Twin Falls Hospitals (Boise, Idaho Falls, Ketchum: real estate, lease, insurance)

[lifetimeresident]

I am considering moving into the Twin Falls area. I would like to have some independent input from a few local residents about the medical facilities available. The town where I currently reside has one of the worst hospitals I have ever come across, so it now appears I must research this aspect as well when considering a move. Any comments?
Thanks
Will

[Twirlzz]

I really have no information to help you, the hospital may very well be wonderful, however when I moved to the TF area I noticed that the nick name for the hospital there was "Tragic Valley" rather than "Magic Valley"

[sinistershame]

The hospitals here in twinfalls are "ok" the problems are more with the staffing. My wife is in the nursing field as a RN in cartiology, so I hear first hand of the problems. I also was in a serious work accident and have a little knowlege there as well. First is the nursing and doctors. The staff is as well trained as anywhere else, but they lack the personality (bed side manner) that I have experienced else where. It is in my opinion they are strung a little short. When I had my accident, the doctor at Twin Falls simply said "there is nothing I can do for him", and I was flown to Boise. I survived because of that decision. On the good side we are currrently building a state of the art new hospital facility that will be open in a couple of years. From what I have seen and heard the seperate fields (cartiology, radiology, ect) are really good, it is the gerneral health and hospital care that most people question. Hope this helps a little. It is still a great place to live!

[lifetimeresident]

Thank you very much for the information. From what I can see health care has had a major decline in the last decade all over, but where I am at now goes beyond the pale. I am mostly interested in being covered for major emergencies and orthopedic. Sounds like it may be workable....
Thanks again for the first hand information. If you don't mind my asking, what was the nature of your injury that the locals couldn't handle?
will

[Mtn. States Resident]

Magic Valley Hospital use to be a county-owned hospital. In the last 2-3 years (I can't remember exactly), as part of the expansion of St. Luke's medical network in Idaho, St. Luke's entered a finacial agreement with Magic Valley. I can't remember if the hospital was leased or out and out purchased by St. Luke's.

The building under construction will be St. Luke's Twin Falls. As one who has analyzed a lot of different healthcare organizations in many states, I think the Twin Falls residents/County Commissioners made the best decision they could. St. Luke's anchor hospital in Boise benefits, of course, as the Twin Falls patients, as well as those in Ketchum/Sun Valley area with St. Luke's facility in Blaine County, are automatically transferred to St. Luke's in Boise for more specialized care.

Twin Falls doesn't have trauma care for neurosurgery and other complicated injuries. I did read your comment about ortho. I'd say it depends on how complicated your ortho is. Also, I'm glad to read that radiology appears to be better now in Twin. I'm not really sure what that means as I think some sub-specialties like MSK, Interventional Procedures, Neuro etc. are not present (or may be very recent additions) to the Twin Falls area. To the best of my knowledge, if you want MSK radiology, you'll need to get that in the Boise area, Idaho Falls and probably Kootenai County (Panhandle).

I'd encourage you to check out your specific ortho needs from the Boise-based St. Luke's physicians. That is if you need sub-specialists.

The link for St. Luke's is: St. Luke's - Idaho Health System

With more hospitals there is obviously an economy of scale and a stronger ability to recruit some sub-specialists. That has happened in Twin Falls since St. Luke's has taken over Magic Valley.

I'm not sure where home is for you currently, lifetimeresident. I do believe it is important and wise for anyone considering a move to check out medical facilities, especially when they have specific needs.

I hope this helps you.

MSR

[lifetimeresident]

Thank you very much all for the information. It is very helpful. Twin falls is on my short list so now it is just a matter of making a trip to the area to look. Thanks again

[sinistershame]

I had a robot try to take my head off. It broke my C-7 vertebre and damaged C-4,C-5,C-6. On top of trearing through my esophogus and smashing my thorasic artery. any way that was the serious stuff the rest was mostly cosmetic injuries.

[lifetimeresident]

I can totally sympathize with your predicament. Mine is amazingly similar(though to a much lesser degree).

I severely herniated a cervical disc (and a lumbar one) in a work incident. The cervical injury left me partially paralyzed with some residual pains and loss of upper extremity sensation and required a fusion. I have up to this point managed to avoid a lumbar fusion but that injury is now apparently (after 23 years) starting to cause similar problems in my legs. It has been my greatest hope and desire that I not let these inconveniences ruin my life, and I have continued to operate my own business since my initial injuries.

The state of Colorado (where I was born and currently reside) provides its own workers compensation insurance through a quasi governmental agency called Pinnacol Assurance. They (Pinnacol) used what I consider to be a loophole in Colorado law to discontinue my medications by hiring a doctor to perform what is called an Independent Medical Evaluation. His conclusion (not surprisingly, his income depends on representing their interest) was that I should have reached maximum recovery status within 6 months after my surgery and that continued treatment was not required. (This after taking NSAIDS for 21 years) Colorado law specifically provides legal immunity to these doctors for their "professional medical opinion".

I have been trying to get the legislature here to "do the right thing" and remove the financial bias of these so called independent evaluations with little success. I suspect my opinions hold little weight when balanced against the massive contributions the insurance industry makes to the politcal machinery. I surmise my only viable option is to "Vote with my feet". I would like to leave this area and start my life over elsewhere. I hope never to need the services of a physician for the rest of my days, but given my status have to investigate if such services are available should the need arise. I don't anticipate anything that the local hospital can't handle.

I am not surprised that the injuries you describe were beyond the scope of the facilities in Twin Falls. Be thankful that the doctors there at least had enough personal or professional integrity to admit to their limitations and send you somewhere that could actually help. I wish you nothing but the best with your situation.

Thanks again for all the information. I am currently researching available real estate in the area. What I have researched of Idaho law in these regards has been encouraging to me. From what I can determine on my own, the State has no first hand financial interest in cases such as ours, and is therefore more likely to be fair in their interpretation of the laws. I hope it stays that way.

Thanks again
will