Area hospitals- best ER care? (Back Mountain, Honesdale: insurance, allergy, live in)

[EnyaGirl]

I live in Dallas in the Back Mountain and realized that in the event of an emergency, the closest hospital to me (I think?) is General Hospital in Wilkes Barre, but I have heard mixed reviews about their emergency department. If-- God forbid-- we need to go to the ER, I'd be willing to go the extra distance if it meant receiving better care. I was just curious what everyone's opinions and experiences have been with hospitals in this area. Specifically, if anyone has had experiences with General or Geisinger (which I *assume* would be the next closest place to me for urgent care?), I'd appreciate hearing them. I can't believe I have waited over a year to research such an important thing !

[ScranBarre]

Our family has always utilized Geisinger Medical Center in Plains, and we've never had any real complaints. We rushed my mother there in what was probably 2007 when she was keeling over from abdominal pains (turned out to be a large kidney stone), and they admitted her without hassle.

[MovingOutOfNJ]

Careful with Geisinger... went to the emergency room with my girlfriend when she was breaking out in hives, and it took us nearly 2 hours to have a doctor come look at her.

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Our family has always utilized Geisinger Medical Center in Plains, and we've never had any real complaints. We rushed my mother there in what was probably 2007 when she was keeling over from abdominal pains (turned out to be a large kidney stone), and they admitted her without hassle.

Are they a 24-hour ER?

[W-B proud]

Yeah, all the area ER's are twenty-four hours. I use Geisinger, because that is who my insurance is with. I think they do a good job. No complaints. Waiting times at emergency rooms depend on how serious the emergency is, and how busy they are, and fluctuates daily. One day they may take you right in, the next day you may have to wait an hour or two.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

Yeah, all the area ER's are twenty-four hours. I use Geisinger, because that is who my insurance is with. I think they do a good job. No complaints. Waiting times at emergency rooms depend on how serious the emergency is, and how busy they are, and fluctuates daily. One day they may take you right in, the next day you may have to wait an hour or two.

I agree with your assessment. I'm sorry to hear about how your girlfriend's case was mishandled, MovingOutofNJ, but they might have been busier "behind the scenes" with other more severe cases as that time. My mother was rushed right in because she was wincing and crying in internal pain without anyone knowing what was wrong with her at the time, so naturally she took precedence because for all we knew it could have been something far worse than a kidney stone.

[theatergypsy]

It has been my experience that General has a very good ER, and the Short-Stay and In-Patient facilities are as good as any you will find...
I have had two major surgeries - open-heart for a valve replacement and most recently, for cancer - and I have had several short-stay procedures there...I hope you don't ever have need for an ER, but I have had only positive experiences there as well...JMO...Of course, there are always people who will say they don't like one hospital or the other, but if you're looking for 100% endorsement, you won't find it...

[highfallslover]

Originally Posted by MovingOutOfNJ

Careful with Geisinger... went to the emergency room with my girlfriend when she was breaking out in hives, and it took us nearly 2 hours to have a doctor come look at her.

Same thing happened to me at Wayne Memorial in Honesdale. The nurse checked me over, the Dr never came near me and I layed there almost 2 hrs, by the time he came the hives were almost gone. He opened the curtain, said I was having an allergy attack [I know that's why I was there]. Then he told me they were going to give me a medication which if he looked on my chart he'd know I was allergic to, he argued that I should have it, I refused again and left with a Benadryl. I knew he was not happy that I refused his treatment. Guess I didn't want to have a worse reaction from medication I am allergic to. A friend had issues with the care there too. They aren't high on my list but they're the closest we have here.

[nyjets20]

Originally Posted by highfallslover

Same thing happened to me at Wayne Memorial in Honesdale. The nurse checked me over, the Dr never came near me and I layed there almost 2 hrs, by the time he came the hives were almost gone. He opened the curtain, said I was having an allergy attack [I know that's why I was there]. Then he told me they were going to give me a medication which if he looked on my chart he'd know I was allergic to, he argued that I should have it, I refused again and left with a Benadryl. I knew he was not happy that I refused his treatment. Guess I didn't want to have a worse reaction from medication I am allergic to. A friend had issues with the care there too. They aren't high on my list but they're the closest we have here.

That was the triage nurse and thats their job. To determine who has the highest priority to see the dr first. Obviously if your hives were almost gone when the dr saw you, the nurse did their job correctly. You weren't as high of a priority patient as other people that day.
Geisinger Wyoming Valley is the better ER in my opinion. If you waited 2 hours at GWV then it probobly wouldve been 4 at General.

[highfallslover]

Originally Posted by nyjets20

That was the triage nurse and thats their job. To determine who has the highest priority to see the dr first. Obviously if your hives were almost gone when the dr saw you, the nurse did their job correctly. You weren't as high of a priority patient as other people that day.
Geisinger Wyoming Valley is the better ER in my opinion. If you waited 2 hours at GWV then it probobly wouldve been 4 at General.

There was only one other person in the place. When my friend was there she was the ONLY person in the ER and had to wait over 2 hrs. When they asked why the long wait the Dr was very rude. My Dr sent me there telling me they'd do blood work to see if they could tell what was causing the severe allergic reaction I was having and was still having when I got there. They didn't do much, as I said the dr never even touched me and the nurse let it slip he was mad that I refused his treatment that might have killed me since I am so allergic to it. I wasn't impressed but then maybe I expected too much since my regular Dr even called ahead to tell them I'd be coming, he was afraid of antiphilactic shock because of my symptoms. He was irate when I told him what happened. Maybe if I was sicker it would have been faster, maybe not.

They sent me a form to fill out about my happiness with their ER. For the most part everyone was nice but I had to tell them the truth about the Dr and treatment.

I understand the wait if there are many people there, when I had to go for stitches I had to wait but there were heart attack victims and other major things going on. I didn't mind waiting, I sat there with my hand bleeding but was hoping the other people would be fine. The problem came in when my Dr was concerned enough to tell me to go to the ER, he called ahead and I had to sit there so long then they did nothing but offer me something I'm allergic to which was noted on the chart. I guess that didn't make me happy and I was lucky that what ever caused the reaction was coming out of my body by the time the Dr did come, maybe if I was gasping for air he would have come quicker. I don't think it would have made anyone happy in that situation. It makes me wonder what happens in a real emergency. The ER is seperate from the hospital, it's some group that has come in to take over the ER.