Baptist Medical Center Nassau — Local services in Fernandina Beach

Aloha & Good Morning Family & Friends

Over the weekend while I was working on a project with Stephanie and some very dear friends, I began to have some double vision issues. I thought I had bumped my eye glasses and they were just out of wack. But after making some minor adjustments to my glasses everything seemed to be fine. But as the day wore on the double vision issue seemed to return and to be causing a small head-ache, so I took some Ibuprofen, (DR.) Stephanies favorite treatment for everything that ales you. On Sunday morning my double vision issue was stronger so (DR.) Stephanie persisted by loading me up and we proceeded to the Baptist Medical Center Nassau on Fernandina Island, Florida. Where the emergency room hospital staff began to treat and access my double vision. They started stroke assessment treatment immediately. I was kept in the hospital over night. By Monday afternoon it was determined and confirmed, I had had a Mini-Stroke that was effecting my vision in my left eye and not my brain based on all the examinations and test run Monday morning. After some more examinations and speaking with all the staff I was released into Stephanies Home Care and home recovery for at least a week before returning to work. Im temporarily wearing a alternating patch on my glasses, covering my left eye and then my right eye alternating every two hours to reduce double vision eye strain/head aches and to retrain my eye muscles to work together, So Im now "One Eye Captain Herman”. Sorta like watching a bad Pirate movie when the actor forgets which eye to put the patch on. Both eyes are working its just that the left eye is slow to track with the right eye unless I tilt my head to the left and forward. The doctor’s believe my normal vision should be restored within a short time. And Yes I have followup appointments in the works.

Again the "Baptist Medical Center Nassau Staff" was Awesome. I was treated by a highly advanced array of Doctors, nurses and staff. They are an extremely well-equipped community hospital that provided a full spectrum of inpatient services. It's a nearly indescribable quality, but you know it when you feel it. Every Doctor and Nurse that I was seen by was deeply invested in my evaluations, examinations and treatments provided, guiding Stephanie and me to the best medical answers. All of the Staff was compassionate, kind and attentive to Stephanies and my comforts, needs and questions. Their advanced technology and leading-edge medical treatments leaves you thinking "They were just Amazing,”.

I was fortunate that we choose to go there and I would highly recommend them both from the emergency room and the general...

I took my daughter who has spina bifida, chiari malformation, one kidney, severe anxiety and an undiagnosed breathing problem. The reason I took is that a doctor in Jacksonville at a hospital that has a very bad reputation told me he wanted to put her on a pic line. She (just turned 18) did not want to stay at that hospital because for one I would not be allowed to be with her two it was an hour away from home and the hospital was dirty and scary. With her severe anxiety she wasn't having it. So I asked the doctor if I could just take her to our local hospital and he could send the records and we could have it put in there. He said that sounds like an ok idea. So I went to the ER and told them what was going on. At first everything was ok. Then all of a sudden this old grey hair "doctor" comes in. Mind you my daughter's blood pressure was super high she was having a hard time breathing because she was about to have a panic attack. So I decided to help talk for her since she was struggling. I got the shock of my life when the doctor yelled at me "I'm not talking to you I'm talking to my patient. You've been talking for her since I walked in". First off no I wasn't and second I am her care giver and I am the one that helps her when she is struggling. I kind of yelled back telling him she was having a very hard time talking due to her anxiety and that I was going to talk for her. Well that wasn't good enough for him. He said that they could not or would not help her. So I told him in that case, discharge us right now. So the other "doctor" comes in and tells my daughter that she needs to learn to speak for herself because I could die in a car accident tonight which threw her anxiety through the roof. I honestly should have spoken to a lawyer because no one deserves this type of treatment. Who tells a person that who is clearly suffering? I understand that she had just turned 18 but she could hardly breathe. I have never had a problem since with any doctor or nurse helping describe her issues. But to this day I have anxiety over talking to doctors. Now to top this all off I call and tell the doc in Jacksonville what went down and he told me that the doc at Baptist Nassau told him I refused care. WOW really?!? Horrible. I will drive the hour to take her to St Vincent’s in Jax if she ever has a problem again. Not only did they jeopardize my daughters health but made the other doc question my intentions. I would give it a one star but the nurse was very nice. This shouldn't happen to anyone especially a disabled person. She now has an anxiety about going to the ER and will suffer as apposed...

On 9/29/2025, I went to the emergency room at Baptist Nassau and was seen by Dr. M. Dragon, MD. I went in because I was extremely weak—I couldn't walk, I could barely talk, and a friend had to bring me because I couldn't even hold my phone or drive myself. They wheeled me in.

My symptoms were serious: my left side was numb, my left hand hurt, my hands were cold and sweaty, and my blood pressure at home (measured on a machine another doctor recommended I buy) had gone from 179/110 down to 105/100—dangerously fluctuating. When I first arrived, I couldn't speak well enough to explain what was happening.

Once I could talk, I explained everything to Dr. Dragon. They ran a basic metabolic panel, tested me for drugs and dehydration, and found that I had low potassium. But here's what she wrote as my diagnosis in her chart: "GRIEF, difficulty falling asleep, and low potassium."

I made the mistake of mentioning that I've been grieving. She latched onto that and dismissed everything else. She wrote that I have insomnia and problems falling asleep—I NEVER said that. What I actually told her was that I wake up in the middle of the night with intense adrenaline rushes, freezing cold, with a stabbing, needle-like sensation exploding inside my blood. That's not insomnia. That's a medical emergency.

She completely ignored the numbness in my left side, the pain in my left hand, my inability to walk or hold objects, and my dangerously fluctuating blood pressure. They did an EKG, said nothing was wrong, dismissed my symptoms as grief, and sent me to behavioral health.

This is the second time I've been treated this way at this hospital. The first time, they put me in a corner like an animal. I didn't want to come back here, but I had no choice—I was too sick to go anywhere else.

This hospital is the worst. The doctors are lazy and don't want to do their job. They see "grief" and stop investigating real medical problems.

Everyone on this island gives this place five stars, and I know why—it's a small community where everyone knows each other, and people are afraid to speak the truth because they'll see their doctor at the grocery store. Don't be afraid. Say what needs to be said.

Dr. M. Dragón, shame on you. Shame on you for writing "grief" as my diagnosis when I came in unable to walk, with a numb left side, dangerous blood pressure swings, and symptoms that clearly needed real medical attention....