UF&SHANDS - A REASON TO GO SOMEPLACE ELSE:)
 
 
 

Shands - The Truth Finally Told

Shands - The Truth Finally Told

Former Employees of UF&Shands and other people who did work at this
hospital finally speak out

Pastor John Gallo:

Dear Friends:
 
Greetings! No, you are not being drafted into military service. However, I am asking you to serve our community in an important way. As many of you know, I have served at Shands
since 2001. I resigned as a matter of conscience this past June. My reasons are many but
let me say simply that I have found this organization to be totally inept and without any sense of what is right and wrong.
 
I recall that part of the Shands "hype" is the slogan: "A New Way of Care". Also, during a
week in which chaplains were recognized, the theme, "Imagining Community" was promoted as a goal of the management. I can't imagine anything further from the truth and I'll tell you
why.
 
In June of last year, the supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education was fired for no apparent
reason. Three adult interns were left without a program after committing a year of their lives towards certification in this program(A fourth intern had resigned earlier to take a church call.
Otherwise, he too would have been victimized). This meant, of course, that PRNs like myself had to fill huge gaps in pastoral care. A thought was never given to the harm to the interns
and their families this management decision had caused. All three interns eventually were forced to quit in order to support their families and reclaim their church vocations.
 
Shockingly, management had not finished wreaking havoc on this department. In December of
last year, they fired without warning the longtime director of chaplaincy services, Carl Kyle. Carl had built the department from scratch over a period of eighteen years. He has numerous degrees(including a doctorate), certifications, and licenses in the fields of theology, pastoral
care, and mental health counseling. His firing left his family without any means of support (he
has two children in college) and, ironically, no health insurance of any kind. This was after dedicating a significant part of his life to being a healer in a hospital setting. Needless to say,
this action was a dire blow to the morale of the pastoral care staff and left the one surviving staff chaplain with overwhelming responsibilities.
 
It goes without saying that Shands has hired upper management from outside the community
with little understanding of the historical context of this hospital nor the web of relationships that have been nurtured over the years. Sadly, these administrators have no genuine commitment to pastoral care or its ethical demands. They do not have one iota of theological training and have no expertise in pastoral care and counseling. Yet, they have the authority to make decisions that do violence to persons and programs. It is apparent that they realize the practical value of our department. It would be impossible to calculate the dollars saved in a teaching, critical care hospital like Shands. We encounter family members at the time of death or other serious trauma. Our care is deeply spiritual but has many ancillary benefits. There is no doubt that families angry and upset with the medical treatment of a relative are especially prone to sue. The comfort and support of the chaplains helps the family move past anger and towards acceptance. We are the ones who say, "We're sorry", on behalf of the hospital. In addition, we offer patients and staff ongoing support during the most stressful of times.
 
 
After my experience at Shands, I came to realize how amoral even so-called non-profit corporations are. In spite of their slick ad campaigns, their only interest is to serve their own needs, regardless of the human toll their policies exact. As a native Tampan, I recall the community's resistance to the proposed privatization of Tampa General. The reason was that the community needed to have ownership in a hospital that provided care for all of its citizens, regardless of their ability to pay. The Boards of both the former University and Methodist Hospitals made a serious error when they sold out to the Shands Empire. The people of Jacksonville need to take their hospital back!
 
 
I've attached ( in PDF format) a complaint I filed that further documents management's
callous misuse of authority. You may e-mail the CEO, Mr. Timothy Goldfarb, at goldfarb@shands.ufl.edu. Please mail me if you have any questions or comments.
And thank you for making a difference.
 
 
Peace.
 
John

Wage & Hr. Division of the Dept. Of Labor
Letter that was written by John