Holzer Hospital

[Lucy]

I have seen Holzer Clinic turn away children. The reason given to the parents was they had a outstanding bill. The nurse at the nurse counter told the parent to take the child to the ER or pay $125.00. All this while the child was crying with a soar throat. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Thats the Holzer Difference

[WV in OH]

There is a difference between Holzer Hospital and Holzer Clinic. The Hosptial can not legally turn anyone away even if they owe on bills.

[local parent]

That is not correct ay all. The hospital and clinic are seperate indities, but the clinic doctors are the doctors for the hospital. In fact they are the same when it is beneficial and separate when not. Regarding the collecting up front I know being with both that the only exception is when it is determined an emergency. My family uses the doctor at the WV/OH bridge in front of Wahama. Some days you have to wait to see him but he actually is board certified and has a fellowship in pediatrics. My whole family go and he has been under scrutiny and proven to be an honest clean doctor unlike a large number of the local doctors.

[I agree]

You r better off to find a private doc. Holzer billing sucks. You have to fight with them to get something billed through insurance correctly.

[Lucy]

i do not care if the Hospital and Clinic are different I know what i saw and Holzer Hospital and Holzer Clinic are RUDE to patients and only care about MONEY!!!! Thats the Holzer difference -

[Lucy]

Hey local parent I bet you work @ Holzer!!! get a life and do not defend what is wrong!!!

[Cathy]

Holzer is the worst hospital I've ever been to. All they care about is money,not the patients one bit. I told my family to let me die before I go there. I go to St. Marys but if I can't make it there Pleasant Valley. At least they care about people.

[lynn]

I think the hospital gets some federal funding which may be why it may not be allowed to turn anyone away, however the clinic may be a different case. No matter where you are seen emergency or otherwise you can be sure to get a bill. Some pay and some don't, which may also explain why medical bills are so high for all of us? I have to admit that it would break my heart to see a sick child turned away because of inability to pay.

[Anonymous]

Where do you think you are, a socialist country?Why are you entitled to healthcare? Did you graduate from high school, go to four years of college, four years of medical school, and then to a lengthy recidency program. If Holzer's clinic "sucks", its because those physicians worth anything will not work for a hospital that has a majority of non-paying clients. How do figure they are paid? Why should you recieve anything that won't result in a payment for a service? In my opinion, that is stealing. Everytime you are seen in a hospital and are not willing to pay for the service rendered, you should be cited as a theif. Do not respond to this post if you are an unemployed, non-productive, uneducated person. You have no right to judge or recieve benefits that you have not worked for. I do sympathize with the thought of children being refused treatment. How about not having children until you can take of yourself and your children. Again, that should not be my responsibility. I am motivated, determined, and successful because of the hard work that I put into life. Get a life!

[lynn]

Dear Motivated, determined, and successful.Congratulations! I am happy for you! I can and do pay for my services. I have also worked very hard in life and yes i do have education. I am not a medical doctor, but I admire those who are. And on the subject of stealing, would you care to explain why it is ok for the clinic and hospital to charge one price for a srevice to a private pay patient and charge a much higher price for the same service to patients with good medical Ins. It don't take a person with a lot of education to figure out who is stealing!

[Anonymous]

Your right! It doesn't take a genius nor someone with common sense. The cost of healthcare for the uninsured is being subsidized by the insured.

In an article by Brian Schwartz published in Patient Power (2009), Schwartz finds that employers and private health insurers pay a “hidden tax” of $88.8 billion each year because government programs (Medicaid) fail to pay enough to doctors and hospitals.

Inadequate reimbursements by programs such as Medicare and Medicaid increase the annual cost of covering a family of four by $1,788, according to the report, issued today by the actuarial consulting firm Milliman Inc. At hospitals, the payment gap between private and public insurance has more than doubled in 10 years, the Seattle-based firm said.

I work in health care and am responsible for financials. The hospital will recover their costs. I can tell you for fact that as many as 30% of private practices and even urgent cares do not accept private pay or Medicaid recipients. They have figured out that they do not have to raise costs for those of us that take responsibility for ourselves if they refuse the uninsured or self pay patients. I can assure you that this trend will only become larger.

Apart from the Medicaid issue, we also pay additional costs to cover these uninsured people who use the emergency room as their primary care. Emergency rooms (ER) are the only health care facility required to see patients. That means that clinics, private practices, and urgent cares can turn away any individual that they want. Because of this, you or your elderly loved ones will sit in the ER waiting room with chest pain for longer periods of time because the “child was crying with a soar throat.” Inappropriate use of the ER causes lengthy waits for those with actual emergencies.

So again, who should pay????? Should the taxpayers and responsible citizens keep shelling out hard earned dollars for those that may never intend to get themselves together? Has anyone heard of Darwin?

[Tom]

"Apart from the Medicaid issue, we also pay additional costs to cover these uninsured people who use the emergency room as their primary care. Emergency rooms (ER) are the only health care facility required to see patients. That means that clinics, private practices, and urgent cares can turn away any individual that they want. Because of this, you or your elderly loved ones will sit in the ER waiting room with chest pain for longer periods of time because the “child was crying with a soar throat.” Inappropriate use of the ER causes lengthy waits for those with actual emergencies."

Good point

I work in an urgent care and receive people that should be at an ER. The reason they come into an urgent care is because of the ER's being cluttered with uneducated people with narcism. I'm really getting tired of people consistently coming in for antibiotics for everything. I had a mother yell and scream at me because i told her that her daughter was healthy and didn't need an antibiotic for her viral illness. People can be so disrepectful and ignorant. These people are the ones who inflate the wait times at ER's. Demanding that their sore throat or cough be treated immediately when they should visit an urgent care or family physician.

[Watcher]

Tom is absolutely correct.
ER's are chock full of people who could wait until the next day to see their family practice doc or go to an urgent care facility.
As far as the attitude of some ER workers is concerned, they're only human. If you walk into an ER yelling, complaining and making a general arse of yourself, how can you expect the staff to react to you in a positive manner?

[Anonymous]

It's clear that the whole health care system is broken. Although I would like to see health care for all, it needs to be safe and efficient health care. I don't believe that socialized medicine will ensure this. Once regulations and standardized reimbursements are put in place, standards of care WILL fall. Physicians will not go that extra step of providing that lollipop for little Jimmy when he or she is making half the profit that they were before socialized medicine.
I realize that I will have responses about not needing a lollipop for Jimmy but perhaps a strep test. The mother yelling and screaming when a health care worker was explaining that antibiotics DO NOT work for viral illness will not have a choice about the treatment. You will either listen to patient education or suffer at home. WASH YOUR HANDS and you will reduce your chance of a viral illness such as strep.
Another couple of examples, when the government realizes that grandpa is coming in for that third open heart procedure because he can not follow post operative directions, the government will turn him away. The 2 pack per day smoker with COPD will not be treated as aggressively as they are today. There is nothing you can do to cure COPD. You can only prolong the inevitable inevitably. You brought it on yourself and prolonging your care will only increase the demands on the government. Much as the way it is today for Medicaid and Medicare patients, except it will be more glairing when federal government sees the bill versus each state. You will no longer have the choice of signing a Full Code or Do Not Resuscitate consent. Your's and your loved one's value of life will be decided by your government. Mark my words!!!!
My advice is to figure out what jobs are marketable in your local area. While you are unemployed and without health care, go to school for some employment of value. This will ensure you have the money to find health care for little Jimmy and will also make the impression upon little Jimmy that it is his responsibility to become a productive member of society.

[ABCD]

All children have the right to see a doctor. regardless of the parents ability to pay the over paid medical staff. lets see who do you see first when you walk into urgent care a rude lady at a computer asking for insurance cards or demanding payment. Then you see a LPN or MA who has a crash corse medical education and they herd you in like a cow to get your weight and ask semi medical questins while they are rushing you the patient aroud so they can get in the next patient. Holzer Clinic

[lpn]

ABCD wrote:

All children have the right to see a doctor. regardless of the parents ability to pay the over paid medical staff. lets see who do you see first when you walk into urgent care a rude lady at a computer asking for insurance cards or demanding payment. Then you see a LPN or MA who has a crash corse medical education and they herd you in like a cow to get your weight and ask semi medical questins while they are rushing you the patient aroud so they can get in the next patient. Holzer Clinic

I totally resent your remarks. Tell us what you do for a living, bet we support you and your children. Do you expect to get healthcare free? Do you get your food free, or your electricity???? There is nothing free except the air you breath. I REALLY cannot understand why people think a Doctor should work for free. They have bills to pay just like anyone else. Get a better education and stop complaining.

[ABCD]

lpn wrote:

<quoted text> I totally resent your remarks. Tell us what you do for a living, bet we support you and your children. Do you expect to get healthcare free? Do you get your food free, or your electricity???? There is nothing free except the air you breath. I REALLY cannot understand why people think a Doctor should work for free. They have bills to pay just like anyone else. Get a better education and stop complaining.

I am a MLT I work for a hospital I have one child. I pay a house payment car payment insurance for a car and my child. You think you are better than everone else because you are some sort of doctor. You need to care about patients not insurance. I work with you arragent SOB all the time The difference between you and me is I know children are our future not you. Patient care needs to be your concern but as we can all see all you care about is money. I have a good education I make decent money I would also never turn away a child because of the parents inability to pay the over paid medical staff at Holzer. Patient care remember is your first priority not your pay check. quit your job and move away and take the rest of the SOBs with you.

[lpn]

ABCD wrote:

<quoted text> I am a MLT I work for a hospital I have one child. I pay a house payment car payment insurance for a car and my child. You think you are better than everone else because you are some sort of doctor. You need to care about patients not insurance. I work with you arragent SOB all the time The difference between you and me is I know children are our future not you. Patient care needs to be your concern but as we can all see all you care about is money. I have a good education I make decent money I would also never turn away a child because of the parents inability to pay the over paid medical staff at Holzer. Patient care remember is your first priority not your pay check. quit your job and move away and take the rest of the SOBs with you.

NOPE, wrong again, I am an LPN, you know Low Paid Nurse, but I do know that the money patients pay does not go solely to the doctor. He has to pay his nurses and the bills for his building/office plus his bills for his house. You know you can always go back to school and become a Doctor then you would not have a thing to be jealous about.

[ABCD]

nope not jealous very sad - low paid nurse you should know yourself patient care is not where it needs to be at Holzer Clinic or the Hospital. People down on their luck do not need to be kicked. Lets put things into perspective What if you had $100.00 in your account and you needed to choose between gas for your car for the week or having your sick child see a doctor. This is reality for many parents with the economy the way it is. I have compasion and Holzer needs to also even if that means laying off some medical staff so patients can be seen with out paying up front.

[hick03]

holzer only wants money...they couldnt care less about a person or childs health