Jared El

Review of Parkview Health

My wife and I have been customers of Parkview Hosp...

My wife and I have been customers of Parkview Hospital for years. On our most recent visit, my wife was the patient. She was admitted into the ED on a Saturday evening around 5 pm. It was obvious that the Emergency Room was slightly less busy than average, and was even stated as so by some of the staff upon my questioning that during our admission. My wife did not have a life threatening emergency, so we did not expect any miracles. She did however have a reason to go to the ED at the time, and we knew going into it that we'd be placed in a back room (which was totally fine). What we did not expect, was an over 4 hour wait, when most of that wait time could have been easily avoided. There was a period of 1.5 hours, where we did not see a nurse, doctor, or anyone. I used to work in the Emergency Room at Lutheran Hospital, so I was well aware of the average length of time it takes to wait on the results for the basic lab tests that my wife had received. To top things off, we never once saw a doctor. I'm aware that the Physicians Assistant that took care of us is completely qualified, and that was perfectly acceptable. This doesn't justify the wait time though. It took 4+ hours for us to be treated for a basic health problem, by a physicians assistant, in a less than normal busy ED. To top things off, after we got home, we realized that the staff had spelled her name wrong, with the wrong birthday, therefore never accessing any of her previous records on file with the hospital. We even gave them her ID and insurance cards! Talk about a health risk! The fears and possibilities that come with improper identification are nothing to take lightly. Nevertheless, my wife was relieved of her medical issues, and we were home. Not a big deal. Until a month later, when we get the ridiculously high bill! Keep in mind, this was all for very basic medical issues. You want to charge me nearly $2,000 for a basic blood draw, urine test, and consult with a physicians assistant? Get out of here. So I called and made a complaint. The ''patient advocate" told me that she understood my complaints, and would make sure they were addressed. That was followed by, "however, it is vacation time, and a lot of our staff is out on vacation, so before you hear a response, it may be awhile." In our conversation, I informed the advocate that I was unhappy with the levels of care that we received, and to top it off with a nonsensically high bill was enough to keep me from ever returning for care again. So here we are, almost 4 months later. I get a letter in the mail, that apologizes for the mistakes, informs me of the reasons why they were made, and what they would do to prevent them from happening to someone else. That's it. Not even a phone call. No attempt to earn me back as a customer. So congratulations Parkview. My wife and I will not be back. When we have children, they certainly won't be at your birthplace.