Cody Regional Health — Local services in Cody

I am a 65 year old professional female from Maryland who was visiting Montana and Wyoming for a weeks vacation. On Friday evening August 9th I was in the town of Cody and at 10:30 that night I dropped a solar phone charger on my foot which immediately caused me pain. I got up in the middle of the night and could not walk to the bathroom without hanging on furniture for support. We had a 7:00 am pickup by a tour company to take us for 12 hour excursion of Yellowstone. I was unable to go because of the pain. I went to urgent care but they do not have an X-ray machine so I was told to go Cody Regional Health. Your admission Lady was very nice and professional and helpful. I was asked by a nurse if I wanted a wheel chair, but I preferred to just tough it out and walk. After all I walked very slowly all morning on it just to go get medical care. I was admitted and seen by a Dr Dougherty I explained what happened and told him I had taken 800 mill of Motrin and it did not help the pain. He did not touch my foot at all. He ordered a X-ray and it came back fine. I was glad to hear that and asked him could he please give me a prescription for TWO Tramadol which is basically a stronger Motrin. I also mentioned to him that I had pain on my tail bone from mountain biking the day before in Montana. ( still have tenderness 3 weeks later, very painful after it happened) One tramadol a day would have alleviated most of my pain and made it easier to move around on my vacation. I would have actually been stretching the pill for 24 hrs. In reality a prescription would allow you to take more than one pill in 24 hrs. ( I am reducing this to the ridiculous) I have taken these several times for pain through the years. They do not impair me in any way. I did not ask for a heavy narcotic like Percocet or Hydrocodine!! I asked for 2 pills of low dose Tramadol ( basically a stronger Motrin ) to try to stretch for the 3 days I had left in Cody. I had tours, shows, dinner reservations. I didn’t even ask for 3 pills! Dr Dougherty refused and was indignant as well. I asked him if I could at least have some crutches which he told me to go to Walgreens! Coincidently was just there the night before getting a soft doughnut to sit on for my tail bone, so it would be easier to sit for the 12 hour excursion to Yellowstone.

This Doctor could have cared less about my pain, my ability to get crutches in the only drug store I knew of! Remember I am from Maryland and just got to Cody the day before at 6:00 in the evening! He wasn’t even sure they would have them or my size. But, I know your hospital probably could have found me a pair, after all you are an active state with millions of tourists. This arrogant Dr made me feel so terrible for even going there, because they were absolutely no help! I have never felt so dismissed by a man that I just met! This Dr acted like I flew in from Maryland just to get a two pain pills!! It was so humiliating and infuriating at the same time!!

I discussed this with my sister who is a double boarded ER Doctor and was Director of Emergency medicine in Detroit for 25 years. ( unlike your Director who is not even a Doctor) My brother in law who is still a practicing Emergency physician in Detroit and they both couldn’t understand this issue or his attitude. I came back the next morning to talk to your Director in reference to what transpired during my time there. She offered me crutches and listened to my anger. I told her do not send me any bills for charges of anything that is not covered by both of my insurances that I would not pay them.

I have many Doctors and Lawyers as well as Real Estate professionals, which I am one in my family. I Hate to burst your bubble Doc! You were not the only professional in the room that day. I should have been given the same respect I showed you in the beginning!! You received no respect from me after I saw your bedside manner and the way you interacted with me. I made that clear when I got up and left and we had the confrontation in...

It has taken me 3 years to finally write this review. Perhaps I thought time would make more sense of it. But alas it has only exposed to me the sense that something very shady has went on. It started with my step dad being admitted to the hospital. He first visited the ER after testing positive for Covid. The nurse, who was very nice, assessed him and told him they were most likely going to send him home with some oxygen and meds. The ER doctor then entered the room and upon learning that he had not been vaccinated became very upset and started slamming drawers and said that my step father would be admitted to the ICU unit. A few days later my mother, who was also showing similar symptoms went in and was also admitted. Upon my mother being admitted she came into contact with a nurse who first thing told her. "You are probably going to die in here." Shocked and disgusted I begged my mom to let me turn this info into the head of the hospital. She told me no, that he probably was having a bad day. Neither of my parents were ever placed on the ventilator because they refused, so were both administered the drug Remdesivir ( a warranted topic for a tangent on its own) and heavily sedated by morphine and put on supplemental oxygen with masks and nasal cannula. My step father passed away. After that, the nurse who had said the questionable remark when she was admitted, started saying even more. Upon us children requesting our mom be given her vitamins and perhaps move her around so she did not get bed sores he responded with, “we aren’t worried about bed sores and vitamins because your mom is not ever getting out of the hospital.” There were other remarks made regarding her choice to not be vaccinated but the one made me report this was when he said to us “you need to get with your other siblings and make a decision because we aren’t going to keep her on oxygen forever.” That morning after he had told us this I called in to make the report. About 4 or 5 hours later, I got a call that my mother had passed away. No questions ever really answered which is why we, a few weeks after the funerals,  surviving children, requested her hospital records and were denied saying that her records had to go through the probate courts. As for the nurse I made the report about, they sent me a letter, told me he was burnt out mentally and that they offered him some classes but couldn’t tell me if he declined or accepted. 1 month later they made him nurse of the year with a wall plaque and had the Governor of Wyoming come meet him and take pictures. We finally got her hospital records which is missing so much information. Definitely leaving more questions than answers. Many of the nurses were wonderful, almost angels sent to us at this time. I do not write this review with malice or hatred. I have long since got past that. I write this to shed light on things done in the darkness. I write this for truth. I write this...

Do NOT come here— Go to Billings Health! I was desperate on vacation, so sick, couldn’t breathe, nor stop coughing. I talked to my doctor at home, they told me to go to urgent care and get a steroid shot and possibly a breathing treatment. So I mustered up the strength to drive to town and go to Cody Regional Walk In Clinic. The NP and nurse who saw me acted very annoyed that I had already talked to my dr and asked for a shot, I in no way meant to offend her or discredit her. She told me I didn’t need one nor do they have them at all. She wouldn’t give me anything at all and told me to take Tylenol. I couldn’t understand her coldness, nor why she wouldn’t help me. I was miserable. On the way out I asked to please speak with a manager, no one was available. They said they would have one call me. By the time I got out of this office, my regular doctors office at home was closed, so I wasn’t able to get her to call me in an oral steroid. I was having to deal with all this non sense while feeling horrible- on vacation. 24 hours later I was admitted to the hospital. My oxygen was under 90 for 2 days. The doctors at the hospital could not understand why I wasn’t given a steroid the day before, and said it could have potentially helped keep me from being hospitalized. Even after being released, I wasn’t well for nearly a month. The day after I was released from the hospital, Cody Regional Health manager, Justin finally called. Right off the bat, I realized I wasn’t going to get anywhere. He was upset with my review online, he was combative and told me that the NP did the correct thing.. I asked for the situation to be escalated because at this point I’m very upset as I was originally quoted $170, and then received a bill for $220 —after I felt I wasn’t even taken care of at all. He said he would send it to the grievance committee, the next week I received a letter from Tonya with Quality Management and was told that I would still owe the $220. Which is fine, I’m now committed to telling my story over and over, so no one else has to ruin their vacation and be treated so poorly. If you are sick on vacation and reading this- I’m so sorry—-but do not come here looking for help. I’m not letting this go, I’ll be back for another review of...