Denver Health — Local services in Denver

I want to preface this by saying that I do not lay the blame for any of this on the majority of the staff. There were some very kind people that we came into contact with and I think it's unfair that they are lumped in with the few bad apples. I also want to preface this by saying that I will do my best to explain this rating while trying to refrain from being emotional as I have some pretty serious grievances to air. I have a fairly strong reason to believe that one of your doctors began to wrongly judge my situation because of my disability.

We actually came to the emergency room to look at an injury that my roommate had received at her work. Honestly I can say that I'm grateful for how they treated her. Everyone did their best to take care of her and they were kind and extremely helpful.

At this point the staff heard me struggling to breath and asked if I would like to be looked at. My roommate asked me if I would get checked because I've spent the last month every night struggling to breath. Every breath has been a challenge and it's caused many people to worry. So I check myself in and the first person listens to my lungs and says it's obvious that I'm struggling to breath and they can hear a lot of wheezing.

Up until this point I felt heard and I felt very taken care of. I appreciated this greatly as I am not really the type to go to a hospital and feel it's a pretty awkward situation. However when I went to take my xrays I nearly passed out and hit my head on the plate. Nobody flinched or said a word just asked if I would please finish the xrays. This was not really that bad but looking back was pretty indicative of what was to come.

I get back to my room where I was now seen by a new doctor who told.me they couldn't hear anything wrong with my lungs. Mind you they had to speak up over the wheezing. I am not adding this text for flavor. That is just a thing that happened.

They give me a breathing treatment at this time which was the only actual treatment I got that had anything to do with my symptoms. They gave me mylanta most likely assuming that my breathing was related to acid reflux however the entire 8 hours I was there that was the only time they even remotely attempted to make any real diagnosis.

A few hours later a third completely unrelated doctor came in. They promptly started asking me questions only to interrupt me and talk over my answers. At this point my roommate was in tears as she could clearly see the doctor was ignoring my entire case and had spent the last month watching me get sicker and sicker. Up until that point she had spoke highly of this hospital despite all of the bad press it's gotten since I lived here. I find it very likely that she will be leaving a review as well telling her side of things.

The best part was when the doctor who had not spent one moment with me before this point suggested behavioral therapy.... for a breathing issue. It was at this point that I realized what had happened. They had found in my charts that I suffer from a mental disability and like most people assume that it means I'm low functioning. I mean I get it I don't really bother with my appearance, however this is not only uncalled for but it puts me in a dangerous position where I'm not able to get the care that I need.

Also how scummy is it to try and sell their terrible therapy programs to total strangers just becuase you saw they were on disability at one point. I am not a product but a patient that was there to take care of an illness not at all related to behavioral health. Nothing I did lent itself to think that it would be necessary. I was even civil to the rather rude doctor with the exception of setting my boundaries and asking not to be talked over after being asked a question which I think most people would find rational.

To sum it up your doctor overreacted and then went on to ignore my actual issue. He did this because it was the easy route and you figured that as a disabled person I would lack the understanding or the ability to express...

Would rate zero stars if I could, home to the WORST billing department I have ever dealt with in healthcare. Last fall, I was in physical therapy after a having surgery for a torn ACL. A lot of appointments and a lot of copays. So many appointments that I ended up maxing out my benefit for the year in October. Never heard a peep from anyone (we'll come back to this part) and my provider kept on scheduling me. Suddenly, I get a bill for $600. First thing I do is call my insurance company, who informs me that they denied the claim for my PT because I'd used up all my visits for the year, but that someone from the hospital was supposed to reach out and let me know. Since that never happened, I had to reach out to the billing department to see what happened there and how we could resolve this, because after paying thousands for surgery and even more for all these PT copays, an additional $600 wasn't something I had just laying around. I call and they say I can appeal the bill, and that they would update me when a decision was made. This was in November. I never heard a PEEP from anyone (shouldn't have been shocking given how I ended up with this bill in the first place), but I noticed that the balance was removed from my MyChart account. I called to confirm that the bill was wiped out, and the person I spoke with said yes. This was a lie, because a few months later in the June, I got an email saying I had a new billing statement available, and the balance was back. So naturally, I call the Denver Health Billing Department, which we all know takes forever. I speak with someone who tells me a bunch of nonsense, but that she would put the bill back into appeals, but expedite it this time. I explained that I was worried about this being sent to collections because of how long this has been going on, and she told me to call back 4 weeks later. I mark my calendar for 4 Wednesdays from that date, and wait. Today was the 4th Wednesday, so I check MyChart before I call to see if there were any updates there that I just didn't receive any emails about. I really shouldn't have been surprised to see the bill was sent to collections, but man what a gut punch. I get on the phone, wait on hold for far too long, and immediately ask for a supervisor. We have some back and forth, and this woman has the audacity to, after 8 months of agreeing with me that I should have received a call about my benefits, proceed to tell me that it's my fault this happened because I wasn't keeping track of my appointments. Absolutely zero compassion. Abysmal customer service once again from Denver Health. Never even told me what agency it was sent to so I could pay it and move on with my life before my credit takes too big a hit. Zero communication or accountability going on in that billing department. If you want an easy job where you don't have to actually do anything, this is the place for you apparently.

EDITING TO ADD: I spoke with a Patient Advocate named Becca who listened to and validated my concerns. She worked with the billing department to recall my bill from collections and updated me throughout the process (because she understood that nobody int the past had done that for me) Karen R from the billing department later called to update me on how to move forward. My experience with Becca and Karen R was nothing like the countless others I spoke with and I want to make sure it's noted somewhere that they are doing their jobs and...

Denver Health is an exceptional hospital, and I’m more than glad to give a review stating why.

I had a full knee replacement last summer, and the results are impeccable. My surgeon is Dr. Mark Hammerberg, and in addition to having a frank, but compassionate bedside manner, his surgical skills are unmatched.

My new knee moves, feels, and looks just like a natural knee. He lined the incision up perfectly when he sewed me back together, and the scar is minimal.

I met several other people at physical therapy who had the same surgery, and unfortunately they didn’t have a surgeon like mine, and went to different facilities, so they had clicking, stiffness, and crookedness in their new knees.

My experience with the Denver Health Orthopedic staff has been top notch, professional, and caring. The recovery is rough after knee replacement, but Dr. Hammerberg and his staff make sure you have the tools to make it as easy as possible.

My surgery and the results turned out so well that I am having my other knee done by Dr. Hammerberg. The first surgery has been life changing and has reversed at least ten years from my life and I couldn’t be more thankful or grateful.

A HUGE thank you to Denver Health, Dr. Hammerberg, Nurse Kim, and to rest of the fantastic staff! And if you need a new knee, I would highly recommend getting it done at Denver Health.

Update: I had my other knee replacement done at the same hospital, with the same surgeon. This time it was a disaster. I knew from the beginning that something wasn’t going well. I got my surgery done in May 2024 and it turned out that I had an infection in my joint. This infection was discovered by my rheumatologist who had concerns about my bloodwork. Even after I had already had a debridement performed two months prior. My surgeon never even tested for infection in my joint even though he said I had maternal in my knee which he never had seen before. Fast forward to the revision surgery to remove my hardware, and Dr Hammerberg put a permanent so far hole in my leg that hasn’t healed in a year! I still don’t have a knee replacement either. I have a bulky and painful spacer. After all the damage the careless surgery has caused me, I would like to HIGHLY ADVISE that you don’t have any orthopedic knee surgery performed by Dr. Hammerberg. He knows how to insert a knee replacement, but he certainly doesn’t know how to handle an infection and his plucking a hole in my leg has been severely detrimental to my life. In addition to his sloppy surgery work, he wasn’t transparent, very condescending, gaslit, and flat out lies. Not only is he not a good surgeon, he’s a bad person. Same with the chief surgeon for orthopedics. Complete narcissist who has his head in the clouds and doesn’t care about what his role is as a physician. If you value your mobility, and you don’t have to go to Denver Health for surgery, I would say find another surgeon. I have limited painful mobility and I have to use a cane as well as dress the hole in my leg every day. Not to mention having a pik line in my arm that went to my heart for four months. His sloppy surgical work has changed my whole life. Patient beware. Also, at the very same time I had an infection, another patient who had a knee replacement also had an infection. Maybe it’s just the hospital is dirty or maybe it’s just reckless staff. Either way...