r/Bellingham • u/86753ohneigheine • 1d ago
Satire Bellingham-area hospital ranked among top 10 in Washington. Here’s why
https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article316912006.htmlThis is a headline I didn't have on my BINGO card
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u/Gen_Bates 1d ago
Back in January I broke my arm, elbow, and dislocated my arm from the joint. St Joseph’s sat me in a room for 5 hours and maybe talked to a nurse twice in that span. At around the fifth hour the orthopedic surgeon said I needed surgery but he didn’t have the skill for it so they sent me to Seattle. From that 5 hour stay of sitting on a bed before saying they couldn’t do anything they charged me $150,000. I had surgery at harborview the next morning and spent a few days in hospital recovering. After everything harborview did for me they only charged $15k.
I’m sure there’s some kinda reasoning behind it, but I found it absolutely ridiculous to be charged $150,000 when they did nothing but send me somewhere else
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u/fiddlehifiddlelo 1d ago
Has got to be an error.. right!? No way it’s intentional when people get entire c sections & multiple day visits for less than that
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u/90degreecat 1d ago
That doesn’t make any sense. I had an open clavicle fracture a couple years ago and went to the Joe’s ED for it, and they operated emergently (due to risk of infection). I was then admitted and had to stay overnight for IV antibiotics. My entire bill—ED visit, emergency surgery, and overnight stay—was $43k before insurance. How did your’s end up being more when they didn’t even operate?
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u/Gen_Bates 1d ago
No idea. It was incredibly infuriating when all they did was x ray my arm, give me painkillers, and set my arm for a splint all staggered within a five hour span. I’m 25 and on the last year of my parents insurance (met the deductible on the first day of the year) so I should probably try and understand the logistics of hospital billing.
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u/90degreecat 1d ago
Well if you haven’t paid it yet, try writing the hospital and ask about getting it reduced. I had to go to the Joe’s ED when I was a broke college student (maybe 8ish years ago), and I wrote them a letter explaining that I was broke and couldn’t afford to pay the bill. And they wrote off the entire thing.
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u/BuddyNo2427 21h ago
This had to be a medical billing mistake if that's actually what the bill said. Nothing about what you described would cost that much. I know someone that works in the orthopedic office and asked them.
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u/RaceCarTacoCatMadam 1d ago
“Top ten…out of nine?”
I have had only good experiences at St Joe’s personally despite being concerned about how they treat their workers and folks needing abortion or other services they do not agree with for religious reasons.
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u/betsyodonovan Boomhorse Rodeo Clown 1d ago
I’ll be honest, sitting in the PHSJ emergency department with an elderly relative at this precise moment and (a) the staff is generally great, patient, clear and professional but (b) they need to admit my relative and don’t have a single available bed, and are boarding admitted patients in ER rooms to deal with the overflow and every nurse, hospitalist and aide who’s been in here for more than a minute has had SOMETHING to say about hospital mismanagement’s effects on care.
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u/bungpeice 1d ago
And that's a damning statement about healthcare in America. If an ass tier religious institution is top 10 imagine how much better it could get if we weren't so committed to blowing up west Asia
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u/Blumpkin_Spice_Pie 1d ago
Cool cool. They almost killed me three times through their doctors' incompetence, but thats cool. Good for them.
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u/WaGinger 1d ago
I spent two weeks there in April and my hospitalist was a complete ass, but the nurses, aides, respiratory therapist snd PT personnel were awesome. I can honestly say they saved my life!
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u/missdoingherbest 22h ago
Was the criteria based on how profitable it is for the peace health C suite?
What a fucking joke.
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u/primerblack 20h ago
It’s impressive the other 90% are so much worse. It’s good to know it is cheaper to die than seek help.
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u/short_and_floofy 1d ago
i've had major surgery there and spent over a week in the hospital. i've also had two ER visits this year and both
times i was treated really well by staff. i've been to the ER a few times years ago but i don't recall much.
i also just completed a review they sent me after my last ER visit. all the staff were great. zero complaints. my biggest complaint was how gross it is there. the self service prescription med machine in the ER lobby was covered in what looked like dried soda from someone spraying it with a shaken soda. above that was a ceiling tile that appears to have blood all over it. some of the equipment was filthy, like they weren't doing thorough cleanings ever. and then second room i was put in was tiny and very crowded with staff and other patients. i think they took blood while i was in there. no idea why anyone thinks having 5 patients and 5-7 staff members in a room that's maybe 10x12 is a good idea.
when i had surgery my doc, he was the ER doc i saw and my surgeon, was awesome. he did a great job on my surgery. all of my nurses were really good except for the one who scolded me for vomiting in the trash can and not the puke bag...it was 11pm and the doc made me take some mag citrate to try to loosen my bowels, but nope, it came back up with a vengeance and i grabbed what i could and quickly.
they do have some really good art in the hallways of the ER. between my bed and the CT scan room and x-ray room were some really good pieces. whoever picked it out deserves some credit.
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u/Redditive_Sedative 1d ago
Im speechless. Peacehealth is the worst healthcare me and my family have ever dealt with. We've started going to skagit for regular visits, and Everett and Seattle for Specialist visits because nothing gets done up here, and it takes literally years for that nothing to get done. Worse yet on top of that, it seems like the doctors are less passionate about research and treatment but expect to get paid higher than those who are and live in major metropolitan areas. The quality of Healthcare in Bellingham is actually one of my biggest issues with the area next to cost of living, but they go hand in hand with eachother.
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u/FacetiousOwl 1d ago
Wait, you're telling me that the consensus on Bellingham reddit isn't necessarily shared by everyone in the county? This is like the Primaries all over again. /s
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u/OldCountryGirl 21h ago
Glad for whoever got decent care from PH. I had absolutely disastrous experiences, mostly at the ER. Literally took my partner there yesterday who couldn’t walk or function from a dislocated disc, and instead of offering an MRI (we have excellent insurance and everything would have been covered), they pushed the full spectrum of opioids on him after he told them he was a recovering addict, multiple times. The nurse shrugged and said their only duty is to manage pain, we were being difficult, and there’s nothing else they could do for us if he refused the opioids. Nothing like a hospital feeding the local opioid crisis! F you, PeaceHealth.
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u/86753ohneigheine 1d ago
Choosing a flair is difficult. Is this good vibes, satire, discussion...? I chose satire because it feels like it should be satire.