Friday, December 17, 2004

Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to be HR Directors

With apologies to Waylon Jennings (at least I think that's whose song that was... or was it Willie Nelson?), I stand by the title. Sometimes I wonder how I got into this line of work. While it can have its rewards, there are also days like this.

There's a department head at my hospital whom I like very much. He keeps his department running nicely, he's a good guy, he's a war veteran. All in all, he's a decent guy. He's even one of the few people who not only came to pay a shiva call when my Mom died (for those of you not familiar with Jewish customs, think of it like a wake, except it happens after the funeral), but he also sat with me and offered real words of wisdom and comfort.

So today, after a decision was made at the highest levels, I was given the lovely task of letting this gentleman go. I was able to get him some severance pay and continuation of health insurance coverage, but it still stinks.

Given the way things have been going lately, I may be doing him a favor by separating him from this particular hospital ('cause we sure don't need "shades" to deal with our future... it's just not looking that bright!). Even so, it's not easy doing something like this to a good guy, and he's a good guy.

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