In the fall of 2010 I got a deadly heart virus. Once I realized I was sick, I went to Holy Rosary on six different occasions during a 14 day span always complaining of the same things. My heart issue was misdiagnosed every time, even when docotrs had critical information that could've saved my life and could've stopped damage done to the heart sooner.
From December 11 to December 25, I had 3 ER visits, spent one night in the hospital, and 2 clinic visits, plus an echo done on my heart. My lab results showed my BNP level was 1144. BNP is a hormone that is secreted from the ventricles or lower chambers of the heart, normal range is 100. Elavated levels in patients 81% of the time can tell a docotr whether or not their patient is in congestive heart failure. Anything over 900 should registor as severe heart failure. My echo also showed an ejection fraction of 40% which is considered systolic heart failure, normal is 50 to 70%.
On December 25 I felt like death was knocking at my door, so I went the ER for the last time. The best thing Holy Rosary did was transfer me, by ambulance, to St Vicents in Billings.
In Billings my ejection fraction was 20%, anything less then 35% puts the patient at risk of throwing a clot or having life threating irregular heat beats, my BNP level was 1700, and my kidneys and liver were shutting down. Within 24 hours I was diagnosed and treatment was given to help the heart fuction properly. I was in the hospital for 3 days, during that time I was stabilized, put on a low sodium diet and given tons of information on how to deal with my condition.
Today my ejection fraction is 60% and with the meds I am back to being a healthy 36 year old. My heart will always be enlarged, but it is by the grace of God I should have no long term heart damage, not because of the care I recieved at Holy Rosary. I have tried to get answers to why I wasn't given a referral to Billings sooner and why my heart virus went undiagnosed for the lenghth of time it did.
I did meet with the hospital one time face to face, the Quality Improvement Director and their Service Excellance Coordinator, thanked me for bringing my concerns their attention and mentioned that they would use this opportuntiy to develop and provide some education to their physicians and staff. My case was then transferred to the Regional Claims Investigator in Billings, she is sorry that I don't feel the care I recieved met my needs. That was the last time I heard from anyone at Holy Rosary dealing with my medical care issue. To date they aren't returning my calls and I have tried in vain to get a hold of the CEO, which has changed since this process was started 10 months ago. It is impossible to get a resolve to this situation because of their lack of customer service.
My medical bills have reached $60,000. Thank God for insurance. I do hear from their billing department to make sure I am paying my bills, in fact they called on Friday. I guess the only thing Holy Rosary really cares about is their bottom line.
Luckily this was a chapter in my life and not my story, if left to Holy Rosary my family would be recieving my life insurance benefits and making payments on my funeral. I am not the first person Holy Rosary has let down nor will I be the last. Shame on them!

Sorry to hear about your care and also sorry that things have not changed since they damn near orphaned my children. Only difference now I guess is that you at least get calls from the billing department. They never called me or returned my calls- just turned it into collections and left it at that. Took 7 days to correct the wrong they did and thankfully I'm still among the living- and 7 years to get it off my credit report. Good luck and all I can say is thank GOD for St.V's

I am sorry, I have 4 children myself and to say the least this was a very hard year for my family.
When they called on Friday it was over an $84.00 bill. Of the $60,000 in bills the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth have recieved $58,600.00 from my insurance company. This call on Friday was like a slap in the face.
We were sent to collection a couple of years ago even though I was making $225.00 payments a month, I just wasn't paying the bills how they wanted me to pay them. Luckily they pulled the account out of collections and it didn't show on my credit.
These stories need to be told. I can't brazenly say today I will never go back, if I have chest pains, one of kids get hurt, or something happens to my husband we will find ourselves back at Holy Rosary. With that being said, just because they are the only hospital in Miles City, doesn't mean we shouldn't expect quality care or at the very least a referral to a hospital that will take care of our needs.
I worked at M&H for years and if a customer had a problem, they would bend over backwards to make it right. Gift certificates, discounts on gas, free pop...Holy Rosary won't even pay for us to enjoy a meal at their cafe to make this right.

Unfortunately the attitude is that you have NO WHERE ELSE TO GO! They use pitbull personalities in their collections department for a reason. They do it day after day and you are nothing but a number to them! I am so sorry for all that happened to you but so grateful that St. V took good care of you. I commend you for posting this. Now you should post it on Facebook. I bet you get a call the next day!

holy rosary has a wonderful charity program and maybe if you went in with your story and that you feel like you could have been spared all these expenses they will help bring down you bill

You have to qualify for the charity program. I have a child who has health issues and we have a lot of medical bills. We do not qualify for assistance with insurance, and usually have close to $15000.00 in medical bills every year to pay AFTER insurance. We did not qualify for the charity program and were also sent to collections a year and a half ago, despite making monthly payments EVERY month for almost 2 years prior.

I have also had numerous occasions where there was a medical mis-diagnosis, although never life threatening.

I understand where the previous posts are coming from and maybe this will open the eyes of the higher ups and some things will change.

"Pitbull personalities" is a wonderful explation of Holy Rosary, I usually say I am being railroaded. Understand, money isn't the issue. I want to know why I was allowed to almost die under their care. They won't admit they misdiagnosed a heart issue that would've killed me. I needed 3 meds. A water pill, an ace inhibitor, and a beta blocker, and with those meds my life was greatly imporoved. Web MD symtom checker did a better job detecting a life threating illness then they did.
If you make too much money you don't qualify for their charity program. Also if you disagree with your medcal care you will not be remibersed for their mistakes.

The reason they probably won't admit to misdiagnosing you is that they are guarding against a medical malpractice lawsuit. Maybe you should see a lawyer.

Ron Webb said patient satisfaction is up...could it be he lied?

Isn't St V's the collection center for all the affiliated Sisters of Charity hospitals? The collection calls come from St. V's... correct?

Medical malpractice doesn't exist, I can't prove long term damage. I can't sue for millions. The McDoalds'd lady made sure there were plenty of torts and everything else lawamkers need to ensure that won't happen.
Was Mr. Webb not informed; yes. He can only go by statistics that were brought to his desk and as we all kmow 95% of all statistics are made up. Did he lie or did he ignore?

Yep, I have made it clear to all of my loved ones. If I am sick enough to need to go to a hospital, get me the hell out of Miles City. If I die on the way, I would have died at this joke of a facility anyway. I will just take that chance.
I agree with you all about the billing issue also, what a calamitie.
I am a R.N. When I graduated from nursing school I applied for several jobs at HRHC. I called regularly to check on my apps, with no response. Finally one day the receptionist in human resources said, "We are just not interested in hiring you, but I'm not supposed to tell you that." I could not get an answer from anyone why they felt I was not good enough to work at the prestigious Holy Rosary.
Shudder......

Just wondering Mandi...

did the attitude you just showed in your last post also show up in your HRH interview?

Funny how that works

And then we will hear from those whom Holy Rosary Hospital and staff saved their life/life of a loved one and they won't have enough wonderful things to say. That's just how it works. Medicine is not an exact science and doctors/nurses are not gods. I would bet there is not one person at Holy Rosary Hospital who wanted you to suffer. Most people in the medical field have hearts of gold...just my opinion...

I don't feel they did this on purpose and wanted me to suffer. I do think I needed to see a specialist and because it was Christmas and one doctor was leaving to go on vacation that they forgot about me. During this time I was given a beta blocker, it was never phoned in. The nurse on December 25 was more concerned about being overworked at urgent care, because the administration had cut staff based on numbers from the previous year. I can't count the number of times I was told I was too young and a female so it can't be a heart issue. They wanted this to be pneumonia and treated me as such, even though an echo clearly showed an enlarged heart that wasn't pumping very well. I understand the medical field isn't an exact science, but after going through my medical records to is very clear they missed key information that would've stopped further damage done to the heart.

Septy two
Nope, no interview to speak of.
I applied there because at that time I loved the place, I really wanted to work there.

Just an FYI if you student train at Holy Rosary as a nurse they are watching your attitude then too.

HRHC story......My Husband was misdiagnosed at HRHC.....lets go back a bit....Jim...(my husband) was a very strong, hard working man all his life...it started slowly, but he started complaining about just not feeling well. Then it was becoming more frequent. He started gaining weight and his feet, ankles, and legs started swelling. We went to HRHC to see a DR....they took a few blood tests. The next day the dr.'s nurse called and said he had hepatitis C....No big deal they said! This particular doctor told us that he did'nt really know a lot about the disease, but that he would research it and get back to us....meanwhile, Jim's condition was getting worse. We did'nt hear back from this DR. So we went back and seen Joy. She did an extensive exam and ran different blood tests. The next day her nurse called and said we needed to come back and see Joy. when we went in she sat us down and told us that Jim had Cirrhosis of the Liver. Hence the reason for the weight gain....the liver was almost non functioning, not filtering out the toxins and causing him to retain water in his extremities and abdomen. She referred us to Dr. Van Marel. Who, BTW is an amazing internal medicine doctor. Jim was perscribed medications to help with the water retention and the pain he was having. Then Dr. Van Marel left. That was a sad day. Fortunately, Dr. Van Marel referred us to Dr. Nieva, an oncologist in Billings. There were hot spots showing up on his PET Scan that indicated possible cancer tumors. After many hospital stays and Jim's health deteriorating rapidly, Dr. Nieva (Billings Clinic) refered us to Mayo Clinic for Liver transplant. Which he had last year on 10/10/10. We went thru so many doctors, so many tests, stress, moments of not knowing whats going on. So....in the end ONE doctor did'nt care, did'nt do the research, did'nt refer us to a different doctor who might know more about the disease, then had his NURSE call Jim on the phone and tell him he had Hepatitis C and that it was no big deal.....But Joy Huber and Dr. Van Marel cared and got the ball rolling so we could get the help and care that he needed. Its sad how one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.

But that one bad Doctor just gave us the feeling of incompetance. I can add though that there are very good, caring Doctors at HRHC. Thank you Joy Huber, Dr. Van Marel, Dr. Arley Irish and nurses. Without you, I would have attended my husbands funeral instead of his transplant surgery. Ive gotten to witness my loved one nearly dying to recovery and living. I must add that Jim has a new internal medicine Doctor....His name is Dr. Baskar Duval (Billings Clinic, Billings) He is an amazing, smart, caring, and wonderful doctor. He makes sure that all is well with Jim since his transplant and works closely with the Doctors at Mayo Clinic, Rochester. The amazing Doctors and staff at Mayo Clinic are Angels. I wouldnt go any where else for any healthcare problems and I am constantly referring friends and anyone else to their care. I would also like to add a big huge thank you to my husbands DONOR family. May God give you peace knowing that your loved ones gift of life to Jim is one that is appreciated more than you will ever know. We hope one day we will get to meet you and get to know the kind of person your loved one was. I am so greatful and blessed. Its so hard to find the words to say how thankful we truely are.

I wish everyone reading this good luck in your healthcare issues. There are good Doctors out there. We go to Billings now. A decision we had to make to get the care we needed. I do still take Jim to the ER here and pray that Arley is working when I do!!!

They saved MY life!

I spoke with Holy Rosary yesterday. I don't know if it was the ranting and raving to the billing department or my posts on here. It appears that my echo done on December 14 wasn't read and a report wasn't given until December 27, I was already in Billings at the time. What I really needed was one doctor to be on the ball and start requesting that report, none did.
I agree there are really good docotrs at HRH, Kara Erickson is. Kara worked with my cardio doctor in Billings every step of the way, she not only helped me with med changes, low blood pressure, but she truly made me feel safe and well taken care of. I don't have enough words to express how great I think she is. I only wish I had made an early December appointment with her.
I can't stress the importance of finding yourself a primary doctor, if you don't like the way they handle a cold, you might not want them handling a major life illness. I always liked walk in, for the most part it was quick, easy and I got to decide when to go. I now see the error of my ways.

It goes way beyond just the people posting here. There are so many things that happen at HRHC that people never hear about. HRHC just hopes we'll all go away when something goes wrong. If they let it drag on long enough it's a proven fact that most people "do" go away.

I unfortunately have had an experience that didn't go in my favor. At 32 I "WALKED" in for a surgery in excellent physical condition, worked out every day, enjoyed life. 4 hours later I woke up with a leg that I couldn't feel from the hip down, spent several weeks using a walker, then crutches, then had an AFO support that made my foot work because I had foot drop. I left the hospital using a "WALKER" becaue I had no use of my leg. Keep in mind..........the surgery had NOTHING to do with my leg and didn't involve it. What could've happened? I've wondered that too. It's just amazing how nobody did anything to cause it. A trusted doctor, the one doing the surgery, told me what happened, apologized and actually cared. The hospital and staff on the other hand takes no responsibility for it, have never apologized or given a damn. I ended up going to California and Washington for testing & treatment from top nuerosuergeons at UCLA. This on top of the many trips to Billings. To date, 7 years later, I still have problems as I have a 6" section in my hamstring that is permanently damaged. I have to take medication daily and have continual pain.

My only guess is that I must have injured myself during surgery while I was under anesthesia. According to testimony from the surgical staff, nobody in the surgical room did it or knows what or how it happened, except the doctor who the staff said wasn't telling the truth.

It seems as though if it isn't rave reviews from people they have saved then they don't care about what patients have to say. Not all experiences have been bad. But the ones that are bad are long term and not only affect the patient but their families and their lives.

Again, not all experiences are bad, nor are all of the staff. It's how they handle the patients and the situations when they are bad. They ignore the problem and don't do anything to help rectify it. Sometimes even an apology goes a long way while ignoring does nothing.

did you at least get financial help to pay for trying to fix the problem...???

Have you considered filing a complaint with the state? They HAVE to look into your concerns. 406-444-2099

CORRECT

From this I have learned that some medical health professionals are competent, caring and hard-working and some are not. That some medical problems are easy to resolve and some are very complex. Nothing new there.

I have often said during these last months I was going to go to nursing school, not to be a nurse but for the medical knowledge it takes to be a better patient these days. I suppose I should add on a few business admistration and law classes. I have also said it was time to take off the rose colored classes and except Amorette's philosophy, sometimes it goes good and sometimes it doesn't. I am alive and I should be content with that. The stakes were raised in August when my three year decided he would pop up with some atypical kidney stuff. Left pyramids are mildly prominent and his kidney fuction is normal for an adult but not really for a child. We are back to referrals, billing and trust. Now I am trying to get as much information as possible,watching my explanation of benefits, and wondering if...
Thank you so much Julie H and Terry L Brown, I am humbled.

I'm part of the Holy Rosary organization and would tell you that our team is incredibly committed to quality patient care. We would love to believe that we're perfect people and never make a mistake. We all know better. And that's tough to accept sometimes, particularly when you're caring for family, friends, and neighbors and a personal connection exists.

While HRH will never discuss or respond to a patient situation publicly out of respect and trust of those involved, I want to share what happens daily to ensure we continuously improve the level and quality of care delivered. In addition to voluntarily inviting the Joint Commission in to thoroughly evaluate every aspect of our business and grant merited accreditation, we also have a reporting system in place that openly encourages associates/nurses/medical staff to actively document errors, near misses, potential areas of concern, etc. These are just a couple tools of many that help us deliver safer, higher quality care every day and address areas that need attention.

We genuinely want your feedback. As a patient, you may be asked frequently for your immediate feedback (as you're receiving care). And most patients receive a randomly distributed survey by mail after their experience. Please share your candid thoughts. What is great? What can we do better? We want to keep you a very satisfied and engaged patient for life; and your feedback helps us do that.

Do we have opportunity? Yes, in the complex area of healthcare, you constantly need to be better and we're working feverishly to do that. If you do have a concern, please call our patient advocate, Carol, who works directly with patients and families to resolve issues that do come up; she's available by phoning 233.4036.

Like you, we want and expect the very finest in healthcare for our friends and family, too.

One last thing, if you are interested in the future of healthcare in our community, join the National Rural Health Resource Center as they facilitate two public listening sessions @ 2pm and 6:30pm @ HRH next Tuesday, 9/20. The public is invited to share their observations and ideas related to healthcare services and related community health matters. These forums, along with responses from a written survey recently distributed randomly to homes in the 7-county area, will help us respond to our community's health wants and needs.

I agree with you Jackie..I'm also an employee of Holy Rosary Healthcare, and I think that we provide excellent care...and in our down time we are trying to figure out how to make it even BETTER!! Everybody has experiences, some good, some not so good! I personally believe that no matter where you are that is a reality! I'm not management and wouldn't want that responsibility, but I know that the employees at HRH are an amazing group of people. I know the men and women in the lab, and I know the great people that make our radiology department what it is. I know the people that cook and clean,and the amazing people that work in engineering. It doesn't matter if someone needs an epidural or needs a prescription filled because they can't afford it. The employees at this facility come through. I'm so sorry for the horrible stories that are posted. I have trusted this facility with my family. My mother died peacefully at home after a courageous battle with cancer. Her very wish after she realized she wasn't going to win the "war"! All thanks to the amazing people that make up Hospice..Your truly amazing people! I also had four babies at HRH and had complete confidence in them. Its not usually my style to get into a forum like this. I would much rather deal with things face to face. So in that spirit, my name is Suzie Pauley and I'm an OB nurse at HRH. If there is anything I can do to help you please let me know!

No issues with the OB Dept. It was my home for several months while I was pregnant with my son. I've spent a lot of time there. Thankfully Dr. Rauh trusted me when I said I wasn't going to Billings and let me stay in MC for 3 months.

I think much of the problems with HRHC come from management when something bad does happen. One phone call from Risk Management immediately after a bad situation arises and that's it. That's all she wrote. Not until 3 years later and an attorney is there any verbal communication. Even at that, denial from those involved and a lot of finger pointing.

Nobody wants HRHC to address things publicly. Addressing it with the patient would be nice though. I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. Denying what happened or that it did happen only makes things worse for the patient. When someone walks into the hospital in good condition and leaves using a Walker when no procedure was done that involved the legs? Come on now, you can't tell me that is the patients fault.

HRHC just needs to step up and be honorable when something goes wrong. Bad situations have affected many patients and in turn their families. Like I said before sometimes even an apology is worth a lot. My Dr. apologized for what happened even though he wasn't even in the operating room when it happened. He only saw it happen through a window. It sure wasn't his fault but he apologized and there were no hard feeling between us. He tried everything he could to help me in the years following the injury. What did HRHC do? Absolutely Nothing except DENY that it even happened. You can only deny something when it's obvious that you didn't do it. Well, it's obvious that they are responsible since I was under anesthesia and in their care.

HRHC just needs to own up to it when something goes wrong and offer to do something to fix things when it happens to their patients. Life would be a lot easier for everyone. If an employee at HRHC does something wrong their supervisor expects that they own up to their error and fix it. What's any different when an employee does something wrong and a patient is injured? Nothing. The procedure should be the same....Own up to it and fix it.

I don't usually get involved in these forums either, however, sometimes you just have to voice the truth instead of keeping it quiet.

[This message has been edited by Julie H (9/14/2011)]

Thank you Jackie and Suzie for expressing your feelings in a polite and friendly manner. I feel these posts have really brought some issues out in the open, I also feel some doctors and staff were given the thanks and praise they may not normally hear.
It is my sincere hope that Holy Rosary will continue to get better and make a difference in the lives of their patients, and if there is anything I can do to help please ask.
It was always my goal to make the next person's road a little easier.

Interesting read on healthcare here..coming into this thread late as I don't get on the forum much. Jackie, it's good to know that HRH had a patient advocate but I wonder, how long have they had this service and how does a patient know it exists? Other than reading this forum, I would have never known about it and there was a time I sure could've used it. How does HRH advertise her availability to patients?

I also hear people say when healthcare goes poorly that providers are people and can't be perfect. And while that may be true, when it comes to professions that involve life and quality of life, the standard is higher and some mistakes may be reasonable and others are not. We all age and die but we sure don't want healthcare that's going to speed up the process and usher us out the door. A while back I was an emergency services dispatcher for 8 yrs which sure involved life and quality of life. I had a learning curve, I made mistakes but I can honestly say none of those mistakes(or those of my co-workers) lead to someone losing their life or their quality of life. When I had some injuries, I expected healthcare to dig in for me and take it seriously the way I did as a dispatcher. After all, they put in lots of time and money into their education but I found it to be about 50-50 here in Miles City..50% of the providers were great and 50% not so great and most of those that were not so great, thankfully, don't even practice in this town anymore.

I'm glad to see this post and applaud Brandy for starting it. We need to hear what goes well and what doesn't so hopefully we can make good decisions and hopefully healthcare in this area will improve. Like Brandy, at times, I felt like I needed to get a degree or some kind of training in the medical field to protect myself from providers who didn't take my complaints seriously but were falsely reassuring and lead to further problems that have become chronic.

Thankfully, I've found some good providers...Kara E is an awesome Primary Care Provider(and nurse Jane is great too) and I'd see Dr. Beeson for skin cancer checks over the visiting Dermatologist anyday!

Keep your opinions out there..good and bad...through reviews, the feedback surveys, forum, etc. I'd sure prefer to use local providers over Billings as long as I can have confidence in them.

If you think it's bad,now wait until you or someone you love, goes into extended care. HRH charges $4500 per month per bed or $ until a person's assets are zero, then the tax payers pick up th bill through medicaid. The dirty little secret is that the same money is available for home health care, but unless the person has some astute advocates, they end up getting warehoused at HRH or Friendship Villa. HRH are very worried about some on else bilking a old person's person' assets, while they cut staff, use faulty equipment snd gloss over potentially fatal errors made by over worked staff.

Everyone do me a favor, every time you see the words "Holy Rosary Hospital" replace them with "Every Hospital in America" and quitcherbitchin.

[This message has been edited by Buck Showalter (9/30/2011)]

Holy rosary does not have a wonderful charity program. They make you feel like you are less that dirt when you go in to apply. The less than charming person I got my application from told me that she didn't care that I didn't have any way to prove I have no income and that I had to bring in proof that I have no money. Write us a letter and bring me your last 3 paycheck stubs. I havent worked in well over a year. WHAT PAYCHECK STUBS? No paycheck stubs, no help. Holy Rosary is a glorified first aid station more interested in putting money in their pockets than helping those who need it.

I'm late in my grovel for HRHC - but my sister Bridget Yother was turned away from the ER in 2006 and in January.
She was septic from an untreated infection.
She died 3 days after being turned away by the ER.
They passed judgment on her in regards to taking her illness seriously. A nurse at her funeral relayed to my mom we thought she was a drug addict searching for drugs. Hurtful, let down, disappointed, and saddened at the lack of care she recieved.
She could have lived and she didn't as she was not treated properly.
I hope HRHC has gotten their act together and I hope they treat the patient not treat what they think the patient needs.
My sister was too beat down in a community full of judgment passing individuals to know where to get help. I consistently advocate around our nation for better healthcare treatment and better mental health services in rural areas for all people living lives littered with trauma like my sister.
RIP Bridget Christine Yother 10/21/75 - 1/18/06.

HRHC - My local hospital where I grew up having faith in doctors makes me think twice about any care those in need are given, people are poor and self hurt with drug use, Miles City needs help and better mental health care access. Hope for the system improving survives my sister's death.

I'm saddened others are judged and not assisted in their efforts and share on this discussion as well. SHAME ON HOLY ROSARY HEALTHCARE, as the shame affects generations and families. Tisk, tisk who else is or was too late to save...? I'm guessing more than just my sister.

Quityerbitchin go somewhere else.
People have been hurt by this particular hospital and i'm sure many others in our nation by many other hospitals.
I find this discussion board a place to share my pain in losing a family member to the lack of care provided by HRHC. It's taken me many years to speak up and overcome the grief of a sudden death of a beautiful 30 year old woman and sister who was turned away by the ER at HRHC.
Be respectful of those who find this forum a safe place to share thoughts and feelings. It doesn't mean we are right or fair, but we all have the right to voice our opinions.

I have a dog. His name is Topher. He is only a pup , at 11 months , but he does all the normal doggy tricks with verbal commands ect. and also obeys hand only commands to sit , shuddup , lay down , go left , go right. He is a pitbull. Please stop comparing him to Holy Rosary. Topher doesn`t like it.

I admire all healthcare professionals and have much respect for them...in return, we pay lots of money for this care. Sometime a person can go broke due to medical bills. SO, we expect to have quality care!
I have had my own horror story with the ER at HRHC which I was sent home and came back the next day only to have surgery???
Doctors are human, too...in saying this...some are much more caring, giving and willing to go the extra mile. We must be pro-active if we do not feel comfortable with our provider.
I am so thankful to Arley Irish in the ER...Kara Erickson at the clinic...and, to Dr. Rauh at the Community Health Center. Miles City is blessed to have these three in our community.
If you don't feel right about the service and feel like your needs are not being met....move on and don't play around with your life.

I'm truly sorry to hear about your experience, I'm glad that it resolved in you being safe and on the road to a healthy life, because that is the most important thing out of all of this.

I do not think however that shaming the hospital is the correct response to this, you shame those who choose to wrong not those who simply failed to do right. You said "I don't feel they did this on purpose and wanted me to suffer. I do think I needed to see a specialist". Doctors are human, humans in a profession that requires critical thinking, and evaluation on a case by case basis. They can not know everything, and it wouldn't be reasonable to expect them to.

If they tried to help you, and failed due only to their knowledge base, machinery or the evidence presented to them then they did what they could for you. Medical science can only take us as far as the people who are there to make use of it for us, instead of shaming them and the organization that provides them. You would be better served in trying to make sure that they are better equipped to help someone who may come into a situation similar to yours. Rabble rousing and calling blame is only a childish cry for attention, if you don't make sure to use that attention to make a difference. Instead use the attention and your support to call people to a plausible way to make sure that someone else doesn't come this close to a tragedy.

^^^^^^^^Well said^^^^^^

Medical errors, distress and bitterness are greatly reduced when hard pressed staff have the time to truly interview and listen to a patient's experience of symptoms as well as asking broader questions about possibly linked factors, like a seemingly benign illness. How often is is possible to do this in an emergent situation do you suppose? Always listen to the patient, examine, draw labs, do pertinent tests, then discuss them, review them with the patient, ask more questions and try to get the context as well as the problem. It is a usual protocol, however, thorough interviewing is pretty tough to come by when the pressure is on to move patients from admission to diagnosis, treatment and discharge. As for patients who are prejudged, I find it is always a mistake to operate from pre-judgement and assumptions.