My family and I recently have had an awful experience with Paoli Hospital. The hospital that advertises that it is a five star hospital attending to every need of patient care....yeah right. My 90 yr old grandmother was admitted for a stroke and a fractured hip. She suffers from dementia, which causes her to be confused and unaware of where she is 99% of the time. Upon being admitted she was assigned 1 on 1, so a tech sat with her 24-7 to make sure she didn't get out of bed, etc. Then she went into surgery for her hip (four pins for her hip fracture). The surgeon came out after she was in recovery and literally this is how the conversation went..." Hey! I am the doctor who performed the surgery on your mother (grandmother), and I got the pins in, but a pin slipped and went into her intestine, and may have punctured it. If so we need to put her through another surgery which she may not survive, OK!? We have to find out if that happened or not with a colonoscopy, and then we would do the surgery, alrightly!" Everyone sat in awe looking at him as if he had lost his mind. Why on earth would you break information like that to a family?! Fortunately the pin did not cause harm, and she was okay. Then....they stopped all her meds (antidepressants, one which was a narcotic) and she became upset, big surprise! The social worker who was finding a home for her, took it upon herself to inform all the homes we looked into, that she had to have 1 to 1 all the time or she became aggressive and could harm others. My 90yr old grandmother, who can't walk or move, yeah okay.... Therefore no one would accept her. We found a home, that is not very good, but would take her for the time being. Apparently, her doctor's orders were lost at the hospital and we had to hire and outside nurse to be with her because the hospital staff didn't have time to watch her! Are you kidding me?! This social worker along with the hospital not only made everyone upset and on the break of nervous breakdowns, but they destroyed my grandmother's name to many homes which now want proof before possibly accepting her. We have had numerous run In's with Paoli, but nothing to this extreme. How can they treat our elderly with such disrespect?
I cannot even begin to discuss all the issues with health insurance and costs of assisted living and all the issues associated. I hear many people comment that they are not into politics and therefore do not follow all of Obama's health care choices. Maybe it would be a good idea for people to pay attention since our parents and eventually our generation will have no assistance of help when we get to this point. It has been a long two weeks, and I feel disheartened she has had to experience this, but in addition that my family has been stressed beyond belief. It is sad nothing gets done without contacting every hospital official.
Although I get what you're saying, you have to take a step back from the situation and really think about it. The doctor has to juggle you, the patient, the insurance companies, the problem, etc. They aren't Gods, it's called practice for a reason and BECAUSE of insurance companies - they have to treat everyone that way -- like a business -- to cover their own asses. Everything is about insurance, liability, etc. If he didn't present it to you, precisely, factually and with all the risks, he could lose his license and ability to do what he's been in school for most of his life to do. Yes, it was probably heartless (his delivery), but we shouldn't really be blaming the doctors -- it's the business behind it. And it's not just Obama (we all know I'm not a fan) - at least he's attempting something. Something has to change.
ReplyDeleteI hope your grandmother is better soon.