The filp side

[ZildaM]

As someone who was on a J-1 waiver/H-1b/PERM/AOS/GC process, I completely support and sympathize with all of the physicians in the same situation. We have all heard horrible stories about how the evil employer abuses J-1 waiver physicians. I wanted to share a flip side with the forum to see what other members think about the scenario.

My group hired a J-1 waiver physician 18 months ago. Since the hire, the physician has been problematic. The individual has been unresponsive to the nurses' calls for assistance and on several occasions, refused to take admissions and transfers. The physician has been written up by the nurses, the ED docs and the hospitalists. However, the allegations were not strong enough to build the grounds for termination with a cause. Now, in the J-1 waiver contract, the group cannot fire the physician without a cause until the first 3 years have passed. This individual is well aware of this loophole and is consciously exploiting it. The group believes this person is a liability but is at a loss of a methodical way to deal with the bad behaviors. The group's attorney did not offer much of a way out except for suggesting a severence package for a mutual departure and/or withholding the green card process at the end of the J-1 waiver. The former option is costly, and the latter means we are stuck with the physician for at least 18 more months. And we obviously are not looking forward to it.

I am curious to hear what the forum thinks about the scenario. Thanks for all the input.

 

[psychmd7]

If you think he may be doing anything that could be considered negligence, you can report him to the licensing board. They can enforce disciplinary action and revoke his license which would be then a cause for termination.However, you really want to first speak with him and find out what the problem is because terminating a J1 waiver employment is highly significant for the individual as you know yourself. The first step would be to understand what is going on with this physician that is causing such behavior. Typically, j1 waiver physicians work hard and want to get it over with as soon as possible. The exploitation is usually at the end of the employer and not the employee. Maybe he is having a tough personal situation.

 

[posmd]

"the allegations were not strong enough to build the grounds for termination with a cause"

Not responding to nurses calls? Not accepting patient admissions/transfers presumably when on call?
Wouldn't these sort of actions get him thrown off of medical staff? If that were to happen wouldn't that nullify his/her contract.
I am not clear what is behind this physicians attitude. Additionally he/she loses an opportunity to start the immigration process. Also they will not have an easy time getting licensed/staff privileges in the future when reference checks are done.
All that said however, the problem is largely in the opposite direction. Employers abusing J1 doctors. Ideally we would have a system where the J1 physician is mandated to serve in the HPSA/MUA but no employer sponsor is needed. Physician autonomy should be guarded by all concerned.

 

[ZildaM]

Thanks for all the replies. When the physician in question was confronted with the allegations, (s)he basically said all the nurses and ED docs were liars and none of the documented incidents actually happened. With the "he said, she said" scenario in hand, the group's attorney didn't think the allegations could be used solidly.

I think going through the hospital's medical staff office and hospital privileges might be the answer here. I'll run it by the other partners and we'll give it a go. Thanks again for chiming in your advices.