Heather Goodwin

Review of Providence St. Joseph Medical ...

I will never go to this hospital again, the doctor...

I will never go to this hospital again, the doctors they let work in their hospital are not connected to the hospital at all. Their admitting paperwork tells you that the nurses and doctors are not employees nor agents of the hospital, which basically allows them to let any idiot work there and not have to be responsible for the consequences of having someone make a serious mistake in a patients care.

My first encounter with Saint Joseph's hospital was when I needed a transvaginal ultrasound to check for masses. The ultrasound tech was totally inept and actually asked me to insert the transducer myself because she didn't want to hurt me by inserting it into the wrong hole. This should have been a clue to run away from this hospital, but I didn't think everyone working here could be this stupid.

My second encounter was when I was admitted for a hysterectomy. During my hysterectomy my surgeons sent over some tissue from my uterus to have it evaluated by a pathologist at the hospital, but not an employee, whatever. He diagnosed the tissue as cancerous, so my surgeons went back in and removed my ovaries. After surgery he evaluated the tissue again and diagnosed it as not cancer. Because of this misdiagnosis I lost my ovaries, had he diagnosed the tissue correctly my surgeons would have only removed my uterus and not my ovaries. At this time I was 38, so basically I was forced into menopause at 38 because of this doctors wrong diagnosis. This has caused me weight gain, pain, hot flashes, memory loss and fatigue. I have to wear a patch to get the hormones I need that were lost due to losing my ovaries and this patch increases my risks for cancer and stroke. The hospital accepts no responsibility and neither does the doctor.

While in the hospital I contracted VRE due to somebody not following protocol.

My final encounter with this hospital was when I went to the ER a couple of weeks after my surgery. I went because my joints were stiff and hurting so bad I could barely walk. I was concerned that I might have a Staph infection or something but all the ER doctor kept asking me was if I wanted a pain shot. I wanted to know why my joints were so stiff that I could barely walk, but they were no help. I even had to go get the wheelchair out of the hall because they moved it out there while I was waiting to be seen and never brought it back when I was ready to leave. I went to my doctor the Monday after this ER visit and found out I was having an allergic reaction to Cipro and that was why my joints were swollen to the point I could barely walk.

When a hospital allows people like these to use their facilities but takes no responsibility for them beware of what can happen to you.