Lawnwood vs Martin Hospital Best Hospital (to live, health, rating)

[LingLing]

Originally Posted by FlaLadyB

Oh and ling ling the dr in the Er here refused to call the heart dr at lawnwood. They share elec files but
NOT all doctors
You have to check on that too. And the heart dr at Lawnwood who HAS seen me and IS also a part of st lucie hospital never appeared and he is who i am supposed to follow up with

Why is that ????

Then why you didn't go to Martin Memorial? I guess it is the same reason. The reason is caused by the inherent defect in our health system. If you don't have insurance, the doctor has to follow certain set of rules. I am not being cold hearted. If a doctor is very busy, he will put the patient who has insurance first. Martin memorial did fly someone who doesn't have insurance to home to let him die. It was all over the news. Try to see doctors in Martin Memorial with no money and no insurance, then compare. On top of that, Lawnwood doctors did stabilize you and put you on a trauma helicopter and send you to a facility which saved your life.

And I said many doctors. I didn't say all the doctors. My friend didn't work for Martin Memorial. He often got patients transferred from Martin Memorial, especially those patients who don't have insurance. He was not thrilled about it. He has business loan, education loan and staff salary. As a young doctor, he doesn't know how long he would last.

Whether hospital is good or not, we should compare apple to apple. Fundamentally, they are the same. JMO.

[FlaLadyB]

Btw

Found one good dr in all of this....dr Stanton..orthopedic / surgeon
Met me before anything, talked to me as surgery was about to start and explained everything on followup at his office. Very personable and friends know him and like him as well.

[FlaLadyB]

I didnt end up Martin Memorial because the ambulance that picked me up off gatlin refused. Said they HAD to take me to Lawnwood...even though i asked for MM.

The dr i saw in emergency IS a top heart Dr so maybe i lucked out at who was on call that day

The dr they expect me to follow up with now, the only schoolng i can find on him is in India. Nothing here in the US and nothing that says he has training in the heart related things that are stated with his name. I am not happy with that!

Thr original Dr from the ER wont see me till i go back to Shands in Gainsville...which is 3 to 4 hour treck from here one way. Just how im getting there is apparently something he didnt consider. I live alone, and i have no family. The only people who have been so generous with their time are my other realtors at Keller Williams. I could never thank them enough.

[nmelfi]

Martin Memorial is out for money even though it called non profit.I had minor surgery and a 3 day stay there a few years ago to the sum of 28K. I paid them $7500 right off the bat and worked a verbal agreement to make payments. They wanted $500 a month and I told them I might be able to due that some months but it might only be 2 or 3 hundred some months. I was told fine as long as I made a payment. And I did make payments, more along the $3oo a month as that was all I could afford. Next thing I know civil court and a lien on my house. They got their money when I sold, but i still think that is pretty low for someone trying to pay their bill. I guess I paid for all the non payers and that is how they call themselves not for profit.

[LingLing]

Originally Posted by FlaLadyB

Btw

Found one good dr in all of this....dr Stanton..orthopedic / surgeon
Met me before anything, talked to me as surgery was about to start and explained everything on followup at his office. Very personable and friends know him and like him as well.

Thank you!!! I know him well. He served in Iraq. He was recruited by Mr. Pentz, former Lawnwood CEO to this area. He was recruited at the same time as Dr. Jay.

He is a full time employee of Lawnwood so he does NOT work for Martin Memorial hospital. His office belongs to Lawnwood.

There are two types of doctors in hospital. One type is employed by hospital. For Lawnwood, because of the trauma unit, they have many surgeons as employees including six trauma surgeons and other specialty surgeons. They don't work for Martin Memorial. They tend to be paid by a fixed salary so they tend to treat patients well regardless of their ability to pay.

Then there is the type that like a contractor. They tend to work for both hospitals. Since they are paid by the insurance and patients themselves, they tend to prefer to work for the patients who can pay. Nothing wrong here. If a client won't pay commission, no realtor would list his house too.

[LingLing]

Originally Posted by FlaLadyB

I didnt end up Martin Memorial because the ambulance that picked me up off gatlin refused. Said they HAD to take me to Lawnwood...even though i asked for MM.
.

EMT knows that MM can't handle your conditions and MM won't accept you as it's patient.

This doesn't mean Lawnwood is perfect. But the hospital is definitely not worse than MM.

[LingLing]

Originally Posted by alsidw

Doesn't say much for St. Lucie Hospital

St. Lucie hospital was born in an attempt to limit Martin Memorial invasion into St. Lucie county. it was built by Lawnwood's owner. MM claimed to be a nonprofit so it doesn't pay any tax. I don't want to get into trouble by talking too much here.

HCA has equipped Lawnwood well and has St. Lucie medical center and the hospital at Okeechobee sent their difficult patients to Lawnwood.

Lawnwood and St. Lucie hospital have their own CEO and management teams that differ in their styles.

For emergency, I definitely recommend Lawnwood. For no emergency situation, do some research, find a good doctor and follow that doctor's recommendation.

[FlaLadyB]

Ling Ling do you work for the hospital? Or what is your reason for being against Martin Memorial when there are so many others that are for ? Something personal?

And why would you even think of putting what i do for a job in comparison to a doctor? Gee wish i made the money they do!

As for medical bills.....all of the hospitals and doctors want to be paid and all of them will hit your credit and more when they aren't. Doesn't matter what hospital.

[LingLing]

[quote=FlaLadyB;28630483]Ling Ling do you work for the hospital? Or what is your reason for being against Martin Memorial when there are so many others that are for ? Something personal?

No. I don't work for a hospital. Nothing against Martin Memorial. I have never said that Martin Memorial is a bad hospital. I just try to point out that Martin Memorial is not better than Lawnwood. And, Lawnwood has a trauma unit. I am sure you can find doctors you don't like or like in both hospitals. You pay similar amount of bills to both hospitals for the same procedure. I know doctors who work for Martin Memorials and doctors who work for Lawnwood. I know both hospital’s board members. I taught basic courses at local medical schools and so have many students in the area. I am not that old either. haha..

Now I should say it is personal to me. I live in St. Lucie County and want the best for this county. And I am someone who really hates unfair competitions. PSLoldtimer, a regular here several years ago has repeatedly stated why he liked Lawnwood. That is the reason I support Lawnwood. Lawnwood has long standing contract with St. Lucie County and is required to take care county residents regardless of the patients' ability to pay. Don't take me wrong. They will still try bill them even they don't have money. Lawnwood and St. Lucie medical center also pay a huge amount of tax to the county.

Martin Memorial doesn't pay tax due to their non-profit status and they don't have to accept St. Lucie county residents who do NOT have insurance or money. Their urgent care style small hosptials in St. Lucie county can take easy care patients away from Lawnwood and St. Lucie medical center. They are very smart in their marketing and business decisions. If HCA decides to close these Lawnwood and St. Lucie hosptials, what will happen to the local residents who don't have insurance and money to see a doctor. What happened to the tax revenue paid by HCA hospitals? However, with a strong trauma unit, I think Lawnwood will survive.

I have very good insurances and I can go any hospital I want. I will go whatever my doctor recommends. But one day, I may not have insurance or money. I will prefer to see Lawnwood is still around and still has the contract with St. Lucie County.

There are realtors who make simliar amount as a primary care doctor ($75000 to $100000 per year). I know doctors who make less that that, education loan, malpractice insurance and so called fathom income ate up most income. At the same time, 24hours on call, if call not returned, patients can get very upset and doctors can get sued and lose their license while still have to pay back education loan. But a realtor doesn't return a call, she just lose a client. I call doctor's job, high risk, so so reward. I would not want my kids to be a doctor. Most of us including me don't want work for free. Why we expect doctors do? especially those who just graduated from medical schools.

[FlaLadyB]

Lingling have you any personal in hospital experience at Lawnwood ?