Hospitals in San Antonio

[velardern]

As a fellow ICU nurse, if you're more specific about what you're looking for, I can be of better help. University from a nursing standpoint, is not as bad as others' may feel it is. It's rather nice for a state funded hospital and 1 of the two level 1 hospitals in town, the other is BAMC (military). Baptist is still having mgmt issues after many years as evidenced by the no. of nursing jobs they have posted on a regular basis. Methodist is better, but HCA owned and not one of the better paying hospitals. Santa Rosa falls along the lines of Methodist. They're catholic based, won't cover birth control (thinking of your healthcare benefits), etc. Southwest General, although on the Southside of town which many may look down upon, is actually a rather decent hospital with a brand new heart program that's running quite smoothly. The hospitals along the 1604 corridor are the nicer ones, but then again, may not get the excitement that University or Southwest gets. I say that because at Southwest we get quite a bit of drug OD's, pts. with tons of comorbities,vents, gtts, etc. It all depends on what you want. Pay wise Southwest is paying the most in town with a 10k sign on bonus for 3 years, not bad if you ask me. I've worked at most of the hospitals in town and would be happy to answer specific questions. If you do CCU or CVICU, there's Texsan Heart Hospital as well. As a nurse I'm sure you know that there are good and bad qualities with any organization. I would recommend checking out the hospitals close to where you'll be living and then branch out from there. Also, the commute anywhere in town at 6 am is not bad in the least bit. If you work nites, you might hit the tail end of rush hour depending on where you'll be living-something to consider when deciding what shift you'll be working.

[Chaka]

Just to give a summary, there are a number of hospital "systems" in town:

Methodist - NE, Stone Oak (NC), and Downtown (Metropolitan), also a number of specialty clinics

Baptist - NE, NC, Med Center (St Lukes), SE, and downtown (Called Baptist Medical Center though it's not the one IN the medical center)

Christus Santa Rosa (the Catholics) - downtown and medical center

As as system they are each run by one management team overall, one general philosophy overall, although the situations in each hospital will vary like any place.

The others are Southwest General - a privately run hospital (parent corp is in another state, but this is the only facility in this area).

Two military facilities - BAMC and Wilford Hall (Lackland). BAMC being a level I trauma Center like university.


One public hospital - University Hospital.

As a patient I've had lousy service at Methodist downtown, CSR downtown, St Luke's. As a patient I've had excellent service at Methodist downtown, CSR downtown, St Luke's - just depended on the situation.

I work in a professional capacity with each hospital system and closely with many of their nursing staff, though I am not a nurse and don't work for any of the hospitals. From that viewpoint, I have seen very good things with UHS, SW General, Methodist. I have a very high opinion of the staff I've encountered in the Baptist system (those I've encountered in a professional capacity, not those I've encountered as a patient) but a very low opinion of the senior management.

Each individual hospital has its own character, specialty, and "type" of patient. So it'll all depend on what you're looking for.