rock Medical Center claim the hospital’s severe financial challenges should raise questions about its ability to service patients.
Earlier this month, The Dallas Express reported that the center put a pause on accepting patients transported by emergency medical services. The announcement came roughly one week after the hospital cut nearly 160 staff members, more than a third of its previously 460-member team.
Nichelle Runnels, a former telemetry tech at White Rock, told WFAA that the center’s financial issues became so severe that she could not even order basic supplies, like pens and papers. She also claimed that she was paid late on several occasions, something the hospital denies.
“My issue is, how are they doing surgeries, and we have nosupplies?” questioned Runnels, per WFAA.
“I don’t feel bad about saying it. I would not be a patient at that hospital at all… I have had some people that I know who were patients there and I just reached out and said ‘Hey, maybe you need to go somewhere else,’” she said.
Runnels said she discovered she was let go after returning home from a 12-hour shift. She then called her boss to inquire about her subsequent shift, which had been scheduled to start just hours later. Her boss told her that she had also been laid off.
The hospital’s chief restructuring officer and general counsel, Terry Fokas, claimed supply constraints were never an issue at White Rock. He said supplies had been “strategically redistributed” across departments to improve efficiency and limit waste. According to Fokas, there have not been any challenges in providing the required resources for operations.
Another former employee, Laura Cooper, told WFAA she would no longer trust the hospital.
“In the past, I would have recommended it, but not now,” said Cooper.
The layoffs at White Rock Medical Center come as Texas continues to grapple with a significant healthcare worker shortage, a situation state officials have taken measures to mitigate, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Ex Hospital Workers Advise Not Going to White Rock Medical Center