Comment on Hospital-Yavapai Regional Medical Center (Phoenix, Flagstaff: insurance, buying a house, transfer)

[smilinpretty]

Last Monday evening around 8:30 p.m. after experiencing pain in my stomach for 19 days, I told my husband I had better go to emergency as my pains were worse. When i arrived at hospital around 9:15 p.m. there were a few people in the lobby. I signed in and waited for maybe 8 minutes and my name was called to the one room where they check my vitals. The lady was very very nice. After I was done, I went back out to lobby and waited another 15 mins and my name was called to admitting. The young lady asked me questions and we laughed together at a few comments we both made. After that I went back out in the lobby to wait my turn to see a doctor. The one woman who checked my vitals came over to me to re-assure me I won't wait too much longer. I thought that was very nice. Everyone at the hospital seemed friendly so far. When my name was called, they took me to my room. I undressed and put the hospital attire on and a few minutes after that two nurses came in my room and introduced themselves and we all joked and laughed and the work begain, placing iv's and monitor on me. They gave me the tv tuner. Shortly after the doctor came in my room and asked me questions. Dang, was he cute!!! He determined what test I needed, they were done and a few hours later the results were given to me. All the time I was in the room, the nurses would periodically come in and check on me to make sure I was okay and if I needed anything. When I was walking out of hospital two of the admitting employees said "goodbye" to me.

I have been to other hospitals and let me tell you, this hospital ranks number 1 in my book.

I have been to this hospital twice before to emergency, once in ambulance and another time walk in and all three times, nothing but excellent care.

I plan to write to the hospital to let them know what excellent care I received. I am proud of this hospital and proud to be a member of the community.

[observer53]

Glad things went so well, and hope you'll feel better from now on, too!

[DellNec]

I've only had 2 indirect experiences with the Yavapai Regional Hospital:

The first was a friend who was bitten by a rattle snake. Neither the Yavapai Regional nor the PV Hospital had anti-venom available. Both hospitals advised him to take the helicopter ride ($$$$) to Phx or Flagstaff for treatment. He was told that neither hospital stocks the anti-venom. This was 2 years ago. His insurance company charged him $8K for the helicopter flight, as it was not covered per his insurance policy.

The other experience was a serious car accident involving a close friend. The same issue came up at both hospitals. They were not equipped to handle the trauma, even though he was only 5 minutes away from Yavapai Regional, they had the paramedics call in the helicopter and fly him 100 miles down to John C. Lincoln in Phx.

The issue with either scenario is that precious time is lost due to the helicopter dispatch and the flight to Phx. People have died or suffered more serious injuries (paralyzation) due to the fact that Yavapai Regional cannot treat the injuries. They are forced to fly them by helicopter to Phx or Flag. Risking further movement and lost time, both with can cause death or more serious injuries.

[checkthecodes]

It's nothing new to have to be flown to a hospital for treatment, I can tell you if you live in any rural area you will have to be transfered to a big city hospital. Even in California, if you live in San Bernardino County and fall off a ladder and have a head injury your sent to a local hospital then flown by Mercy Air in a Bell 206 to the county hospital since they were "specialized" in major trama injuries, if you were a young child with an injury or a person with a rattlesnake bite you were flown to Loma Linda where they are "specialized in children and rattlesnake bites. The Discovery Channel even ran a rattlesnake programs with Dr. Bush from Loma Linda, people were flown in for treatment hundreds miles away. It's no sercret here the area does lack doctors and specialist, so if your a person with a lot of health issues this might not be the place for you. I've been to ER once here and was treated very quickly and well... If you want to see hell go to any big city ER and get in line and take a number while your having a heart attack... 8K for a flight is common everywhere in the U.S. Dr. Bush of Venom ER - LLUMC emergency medicine

[DellNec]

Originally Posted by checkthecodes

It's nothing new to have to be flown to a hospital for treatment, I can tell you if you live in any rural area you will have to be transfered to a big city hospital.

A fact which the tri-city likes to keep "quiet" to newbies. I even had a realtor sit there and tell me that they can handle any trauma in the tri-city area hospitals. As we know, that is a lie. But realtors don't want to "scare" prospective clients away from moving here, so they lie and keep things like this quiet.

You can end up dead because you have to wait on a helicopter and then have that helicopter fly you 100 miles to Phoenix or 100 miles to Flagstaff.

Originally Posted by checkthecodes

8K for a flight is common everywhere in the U.S.

A lot of insurance companies will not cover that expense. When you live in the middle of nowhere and the local hospitals cannot care for you, so you have to fly 100 miles to get to a hospital that can, get ready to deal with that expense and risk.

[smilinpretty]

Are you insinuating that realtors in general lie? you said, "But realtors don't want to "scare" prospective clients away from moving here, so they lie and keep things like this quiet.

Before I re-located to Prescott area I inquired what the hospital was capable of. My husband has a heart condition, so we know that if something were to go wrong with his heart, he would have to be flown to Phoenix. I did not rely on my realtor or anyone to tell me, I phoned the hospital.

Yavapai Hospital has superb emergency care. The staff at the hospital make it a point to be friendly and accommodating.

I think your generalization is unfair and unjust. There are some wonderful realtors and a few frequent this board. There are always a few rotten apples in a basket.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by DellNec

I even had a realtor sit there and tell me that they can handle any trauma in the tri-city area hospitals. As we know, that is a lie. But realtors don't want to "scare" prospective clients away from moving here, so they lie and keep things like this quiet.

Where do you dig up these people? You might want to talk to realtors who respect and value truth and honesty. Frankly I would like to see dishonest agents fined and/or lose their licenses - many do, perhaps not enough.

My experience with the ER (apart from the cost) was generally positive. My wife and I were in a roll-over call accident recently. Luckily the car took the brunt of the impact and we walked out of it. My father-in-law drove us to the emergency room (in Prescott Valley) to get check out. They were very friendly. We barely waited at all and we were in and out (with x-rays) in about an hour. We were very pleased with the staff.

[VLWH]

Originally Posted by smilinpretty

Are you insinuating that realtors in general lie? you said, "But realtors don't want to "scare" prospective clients away from moving here, so they lie and keep things like this quiet.

Before I re-located to Prescott area I inquired what the hospital was capable of. My husband has a heart condition, so we know that if something were to go wrong with his heart, he would have to be flown to Phoenix. I did not rely on my realtor or anyone to tell me, I phoned the hospital.

Yavapai Hospital has superb emergency care. The staff at the hospital make it a point to be friendly and accommodating.

I think your generalization is unfair and unjust. There are some wonderful realtors and a few frequent this board. There are always a few rotten apples in a basket.

My guess most people buying a house generally do not inqure about the quality of the hospitals in the area they are moving. Of course in your situation it is a priority.

Lets be clear that while Yavapai hospital may have execellent emergency care, they are not a trauma center. Trauma centers are extremely expensive to operate. Even in a big city trauma centers struggle to operate, it is a prohibitive cost in rural areas.

[VLWH]

Originally Posted by DellNec

I've only had 2 indirect experiences with the Yavapai Regional Hospital:

The first was a friend who was bitten by a rattle snake. Neither the Yavapai Regional nor the PV Hospital had anti-venom available. Both hospitals advised him to take the helicopter ride ($$$$) to Phx or Flagstaff for treatment. He was told that neither hospital stocks the anti-venom. This was 2 years ago. His insurance company charged him $8K for the helicopter flight, as it was not covered per his insurance policy.

The other experience was a serious car accident involving a close friend. The same issue came up at both hospitals. They were not equipped to handle the trauma, even though he was only 5 minutes away from Yavapai Regional, they had the paramedics call in the helicopter and fly him 100 miles down to John C. Lincoln in Phx.

The issue with either scenario is that precious time is lost due to the helicopter dispatch and the flight to Phx. People have died or suffered more serious injuries (paralyzation) due to the fact that Yavapai Regional cannot treat the injuries. They are forced to fly them by helicopter to Phx or Flag. Risking further movement and lost time, both with can cause death or more serious injuries.

DellNec, I hope your friend fought the insurance company. Sometimes this can be accomplished by a continious number of phone calls to the insurance company to appeal. I mean a rattlesnake bite can be deadly if not treated right away. My guess is your friend had an excellent case of the need for emergency care and the helecopter ride was the only remedy.

[DellNec]

Originally Posted by VLWH

DellNec, I hope your friend fought the insurance company. Sometimes this can be accomplished by a continious number of phone calls to the insurance company to appeal. I mean a rattlesnake bite can be deadly if not treated right away. My guess is your friend had an excellent case of the need for emergency care and the helecopter ride was the only remedy.

He did but lost. They even gave him a hard time about his bite. They claimed if you participate in "high risk" activities (hiking) and get bit by a rattlesnake, you lose your coverage. He fought the one part about the high risk activity and won but lost the $8K bill for the helicopter ride.

My question is WHY don't they carry anti-venom in Prescott? In Phx, all the major hospitals have anti-venom on stock.

I would advise anyone living in Prescott to MAKE SURE that their insurance covers 100 mile helicopter rides to Phx. As Prescott cannot handle major trauma and they will fly you to Phx or Flagstaff. If the insurance doesn't cover such items, make sure you have $10k laying around.