An internal assessment of the workplace culture at Washington State University’s on-campus medical clinic found “trust is broken” between staff and leadership, resulting in communication problems, low morale, staff turnover and service inefficiencies.
Medical and support staff at Cougar Health Services described “absent or unavailable leadership” across multiple departments according to interviews conducted with more than 40 current and former employees last spring. WSU’s Human Resource Services completed the eight-page report on Oct. 15 and released it earlier this week.
Dr. Bonnie de Vries, the former CHS medical director and co-incident commander of WSU’s COVID-19 response, left for another job over the summer. Many previous staff complaints focused on de Vries’ leadership both before and during the pandemic. Some employees say similar leadership issues continue.
“In all areas, the majority expressed they did not feel respected by their direct supervisor nor felt they could approach their supervisor with concerns or recommendations,” the HRS report states. “Additional concerns identified included: absent and/or lack of leadership; feelings of being expendable; lack of respect from leadership; inconsistent communication and lack of clarity; inefficiency in assignment of role, duties and locations; and excessive committees and meetings within CHS.”
Some staff also described bullying or overhearing demeaning comments from supervisors. Others said short staffing led to increased micromanaging and decreased time with patients. Supervisors meanwhile alleged staff had sent anonymous complaints and secretly recorded meetings.
Joel Schwartzkopf, who took over as CHS Executive Director in October 2020, requested the internal assessment earlier this year in response to the ongoing complaints. He told Whitman County Watch in an email he appreciated CHS staff coming forward with their concerns and embracing the assessment.
“We … have thoroughly reviewed the document,” Schwartzkopf wrote. “We have already begun implementing several of the recommendations that were proposed. In addition, we have experienced a change in medical clinic leadership since the interviews were originally conducted in the spring.”
An interim medical director now oversees clinical care in the wake of de Vries’ departure. Schwartzkopf’s position had also been vacant for 18 months prior to his hire. His supervisor recently moved up to Vice President of Student Affairs.
Whitman County Watch obtained the new report via a public records request. The HRS assessment reiterates and expands upon some of the leadership and COVID-19 response concerns Whitman County Watch reported on in fall of 2020. Read our previous story here.
Two current Cougar Health employees contacted Whitman County Watch after the HRS report was released, saying many of the leadership and trust problems continue.
“They understated what’s going on,” one employee said of the new HRS report, adding, “[CHS leadership] have not addressed any of those issues. … It’s gotten worse.”
The employees said staffing losses had also increased workloads while undermining the quality of care. Both staffers said several key or longtime employees had quit in recent months.
“We have lost a significant number of employees,” one said. “Our jobs are not easy. It’s been a very bad work environment.”
Employees said the frontline work demands and leadership issues at Cougar Health make recruiting replacements difficult. Many health care institutions have reported dramatic increases in employee burnout as the pandemic has stretched to two years.
The HRS report also acknowledged concerns unfilled positions could put more strain on the remaining clinic staff and make scheduling more challenging.
“While staff continues to meet deadlines,” the report states, “it would be beneficial to review workloads, position descriptions, and organizational structure and fill positions as needed and budget allows.”
WSU’s Workday job postings advertised about a half dozen open medical, psychology or patient support positions as of this morning.
In his email, Schwartzkopf praised the staff’s work over the past year to treat students and provide COVID-19 vaccinations. He cited the decrease in university cases compared to last fall as evidence of their successful efforts and noted Cougar Health had administered more than 800 boosters in recent weeks.
“I would also like to emphasize how hard the medical clinic staff have worked throughout this pandemic,” he wrote. “Every one of them has greatly contributed to WSU Pullman’s return to an in-person experience this semester.”
The HRS inquiry repeatedly refers to allegations Cougar Health workers had recorded staff meetings without consent. Few other details were provided. Washington state law requires two-party consent to record “private” conversations, but an expectation of privacy can be interpreted in many ways.
(The Inlander reported this week that the administrative officer of the Spokane Public Health District filed a police report against her own staff for similarly recording meetings amid its ongoing leadership crisis.)
The HRS assessment concludes with recommendations for clarifying policies and staff expectations to help rebuild Cougar Health’s workplace dynamics. The report also encourages increased accessibility to leadership, additional collaboration on clinical practices and improved transparency.
On Tuesday — the day the HRS report was released to Whitman County Watch — employees say WSU Vice President of Student Affairs Ellen Taylor called a last-minute, in-person meeting with Cougar Health medical staff. Taylor, who oversees Schwartzkopf and Cougar Health, recently moved from her associate vice president position to take over for former Vice President of Student Affairs Mary Jo Gonzales.
The employees allege Taylor reprimanded staff for taking their concerns to the media and complaining about other clinic policies, including a prohibition on Christmas decorations. A follow-up email to staff from Schwartzkopf confirms Taylor met with staff about leadership concerns and other policy complaints.
“I also want to let you know that we recently received a report of hate speech in the medical clinic,” he added. “These behaviors will not be tolerated and you can be assured that we will swiftly and appropriately respond to any reports of discrimination, harassment, or intolerance in the workplace.”
Cougar Health employees said the ongoing issues and staffing could make responding to a potential Omicron variant surge in January difficult. Schwartzkopf said Cougar Health has moved its COVID-19 respiratory care center from Bustad Hall back into the Washington Building’s former emergency room, but is prepared to “scale up” its response if needed.
“Be assured that we are monitoring trends across the country and that there are no plans to halt in-person instruction or on-campus services on any of our campuses,” he wrote in an email to staff Wednesday. “As always, we will look at the available information and make proactive decisions when needed, based on solid data and the best public health practices.”
The executive director position was open for 18 months. The head doctor left. The head of student affairs quit. The HR report is mostly gibberish. The new head of student affairs chews out the employees the very day this article comes out. In person. During a pandemic.
Employees say things are getting worse and the suit in charge says everything is fine.
Why are we not surprised?
Typical Wazzu dysfunction and incompetence.
Did the apparent disfunction at Health Service contribute to the out of control COVID outbreak among the students in Fall 2020? During the summer it was stated that the campus would be ready for in person learning and that there would be adequate COVID testing. However, when the semester started there seemed to be no WSU response to high levels of Pullman students studying remotely. Significant levels of testing near campus only occurred after the National Guard was deployed.
This investigative report completed by WSU Human Resources regarding WSU Cougar Health Clinic is very concerning especially since the investigators and authors of the report are employed by the very institution they are investigating. With the negative press WSU and Cougar Health Clinic leadership has had since the initial article came out one year ago, HRS could reasonably anticipate this investigative report would reach the public eventually and therefore intentionally minimize the mistreatment by leadership towards staffers. WSU’s first priority is to protect WSU. With as negative as this report is, the demeaning behavior the staff endured from the leadership being investigated was likely far worse than what was portrayed in this report.
It appears that staffers asked upper administration multiple times for help but did not receive any relief from being bullied by their immediate supervisors. The staffer’s complaints from the article about Cougar Health Clinic last year are corroborated in this report written by Human Resources themselves this year. It appears that nothing has improved or changed, and that the staffers who spoke out last year were telling the truth.
The current VP, Dr. Taylor, reprimanding the staff in a last minute, unanticipated, full staff meeting the day the investigative report was released appears retaliatory, and actually aligns with the bullying behavior by leadership that staff report.
The executive director and his supervisor, Dr. Taylor, as well as the other supervisors referenced, should acknowledge there is a serious problem with their management style rather than conceal their transgressions and cast blame.