Freeman Hospital West — Local services in Joplin

I have waited for some time now to write this review fearing that my husband would be the victim of further acts of revenge at his follow up appointments, however now that he is no longer in Freeman's care I am now free to speak about how he has been mistreated.

Sound dramatic to you? It is, and it all revolves around the silly superiority complex of a secretary that lacks oversight.

My husband had orthopedic surgery with Dr. Twiss in December after breaking his thumb. FANTASTIC surgeon, he and his nurse practitioner are the only reason I didn't give a one-star rating. He then had several follow-ups to ensure it was healing well.

Enter middle-aged secretary Bobbie.

My husband was running less than five minutes late to one appointment because of traffic conditions. As a healthcare worker, I completely understand how frustrating this can be and how being just a few minutes behind per patient can ruin patient flow and the doctor's schedule. He called ahead and let them know. Bobbie was incredibly rude and unprofessional on the phone, cutting him off multiple times as he tried to explain the situation. She continued to be snarky anyway.

Could my husband have been rude? Not impossible, but the man is polite to a fault. I regularly chide him for being too nice to people that deserve a verbal thrashing.

Over the next several appointments, my husband's time slots were mysteriously altered to occur 15 minutes before he showed up. Every time he scheduled and requested 3 p.m., he would get a card with that time noted, but his appointment would be changed to 2:45 without notice. I am curious if there is a system in place where these changes are time stamped and logged by user as far as scheduling goes. My husband did not make this mistake multiple times. The poor girls at the front desk did not mischedule multiple times. I'm not going to outright say that Bobbie did this, but I would love to see some sort of records as to who made these changes. Bobbie just happens to be the common denominator.

My husband wasted hours of vacation time trying to make appointments that were consistently altered. When you're injured, trying to heal and are seeking the help of experts, the last thing anyone in this position needs to deal with is a constant circus show mimicking healthcare... or a petty secretary that clearly needs a new career that doesn't involve playing with people's health. People like Bobbie are part of why trust in healthcare is at a record low today. I would be utterly ashamed if I treated my patients the way my husband has...

The emergency room was good. After that I was rushed through so they could leave at 4:00 for their 3 day weekend. I left in the same pain and suffered on my 3 day weekend. I bet my bill will show they did a lot more than they actually did. Disappointed in the biggest way. Good thing, I didn't have heart attack. Seriously, the Doctor I had , had the worse bed side manner I have ever seen. My daughter had and died from cancer in 1990, so i have dealt with my fair share of Doctors. The enzyme tests was suppose to be done every 4 hours. Mine was done twice, back to back. Stress test, walking on tread mill took about 5 to 10 minutes, even after it was suppose to be medically induced. Was initially told I would be admitted (blood tests), but then told if I passed the stress test they would take me back to the patient waiting room behind the coffee shop where I waited once before. Passed the so called stress test. Waited in a corner for someone to take me back to the waiting area for patients. But then she , the nurse that did the stress test took me to room #209. WHAT? I was told I would be brought back to the waiting area for dismiss If I passed the stress test. I stood there waiting to be dismissed, they ran vitals then gave me my dismissal papers. The Doctor came in, said it wasn't the heart. We asked a few questions, he answered and then just stood there for an awkward amount of time. I finally said Thanks Doctor, he left. Once again the pain in my chest was present and breathing labored. The Nitro and morphine had wore off. Nobody came to the room. FINALLY my brother walked to the nurses station and asked can my sister leave? They said she can walk out on her own or we can wheel her down!?!?!? Seriously..Thanks for the compassion and patient care, or lack of. Hope they had a wonderful 3 day weekend Mine was spent in pain, having to wait till Tuesday to even call and make an appointment with my Doctor. I better NOT get charged for the room. Getting charged for some of the other things I get, but not all of it. The ONLY reason they was going to put me in a room was so that they could do the enzyme test every 4 hours. My next test was suppose to be at 4. But that department closed at 4. Its simple... they wanted to leave... and...

Oh my Word!! My husband was seen in Freeman Urgent Care for chest pain 6.5 hours later we are still sitting in the waiting room at Freeman West . Just happy we didn’t have him transferred by ambulance or maybe we should of?!! No one has checked on us took blood pressure since arrival. The System is seriously flawed! Should spend some time and money on figuring out how to see patients more quickly and efficiently than Advertisements to gain your business. No one was wearing mask 😷! No one cleaned waiting area, restrooms, or entry way. Had homeless lady dragging all of her items throughout the waiting area trying to talk to ppl and blaring music and dancing around and pulling a bottle of booze out of her pants and showing everyone. After some time security took her out of waiting area but allow her to stay in common area of hospital. This is ridiculous and unacceptable! We were told that it would take 2 hours to check enzymes for cardiac damage. Ok so we waited patiently and then ask for results. At that time we were told that we can’t get results that a Doctor has to give them. So we just sit waiting and waiting and waiting! This experience has caused to decide to change our insurance and take our business to Mercy. We will have to pay a higher premiums but ya know time is money and life is so short it is not worth wasting it a way in this facility! So if you are reading this please be warned and go somewhere else for quality care. We have been loyal to Freeman for many decades. I have worked in healthcare and come from a family of nursing professionals and this care in this hospital is substandard. And don’t blame it on Covid! Because before Covid we had a similar experience at this Hospital! This is where we part ways and...