Reading Hospital — Local services in West Reading

If you are in need of emergency medical care and are taking a hot second to decide which hospital to go to because you live close to several, this review is for you.

The short version: if you are self pay, or part of a healthcare sharing plan such as Samaritan or CHM, do NOT go to Reading Hospital because Tower Health charges DOUBLE what you would pay at Lancaster General, even after you spend hours on the phone to negotiate that 30% off self-pay discount. And every time we have ever used LGH for bloodwork or specialists, our bills aways come already discounted and have never been a hassle like these Tower Health bills were!

I’ve been deliberating on leaving a review or not, but finally decided to do it, because I know there are many of us out there trying to steward our finances well especially as we negotiate medical bills as part of a sharing ministry. And there are also many of us who don’t frequent hospitals so how else are we going to learn when we are in a pinch situation when the need arises?

So about a year ago I ended up with intense pain that after several days landed me an ER trip by the recommendation of my primary care physician, who advised getting some emergency diagnostics. For bloodwork, fluids, and an abdominal CT scan, the bill came in over 11K. Yep, you read that right. I thought it was high too. This is our second hospital experience in a 10 year time span, and I know inflation is a thing, so I talked with several other people who received similar care at other hospitals within a 6-8 month range of my experience at Reading, and their bills were all between 2.5-5K.

I requested an itemized bill, so I saw the breakdown of charges. I hope you don’t need fluids, cause that’s over 1K itself! I talked with others who understand medical pricing and they agreed that is about twice of what it should be. In fact, another former ER practitioner I know said my bill should at LEAST be cut in half.

I spent hours on the phone negotiating the self-pay discount that I was told Reading Hospital typically offers. It was quite a hassle and they have you working with some third party billing company that has no actual ties to the hospital, and was quiet frustrating. I would have HAPPILY driven over to the hospital and talked with a real person in a billing department if such a person existed.

Finally I received a 30% discount, which brought it down to 7.5K. Still much higher then my bill would have been at LGH. As someone who stewards my resources well, I will not be using the Tower Health System again. I started to do some research and found out via Health Care Bluebook (a tool to negotiate fair prices) that Reading comes in high/overpriced for almost all procedures, and the medical staff ranks average in care. But of course, they don’t have any information available for ER visits, just regular scheduled procedures. So here is the conclusion of my research.

If Tower Health sends insurance companies an overpriced bill, those companies are big enough that they can negotiate a fair price, say what they are willing to pay, and that is how they settle it. When you are self pay and they hit you with an overpriced bill, they know you have no one to negotiate it for you. Basically it is just you against the world, (well collections if you would choose to let it go that far) so you just end up paying way more then you should. And you know what, Tower Health has finally figured out how to make money this way. Read the articles, they just reported a $4.2 million operating profit in the nine months ending on March 31st, compared to a $27.4 million loss a year ago. So I guess taking advantage of the self-pay patients is working out well for them.

So consider yourself informed, and I wish you the best as you negotiation...

I was admitted to the hospital on October 27th & decided to leave on November 1st, about an hour after Dr. Jubril O. Onaneye spoke to me in a manner that was so belittling & dismissive that it left me in tears.

I was admitted for severe nausea, vomiting, stomach pain & throat pain. Despite my daily vomiting I was still given oral pain & nausea medication first. The oral pain & nausea medication didn’t help & I often vomited shortly after taking them. I was only offered the strong IV medications that helped take the edge off every 6 hours. The pain was so significant that the majority of my hospital admission was spent with me night & day yelling in agony, hunched over the bed & floor in pain barely able to get rest. Everything hurt my stomach & often resulted in me vomiting; including water.

The morning of November 1st the nurses told me that D.O Jubril O Onaneye will be coming in soon to talk to me. I noticed him in our area multiple times, even directly outside my door. I was extremely excited to talk to him because some of the test results weren’t looking good & I wanted to ask him if I can receive the IV pain & nausea medication every 4 hours instead of 6 because 6 hours was too far apart. I was in unbearable excruciating pain along with nausea way before the next dosage was available to me. I was struggling immensely. He finally entered my room around 5 to 6 PM.

When D.O Jubril O Onaneye comes into the room I told him that even water hurts to take in, he chuckled & said “Oh wow, I’ve never heard of that before”. My November 1st bloodwork showed my ALT level at 114 & AST level at 79 which is quite high. On October 27th (just a few days prior) they were normal. When I asked him about it his words were “It’s likely due to your fatty liver that probably has been fatty for a while”. His answer didn’t help me understand why my levels were now quite high in a matter of a few days. My CT scan results stated “Degenerative changes of the spine are seen” & when I mentioned it to him he immediately said “Yes but I don’t think that’s causing your stomach pain” & nothing more on what to me was a concerning finding. I have psoriatic arthritis so I was worried it had been progressing & further ruining my joints so his answer did absolutely nothing to help me understand the CT scan finding or even ease my concerns.

The worst thing D.O Jubril O Onaneye said to me was “They are going to start getting suspicious that you’ve been here for almost 2 weeks on strong pain medication”. What a horrible insinuation from your care provider. My drug abuse test was negative & I wasn’t there for nearly 2 weeks. When I asked about receiving the IV pain medication every 4 hours instead of every 6, he said no & that they actually want to start weaning me off the medication. Considering the unbearable pain & daily vomiting I have been experiencing, that was the last thing I thought he would say. When I explained to him that the current pain medication is barely helping as it is & that I’m not able to get much if any rest & relief with the current every 6 hours schedule he has me on with oral medication given first, he just repeated himself. I felt so helpless. During our entire conversation he said more times than I can count “We’re giving you the benefit of the doubt” which only further gave off the impression that he doesn’t believe me, along with everything else he said.

Another thing I noticed is that whenever D.O. Jubril O. Onaneye spoke to me, his eyes would constantly roll. However, when he spoke to staff, visitors, or anyone else, his eyes wouldn’t roll.

D.O Jubril O Onaneye, you made the most painful & frightening days of my life a million times worse with your dismissiveness, disrespect & lack...

This is a merciful 2/5. Wallahi, I was ready to give one star last night, but decided to have mercy this morning.

My stepmother was in extreme pain—head, chest, stomach, throat, everywhere—so I drove her to Reading Hospital’s ER. From the start, the vibe was off. A security guard spoke to me with unnecessary impatience, unlike how he addressed others. Not a good first impression.

During her preliminary exam, I tried lightening the mood by asking the doctor to “work her magic,” to which she coldly responded with something along the lines of, “we’re not going to do much. We’re just going to reduce the symptoms, not make them go away.” Wow, how comforting.

Then things turned worse. My stepmother’s pain became unbearable—she was screaming, couldn’t sit or speak. I asked for a wheelchair and notified a nearby doctor. They moved with zero urgency, like they were out for a casual stroll through the park.

Once seated, we were called up for more info. I calmly explained this was an emergency. The doctor directed me to the front desk, and when I did, the staff member instantly got defensive, dismissing the situation like it was nothing special. I didn’t even know what to say. It was as if I was existing in a twilight zone, and somehow I was the only one who saw her in danger of God knows what. Mind you, my stepmother was the only one audibly screaming in pain.

To add insult to injury, a security guard followed me and demanded me “not to be hostile.” Are you freaking kidding me? Because I’m black and concerned, suddenly I’m a threat? I said, “Sir, I’m not being hostile. I’m just concerned,” and then he told me not to raise my voice. Wow. Imagine having an ego this fragile. I wasn’t violent. I wasn’t shouting. I was begging for someone to help my loved one. I thought this was an emergency room.

And that’s the most frustrating part: the utter lack of empathy. I remained respectful the whole time—but that doesn’t mean I still respect this place. I don’t. A lack of resources is one thing, but apathy and sheer ignorance is inexcusable.

After four hours of waiting, we finally got a room. And that’s when ElliAnna entered the picture—our saving grace. She was everything a doctor should be: attentive, kind, proactive. I even told her, “You’re one of the few good souls here.” She brought tissues, blankets, even helped find me a phone charger, and m allowed me to use hospital blankets as prayer mats. She cared. Reading Hospital needs to give her a raise, because she’s literally the only reason why I’m adding an extra star on this rating.

So 2/5 stars it is. That’s the best I can do. And if you think I’m being too harsh, consider the fact that this place recently settled an $11,000,000 lawsuit when it was their negligence that caused a woman to deliver a baby with brain damage. I’m not going to be nice to them. They’re that bad. But at the same time, I feel bad for the actual good doctors like ElliAnna. They make a clear distinction from the apathetic, rude, and unprofessional staff they are working in the shadows of.

I shouldn’t have to urge people not to go here. We don’t have many hospital options in Reading, so we need Reading Hospital to clean up their act expediently. The way they treat people is completely...