Best hospitals in the area? (Seattle, Tacoma: insurance, how much, school districts)

[GMonkey]

By best, I mean the best at which to work? We may be moving to the area and I'm a CT/X-ray tech specializing in ER/trauma imaging. Husband may get a job at Boeing, or doing something defense or airplane related.

School districts not important.

[Ruth4Truth]

I can't say for sure which are the best to work at, but I'd place my bets on Virginia Mason. Very well-regarded, and some of their specialists are several cuts above their peers at other local hospitals.

Some of the other hospitals clearly have problems with the level of reimbursement from insurance companies, I can tell you that. And that must have a bearing on employee pay. Doctors at some of the other hospitals book 4-6 patients for the same 1/2 hour appointment, so that each patient only gets 5 minutes of the doc's time (woefully inadequate, to say the least). So docs and staff are always harried. That never happens at Virginia Mason. Based on that criterion, hospitals to avoid: University of Washington, and Northwest.

Harborview has a very busy emergency room/trauma center. That's because they take Medicaid patients and people without insurance. Virginia Mason doesn't take those patients. So again, the work environment is more orderly, less stressful.

That's all I can tell you. That may give you a general indication. But I don't know how much choice you'd have. You'd have to go wherever there's a job opening, I imagine.

[CrazyDonkey]

According to U.S. News, the top ranked hospitals in the Seattle area are:

1. UW Medical Center*
2. Evergreen (Kirkland)
3. Harborview*
4. Virginia Mason
5. Northwest*
(tie) Providence
7. Tacoma General
8. Swedish-Cherry Hill**
9. Swedish-First Hill**

* All part of the UW Medicine system, along with Valley Medical Center (S. King County)
** Other Swedish campuses include Ballard, Issaquah, Edmonds, Mill Creek, Redmond.

Best Hospitals in Seattle, Washington - US News Best Hospitals

[ilovekotatsu]

I love Overlake!

[Ira500]

I have a friend who's an RN at valley in Renton, part of the UW system. She loves it there. Which doesn't mean it's a good place for X ray techs.

[GMonkey]

RNs are definitely paid better and are typically treated better than people in Radiology. Not sour grapes, just fact. Their jobs are often harder, depending on the department, and they usually have to spend more time with patients.

Still, it's usually at least a starting metric to gauge the general work environment of a hospital.

[BellevueNative]

As a patient, I like Evergreen, Swedish and Virginia Mason more than Overlake. I hear Providence Everett is great, and in terms of an employer I've heard good things about The Everett Clinic.

[Ruth4Truth]

I don't know what the criteria were for ranking those hospitals, but there's no way UW Med Ctr. is the best. Their specialists are an embarrassment to the profession. Their primary care docs don't take their jobs seriously. They just wave patients away, telling them they're fine, nothings' wrong. (No testing offered to check out chronic complaints.) Frankly, they strike me as not very bright. Virginia Mason operates on a higher plane in most specialties. It's always had the highest reputation among Seattle residents.

Harborview is recognized as outstanding for emergency care, especially catastrophic accidents. They're very good at gluing people back together and getting them ambulatory in short order.

[BellevueNative]

Harborview really ONLY does trauma. Not just in the Seattle area, but for a few states. It's the only level 1 trauma center in the region. That being said, it's not where you go for primary care or for minor boo-boos.

Swedish and VM have good ERs for non-trauma care. On the Eastside, so does Evergreen and Overlake. Swedish now has additional campuses with ERs in Issaquah and Mill Creek. Overlake has a campus in Issaquah, too.

UW Medical Center should not be confused with UW Medicine (a chain of primary care and other routine medical care). UW Medical Center is a research hospital and is outstanding. That's hospital, not "doctor's office." They do groundbreaking surgeries there, as well as routine surgery and hospitalization. The UW has one of the nation's top 5 medical schools, so this shouldn't be surprising.

OP, surely there must be a better source in your industry for knowing which hospitals are good employers?

[GMonkey]

There's basically Glassdoor.com, but I think that the reviews largely come from people bellyaching about personal bad experiences.

No official healthcare industry source would allow people to bad mouth hospitals. Also, we have differing opinions on great places to work. Some people like the challenge of a high trauma center, while others prefer a relaxed atmosphere. Some want high pay above all and others are willing to forego pay in lieu of educational benefits, nice doctors, etc.