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Last time up there - a few weeks ago the Alamogordo Hospital still had a bad reputation. Lincoln County Med Center in Ruidoso is much better- amazing team of experienced professionals who actually like working together.
My wife has been in that area mostly by herself until I finish moving. She has no problems doing things by herself and has never felt in danger. Sometimes at a lunch an anonymous person will ----"that's been paid for". (She's attractive but not stuck up)
If OP wants to chat with her and sends me a direct message - she knows all about the nursing there and maybe something about guys ...
Last time up there - a few weeks ago the Alamogordo Hospital still had a bad reputation.
Undeserved, IMO!
I live in Ruidoso and have experience with both hospitals. Neither are places I'd choose to go for "serious" illness, injury or surgery. But I've had outpatient surgery at both on more than one occasion and had only positive results.
I have no doubt that some people in the area still believe Gerald Champion to be undesirable as a result of bankruptcy filing over one negligent doctor's actions that was resolved years ago.
Thank you, joqua. When we got there to Alamagordo and met our neighbor (who trapped our cat - he raises turtles in his back yard and says cats eat baby turtles...we later got him out of the pound, confused but unharmed) he really tore into the hospital I was just starting to work at. Said "good luck with that" when I told him where I worked. He told of an incident with his back that was less than stellar. It was so vague that I just nodded and left the conversation thinking that I smelled sour grapes. Many in Alamogordo were vague like that and I feel they were just whiners who were looking for some good cheese to have with their whine.
Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center is not a world-class hospital but for lots of services they are just fine. They will package you up and ship you (after stabilizing you) if they don't feel that they can take the best care of you with what you're stricken with. But that's standard for hospitals...they do this type of thing every day in all 50 states.
GCRMC has several strict financial hoops they have to jump through because of the bankruptcy. They have to be there to provide care for the townspeople, the service-people at Hollomon Air Force Base and the entire Otero County region. I think it's a competent, good hospital and I enjoyed working at it. Like I mentioned earlier, my Boss was fantastic and treated me with respect. I have nothing but good things to say about my GCRMC working experience and GCRMC.
Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center is not a world-class hospital but for lots of services they are just fine. They will package you up and ship you (after stabilizing you) if they don't feel that they can take the best care of you with what you're stricken with.
Same with Presbyterian in Ruidoso. They will either transport to the nearest trauma center (Lubbock or El Paso) or another of the full-service hospitals in the region.
My concerns about Alamogordo Hospital are more than about finance as people from Alamogordo make the drive to Ruidoso because of issues with the hospital or its doctors.
I do realize that this is both hearsay and anecdotal so its inherently unreliable.
Im in good health and live half the time equidistant from both places. It could be an issue in the future.
I do think we can all agree that Alamogordo is pretty safe for individuals. In that sense it may be a safer town than Ruidoso which now and then gets an influx of wild partying tourists.
My concerns about Alamogordo Hospital are more than about finance as people from Alamogordo make the drive to Ruidoso because of issues with the hospital or its doctors.
It's just the other way around, IME. People from Ruidoso frequently use the hospital in Alamogordo because it has a few specialists or procedures that the hospital in Ruidoso doesn't.
But people living in Alamogordo are much more likely to make the one hour drive to the major hospitals in either El Paso or Las Cruces than the one hour drive to Ruidoso to a medical facility that is even smaller than the one in Alamogordo.
Speaking as someone who has lived in Ruidoso for 19 years and used medical facilities in Roswell, Alamogordo, El Paso and Las Cruces during that time and never had an issue with any of the services I experienced.
I had surgery back in 2010 at Gerald Champion. At the time I lived in Timberon. Most people I knew went to Albq. for major procedures. They were saying no way would they go to Alamogordo but that's where I chose to go because it was closer and a radiologist told me of a good surgeon. I don't think we're allowed to mention any names on here but I met and talked to my surgeon. She made me feel comfortable and the surgery went well. I also had the best oncologist ever and the chemo nurses were great. I had a good team of people and I have no complaints whatsoever.
I've not lived in Alamogordo but spent a lot of time in the area because it was the closest town to Alamogordo. Besides the doc appts., I shopped and I walked around certain areas of town by myself....but it was daytime and I felt safe. I wouldn't walk anywhere by myself after dark. The area by the hospital seems to be safe and it's clean.
I'm in the Capitan/Ruidoso area now and most I know go to Albq. or Roswell. My husband had to use the ER here one time and it was okay but apparently for serious procedures, Albq. or Roswell or a couple places in Tx. are used like El Paso or Lubbock. I also know of a few that go to Alamogordo because they don't like the Ruidoso hospital.....so I guess it's all how a person sees it.
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