SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis

Reviews 4

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Donna Toedebusch

HORRIBLE!! Dont go there!! I am an educated, soft spoken, analytical person who gets along with everybody. I am not judgemental or critical, but this hospital is absolutely awful! Go to Barnes Jewish St. Peters where you will be treated with dignity and respect. My husband was brought by ambulance to the ER with a possible heart attack. He has a long history of heart problems, along with a host of other very dangerous medical problems. We were treated like dirt! I tried several times to have them check all my husbands medicines to make sure they knew what they were dealing with, and I was ignored. My husband was freezing, and I could not get one person to even bring him a blanket. A "doctor" finally came in after about an hour - he just strolled in, looked at a chart, and strolled out - no longer than 5 seconds. No introduction, no explanation, no nothing! The ER nurses didnt seem to know what they were doing. First they couldnt find the machine to test my husbands monitor, then they didnt know how to run it. They took blood tests, etc, but no one ever bothered to tell us what was going on. We had no idea if my husbands problem was serious or not, and they didnt care. Next time my husband has a heart attack, I will drive him to Barnes Jewish St. Peters myself, since St. Joseph West is the hospital that the ambulances HAVE TO stop at. I will never go there again. We never saw a real doctor, much less a cardiologist. Finally, they admitted for "observation". Once we got to the 2nd floor, the nurses there were great, but still no doctor, still no information on what was going on. Come the morning, again the same thing - no doctor, no nothing. They wanted to run more tests (more money), but by this time, we had had it and told them we were leaving. Then, all of a sudden, we were important! We were told if we left without seeing a doctor, that all the hospital bills including the ambulance would be refused payment by Medicare and insurance. So, in short, we were held hostage. We couldnt leave!! Of course, the money clock kept ticking away. Finally at around 9:30 a.m. an actual cardiologist came in. He was knowledgeable and very nice, but by this time, we didnt care. I also have to add that after we said we were done and wanted to leave, that all of a sudden we were told that my husbands condition was serious, and they just couldnt understand why we wanted to leave. I was told that no one else had such problems. Really?? They most likely just didnt bother to tell you - most people dont. I have heard over 20 stories since our bad experience from others who had negative experiences as well. This has been going on in this hospital for years, and nothing has been done about it. I cant stress enough to go to Barnes Jewish St. Peters - they are wonderful. I am sure that the "administrator" will add that she/he was so sorry we had such a bad experience - they get paid to do that - do they really think we dont get that? My advice - stay away ! This happened April 2017.

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Cathie Hawa

I took my mother here for treatment for breast cancer in Feb. Of 2017. At the end of March, I took my mother for treatment in IL. It is my belief, ad well as my familys belief that my Mother would be dead or near death by now had we stayed using SSM Cancer Centers for her treatment. My Mother started using a walker, slept all the time, shook uncontrollably and slurred words. The Dr. at SSM CANCER CENTER told us that there were no treatment options since my Mother could not tolerate the drug they gave her. In other words, she would just resign to her cancer. They had my Mother on 7-9 different medications most were narcotic based (to keep her comfortable they said). I had made an appointment while in Missouri, at a cancer center close to my home. We met with the oncologist Doctor and he explained step by step in easy to understand terms about how the cancer she had progressed and how and what to expect with or without treatment. He explained that there was at least 5 different treatment options. He suggested going back on the drug the Dr. in Missouri had taken her off of, but at a lower dose. For the first time we understood the cancer and the mastitis. My mother was very much at ease and told the Doctor that she never got answers to her questions in Missouri and never understood their answers to her questions. Today, my Mother is walking unassisted. She has gained weight, has great coloring and is thriving well. She takes one pain medication twice daily at the lowest dose. She remains on the cancer medication that the Missouri Doctors took her off. Her tumors have shrunk in size. She is doing great. If you bring your loved ones here, get a second or third opinion. Do not allow them to over medicate. I personally would never bring anyone to this facility.

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Kari Schroeder

Complete lack of sympathy and professionalism on the DOCTORS part. I have been a handful of times over the last 5 years and I have also accompanied people to the ER and every time I have been totally baffled at how the doctors act towards the patients--as if they have been trained to act as if everyone is lying and minimalize every problem. (Had a gall bladder attack a few years ago and they said it was a UTI, I went to a different hospital and was told it needed to be removed immediately before it bursts). Even the on-call OB I saw a few weeks ago is like this. I went in for fluids--something my OB told me to do if I was having frequent contractions-- and was asked by the on-call OB about an allergy (one that was diagnosed by a DOCTOR) that had nothing to do with any problem I was having. Then when I explained my history with the allergy he straight up said "Thats not an allergy" then told the nurse to give me a slushy and send me home. He acted like I was a complete waste of time (even though I was just following the instructions of my own doctor) and, frankly, it was a complete waste of my time considering I could have accomplished the same thing at Sonic, but I was just doing what I was told to do by my own doctor. And this is how most of the ER doctors respond to their patients as well. It is a common problem, I have even had an ER nurse tell me outside of her work that "it has gotten really bad" referring to how the doctors treat their patients. I will drive 30 miles passed this hospital in any emergency based on every single experience I have ever had with them. And if this review saves one person the emotional-suck of being treated as a second class citizen inside that hospital during an emergency--or even just a worry you want checked out , that is my entire goal.

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Justin McNeal

Do yourself a huge favor!!! Stay away from this place!!! I had a colonoscopy done at this hospital, in Jan or Feb of this year. During the procedure they crushed one of the nerves in my tongue from the intubation. I woke up with excruciating pain in the tip of my tongue and asked my wife repeatedly if I had bit the tip off. She couldnt see anything wrong with my tongue, and the Doctors and Nurses wouldnt tell me anything about what happened or why my tongue hurt so badly. I would later do research after the tip of my tongue was numb for weeks after the procedure to learn about what had likely happened. I called back a couple of times to try to get answers as to why the first 1 inch tip of my tongue was still numb, but they would never return my calls or answer my question on the 1 occasion that I contacted a human being. The procedure was also insanely expensive at this Hospital. If I remember correctly, the total was over $7,000 dollars. I have great insurance through my employer thankfully and my bill came to about $500.00 or a little over that. I received my first bill in March. At that time I paid most of it, leaving $199.00 that I was going to pay when I got my next bill. This morning at 8:30 am I had a call from the "Billing" office threatening to send my bill to collections. I told them that I would pay the remainder when I do my bills later this week. This was not good enough for the "lady" on the phone, she demanded I pay it immediately or it would go to collections. I will never use this hospital again. This is absolutely ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and stay far far away from this place.

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