Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital

Reviews 3

MA

Mark Sosebee

After searching for someone to tell me why my hip had a baseball size hole in it with rotten meat falling out of it, I thought I had FINALLY found my place. My biggest problem with the hospital was that I was in the middle of having an MRI done and had a Heart Attack while IN THE MACHINE. I told the guy to "GET ME OUT OF HERE". I was having severe chest pains and all they did was get me a cold towel and tried to calm me down. My records indicated I had a previous Heart Attack but they DID NOTHING to assist with me having a heart attack. I was sent back to my room where I continued to complain of chest pain, I told a family member that I AM HAVING A HEART ATTACK. OVER AND OVER. We rang the buzzer and told them and 15 minutes later after I continued to used my Nitro to keep it at bay a family member had to go to the nurses station to tell them, HE IS HAVING A HEART ATTACK. It was later determined that I did in fact have a heart attack. So why wasnt something done about it. Then you get to why I was there. I had a baseball size hole in my leg. At first it was a spider bite then a bed sore After going back every week for several months and having my hip cut and cleaned they still couldnt tell me what was wrong. An ortho was called in...An Ortho, ye right. They argued in front of me telling me that I was going to have surgery to have an infected hip removed. Problem was, the ortho didnt want to do it, but was afraid to tell me that. Instead they sent me home to die. They said I needed to find another group of doctors that could address the issue. I didnt get it, I wasnt a "bad patient". I never ring the buzzer unless I absolutely need something. I just think the doctor didnt know what he was doing. The interns even came in and told me that I was having surgery the following Monday weather Dr. So&So did it or someone else did it. I guess it was a blessing in disquise for I found Dr. Mark Freeman @ Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga that knew EXACTLY what the problem was. He explained it to me straight forward, no sugar coating. And I was at the point I didnt need nor want any sugar coating of any type. He operated on me, replaced my bad hip with a new hip and now I am COMPLETELY PAIN FREE in my hip. After 12 years of suffering Dr Freeman @ Erlanger in Chattanoog made it go away. I had my doubts because of having the pain so long, but he did it. Had I followed the plans from the physicians at Baptist rather than seeing Dr Freeman on a certain day, I would have been having pre=testing done to have the whole in my leg just closed back up, infection and all. At first I thought I was really in the right place and even wrote a letter stating that, but as time went by, I realized I was NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE. Sad thing is Dr Freeman is right her in my town 15 minutes from my house, Baptist is 150 miles away. Why I thought I would get better treatment there, I will never know. But if I have a say so, I will NEVER go back.

CH

Christopher Sharpe

My wife and I took childbirth classes at Baptist Hospital on 10/22/11. At these childbirth classes we were informed of payment options available for labor and delivery. One of these payment options was to pay the estimated remainder in full in advance of delivery. Doing so would grant a 20% discount according to a pre-patient specialist whose name I have chosen not to mention. Therefore, on 11/14/11 my wife paid the estimated remaining amount of $770.10. Any additional costs i.e. C-section or other complications would be added to the bill and we would owe those charges but still be eligible for the 20% discount. This amount and 20% discount were to be applied to the birth of our daughter. On 2/2/12 we received a bill for labor and delivery costs from 12/6/11. No 20% discount was applied, and the $770.10 we paid in advance was nowhere to be found. My wife called Baptist hospital. She was told the 20% and the $770.10 was applied to an overnight stay on 11/22/11. Now, this bill, according to the gentleman on the phone, was $466.07. Where is this bill? This bill has yet to be sent. There is no proof of this bill or receipt of this payment. My wife asked why the 20% and the $770.10 were applied to this bill and not to our labor and delivery. The gentleman stated that “they assumed that you were going to give birth that day.” So our advance payment was applied to an incorrect hospital stay based on the assumption of the billing department? When my wife requested that the issue be corrected, she was told that it was too late because the payment had already been applied. Again, no receipt or bill to prove this. Also not on the bill from 12/6/11 is the remainder of the $770.10 of $397.24. If my wife had not called to question the bill, where would that money have gone? To Baptist’s pocket? Now we are being told that the bill for labor and delivery on 12/6/11 is not eligible for the 20% discount unless the bill is paid in full. We are very thankful for the care of the nurses and doctors of Baptist Hospital. We are very blessed to have a healthy baby. My issue is with the mixup of the billing department and their refusal to correct their mistakes.

CH

Charlene Kimmel

This is a complaint about being over charged on outpatient tests. My heart doctor is with St Thomas Health Partners, Dr Mark Zenker. I have about a 10 year history of congestive heart problems, well controlled with drugs and every year I see Dr Zenker and get an ECHO to check my status. We have been on a VERY high deductible heath insurance plan now for several years so we have to pay for all tests, etc, out of pocket. On 7/8/16 I had an ECHO scheduled. 2 days before the test St Thomas billing called me and told me the test would run about $3000. ( by the way, this same test was only $1500 two years prior!) Based on the insurance we had ( BC&BS), $3000 was what it would cost me. But if I agreed to pay $1484 right now with a credit card, that would be the total charges. I thought it was outrageous ( this was just an ECHO- basically like an ultrasound test- takes 20 minutes at the most!) But I decided to go ahead and pay it anyway. Well, today, I got in the mail the credit card bill showing the $1484, AND an "overage" bill from St Thomas, for $92.00 MORE. I called the billing department and got no where with them.( the charge was only an estimate, blah, blah, blah) This is a small amount of money to me, but it is the principle of the thing. This is a Catholic HOSPITAL. The last place I expect to lie to me, a Catholic, is a Catholic hospital! I had a similar experience with them before several years ago, and unfortunately, it looks like their regular practice. I will be looking for another heart doctor ( though I think the world of Dr Zenker) but I cannot stand St Thomas and their billing practices and this is the only hospital he is affiliated with. I am ashamed that a religious institution like this has succumbed to the $ associated with healthcare to the extent they treat people like this.