Community Chat

[josie20]

HCA is the WORST place, short staffing, poor quality.  For profit, affiliated with Sen Rick Scott, Medicare fraud..  Worked there for 24yrs +, would not go to an HCA!!!!

[Sooner]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

@Sooner.  I'd trust anyone over these large corporate entities that are buying hospitals and medical facilities.  I've had a couple of really bad experiences with providers with $$$ signs in their eyes.

Our medical system is in big trouble.  I've heard reports about other big hospital systems. 

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@Kachina624 It's a business.  It's about "early detection" to get more money.  It's all about treating, little about preventing or easing.  Just treat and bill treat and bill. 

But NBC is still way ahead of them on my list of things not to trust. 

[josie20]

Stay away from that unsatisfactory system. Lack of staffing all areas.  Cleanliness also an issue

[gtx]

We have one HCA in our area. We don't go there even in an emergency and it is closer to us. It has a bad reputation for years.

[bikerbabe]

I used to work for HCA. Loved my colleagues. HCA corporate is terrible.

Staffing shortages are a problem nationwide for a multitude of reasons. I had first-hand experience with HCA deliberately under staffing to where we were out of compliance with nurse patient ratios and safe patient care.

They’ve tried to break the nurses’ union and made changes to limit reporting that goes to the state regarding unsafe patient care.

Despite that, my particular hospital is excellent for cardiac.

[Still Raining]

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@josie20 wrote:

HCA is the WORST place, short staffing, poor quality.  For profit, affiliated with Sen Rick Scott, Medicare fraud..  Worked there for 24yrs +, would not go to an HCA!!!!

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HCA caused the largest, national, disaster for our SNFs ever!  Nationwide!  

In 2003, before consolidated billing, HCA's fraud on their cost reports led to a pause for other's exception requests.  I think it was the largest settlement ever.

Rick Scott caused many innocent SNFs to lose payments and some had to go out of business.

If you were not in the cost report/audit side I am sure the was no uproar.  But within this small, national, community for finance there was outrage.

Then Rick Scott said he had no idea and moved on.  Piece of scum.

[LTT1]

@ECBG @bikerbabe @gtx @josie20 @Sooner 

The area I lived in (TX) had two hospitals. The newer hospital was taken over by HCA a number of years after it was built. 
As far as I knew, nobody wanted to go there to be treated. Everyone I knew went to the established, non-privately owned hospital, which had a great reputation.

When you live in an area and get to know people you trust, ask them for recommendations for doctors and hospitals.

[missy mouse]

Dentists are being bought out by large corporations. Especially small one or two dental practices. Doctors offices too. 

[ECBG]

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@LTT1 wrote:

@ECBG @bikerbabe @gtx @josie20 @Sooner 

The area I lived in (TX) had two hospitals. The newer hospital was taken over by HCA a number of years after it was built. 
As far as I knew, nobody wanted to go there to be treated. Everyone I knew went to the established, non-privately owned hospital, which had a great reputation.

When you live in an area and get to know people you trust, ask them for recommendations for doctors and hospitals.

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@LTT1 

We're "stuck".  Our HCA hospital had the only heart tower before the takeover.  DH was the citie's first angioplasty at 36.

The other hospital to the south by 30 minutes is severely lacking in equipment; they can only handle certain situations.

We also have a grandson that gets a regular MRI to make sure he doesn't have a brain tumor.

[Marp]

@Sooner, if you don't want to believe NBC how about the word of someone that was unfortunate enough to have been an emergency patient admitted to a HCA hospital.  At the time that was the only "in network" hospital available to me.

I won't go into what I experienced beyond saying I don't know who I have more sympathy for--the staff or the patients.

The State of North Carolina recently filed suit against HCA and I've little doubt other states will follow.

When a hospital loses a high percentage of its doctors and nurses, when the State receives hundreds of patient complaints about a hospital (myself included), when the emergency department is found to be "unclean and unsterile" there are no saving graces or acceptable excuses.

I did not see the NBC report referenced by the OP but I'd be willing to bet it only covers the tip of the deficiency iceberg.