Banner Casa Grande Medical Center | Casa Grande, AZ | Florence Blvd. — Local services in Casa Grande

I went to the ER on 7/12 because of a home health visit that I was told my heart rate was extremely low. She had me worried since I did not feel bad or had any signs. I was checked in promptly before noon and taken for vitals and an xray. When I was placed in a room and being monitored, more blood was taken for tests. Finally after a couple of hours, I was seen by the physician and told I was being treated for "shortness of breath". Me: Sorry, I am not, take that off the table...I am fine! ER Doc: Well, you are short of breath... Me: No, I'm not. I don't know why I am here. I am fine. ER Doc: You have an elevated test result that reflects you are experiencing a stroke. Me: I am fine. ER Doc: Do you have any chest pain? Me: No, I am fine. 2+ hrs later they tell me they are transferring me out for a "higher level of care" and my husband could not drive me due to my "condition". I asked why they could not consult a cardiologist and they told me there are strict rules about the Cath Lab and they closed at 4p. (I could have walked to my husband's Cardiologist's office from the ER bed.) 4 hrs later, still waiting for a bed at the transfer facility. I had an uneventful night with minimal checks by staff (for someone supposedly have heart issues) and at 10:30 the next morning the ambulance transfer service shows up to take me to Banner Desert. Again, I tell them I am fine. 1 hr later, I arrive at Banner Desert and the cardiologist team (finally!) comes in to hear my story. They want to watch the EKG and possibly do a ECHO ultrasound of my heart. The lead Cardiologist comes in and says, "Why are you here?" in front of several people. I responded that I am fine and I do what I am told & that Banner CG ER transported me here. He tells me at NO time have I had a heart rate below 40. You can't accurately record a heart rate with an oximeter or a blood pressure cuff. (Only via an EKG or by touching the pulse point can you be accurate and I was hooked up to an EKG the entire time in the ER.) I do have an arrhythmia (which I did not know) like 1000's of other people and to follow up w/ a Cardiologist and my PCP in 2 weeks. I insisted, against his wishes, for the ECHO to be done to lay to rest the status of my heart. After the results were read, I'm told I am being discharged.

So I see my husband's Cardiologist and I ask him if Banner CG MC does not have a Cardiologist on staff or if he did not have privileges there. They do, he does and he apologizes profusely to me about the way I was handled. I could have been taken to the Cath Lab for further testing at 7 am but no...ambulance me out. OK Banner....who's is going to pay for the ambulance transport that was used? I tied up an ER bed for 23 hrs and a much needed bed at a sister facility. As a retired Banner employee, I am very disappointed in the way my situation was a waste of time, resources and money.

UPDATE: I spoke with Banner regarding this incident and my concerns were forwarded to Banner's Risk Management Dept at Corporate. Banner's position is that I spoke with people that "may or may NOT have been Banner employees," and they would not uphold or intercede in the situation nor would they pay for the ambulance. Sorry, if you have a Banner ID badge on, ordering tests, actively involved with the patient, you are a Banner employee in the patient's perspective. When my EOB arrived for the ER bills, a payment was made to a "Specialty Physicians, LTD" group which means Banner CG hospital has contracted out their ER to a group that supplies specialty doctors to medical facilities. It is a shame that Banner would rather ignore what is questionable and hide behind the lame statement that they won't address poor care practices because the provider was contracted. And be forewarned, just because Banner (or any other hospital group) is "in network" with your insurance, if medical providers (ER DRs, anesthesiologists, etc., are contracted out, the contracted provider may not accept...

I lived in Tucson before moving out here. I will say this; there aren't a lot of other options out here. However, if you need x-rays or have a condition where you have the option of driving to a Phoenix or Tucson ER, I would say don't bother to go to Tucson - the ERs there are not any better, and many are way worse. Avoid Emergency Rooms altogether if at all possible. They are always the most chaotic, most mismanaged hospital departments with high staff turnover rates which tends to mean less experienced staff. I drive to Marana to the 24-hour urgent care whenever I need to see a doctor right away for minor infections, rashes, fevers, and stuff they can handle, and I would highly recommend them. I've always gotten signed in, seen by the practitioner, treated, and sent home all in less than an hour every time I have been there. My recent experience at Casa Grande, however, took nearly six hours total. But, comparing ER to an urgent care facility is like comparing apples to oranges - nearly all urgent care facilities are happier, friendlier, faster, more efficient places than ERs. But, sometimes the urgent care can't do what you need and you have to go to the ER. My wife started a new medication recently that increased her risk of blood clots. Days after starting it, she experienced sharp pain in her calf, and her doctor sent her to the ER for a leg ultrasound. The meds were her only risk factor, she's young, doesn't smoke, and doesn't drink, so the doctor told us that there was a decent chance that the pain wasn't a blood clot, but she wanted to make sure because blot clots can kill you. The ultrasound showed that she didn't have a blood clot, so it took them nearly six hours for a fairly simple visit, but that's nothing compared to the waits at some of the hospitals in Tucson. My grandpa waited three days for a hip x-ray at TMC, and I have a number of friends that have waited more than 24 hours at various Tucson ERs. The nurses at Casa Grande were excellent. They were friendly, polite, and professional and made my wife feel completely at ease and reassured her that she wasn't an inconvenience at all. My wife was feeling kind of embarrassed about going to the ER and not finding anything wrong with her. The ultrasound tech needs to have someone explain to him about assessing pain. He was pressing so hard with the wand that my wife was in excruciating pain, and he just yelled at her for not holding still enough for him to get a good picture. She was tearing up and biting her knuckles, trying to hold still for him. The doctor seemed like he was in a hurry and interrupted almost every sentence, but they got the job done, and we were able to rule out blood clot like our doctor wanted. However, once the ultrasound came back negative, they sent us home without any kind of discharge instructions or attempt to discover the cause of my wife's pain. However, we called our doctor in the morning and she is handling follow-up amazingly well. So, while it wasn't a fun experience by any stretch of the imagination, they got the job done. That's the best you can expect for an ER. So in conclusion, try to avoid going to the ER at all if humanly possible. But, if you need to go to the ER, Casa Grande is better than the Tucson hospitals, so your better off here. Just make sure to follow up with your own...

A nightmare! Took my 15 month old here and waited nearly 3 hours before even being seen by a PA by the name of Michael Jackson. The hospital atmosphere is comparable to a 3rd world country.(yes I would know, I’ve lived outside the US for many years in the past) My baby girl was having such extreme fits of coughing, she could not sleep or even breathe. I do admit, in the ER she coughed very little, but I wouldn’t drag her to an ER, especially this horrible ER for nothing. I believe the PA made up his mind based on her appearance that she was fine, but I knew as her mother and explained to him that her demeanor was not normal for over 2 weeks... Finally after questioning him and his “this is normal, just upper respiratory that is treated with rest and over the counter meds” he felt pressed to offer a chest X-ray at which I accepted based on what I was witnessing with her. I then waited another 1 and 1/2 hours for an X-ray. The PA’s and nurses at this ER are heartless, more interested in easy money, supplying narcotics to obvious druggies, which I saw myself; yet they leave sick people, even babies to suffer while waiting countless hours! Finally, after receiving X rays(from the one nice woman in there) I waited another hour! At this point I said something. Eventually a doctor comes to me with the PA telling me, yes indeed, my daughter has pneumonia. The PA did not apologize, acknowledge his doubt in me her mother, reassure me, act concerned, nothing! He even made a point to tell the doctor my baby hadn’t coughed once the whole night after I told him previously she couldn’t stop coughing at home which is why I brought her in!!! Most people know a cough is much worse laying down. Finally, the Actual doctor suggested antibiotics to which I agreed and waited for them to give my child ASAP. I then waited an additional hour and a 1/2 for them to get the medicine with The ER basically empty!! My infant child was crying and screaming from discomfort, bright lights, not being able to sleep etc. Only after confronting them did they attempt to do anything and the PA was horribly rude telling me, “ if you want your child treated we need to wait for the pharmacy, what do you want me to do!?! Blah blah” while the sat on his large butt at a computer. NEVER in my life have I seen such sad health “professionals” unsympathetic, lazy, with complete lack of empathy for sick people, in this case, a small baby!!! I will NEVER return to this disgrace of a hospital, and further more, I will warn everyone I can to stay away! I should have driven the extra miles to have my child seen by people who care and have passion to serve the sick. Sad sad excuse of a hospital ,...