Intermountain Health St. Mary's Regional Hospital — Attraction in Grand Junction

I should have written this review back in 2016, but that was a really hard time for my family and I as my mother had passed away from a heart attack. She was taken to St Mary’s via ambulance. There was absolutely nothing that could have been done to save my mother. She had a massive heart attack and even if her underlying condition had been discovered months prior it wouldn’t really have changed the outcome - only delayed it. Her heart was twice the size it should have been. The staff at St Mary’s was absolutely amazing in how they helped and accommodated my family on what was one of the worst days of our lives. My mother was a St Mary’s employee. The ER charge nurse in particular was so kind, and I’m sad that I don’t remember her name. There are many details in between her passing and the moments where there were things to be done that are a blur, but I’ll never forget how the charge nurse went with me into the room to see my mother after she passed. I was also a CNA at the time and had the privilege to care for many end of life patients. It was really important to me in that moment to view my mother’s body first as I understood how traumatic deaths like a heart attack can affect the appearance of the deceased and wanted to be sure that my family was properly prepared and aware of what they may see should they want to view the body. But it was also awful for me, so to have someone there with me who was not family was very supportive. My father was unfortunately out of town, but although he was a few hours away St Mary’s allowed my mother’s body to remain there and held off on having the Corner come to collect her, so my father could see my mother before she was placed in a freezer and the autopsy began. They set my large family up in a conference room and sent a Chaplain to speak with us and help my family through that immediate grief. We also spoke with a ME (if my memory is correct) who explained as best they could what they believed had happened. They were so kind and really did everything possible to help my family through that nightmare. Many of the staff at St Mary’s who knew my mother went to her funeral, and they sent flowers. St Mary’s even honored my mother later by adding her name to a garden wall of passed employees during a beautiful ceremony. Her manager also decided to spread awareness of the increased risk of heart disease in nightshift employee’s in my mothers honor. I am well aware that the communities’ view of St Mary’s isn’t always as glowing as my own, but I’m leaving this review in hopes that it will help others come to understand just how compassionate the staff of St Mary’s are despite how broken our health care system is, and I hope everyone can remember that healthcare workers are people, and that the majority of them care for people and...

If you are considering trusting St Mary’s Medical Center to manage a serious medical condition you need to be aware of my recent experience. I was diagnosed by a cardiologist at St. Mary’s Medical Center to have A-fib and a blood clot in my heart. Going forward the blood clot diagnoses was made on two additional occasions following transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) procedures. These diagnoses were proven to be MISDIAGNOSIS after an 8 month period which prevented treatment of my A-fib. As a result of St. Mary’s multiple misdiagnosis, I endured 8 months of A-fib’s debilitating symptoms and the daily terror of thinking the “misdiagnosed” blood clot could at any moment cause a life changing stroke or death. Insult to injury I paid $500 p/mo for prescribed prescriptions based on an incorrect diagnosis. During the 8 months of treatment at St. Mary’s, I received 3 separate (TEE) which were performed to check for the ongoing existence of a “blood clot” in my heart. Each (TEE) test (3) was interpreted by St. Mary’s cardiologist to confirm the existence of a blood clot that remained the same size thus preventing a cardioversion procedure to treat my A-fib. After St. Mary’s last TEE test in September the cardiologist was at a loss for why the “blood clot” still existed so they recommended an additional 6-month period to see if the clot would “go away”. At this point I went to Porter Hospital in Denver where a fourth transesophageal echocardiogram (Tee) was performed; the Denver diagnosis was that there was NEVER a blood clot in my heart. The Denver cardiologist stated “the first misdiagnosis was possibly acceptable but making the same misdiagnosis after TWO additional (TEE) tests was gross negligence. Porter Hospital in Denver identified the multiple misdiagnosis on my first appointment with their cardiologist and immediately began treating my A-fib; unlike the St. Mary’s Medical Center cardiologist team in Grand Junction who were unable to accomplish the same task over an 8 month period. I will be the first to compliment the hospital staff on their patient care and the cardiology team appeared to be knowledgeable, caring physicians BUT in the long run they diagnosed conditions that did not exist causing me unbearable distress and hardship. When you trust your life to a medical team, “nice” does not make up for incompetence. If you have a medical issue beyond the common no-brainer variety I suggest you choose another facility other than St. Mary’s...

Was in for spine surgery November 2017. Had surgical complications which, I firmly believe, were no fault of the surgeon. Woke in recovery with a BIPAP mask on my face, which freaked me out as I am severely claustrophobic, and suddenly there were people holding me down, grabbing my hands and screaming at me! Once they told me that I had to be still & why, I was easily compliant and the physical restraint stopped. I went to the floor a bit later & was told not to move at all for up to 2 days. There were no provisions made for elimination needs, etc.,and when I asked the nurse questions, I was snapped at. Once the order was obtained for a catheter, it was put in as though it was punishment for disturbing the charge nurse! I will say the overnight nurses for the first 4 or 5 nights were excellent. They were extremely attentive, were concerned for my needs, my pain and for my emotional needs due to the horrible nursing care I was dealing with on the day shifts. The travel nurse I got stuck with was new to the facility, and she was more than awful, she was cruel and rude and beyond out of line. Having been a RN myself for 15 years, I know what minimal patient care at least should be...she could not even muster that. I was not washed, nor medicated for pain appropriately at all. Even on day of discharge, she neglected to perform necessary tasks in a timely fashion - like removing the catheter until it was actually time for me to leave! My surgeon was apologetic for the complications which were known about at the time of the surgery, but there were complications found later also that were possibly attributed to being improperly rolled from the special table/frame in the operating room. I had nerve damage in one hip which made walking impossible. What should have been a one-night hospital stay turned into an 8-night stay at St Mary's, then another 8 days in rehab. Also, to mention, the food during my stay was absolutely AWFUL. I barely ate anything, leaving me feeling weaker and worse then necessary. I will never schedule an elective procedure here again, and will avoid being admitted here ever again as much as humanly possible. I had a similar procedure here 3 years prior, and it was a completely different experience. Too bad the nursing care has gone so far downhill. It is the nurses that make the hospital and the care of...