Pros
When it comes to patient care, I have worked in multiple Boston area hospitals. Boston Medical Center walks the walk and talks the talk of caring for anyone and everyone. I believe it is the largest free-care hospital in New England. Spanish, Haitian, Cape Verde, Brazilian... if you name a place, we likely have a patient population from there as well as staff from there as well. We have an extensive phone interpreter program in case you only speak one, two or three languages. I have one co-worker who speaks 5 (FIVE!) languages! For that reason, there is a dedication through out the whole hospital that is palpable. And I see this at all levels: Nurses, MD's, housekeeping, admin staff.
Cons
Now this is a large institution and that always brings issues with communication, changes that nobody wants to make. There is also a strong sense of conforming to the rules and regs of the Joint Commision. And, while that is not a bad thing, it does mean that people and departments can be quite policy and procedure bound. Essentially, the hospital doesn't shy away from red tape. Also, because of the location near several homeless shelters and "methadone mile" you will see alot of drunks, addicts and homeless people. In the hospital and around the fringes of campus. Security does a good job, a really good job trying to keep everyone safe. Also, it is a union hospital. again, not a good or bad thing... just adds more red tape. And there are exceptions to the wonderful caring attitudes that I mentioned before. People using phones to call long distance relatives, watching TV in waiting rooms. And of course staffing. always need more staffing.