I am currently writing this article in Room E424 on the fourth floor in Pediatrics. My 3 month old son has the flu. It’s freezing cold in here. Since the moment we walked in at 11:30 a.m. we asked them to turn down the AC. It’s currently 9:58 p.m. and they still haven’t changed the room temperature. They told us due to his age and him having the flu he needs to be in the isolation room. Then why the hell is it so damn cold? This doesn’t make any sense. The room should be warm if you have the flu. We would put some blankets on him if they had any. We did get two sheets about 15 minutes ago. That helps I guess.
When we first arrived the doctor stated, “he needs to have an x-ray done of his chest, given Tamiflu and broad spectrum antibiotics. Time frame looks something like this.
11:19 a.m. - walked in to the room.
3:15 p.m. - IV solution started with saline and blood test done.
6:00 p.m. - X-rays were given and then had to be retaken.
8:30 p.m. - for Tamiflu administration
8:45 p.m. - for antibiotics. We don’t understand why these things took so long.
and of course
10:05 - still waiting for room temperature change. We have ended up propping the door open with the baby seat to heat the room. Kind of defeats the purpose of isolation, but we are at a lose on what to do.
Update: The “engineering guy”, David, just showed up and says he just heard about the problem. This is despite the fact the nurses have been claiming they have been calling all day. David had some fancy tool which showed the air was blowing at 57 degrees. Saying all that, David turned out to be very nice.
Now, I'm making a lot of fuss about the temperature. However, I want it to be clear. The thing which concerns me the most is the amount of time it took my son to get treatment.
I would like to state, it appeared our second nurse, Cindy Ruhe, was able to get things done for us. I don’t want to think about how bad the night would have been without her help.
Just to back up my point. Let me state what happened last time we came with my 4 year old son. We brought my son in with a temperature of 104 degrees on a Sunday night. We checked in to the emergency room. They told us to wait. They wanted to run test and x-rays. However, after 3 hours, we noticed about 6 families, which had come after us, had been treated and then left. During this time my son’s temperature dropped to under 103 degrees. So, we took our son home and took him to the doctor’s office the next day. They are still trying to charge us for services never rendered. Every few months we get a bill from them. We call them to tell them what happened. They always say they will take care of it and never do.
So, why does all this scare me? At this level of incompetence, if i need a surgery, will they operate on the right body part?
Readers Comments:
And it HAS NOT gotten any better
by: Anonymous
Word is (from a very reliable source who works there) Valley Baptist Hospital is on probation this very minute 12/17/11, from Joint Commission Accreditation of Hospitals. These are the big guys in the medical field who have the ability to close a facility down. I mean literally, they can lock the doors and have the patients moved to alternate facilities. Maybe something is finally getting done about the ineptness of so many of their physicians and staff and the results will be in the form of better patient care and mortality. It's a sad situation indeed when medical care has gotten to this low level of caring.
I was there for Surgery
by: Anonymous
I had Robotic surgery and was glad to leave two days after surgery!The staff was almost entirely assisted by Nursing students. I was stabbed and prodded just for "Training"! I had problems communicating since I don't speak Spanish.Even my weight was taken in Kg's,lol! Not funny but I laugh out of frustration.I was given check out papers to sign in Spanish.I used to work at a hospital as a food service Mgr so I understand nutrition. I am diabetic and when I finally got to eat after 58 hours ( I started fasting the day before)the gave me mashed potatos, apple juice,kool-aid, hot tea with surgar packets....long story short they gaveme a ton of Carbs and SUGAR!!!!All the wrong things!This is just the tip of the Iceburg but you get the point....RUN!
I have to agree......
by: Anonymous
This place is satan's spawn when it comes to medical care. I feel for you with your concerns for your baby when he was sick with the flu. I do know, from working in the medical field for over 30 years, rooms are kept chillier than normal as to not spread germs further. Germs thrive in a warm environment; however, 57-degrees is a bit extreme. Usually a room with a temperature of 72-degrees would suffice.
My problem with this facility is the ineptness of the staff to speak English. There are so many physicians from overseas (middle east) and several from South Africa, not to mention those who are originally from Mexico and I swear, these people CANNOT and WILL NOT speak clear English. There is NO WAY they can practice medicine proficiently and not be able to speak the language. It would be like you or I going to THEIR country and trying to conduct business in English.
My mother was recently in this hospital and she is an elderly woman with a hearing problem anyway. This Dr. Graciela Leija and Dr. Dina Abdelwahib were assigned to her and I felt like slitting my wrists after TRYING to talk to these ladies. It was absolutely ridiculous. There is no way these people can pass English medical tests when they are not even able to speak the language. We had NO idea what the doctors had told mother to do or what THEY were going to do until it was clarified by one of the nurses.
I really don't know what medical care is coming to in the USA. It's not good, I know that much. This is the saddest example of a hospital I have ever witnessed. I will never go there again NOR take my precious loved ones there...PERIOD!
RUN!
by: Anonymous
My mother went in for routine surgery, VA requested, and 6 months later, still fighting an infection she got from there. She had a blood infection and the doctors didn't tell any of us. I agree that place shouldn't be recommended.
valley baptist hosp.
by: Anonymous
I used to work at a baptist run hosp. You have a right to be scared.Awful things happen & get covered up all the time.
It IS Scary!
by: Anonymous
I won't even pretend to understand what you've just gone through with your baby. I sympathize with you, and pray that he's better in no time at all.
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