Seton Medical Center Austin (Hospital)

Reviews 3

VI

victoria b.

My 78 yr old father was admitted for congenital heart failure. While the cardio unit is great, the emergency room is ridiculously lacking in empathy and borderline mean. If the nurses did not have jobs at Seton ER, they would gladly take a position at a kill shelter for animals. My father had dry mouth and asked for water and they tried to deny him any bit of water...even crushed ice until the doctor would see him wich could mean any where from 1 to 3 hours- it actually took 5 hours before he was seen. I said I would get him water and asked where the cafeteria or water fountain was. The nurse said she would not tell me; as if I am an idiot and cant find it on my own. I went and found him water. Only then did he get a swab with water from the nurse. They really do suck in the ER..it is not our first time here and I can say without a doubt that they are consistent in their effort to be slow and unsympathetic. Response to social media person hired by Seton t make it seem they care: My father was in heart failure. He should have been immediately admitted to the cardiac unit which has always proved to show they could take care of him but instead he was stuck in the ER as if he had a stubbed toe. They made him wait many hours without help to urinate or to give him a water swab. I had to keep calling on a nurse and they rolled their eyes as if I was bothering them. He began to turn yellow and his face sallow..he really had a chance if he just went to cardiac!!! My father was finally admitted to the cardiac 7-9 hours later but in total distress caused by the ER staff.... He died a week later. While the cardiac unit was amazing, your ER unit is ridiculous. He was suffering and they were no where to be seen other than tapping slowly away at their little computers ignoring him. I think the ER personnels lack of help put my father in too much distress and when the doctor finally came, all she said is that he was in heart failure. The nurse who had to put the needle in his arm created a bloody mess and pretty much just said oops. He looked alright when he first came in but after hours of being ignored, we could see he should have immediately gone to cardiac where they properly could have helped him. I think I want to speak to a lawyer about this now that I have had time to rest my grief. The ER staff should be held accountable!! And all the reviews with one star about the ER is absolutely true...... My Dad, Major Alan John Bialkowski, Director if IBM, earned the Legion of Merit, graduated from Stanford with a masters in Finance in 1 year. Wrote numerous books on finance. A Father and a Grandfather and your ER treated him like he was a burden. Ignored him, rolled their eyes at me when I wanted just a bit of water...they helped send him to his grave earlier than it should have been

BR

Brian P.

Cost-to-service ratio in ER is unconscionable, and they give you no explanation of, or forewarning about, charges to patient or insurance company. Id had Kaiser HMO coverage for 30 years, but had to switch when moving to Austin. My Blue Cross ER copay is $150. Went to Seton ER for terrible pain in my left arm. When I registered, an intake nurse interviewed me for 5 minutes and took my temp/BP. I was then seen by a physician. (I believe that he was an osteopathic physician who, while well trained, is not an MD, and receives an accordingly lower salary.) He was with me for about 10 minutes initially, and referred me for an MRI which took around 40 minutes. After the MRI, the physician gave me the MRI results and sent me home with 2 prescriptions, telling me that Id need to see a surgeon. This took roughly another 10 minutes. Thats the sum total of services I received. Not once did anyone at Seton ever tell me what any of this would cost. I was expecting a $150 co-pay. The co-pays, for which Im being billed in separate segments (one for the physician, one for radiology, one for hospital space, etc.), are already well over $1000, and are continuing to mount. When I called the Seton billing department for an explanation of charges, I was told that the total bill to my insurance company was for almost $10,000!!!! My father was a professor in a university teaching hospital. Im well aware of how much medical care costs. While it is expensive to maintain a hospital, there is no way to justify a $10,000 fee for an MRI, 20 minutes of consultation, and couple of prescriptions. AND, every patient should be apprised at every stage of medical treatment EXACTLY how much it will cost. As it turned out, I needed surgery. This was done at a different hospital by a surgeon whose credentials I researched meticulously. I was told at EVERY stage exactly what my financial responsibility would be. The entire surgery, which included 3 visits with the surgeon, cervical disk fusion surgery, anesthesia, OR staff, full lab work, an EKG, meds, and 2 days in the hospital was billed to the insurance company for just over $60,000. While this may still seem expensive, at least my herniated disks were repaired and I absolutely feel that the hospital was billing fairly and with complete financial transparency. The experience at Seton left me feeling swindled, sympathetic with health insurance companies (I never thought Id be saying that!!), and 100% supportive of organizations that seek healthcare reform and accountability. At ALL times, every patient should know what something is going to cost. My surgeon was able to provide this information, so theres no reason Seton couldnt have provided it! The service was fine, but I will NEVER go to Seton Medical Center again.

IK

Ike

I worked their ER for 2 years. Undetstaffed. A hand full of RNs are too one note to be of enough help. Many of them only want only to push meds and are reluctant do bedside care. They assume thats what a tech is for. This by default makes them not nurses but med pushers. Seton has a big handful of med pushers. They have 2 of the laziest techs that nobody desciplines. One disappears and wonders the hospital and one is too lazy to do any real work so I was left covering most cardiac arrests, and stroke alerts. The tech that disapears often was doing his disappearing act when I was due for a break. One RN there will clock in and plop down at a computer to look at a TMZ website and bark orders. Once when I was too busy to help her, she cussed me out infront of staff and patients. I showed up to help her, but she was again watching TMZ, so I moved on to more pressing tasks. Not a good RN. Higher ups turn a blind eye to these staff members. Their elevators are always broken so patient transport is an iffy headache. Meanwhile, the hospital spends money on expanding the caffe, blue glass on the building, energy drinks so ems can get heart palps, and a huge chappel. Ive reported all these issues to the higher ups with no result. So I fired Seton. If you are looking to work as a tech, or in search of a hospital, Im afraid I have to file this one under cannot reccomend. As a tech, youll have 50 to 100% of a unit with patients to transport, care for, draw labs on, etc.., and 3 to 6 RNs, and 2 to 4 MDs that expect you to do most of the labor with no regard for how tired youre getting. As a male, youre targeted for even more labor. I suffered my only back injuries working at seton. Lift equipment is not a guarantee. Half of the time theirs is broken. Some RNs have mastered hidding when labor needs doing(5th & 6thfloor). The one star I gave are for the Techs, and RNs who are dedicated despite working for a bad company. There are also a hand full of good ER doctors who really care but also a one or two dumb ones like one that ordered an EKG and full work up on a unconscious DNR in her 90s.