Bingham Memorial Hospital — Local services in Blackfoot

Make the trip to IF or Poky... Maybe even urgent care. Absolute shambled mess of an establishment. Honestly, I didn't even know these types of hospitals existed.

My husband cut his finger (lengthwise) with a table saw yesterday. We got to Bingham Memorial's emergency room and there was nobody there. We had to go looking for people, knocking on doors and everything. We should have left then. When a woman came to the door, she called back to another woman to come check us in. The first woman made a remark to the second about a patient coming from Fort Hall with a finger laceration.

After sitting in the lobby for some time, they took my husband to the fogged glass room to take his blood pressure. We were led back to the lobby and waited a while longer. When they finally came to take us back they led us to a room with a bed covered in a teal sheet.... The sheet had visible staining. A nurse brought a bowl for my husband to soak his finger in. And there it soaked.. and soaked.. and soaked. Nurses giggling in the hallways, no sense of urgency, no bustling.

When she came back, she went to spray his finger with saline solution so I asked what had his hand just been soaking in and why. She said to disinfect to wound so I asked why she was using saline solution now then. She said, "it's not saline, it's water". Arm and Hammer branded SALINE SOLUTION written plainly on the aerosol can 😐. She says it's to rinse and clean the wound out. She gingerly sprits the cut. I asked her, "it must be busy or something, should we go to urgent care?" She said, "No, it's gonna be like this everywhere." It has now been an hour since we arrived and he has yet to be numbed. It gets better!

The nurse came back a bit later. Asked if he's had x-rays done, we said nobody has been back here since she left. More waiting and finally the x-ray machine was brought in. Neither of the women with the machine asked if I was pregnant, neither warned to come out of the room, neither offered the bibs.. they just both stepped into the hallway and took the pictures from way over there. My husband's hand was trembling uncontrollably because it was hurt and cold so, of course, they had to retake x-rays.

At long last, Dr. Timmons came in. He had taken pictures of the x-rays with his phone. He said he would be back to numb the finger but that he would not be stitching the wound. SERIOUSLY. An eighth inch blade down the finger, through and through, bone and all. We asked what and why and his response was that the finger will heal itself. Then he was gone for another long while. Immediately after he left, another nurse brought in the lidocaine kit and set it on the dirty laundry hamper. Why not the tray? Foot of the bed? The countertop? Nope, dirty laundry hamper. The doctor came back and pulled out a string. I asked what it was for and he said that he'll put sutures in after all. After he put them in on the underside of his finger, I asked if he was going to remove the other pieces of the finger nail to throw a couple stitches in the nail bed. He said no. And there's more..

2 nurses came in to splint his finger because the bone is shattered and missing parts but a splint will do. Will it? We have no idea. But one nurse tried to put the frog shaped split on over the wound with no gauze! My husband had to stop her. The other nurse agreed, it needs gauze. OBVIOUSLY. Idk if the other nurse was just excited to be using the finger cage with the gauze sleeve or what but she definitely should have used a telfa pad because it was still open and bleeding. Did we know that at the time? No. We assumed they were using the right gauze. But let me tell you, changing his bandages today was a nightmare. It was still bleeding and the dried blood had attached the gauze AND adhesive bandage to the nail bed and stitches. We had to cut it back and soak the rest in saline solution for 45 minutes to remove it and hopefully stop the bleeding.

The person from Fort Hall was handled before my husband was numbed because, quote, "they complained...

If there was a zero-star option, that’s what I would give. I’ve been a virtual patient here for over a year now, and this whole experience has been beyond frustrating.

Back in October, I had an appointment with the doctor, and we scheduled my next one for the beginning of March. Then in February, I got a phone call saying they needed to move it. That already wasn’t the first time, and while it was annoying, I tried to be understanding. But when they told me the new date was July 3rd, I got really upset. I’ve never heard of a doctor’s appointment being moved six months out. I later found out that the doctor I had been seeing was leaving the hospital, and I honestly think they just pushed me off his schedule because of that. From October to July, I had no care, no guidance, no follow-up—nothing. Then, one week before my July 3rd appointment, someone called me saying the time needed to be changed again because someone else had been booked into that slot. That made absolutely no sense—I’d had that appointment booked since February. I told the woman who called that I had already taken time off work, and that I had been waiting for this appointment for eight months. I told her I wasn’t going to accept being bumped again. She said she’d speak to her manager and call me back—but she never did. I kept getting confirmation texts, and I even got the Zoom link, so I assumed everything was fine. Then, four hours before the appointment, she called again to say they were canceling it. I was beyond upset. It felt like they did it on purpose—waiting until the last minute so I couldn’t do anything about it. I had already missed work, and I had been looking forward to finally getting some answers and support. Instead, I was completely dismissed. I broke down crying on the phone. I’ve been out of my supplements, my recent bloodwork showed some red flags, and I’ve developed new symptoms. I was counting on this appointment to get proper guidance. I truly felt like they gave my spot to someone they thought was more important, and that they didn’t care what kind of position that left me in. This kind of stress has really affected my MS—my face went completely numb.

This whole thing was handled terribly, and I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone who’s trying to manage a...

I wish that I could give this hospital a ZERO! I see a fabulous doctor there through telehealth. I live in another state. I could not get ANYONE to return my call when my feet went numb! I made 10 different attempts, through the portal, by phone and through the on call nurses! Finally, I complained to the office manager and the complaint department. Yes, they apparently need a whole department!

I cried during my next appointment due to all of the issues I had getting help, and the doctor told me that he had little say about who gets hired or how things run. BIG MISTAKE Bingham! The doctor should be able to release ineffective staff.

I tried to get my daughter to see this wonderful doctor. They received her intake forms in January. They had to reschedule a few times, and she had an awards evening and was receiving awards, so we rescheduled once. She finally got an appointment a month ago. This week, we were going to go over her test results. She has been exhausted and sleeping A LOT for months. Well, they could not hear us on the video call. When the office called me, they said that I could pay 200.00 to have a phone call with the doctor or reschedule. This was their failure. They could hear me! I could see and hear them. Was it hospital policy to charge a patient AND charge the insurance? Needless to say, the appointment did not happen, and my child has to feel sick and exhausted for yet another month. So, from January to September, we could not get any help.

Additionally, you can only get on 15 minutes prior to the telehealth appointment to work out tech. issues, and if there is a glitche that goes 15 minutes after your appointment, your appointment is canceled, or you could pay 200.00 to talk on the phone. My daughter and I tried multiple things. They tried nothing and didn't have any clue how to help. This happened to me twice before, also. This system is new and does not work properly. At first, I was told that the system has a lot of issues. This time, I was told that is only us. 🙄

I have a health issue that gets worse with stress. Thanks, Bingham Memorial! You added a lot of stress to my life. I will not use this hospital for anything else, and I am considering dropping this...