AdventHealth Ottawa

Had to go to the emergency room in January, I had two insurances at the time. If the primary Insurance did not cover then the secondary insurance should have covered. Even if none of the insurance covered anything or partial, the financial assistance that I applied for gave me 100% financial assistance. But yet, in October, here I am receiving another bill saying that I owe. Their billing department is in sore need. The lack of communication in this department is beyond frustrating. I have spent a total of 42 hours on the phone talking with the insurance companies and adventhealth. At this point I want a paycheck for doing their job.

I was taken by ambulance from home at 5:45 am for acute GI & chest pain. Upon arrival at AdventHealth in Ottawa the ER doctor informed me that because I have chronic illness & pain (which he was very sorry for me), there was nothing the hospital could do to help me with my pain. I explained (as best I could being in extreme pain) that I normally manage my pain well, but had to go to the ER in Olathe the day before my visit at Advent because the pain was different, extremely severe & spread in other places. Olathe Medical Center diagnosed colitis & recommended an endoscopy asap for suspected peptic ulcer disease (neither of which I have ever had). I explained this to the ER physician (Dr. Goodson) at AdventHealth Ottawa as well as letting him know I was currently being treated for recurring pericarditis. I did not think my chest pain was from the pericarditis, but did think my heart was reacting to the extreme pain. My bp usually runs low. It was elevated. Again, he explained that the job of the hospital is not to treat patients unless they have a serious emergency & need surgery or immediate emergency procedures of unspecified kinds. Apparently, my situation did not quantify (in his mind) as an emergency. I have never heard that before at a hospital, but will let my physicians know because they tell me to go to the hospital if they are not available for extreme pain. After about 45 minutes I asked a nurse if she could give me something for nausea or discharge me. Thankfully, the pain (which had lasted almost 2 hours began to subside on its own). It was still present but at a much lower pain level. The nurse did give me something for nausea & protonics (which I had explained had helped when Olathe Medical Center had given it to me Monday night). The ER Dr did order a CT scan with a different dynamic than what was done the day before at OMC. The Dr informed me that there was no vein blockage revealed in the CT scan & should follow up with Dr. McCulla as advised & done. I believe Dr. Goodson thought I was looking for a drug fix or something & treated me accordingly. That is far from the truth. I do have chronic illnesses & successfully avoid narcotics most of the time. I only use them when I am having acute problems, in severe pain, & under the care of a physician. The initial nurse who saw me in my room seemed to have a similar opinion & did not treat me very kindly & didn’t offer me anything for pain relief (not even a tissue, not acid relief, etc.). I believe she took her cue from the doctor who thought I was a drug addict or pill popper. I didn’t even see her again until I rang for something for nausea. If I ever find myself in an emergency situation I am not going to AdventHealth, especially with their policy about chronically ill patients. They should post about their non-treatment of people with chronic illness/pain. (I could not find this in their mission statement, website, or paperwork). People can make informed decisions when they are having acute pain, new pains or medical emergency situations. I will be billed for services that I don’t believe I received & for services I didn’t receive well, with the exception of the nurse who did my CT scan. She seemed to be compassionate & caring. I feel like it was a bait & switch situation. AdventHealth advertises emergency care, but only for certain people (and that isn’t revealed until one is already checked in & charged for an ambulance transport there). Being up front about services provided (and to whom) is important. Knowing AdventHealth’s policy would help me & my daughter (who witnessed this) from feeling dismissed & uncared for. She was very disturbed & said “I think they thought you were a junkie or faking it. You’re nothing like that. I’m really angry. They didn’t treat you right.”

Waited over an hour for my energetic 2 year old to even get a room. They did not seem busy at all. He had a very bad and CONTAGIOUS eye infection while in the waiting room with other small children. I left and went to Lawrence Memorial hospital and got right in, did not even sit down in the waiting room.

Everyone in the ER department were so nice! Dr. Butherus was very kind and Nurse Sam was the best! Thanks so much!

Hi my name is Gloria . I recently got a mammogram at your hospital. For now on I will make my appointment in the summer months because I had to wait along side people that were very sick with the flu.You need an area for people that aren't sick and don't want to catch the flu. Please do not expose us!