St. Helena Hospital

Reviews 4

MA

Mark

I am very conflicted in writing this review because the care and help we receive from the medical staff was absolutely terrific, however the administration of this hospital is completely and utterly useless, bordering on criminal and I feel like I need to warn others who may make the mistake of going here in the future. A member of my family had a minor bike accident and was taken here by ambulance. As we were travelling from outside the US at the time I provided my travel medical insurance information as soon as we arrived at emergency. The administration took the insurance card, contacted my insurance provider, got full approval for the services and was told to bill the insurance provider directly. Amazing right? Everything actually worked the way it is supposed to right? ...Wrong. A few weeks after returning home I started receiving invoices. The first was for the emergency room visit. As I had been told it would all be taken care of by my insurance company I wasnt too concerned but decided to contact them just to be sure everything was being handled. To my surprise my insurance company had not received any invoices to date and requested that I forward them a copy and also contact the hospital to remind them that they agreed to contact my insurance directly in the future. My insurance company promised to also follow up as well and did so. Ok, good, taken care of... right? A few weeks later another invoice arrived, this time for the ambulance ride. Again I followed the procedure and was told by my insurance company that all bills they had received had been dealt with and were previously paid in full but they would look into this as well. A few more months go by and the hospital re-sends me the original invoice for the emergency room, but this time it is marked overdue and the amount is roughly half the original invoice stated. I contact my insurance company and I am told that the amount they are asking for now is actually the difference between the original invoice and the amount that the hospital and the insurance company had agreed to settle on to make this account paid in full. I am told that I owe nothing more as this claim has been settled so it now looks like trying to double-dip on payments hoping that the patient will mistakenly pay the additional not knowing they have no obligation to do so. This even after the agreement had been made to settle with my insurance company. This pattern continued over and over and over numerous times. New copies of the same invoice would arrive months later repeatedly. I would call, explain it has been paid, have my insurance company follow up, the hospital would say ok, we understand ...and then the invoice would show up yet again. I even got calls from collection agencies on money that was already PAID IN FULL and had been for months. It wasnt until I finally said I was gong to give them my lawyers phone number as this wsa now becoming harassment that they stopped calling. The accident was over a year ago now, so why am I writing this? Because amazingly I just received yet another call from yet another collection agency today claiming once again that I owe them money but this time on an invoice that I had never even received. I was also told this was now showing up on my credit report. As I am not an american citizen, and have no desire to be, I honestly dont care what my us credit report says but I still do not want false information about me out there. So now I get to reopen this entire process yet again when all of this could have been easily avoided. This review could have been much different if the hospital administration would have just done their job as the medical professionals did. Just a warning to know your rights and do not pay anything your insurance provider does not approve as it is likely just sneaky tactics to trick you. If you have any other option go someplace else, the medical care is not worth the hassle you will face later.

---

JO

John busch

I was sent to Saint Helena hospital for alcohol abuse prior to cancer treatment by the VA. I was released in 3 days as not having a alcohol problem. I went through cancer treatment with the VA and was released cancer free. But thats not all the story. Saint Helena hospital didnt bill the VA, and didnt bill me, they billed Medicare, which did not cover the entire bill. I did not know of this until one year later when I was sent to collection by Saint Helena Hospital who NEVER NOTIFIED ME. I paid the bill to the collection agency under the understanding this could be straightened out with Saint Helena Hospital. When we contacted Saint Helena Hospital the person we talked to saw the mistake and was going to deal with it. We have been requesting Saint Helena Hospital to resolve this situation for approximately one year. San Francisco has the payment set aside for Saint Helena Hospital and WILL PAY AS SOON AS THEY ARE BILLED, however to do this they must return the over charges to me. I guess Saint Helena "got there money" so "screw" the vet on a fixed income. Oh yea the amount is $639.95, may not mean a lot to Saint Helena Hospital to straighten out there error, but to me on a fixed income it means $639.95, which is a lot of money. Either way Saint Helena wins (they "got" there money) Watch your 6 vets. Or anybody else who cant afford Saint Helenas billing department screwup. John V. Busch

---

KI

Kit Kirkpatrick

I was finally able to quit smoking with the St. Helena Hospitals Take 10 Program. Its really a course in lifestyle change designed and presented by Dr. Peters. The lectures were inspiring and all of us saw dramatic changes in our health in the 10 days that we lived a truly healthy lifestyle. My cholesterol on arriving, for example, was 209 ... not bad. But on leaving, it had dropped almost 40 points! Ive incorporated most of the Healthy Lifestyle now at home and havent been this healthy in years. I feel proud of myself, and I honor myself and my body in new ways. I really cant imagine going back to the old me and havent felt tempted by smokers around me, or junk food, or too many days without good exercise. This is an awesome program for all of us who seek great health through diet and exercise...and want to have fun while doing it.

---

BA

Barbara Rose

No one "wants to go to the ER" so reviews are often filled with a lot of emotion. I can easily say though that I was highly impressed with the care provided at St. Helena ER. I was seen it what I feel was a timely manner for a tiny but busy ER on a Saturday afternoon. Everyone from the front desk to the nurse to the Dr. were friendly and had wonderful beside manner. Dee the nurse was highly efficient in her job and clearly had a passion for patient care. My doctor, Dr. Usha Periyanayagam, was extremely personable and clearly knowledgeable. I left feeling a hundred times better and continue to recover uneventfully. Though I certainly never "hope" to return to St. Helena ER (I was on vacation) it is good to know there is a high quality care ER if I venture back to Napa.

---

---