Hospitals/Medical Care in Idaho Falls? (Sun Valley, Teton: attorneys, home, school)

[zarabeth]

I've read a hundred threads on how life is like around Idaho Falls, and the traffic, jobs, etc....but we're medical people, husband is a surgeon, I run his front office...what's the climate like in IF for medicine? Is the hospital a good one, does it have a decent reputation?

Are the doctors up to date, innovative in the medical care they give? Any help or advice, thanks in advance...anyone out there have anything to tell me about the hospitals?

[cleosmom]

If you go to the following thread, Moving to Idaho Falls/Blackfoot/Pocatello area and read Mtn States Resident's first reply you'llget a feeling for the local hospital.

[zarabeth]

Thanks, cleosmom and good morning...

It gives me some info on what they have listed as being available in the hospital itself....but does anyone reading here, work there, or know someone who does? Anyone ever been a patient, or had to utilize a hospital service in IF and can tell me what your impressions were?

Hospitals often sound wonderful, but once you work there, you discover a lot of things that hamper an ability to work well. Staffing shortages, older equipment, administration that is stuck in the 1980's, that sort of thing....things they don't put on a website.

[cleosmom]

I have a good friend who is an RT there and she's planning on leaving only because she wants to be a traveling RT.

I've had experiences at both EIRMC and Mt. View hospitals. Have taken my mom into EIRMC more than once for emergency medical and was impressed with their service from the triage nurse to the admitting staff. I had sinus surgery a few years ago and elected to use Mt. View and had no problems there either, in fact they kept me overnight has my BP spiked and I nearly stroked out on them.

There are a few political undertones between the two, but nowhere near as much as when Mt. View first opened in late '02.

As in any industry I'm certain there are cliques, but I feel for the most part both hospitals are trying to do nothing but improve their images.

I have one friend who worked a desk job at MTV, but was quite uncomfortable. Then again, she signed on with them at the start and I know they went through some growing pains as any new company does.

Several of the doctors/surgeons and other staff are natives to the are/region as they've roots here and wanted to comeback after schooling.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by zarabeth

I've read a hundred threads on how life is like around Idaho Falls, and the traffic, jobs, etc....but we're medical people, husband is a surgeon, I run his front office...what's the climate like in IF for medicine? Is the hospital a good one, does it have a decent reputation?

Are the doctors up to date, innovative in the medical care they give? Any help or advice, thanks in advance...anyone out there have anything to tell me about the hospitals?

Zarabeth,

I'd be happy to give you detailed information in a PM. Please just send me a PM with your questions. Also, is your husband a general/trauma surgeon or sub-specialist? I'll tell you all I can, but need to do it via a PM.

Looking forward to an information exchange!

[zarabeth]

Mtn, you have mail, and thanks for writing

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by zarabeth

Mtn, you have mail, and thanks for writing

My pleasure. Please let me know any other questions you have an I'll get to them when I can.

I hope the info is useful as medical care in Idaho Falls is quite sophisticated for an area that serves 330,000 residents (in eastern ID, western WY and southern MT) + tourists to YNP, Jackson Hole, the Tetons, Craters of the Moon and even as far west as the Sawtooth Moutnain and Sun Valley. Yet, Idaho Falls has a local MSA of about 140K.

And now you have mail

MSR

[CafeDelSol]

Originally Posted by zarabeth

I've read a hundred threads on how life is like around Idaho Falls, and the traffic, jobs, etc....but we're medical people, husband is a surgeon, I run his front office...what's the climate like in IF for medicine? Is the hospital a good one, does it have a decent reputation?

Are the doctors up to date, innovative in the medical care they give? Any help or advice, thanks in advance...anyone out there have anything to tell me about the hospitals?

The climate for medicine is great. The climate for patients is substantially LESS than great. We have a severe shortage of both specialists and quality general practitioners in eastern Idaho. If you have diabetes, arthritis or certain cancers, or simply a difficult to diagnose illness you're much better off commuting to Salt Lake. Too many doctors here practice medicine via prescription pad rather than try to actually diagnose an illness. This is both frustrating and downright dangerous. For example, one very arrogant and incompetent arthritis specialist caused my wife to end up in the ER with his off the cuff "diagnosis". He gave her a potent, totally unwarranted drug with severe side effects and NO follow up. The staff at EIRMC responded with a resounding, "DUHHHHH, I dunno what's wrong!" We now routinely travel to Salt Lake. (We considered a malpractice suit but the local attorneys are terrified of stepping on the toes of the medical aristocracy.)

EIRMC seems to have adequate emergency room service as long as it's something basic like broken bones, heart attack, etc. but many of their ER doctors are clueless when presented with anything involving a more in-depth diagnosis. Mountain View and the Surgical Center both provide very good surgical services. Unfortunately, neither has emergency facilities so you're stuck with EIRMC for critical care.

There ARE good physicians and surgeons here but finding them takes time and there is usually a very long waiting list to see them. There is a definite need for more.

[zarabeth]

CafeDelSol, I am so very sorry your wife had such a frightening incident.

I may be a physician's wife, but I am in and out of the ER more often than I would like, either with one of my kid's, or myself....it's never a place you want to be.

My husband is an orthopedic surgeon, an excellent one....broken bones, total joints, everything except spine.

I asked about the medical climate, because it seemed the way to go, to sort of see what people felt about the hospital and the doctors there, in general. It seems to be a progressive place on their website, and the doctor's are trained in some decent places, from what I have read.

May I ask if these were new doctors, just graduated, or perhaps visiting consultants? It's hard to tell from the lists on the site, who is local and has a home there, and who just runs in once a week or so.

Although a trip to the ER is never an event you want to have happen, I'd like to think what happened in your situation was not the norm.....many people react badly and unexpectedly with certain drugs, and I hope she is on the mend.

Mtn. States Resident, thank you for the kind reply

[cleosmom]

Zarabeth, you have mail