Contracts are only as good as those who stand behind them.

Several years back I bought a piece of property. The property had a marina slip and some other amenities. As luck would have it and just before closing the area was hit with a hurricane. This did damage to the common areas and the marina slips as well. At first glance we didn’t think it was that bad. We had not closed on the property yet so we could have backed out.

However since we didn’t think the damage was too extensive we decided to proceed. In our contract we put that the seller agreed to pay for all assessments related to the hurricane. He agreed and we moved forward. It took over 2 years for all the repairs to be made and the assessments were higher than we all thought they would be. The seller balked at the money and refused to pay it despite it being in the contract. We of course got our lawyer involved. He got his lawyer involved and it was back and forth over a prolonged period. Ultimately we settled because the cost to fight to get what we were owed was greater than the actual amount. We would have spent much more.

This brings me to my point. Contracts are only as good as the people standing behind them. It really doesn’t matter what your contract states if the person or company is not going to stand behind it. You may threaten to sue. You may actually sue. However, by the time it actually makes it to court and you get what is owed minus the legal fees and not to mention hassles to your overall life, you do not come out ahead. I have known a CRNA who was owed 20k from an employer who filed bankruptcy. Do you think he ever saw a dime of that money?

No matter what is in your contract, you must sign contracts with people you trust. Then and only then can you expect the contract will not be broken. This goes both ways. Not only should you work with companies you trust, but you must be trustworthy yourself. You must stand behind your end of the contract and do what is right. Most contracts have a 30 day cancellation period. This protects you but it also protects the facility. If you cancel on your end then they lose revenue. They can no longer staff that room and ultimately it may result in cancellation of cases and loss of income.

There was a CRNA who canceled a contract on a Sunday before a Monday start. There was no legit reason for this and the facility had to scramble causing them to close for 2 days while they looked for a replacement. The locum agency was also fined by that company because of the actions of the CRNA.

Contracts are only as good as the people who stand behind them. Be the CRNA who stands behind what he/she agrees to and only work with agencies who do the same.