Dignity Health - St. Rose Dominican Hospital, San Martin Campus - Las Vegas, NV — Local services in Spring Valley

My wife was experiencing chest pain, chest heaviness, shortness of breath (due to an allergy to her eye medication) and 9/10 eye pain due to previously diagnosed iritis.  I am an employee at Sunrise Hospital and receive free care within HCA facility. We chose to go to St Rose Dominican Hospital-San Martin Campus because a family member had expressed receiving great and fast care. I knew I would need to pay out of pocket a $300.00 co-pay due to being out of network. I did not care about the price, I just wanted fast and effective care for my wife.  Little did I know I would be receiving the opposite.

Upon arrival at the ER the front staff and nurse were wonderful. While a worker came to run a EKG on my wife a short man in a white coat walked passed in the hall and stopped in-front of the door way. He shouted from the hall, “take off your glasses!” I looked at him then at my wife. Before I can yell back, “Please!” my wife laughed before he walked away. I thought maybe he was being sarcastic and maybe he smiled, and I didn’t see it. But in fact, I later found out he did not. My wife laughed because she could not believe someone could be that rude. But with how much pain and fear she was in she did not bring it up to me at the time. Being a hospital employee, I can see how disconnected this person was. I say person because there was no introduction. We later found out he was the doctor. There was no following of AIDET (Acknowledgement, Introduce, Duration, Explaination and Thank you). This is the standard for ensuring great customer service where I work. When he came back, we found out he was Kim, Angelo MD.

During his evaluation of my wife, he reported he could hear slight possible fluid in her lungs. He will order an X-ray and let us know of the results. Later we did get an X-ray, however, he never shared with us the results.  We shared with him that while she sleeps, she stops breathing and that her toenails are blue.  He inspected the nail color, and I can see they are still blue however, he stated they are not. I began to tell him that color is not her normal nailbed color however, he continued to talk over me. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down not to stress my wife any more than she is. He mentioned he would send some prescriptions to the pharmacy (later find out he sent none).

Once he left, I noticed he didn’t mention getting any lab work. I wanted to make sure since she was having chest pain/tightness that her potassium was at a normal level. I reported this to the nurse who did express that no labs have been ordered. She did relay the message and lab draw were added due to my concern. I couldn’t believe he didn’t think of checking on her potassium on his own. Even though one of the medications she is on is known to deplete potassium. Maybe his incompetence is what made him angrier later during our last interaction.

Once the lab draws and X-ray results came in, he returned. When he did, he was at the top level of frustration, moody and I don’t know tired? He said her white and red blood cells were normal. I asked, “How is her potassium?” he replied, “We will give you a sheet”. He then said it did show that she was dehydrated. I replied, “she has had more than 3 quarts of water today, how is that possible?”. He replied, “Still” as he shrugged his shoulders. He then asked, “Are there any more questions?”. My wife replied, “No”. At this point I am so enraged I can feel my blood boil and frozen with anger with how my wife is treated. With some miracle I was and to calm myself and not do anything that would cost me my own license/career. He began to mad dog my wife while saying nothing. I believe at this point he can see how upset I am and continued to stay quiet just staring at my wife refusing to look at me. After 10 seconds of staring in silence he then said, “ANYMORE QUESTIONS?”. My wife replied, “No”. He then stated, “OK, usually once I leave there are more questions”. My wife repeated for the third time, there are no more questions. The nurse then came in with discharge paperwork....

On February 17, 2022 went to the ER to be seen ,Was greeted by a staff at the desk before speaking with the ER Hospital to give him my information. Afterwards I spoke with a friendly smile and a Young Doctor didn't catch his name. He had a mole on his left forearm, kind and spoke with feeling like he cares about you as individual. Then, another staff took my vitals , she reminded me of the actress who's in Seinfeld. I was then brought to my room where I was greeted by Jackie, she was my 1st nurse. Professional, kind and she helped me get rid of my swollen body. Thank you Jackie. Like I said she was my 1st nurse. During this time I was going to the restroom alot. I didn't even think it would be a problem, but. Eventually it was for only 1 Nurse or some tall rude man. There was a very kind young man I'm not sure if he was a Nurse or going to be a Doctor, his name is Christopher I believe, very tall, extremely kind. Even though his station was a little down the way,it seemed like everytime I had to use the restroom, Christopher would on hook me and offer to help me. Kind indeed. Cory help me with 2 warm blankets and then I had Carl, he was amazing, he said that " if I needed anything to let him know ". So so so kind. And he was. I watched them, saw each staff facial expressions. Carl went out of his way to make me feel comfortable and never did I feel like I was bothering him. When Carl went to lunch I still continue to visit the restroom. Remember I was swollen and Jackie my 1st Nurse given me something to get rid of it. So, the (Terrible Nurse) that's his name, I would ring for help and someone at the desk right directly 3 or 4csteps away would shut off the call. Did they help me, unfortunately that's a NO! Terrible Nurse was a male, he was the one working with Carl, or it seem like he was, working. Terrible Nurse would avoid me like i had a plague. At one time when my mother was with me, I asked again, to use the restroom. He actually, heard and said " I be right back". But he avoided me yet again. When I called him and said "I really need to visit the restroom, Terrible Nurse actually said he forgot me. It's true Terrible Nurse doesn't know my situation nor do I feel it would matter. In 2007 I was diagnosed with 3rd Stage Rectal Cancer and a tumor on left side of my stomach. Radiation, 5 days a week for 6 weeks and Chemotherapy until 2010. So my muscles that a normal person have to hold either their urine or anything thing else. I don't. I didn't think I would actually see and hear Terrible Nurse making fun of me, at one time I hear him telling another staff in a room with a patient was in. I felt crying. Eventually I was moved to a different place in the ER Hospital. My next Nurse was Kelly G, it was like a touch of Heaven. Kelly, was like my sister, like family. Kind, soft spoken, Kelly G, she listened to me and you can feel that you were more than a patient. I definitely want Kelly G to be recognized for her Outstanding Service, Awesome Nurse. Eventually Kelly G, shift was over and Joel was my last Nurse. Joel was the topper of all the Nurses, that I saw and will Remember. Joel was sweet, patient, understanding and very very very kind to me. He offered Coffee and continued to bring me water, he showed me his beautiful pup, her name is Precious and she just got a haircut, so cute. I believe his name was Joel. My very last Nurse. The many Doctors, Nurses and Staff employees, to even the very nice man who stopped by my 1st room in Er, to hang up my drape, Thank you very much, for the many who made me feel like you care about me Thank you very much. As for 2 employees that you have there. 1. Terrible Nurse & 2. Dr Brian Chang wanna be a doctor, the short one, was cold, no heart, very rude person. From February 17 -18, 2022 this was what I remembered. I do have to say, Dr Brian Chang and his tall dark hair young Doctor to be was very pleasant to talk with and very nice. He's going to be Awesome Doctor. That's my experience when being in...

St Rose is a good hospital, I appreciate their overall service and my son is still with St Rose Pediatrics. The billing dept. is a different story. They’ve been inconsistent with statements, and it’s been a nightmare trying to cancel recurring payments I set up previously.

The first agent I spoke with confirmed that we don’t owe anything on the account I set up a payment plan for. She also said that any remaining payments would be automatically canceled. Wonderful. Except they weren’t.

The 1st payment was reimbursed. The 2nd one, I had to ask Capital One to reimburse, which they did without issues. After 1 of the succeeding payments, 2 months had passed and it hadn’t been reimbursed, so I made the decision to dispute it with Capital 1. Right now, they claim that I haven’t provided sufficient documentation to support these claims.

At this point, I’d made several calls to St Rose’s billing department to ask that they help with the issue. One agent said she’d escalate the issue, which resulted in the 3rd charge being reimbursed. Thanks. Still waiting for the 4th charge to be returned to my credit card. It’s been nearly a month.

One agent said I could cancel the payments myself. I work with computers and am tech-savvy. I’ve tried a few times. It’s not possible. The last agent I spoke with provided the number to call for the recurring payments. The calls drop instantly.

The billing dept. staff seem passive and disorganized, and no one seems to leave notes on accounts, so that the next agent can just pick up where the last one left off if there are still issues with the account. I’m thinking they likely work individually from home, and not as part of a call center.

Through a form 1 of the agents sent, I was able to request a specific document or something in writing attesting that we don’t owe St Rose. The document was sent the ff. day, but was a summary showing our balance at $0, including all the auto payments I’d made. It didn’t specify when the balance reached $0 - after the auto payments, sometime during, or before? I’m not sure this document will suffice.

Update: someone from St Rose just called and asked for my info. I provided what he asked for, he said he couldn’t find my info in the system. I said I wasn’t the patient - it was my son. He said I could’ve told him that from the get go. I said he could’ve asked for the patient’s info from the start. He repeated irately that I should've provided the patient's info from the start. As I was providing the account number, he hung up. It was a callback, so if the call dropped for whatever reason, he simply could have called back.

Hello, humankindness?

Compared to call center agents, these billing agents' calls are likely not recorded, so they say or do whatever they want with no accountability. Hopefully, I'm the only person this individual has been disrespectful to. St Rose is a hospital. I imagine that the agents deal with people that are unwell, or are elderly, or handicapped, or (as in my case, which was why I provided my info and not my son's to begin with) too young to make these calls. Or maybe the patient passed away, so their loved one has to call for them. Any of these circumstances probably deserve a bit more patience and understanding.

I wish I had more patience at this point. But it’s been nearly half a year since my 1st auto payment and about 20 unsuccessful attempts to have St Rose help me with the issue, with calls & multiple forms sent via their website. The simple problem of cancelling my recurring payments remains unresolved. I am at my wit's end, frustrated to my core.

Update 2: The last agent my husband spoke with said that autopayments had been stopped. Nope. The rest of the payments still took out. Through all of these, we spoke with 2 directors + many billing agents that weren't able to resolve our issue. Maybe we just needed to be 'heard,' right?

With all due respect - when customers get in touch, it's usually not to rub elbows with a company's directors or CEOs. It's usually because we need the...