Uncertainty of Change

I started working at Wentworth Douglass Hospital recently as a revenue analyst and this has been a interesting experience so far. The hospital announced its official merger with Mass General on my first day of work. This was somewhat of a strange first day being in a large room full of people who have been with the hospital for years and me not even having an hour under my belt. I thought it was a very fun first day though and did not think to much about it until later that day. I was being trained by my coworker who had been talking about how nervous she was for this merger and about her future with the hospital. This made sense based of the things I have learned in school about mergers and how there tends to be cuts in the smaller hospital. This uncertainty was a common trend through out the hospital and started making me even question my future with the hospital. For me it was not a huge deal because if I was to get laid off it does not mean all that much because I have only been there for a little bit, but for many they have been there for years and having to start fresh in the work force is always a challenging obstacle. My boss and I had a meeting one day about 3 weeks after i started about a report I was working on and asked if I plan on staying after I graduate, and I had sated that I would love to but it seems pretty up in the air what is happening with the merger. I personally knew if there were cuts in the future me being one of the newest to the team would be the first to get the boot. I then talked a little bit about how many people felt this uncertainty and she was truly shocked about this.This comment must have stuck with her because the next day she put together a meeting for the whole revenue department, which before the meeting actually scared the employees a lot more since it was titled "Details of merger". This meeting was all about the positive details and how she cant say for sure but that there most likely will not be any reduction of staff in the future due to the merger and that if that does happen there will be 6 months of compensation with also resources to help find placement elsewhere. She also went on to talk about how this merger could even mean growth in our hospital while also opening up opportunities to work at Mass General Hospital. This to me was a very genuine meeting and that every thing they said was true. If they had not done this meeting many employees may have not felt secure here and look elsewhere to work. This brings up the point that when there is any big changes in any organization it is extremely important to make sure your staff is on the same page and everything is transparent so there is no fear of the unknown,