Indian Health Service jettisons employees.
To the federal government, a contract buyout is called a voluntary separation incentive payment (VSIP). To some soon-to-be former employees of the federal Indian Health Service (IHS), it's called a godsend.
"To me it has been a blessing, because it will hopefully allow me to put the whole IHS thing behind me," Janice Levering, a veteran IHS medical laboratory technologist, says. "I've been fighting the system for so long, but I still would never have taken the
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buyout if the conditions had been better."
The condition of the IHS, and its Santa Fe Service Unit (which covers nine northern New Mexico pueblos) in particular, has been faltering for years. But the system's chronic ailments of budget and bureaucracy (too much of the latter, not enough of the former) have more recently hamstrung the services provided at IHS facilities like the Santa Fe Indian Hospital [Cover story, Dec. 13, 2006: "
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Levering has spent 14 years in the IHS system working as a lab tech, and most of that tenure was spent in the Santa Fe Service Unit at both the Santa Fe Indian Hospital and the Santa Clara Pueblo health center.
Feb. 3 will officially be the last day for Levering and more than 200 other IHS employees nationwide who have accepted a buyout offer from the troubled federal Native American health care system.
According to Jim Lyon, CEO of the Santa Fe Indian Hospital, the buyout is part of a national effort by the IHS to streamline its perpetually underfunded facilities. But with most employees-including Levering-being given the maximum $25,000 buyout, the move likely won't pay immediate financial dividends.
"Initially I don't see that it will save us anything," Lyon says. "We may see a minimal savings this year but, rather than saving money, I think the opportunity is more for us to restructure and refocus some of our activities and hopefully better serve our patients."
According to Jennifer Hovencamp, director of the Human Resources Division at national IHS headquarters, the buyout offer was issued in mid-December and applications had to be turned in by Jan. 12.
"Honestly, I thought we would have more interest," Hovencamp says. "It is a rare occurrence-the last time we offered a VSIP was in 2003-so we were a bit surprised that more people didn't turn in applications."
Then again, not everyone was eligible. Four of the 12 IHS "Areas" didn't participate in the buyout. Within each of those areas, employees serving in critical positions were either not eligible to apply for the buyout or their applications were denied. Lyon says that just under 10 employees within the Santa Fe Service Unit were granted the buyout. However, he says that approximately 30 percent of those employees who applied for the buyout were denied.
"Some positions, like our optometrists or dentists, weren't even eligible," Lyon says. "And then we had some ambulatory care nurses, for instance, who applied but we turned them down because we need those nurses for our patients."
Most of the employees accepted for the buyout were long-time staffers earning a significantly higher pay grade than most new hires. Among them is Diane Polaco, a registered nurse and 30-year IHS veteran at both the Santa Fe Indian Hospital and the Santa Clara health center.
"It was a horrible decision for me to make," Polaco says. "I made a pact with the other nurse that I've worked with for 12 years that we were going to retire at the same time. I had planned on working for a couple more years, but things were just getting so bad."
Polaco, like Levering, says that a lack of support from the local IHS administration is the primary reason for her departure. According to Lyon, most of the positions lost to buyouts will be replaced. Lyon says the Indian Hospital in particular will add a couple of positions (radiologist and podiatrist) and drop at least one (a substance abuse professional). The bulk of the staff lost to buyouts will be nurses, whom Lyon says will likely be replaced by new employees at a lower pay grade and, in some cases, lesser credentials. Polaco worries such personnel moves will diminish the quality of service at local IHS facilities.
She attributes the relative dearth of employees who accepted the buyout to the lack of employees who were eligible or were accepted. It's not, she insists, because of a lack of disgruntlement. Polaco says she's relieved to finally be leaving the employ of the IHS, but she says her departure is also bittersweet.
"I would like to say, 'Frankly, I don't give a damn,' but I do give a damn," Polaco says. "I give a damn because of the patients that I have loved and served for all my career. My concern is for the people that I'm leaving behind and what they'll still have to go through and put up with after I'm gone."
