Significant stagnation in the leadership ranks
Pros
Scripps Health does have some of the finest clinicians with whom I have had the opportunity to work. In fact even though I have left the organization I continue to receive my care from Scripps Health because the care is top notch. This is not because they are necessarily the most state of the art or most cutting edge, there just seems to be a genuine culture of caring imbued in the clinical staff. Likewise, the many locations spread through San Diego County are enviable. The weather is nearly always pleasant. Scripps has also invest heavily in physical infrastructure, especially in La Jolla and to the north. As a result their workplace facilities are often incredibly new, well-designed, and state-of-the-art.
Cons
I will bring up several themes that other previous reviewers have mentioned. In many ways I deeply appreciate the visibility that GlassDoor offers, because in hindsight, I can honestly say I was not alone in my feelings, although I was led to believe so. I read in a previous review that Scripps is very much promotes people "in the same mold" or "do not rock the boat". Based on my personal experience, I must concur with that assessment. Although I was hired into a leadership position in SHAS (Scripps Health Administrative Services) from the outside, and told during the interview process my wealth of outside experience would be a great asset to Scripps, I was more often than not told formally and informally by my peers and other leaders that I needed to do more to fit in. A trusted outside mentor of mine described it best to me when I recounted my predicament to her: Scripps is a "go along to get along" organization. Loyalty is valued much more valued as an asset than experience or innovation. This was antithetical to the very "speak truth to power" leadership culture which had been instilled in me, so at the end of the day, it was a terrible fit. Unfortunately it is this "go along to get along" culture that drives opportunities for growth and promotion within the organization. I can recount numerous times when individuals who were neither the most qualified, most senior, nor most capable were offered promotion time and time again simply because they fit the mold of a Scripps leader. This is often the worst kept secret in the organization - certain individuals will get promoted because they are well connected while both looking and acting the part of a Scripps Leader, not because their talents or efforts really made them stand apart. Again, this is probably the worst kept secret in all of Scripps and is often discussed behind the scenes, but is never addressed for fear of professional reprisal. Lastly, probably the most challenging aspect of working at Scripps was working with my peers. There is almost a "Survivor" like mentality among the director-level leaders and above at Scripps. The very low turnover rates among the executive ranks, combined with the vast title inflation in the middle management, creates this Darwinian competition to get any advantage for promotional opportunities. I personally experienced this behavior, and I saw it time and again happen to others. Directors see each other not as colleagues, but as competitors, doing all they can to make themselves stand out, usually at the expense of one another. This created an atmosphere of intrigue and maliciousness I haven't witnessed even in my years in the cutthroat world of publicly-traded companies. Even for the best intentions, I was routinely thrown under the bus by peers. Trust is minimal within peer groups, although at leadership gatherings everyone acts like it is all one big happy family.
