Vail Health Hospital — Local services in Vail

I was assaulted during childbirth at Vail Health. I was pushing for quite some time, but I felt totally fine and was not tired and I vocalized that many times. The nurse and doctor were being very pushy about me having an intervention. At one point, after about two hours, the nurse said I was getting tired and brought the doctor in to show me how the vacuum extraction worked. Again, I said that I was not tired and wanted to keep pushing if possible. The doctor said it was fine. Then a woman very far into labor was admitted to the room next to me and I could hear everything. The nurse told me that “we were getting my baby out first”. A little while later the nurse ran out of the room and came back in with the doctor, his student, and 2-3 other nurses. He said he was going to make a small incision and I would feel some pressure. I SCREAMED NO MULTIPLE TIMES. I tried closing my legs and the doctor went ahead with the procedure. He performed an unwanted episiotomy and used the vacuum. The vacuum popped off of my baby’s head, so he had to do it again. All of this happened with ZERO communication. Afterwards when he was trying to stitch me up he told me that “if I didn’t stay still, he would have to take me to the operating room”. It is normal to shake after giving birth! This left me with a third degree tear (I won’t even get into the risks of this procedure on the baby).

Afterwards I tried to get some clarity as to why this all happened. I filed a complaint in July and didn’t hear back from the doctor until mid October when I threatened legal action. She told me that neither I, nor the baby, were in distress and that it looked like I was just exhausted (remember I told them multiple times that I wasn’t tired). I finally got my medical records which didn’t say much except that the extraction was used because the patient was “exhausted” and at “patients request”. It also said that I had been “properly counseled”. Another part said that the vacuum had “no pop offs”. These are all blatant lies. I was told by a patient advocate that I could amend my medical records, but they have to be approved by the doctor (conflict of interest?). They have since cut off communication with me.

I now have to go to physical therapy twice a week and therapy once a week, both of which are costly and time consuming. I have severe PTSD, which is affecting me both physically and mentally, and no one at Vail Health is being held accountable. I hope things change there for the better, but for now I recommend giving birth elsewhere.

They have a serious problem with lack of accountability and also horrible communication skills, both from the doctor and patient advocates. The hardest part for me to stomach with all of this, is that the procedure was not even necessary. I understand that labor and deliveries are difficult and different for every women, but the fact that this could have been avoided with better communication is appalling. My life is forever changed and Vail Health needs to know the negative impacts that it can have on...

If you're going to break your leg skiing, Vail is THE best place to do it. My daughter recently spent 14 days in Vail Health Hospital, had 5 surgeries, and thanks to the world-class surgical skills of Dr. Randy Viola and his team, countless RN's, Care Techs, ER staff on Day 1 to the PT/OT team that got her out the door on Day 14... she will have a full recovery. I personally spent 13 nights sleeping on a lie-flat chair in her hospital room (beyond grateful to have a private room for such a long stay, and seriously, that chair was surprisingly comfortable) and now have a list of people to thank on behalf of our family, and stories to share that are probably far too long and gushing for a Google review (but I will try and summarize anyway). It was truly a team effort -- the level of top-quality medical care combined with genuine personal compassion and care from ALL the staff we interacted with turned a medical crisis into a massive success story. We can never fully express our gratitude.

Dr. Viola's team; Matilda, Jenny, Kyle, Julia. Anesthesiologist, Galena Klimeck. Our pre-op angels, Laila and Kevin. Post-op, Stephanie. RNs in the PCU: Kayla (really helped us get things figured out the first days), Jess (A+ blood draws), Maria, Kim, Leslie, Travis, Christie, Allie (awesome pre-op pep talk before surgery #5), Elle, Mike/Jessica/Rory (memorable changing of the IV line!). Erin (a guardian angel throughout... PCU not even her regular area, but there on Day 1 when everything was new/scary. She went out of her way to remember my name and stop me whenever she saw me around the hospital to ask how we were all doing. So kind and encouraging. She also bakes the most amazing banana cake...). Everyone involved with "Operation Sunshine" getting my daughter into a wheelchair to get outside onto the Starbuck's deck for some fresh air between snowstorms (this was a BIG undertaking with her injury)... talk about healing!! Not sure there is a Starbuck's in the country with a better view? Ethan/chaplain. Care techs: Abby, Amy, Ashley, Jo, Graciela, Grant (hilarious 2am story-telling to help distract during a pain crisis), and Christina (!!!) -- Gold Medal Award for helping my daughter wash her hair on Day 6. Epic effort. We will NEVER forget you :) Everyone in room service -- yes, this hospital even has amazing food. Staff who cleaned our room. Front desk/volunteers. Pharmacy. So many names I didn't write down. There is even a puppy/therapy dog program. (dogs are very healing) Oh, and free parking and great wifi. There is a consistent feeling throughout the hospital that is actively demonstrated in EVERY aspect of daily life there... "care + excellence."

This wasn't exactly the "two week vacation" I expected to have in Vail, but it certainly is one of the most memorable experiences of my life. My daughter can write her own review as the patient, but from my unique perspective, a stay at Vail Health Hospital, with it's incredible staff and amazing facility, is 5-Star TOP...

Here we go again! UPDATED Posting: 2021: 3rd time, 16 months after receiving care, 8 months after finished paying off services billed, I receive a $3640 bill for same visit! Different services?? Found out they hadn't submitted to Medicare, and I am 69; it's regulatory for over 65. GO FIGURE Vail Health is not very good at it's business practices. I received excellent medical care with a few exceptions from nursing; minor incidents but painful, 1 ER nurse thought just because she went to school knew my body better than I did and 1 other who stereotyping thought she knew me better than the DR. I have received a bill generally 4 to 6 months, and up to 10 months after dates of service without any details, each with different account numbers for each visit from original. Very confusing and worst, they identified it as 'Delinquent' 90 days from service, even with an approved payment plan. Worst accounting procedures ever experienced in fifty years of handling my financial matters. 1st time, I received a bill for services 13 months after visit with no description nor by whom services were rendered and an amount not reflective on any insurance EOB's. 2nd time, I received a "Final Notice" for a service that was on a 7 payment plan and this is the 7th payment month. Go figure, the audacity of this outfit. Doesn't reflect well on the physician's services provided. This process of theirs and their identification makes for a poor credit report to top it off and not because of anything I do. Wish I could pay full amount at time of service but do not have it that way. *only bad experiences has been it's...