MGH and McLean Hospital Policies,
Benefits and Stipends

Affirmative Action

¥Equal Opportunity Employers
MGH and McLean Hospitals are firmly committed to equal opportunity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, physical or mental handicap or veteran status. This commitment extends to admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, the programs, services and activities of the Hospitals.

¥Prohibition of Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment in the workplace is unacceptable conduct and will not be tolerated or condoned on the part of supervisors and/or employees.

In 1988, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission decided to treat medical interns and residents as “employees,” thus affording them the same protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Such conduct is unlawful when:

• Submission is made, either explicitly or implicitly, a term or condition of employment

• Submission or rejection is used as a basis for employment-related decisions including, but not limited to, hiring, promotion, performance evaluation, disciplinary action or

salary decisions
• It creates an intimidating, offensive or hostile working environment or unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance.

All claims of sexual harassment must be reported and will be investigated promptly and thoroughly.


Benefits
MGH/McLean child and adolescent residents receive all benefits and stipends through the MGH.

Health Care
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) offers a comprehensive benefits program to Interns, Residents and Fellows who earn a $10,000 annual salary and are scheduled to work at least 87 hours per month.

• ¥Medical Insurance
  MGH offers several health plans including: Blue Cross and Blue Shield, MGH Plus, Master Health Plus, Master Medical, Basic Medical, Harvard Community Health Plan, Tufts Total Health Plan and Pilgrim Health Care. Regardless of which plan you choose, coverage is effective upon enrollment, for you and your eligible family members, with no waiting periods.
  
  Employee contributions toward health insurance are deducted from your paycheck on a pre-tax basis. In order to offer you this savings, we must restrict enrollments in accordance with IRS regulations. You may enroll in a medical insurance plan during your first month of employment or during the annual open enrollment period. The hospital makes a significant contribution to the cost of all health plans.
  
  
• ¥Dental Insurance
  MGH offers two Delta Dental Plans: Major Dental and Basic Dental
  
  
• ¥Vision Care
  The vision plan offers you a network of over 120 Davis Vision participating optometrists to choose from in Massachusetts.
  

Tax Savers Plan
By enrolling in a Health Care or Dependent Care Account, you may set aside a certain amount of your pay, before it is taxed, to pay for eligible expenses. This decreases your tax liability and increases your spendable income.

• ¥ Health Care Account
  The Health Care Account allows you to set aside up to $3,000 per year, on a pre-tax basis, to pay for medical, dental and vision expenses, which are not covered by your insurance. For example, you can save on:
  
  • co-payments and deductibles related to your medical plan
  
  • dental work
  
  • vision exams and eyeglasses
  
  • prescription drugs
  
  • routine physicals
  
  • outpatient psychiatric care over benefit maximum
  

• ¥ Dependent Care Account
  The Dependent Care Account allows you to set aside up to $5,000 per year to pay for child or dependent care services that allow you and your spouse to work. You can also use this account to pay for dependent care expenses, if your spouse is disabled or a full-time student at least five months during the year. Eligible expenses include:
  
  • day care centers or summer day camp
  
  • dependent care providers in or outside of your home
  
  • nursery school or kindergarten
  
  • dependent care centers for adults
  

You may enroll in either of these accounts within your first 30 days of employment or during the annual open enrollment period. At the end of each year, you must tell the Benefits Office how much to set aside for the next calendar year. Enrollments do not carry over from year to year. Once you have elected to have a certain amount set aside, you may not change that amount during the Plan year, unless you have a consistent change in your lifestyle, such as marriage, divorce, birth of a child, change of employment status for you or your spouse or death of a spouse. This change in family status must be consistent with the change you wish to make.

Plan carefully. Any money left in these accounts at the end of the year will be forfeited, in accordance with IRS regulations. Since certain restrictions apply to the use of these accounts, please consult with the Benefits Office or your tax advisor before enrolling in either of these Plans.

Income Protection

¥ Long-term Disability Insurance
MGH offers a salary protection plan free to you that would provide monthly income should you become unable to work because of illness or injury. You are eligible for coverage under this Plan immediately upon employment. Enrollment is automatic.

To become eligible for benefits under the Plan, you must wait three months after you cease working. You may use any accrued vacation or sick time during this initial waiting period. After three months of total disability, you will receive 60% of your base pay.

In addition, disabled participants in the Plan receive:

• continued health insurance coverage at the same rate as active employees

• continued Group Life Insurance coverage at no cost

Survivor Protection

¥ Group Life Insurance
You will receive life insurance coverage equal to your annual salary. The cost of this coverage is paid entirely by MGH.

¥ Group Universal Life Insurance
You may purchase additional life insurance for yourself, your spouse and your eligible dependents. If you are within your first month of employment and are under age 75, you are entitled to Guaranteed Issue Coverage of $150,000 and your spouse, $50,000. No physical exam or medical questionnaire is required to obtain the Guaranteed Issue Coverage. An application is necessary.

To obtain additional coverage for yourself or your spouse under this Plan, your Evidence of Insurability form must be approved by the life insurance carrier. Once you or your spouse have coverage, you may purchase $5,000 of life insurance for your dependent children. An accidental death and dismemberment rider is also available under this Plan.

¥ Cash Accumulation Account
If you and/or your spouse participate in the Group Universal Life Insurance program, the participant may, through after-tax payroll deductions, contribute to this account. The amount you choose is directly related to your age and your amount of Group Universal Life Insurance.

• Interest accumulates tax-deferred at the current rate.

• A minimum withdrawal of $500 is available at any time, with a $25 service charge.

• Loans are available at a 6% interest rate; however, the accumulation rate is 4% while borrowing from your accumulation account.

¥ Travel Accident Insurance
Most MGH employees are insured for up to $250,000 if accidental death, dismemberment or total disability occurs while traveling on Hospital business. The cost of this coverage is paid entirely by MGH.

Retirement Benefits

¥ Tax Sheltered Annuity
You may set aside a portion of your pay to purchase a Tax Sheltered Annuity to supplement your retirement income. A TSA offers you the opportunity to reduce current income taxes, defer taxes on your investment earnings and save for your retirement. Your ability to make tax deductible contributions to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is affected by pension plan membership. A TSA can be an excellent alternative.

You may enroll in the TSA program at any time. The maximum allowable contribution may be as much as 20% of your annual salary, up to a limit of $9,500 per year. The amount you contribute to the program may be changed only once per calendar year.

At the time you enroll, you will be asked to choose an investment vehicle. The Benefits Office can provide you with detailed information on the investment options available. Access to money contributed to a TSA plan is limited and penalties apply to any funds withdrawn prior to age 59 1/2.

Malpractice Insurance
Interns, residents and clinical fellows holding a clinical appointment at MGH are eligible for malpractice insurance. The policy is underwritten by the Controlled Risk Insurance Company, Ltd., better known as CRICO, and will cover your clinical activities at MGH and McLean. You must complete a malpractice registration form in the benefits office to be covered by this policy. The current limits of liability are $5,000,000 each claim and $10,000,000 annual aggregate each physician, subject to a combined program aggregate of $110,000,000 for all insureds. The policy provides insureds with “tail coverage” for claims made subsequent to their departure but arising out of medical incidents occurring during the period of their participation in the program.

Vacation, Sickness and Maternity Leave
The policy for these benefits is outlined in the MGH House Officer's Manual.

¥ Vacations
Residents are entitled to four weeks of paid vacation and attendance at one conference each year. Vacation schedules need to be planned well in advance, in line with each service’s schedule. In general, the first and last two weeks of each rotation should not be used for vacation or conference time.

DEA (narcotic number)
A DEA number is issued by the Registrar under the MGH umbrella number. It is effective for the term of training. However, all child and adolescent psychiatry residents are required to obtain their own DEA numbers and permanent Massachusetts medical licenses.

Child Care
The Hospital is pleased to offer quality on-site day care at the MGH Children’s Center located in the historic Captain’s Quarters building in the Charlestown Navy Yard. For information on rates and available space, please contact the Children’s Center at X 6-KIDS.

Employee Assistance Program
As a health care provider, MGH recognizes that everyone, at some point, has to deal with stressful personal situations, which may affect individual well-being or job performance. In response to this need, MGH offers a free, confidential source of help in the Employee Assistance Program. To speak with a representative of the EAP, call X 6-6976.

Harvard University Credit Union
A wide variety of financial services are available to all MGH employees for savings and loans through payroll deduction. A branch of the Harvard University Credit Union is located on the MGH Campus.

Direct Deposit
Residents may enjoy the convenience of having your paycheck automatically deposited into your bank account.

Corrective Discipline: Fair Hearing and Appellate Review
Residents are subject to the professional staff regulations defined in the MGH “Bylaws of the professional staff,” as amended through February 21, 1992, and The McLean Hospital “Bylaws of the professional staff,” as amended through May 21, 1992. Copies of the “Bylaws” are given to each resident at the beginning of their training.

Parking
Parking at McLean is free, so long as cars are registered with Security. Reduced parking rates are provided by MGH.

Library and Computer Services
Both MGH and McLean offer extensive medical library services and free computer search services.

Harvard University Privileges
All residents in the MGH/McLean Training Program have Harvard Medical School appointments. As such, residents will be issued Harvard identification cards and residents may use all of the University facilities, such as the Countway Medical Library, the Harvard athletic facilities and the Technical Product Center (for reduced rates on computers, software, etc.). Literature on the many other services available through the University will be given to each resident at the beginning of his/her training.

Stipends
Residents are paid directly by MGH according to the standard hospital-wide schedule for each PGY level. The stipends usually increase in line with inflation and the rising cost of living. The salary level is highly competitive with other Boston training programs. (For example, the salary for PGY IV is currently $53,343.) In addition, each year residents may draw from a special fund, with approval from the Chiefs of MGH and McLean, for academic expenses such as attending conferences.

Moonlighting Policy
The MGH/McLean Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Training Program permits residents to “moonlight” under the following conditions:

• Residents obtain their own malpractice policy, either an independent one or a rider to the MGH/McLean CRICO Plan.

• Activities may not occur during the normal daily residency working hours or interfere with training obligations. The guidelines for maximum hours per week are contained on the MGH/McLean Moonlighting Report Form.

• All moonlighting activities must be reported on the MGH/McLean Moonlighting Report Form and be turned in to the Training Director.

• Residents may not treat private patients under age 18.

• If a resident’s moonlighting activities involve evaluating or admitting children under the age of 16 to an inpatient, residential or partial hospital facility in conjunction with adult admissions and/or providing back-up child psychiatry supervision for a general psychiatry moonlighter, the resident must certify that he/she has an assigned Board-eligible or -certified child and adolescent psychiatrist available for his/her own supervision.

Duty Hours Policy
The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education requires the following Common Duty Hours Standard for all residents in accredited programs. Partners residencies are required to comply with the following:

1. An 80-hour weekly limit, averaged over four weeks
   
   
2. An adequate rest period, which should consist of ten hours of rest between
   duty hours
   
   
3. A 24-hour limit on continuous duty, with up to six added hours for continuity
   of care and education
   
   
4. One day in seven free from patient care and educational obligations, averaged over
   four weeks
   
   
5. In-house call no more than once every three nights, averaged over four weeks These requirements also include any moonlighting activities. If residents choose to moonlight, they must fill out a moonlighting form and keep this up to date.

Training to Enhance Patient Safety
In accordance with ACGME policy, the training program includes seminars and discussion about dealing with fatigue, sleep deprivation, work and life related stress, and other factors that may impair resident performance. We also adhere to training in other hospital policies on infection control, fire and safety procedures, and disaster training.