EIRMC: Cheer or Condemn the Idaho Falls Hospital?
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Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC), called Er-Mac by locals, has been the dominant Idaho Falls hospital since 1986. It has also dominated local angst possibly more than anything else in southeast Idaho.
This discussion thread is intended to examine some of EIRMC’s history and what they are doing lately. I often wonder if the all the badmouthing I hear about EIRMC is warranted, or if it results from lingering bad stories over the years? Disclosure: I am not nor never have been employed by EIRMC, though an in-law family member is one of their 1400 employees.
I was a little boy in Idaho Falls when EIRMC went up, and I recall some controversy from the start. There were some rumors about EIRMC pulling some shenanigans to get the two existing hospitals put out of business. However, I recall that either or both Parkview and Riverview hospitals’ buildings were old and crumbling. Does anyone remember that episode, or am I manufacturing memories?
Last week a Bonneville County jury awarded Brock Higham $7.5 million for alleged mis-medication when he was an EIRMC patient in 2002. He apparently went in for wrist surgery, and sometime in the night his condition soured. EIRMC fought the case saying there was no proof of wrong medication in Higham, but the jury awarded Higham anyways. I didn’t care for Higham’s remark, “I’m rich” immediately following the verdict, but I wonder how much of this finding was balanced decision and how much was the effects of long-held angst against EIRMC? Did EIRMC lawyers question potential jurors if they or family members had stayed at EIRMC, and what their lingering impressions of the experience were?
Ask anyone in your social circle or workplace if they have one of those infamous “horrible EIRMC” experiences, and you’ll be surprised how many do. If it is not the person directly, it is one of their immediate family members and/or close friends. My wife and my best friend’s wife have horrible EIRMC stories. My old boss swore he would never go to EIRMC again, claiming that even if his legs were cut off he would crawl away to find somewhere else to go.
Such is the bitter angst our population holds against EIRMC.
So what is your story from EIRMC? Good or bad? Are they doing better than they have in the past? Are they doing worse?
I tend to think, and hear from others, that EIRMC is not rotten to the core, but that it experiences severe problems in certain departments. What are the specific mistakes they have made, what specific problems has EIRMC had in the past or do they have now? What would you recommend to improve EIRMC, or our general local health care options?
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Comments
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0 I lived here in Idaho Falls during the time that EIRMC came into being (I was born in the hospital that used to be across from Tauphous Park). I remember all the back and forth in the community and how many felt that two hospitals were better than one and just as many felt that the combined facility would be better in the long run.
I believe time has vindicated the latter group. EIRMC has allowed IF to compete with SLC in terms of health care.
Decades ago, if you needed major care, you had to go to Salt Lake. Now most of that traffic stays in IF. Also, many of the outlying towns stop in IF for health care (As far away as Jackson and West Yellowstone).
Is EIRMC perfect? Of course not. Even the Mayo Clinic gets their share of lawsuits. It goes with the territory. Doctors and nurses, after all, are not gods. They’re human just like the rest of us.
(Although I’ve known some who thought otherwise!)
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0 0 Years ago my brother in law went to EIRMC with a sore back and a numb leg. He was not treated properly and 24 hrs. later he was paralyzed, and has not ever walked since. And he has been told he never will. EIRMC? I’ll pass, thanks.
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0 0 My biggest source of disgust with CEIRMC is their billing procedures. There were outrageous fees tacked onto the bill for trivial things like being charged ten dollars for the use of a towel after whirpool therapy.
As to the medical care it has much more do with the medical personnel you get than anything else. Like in any profession there are good ones and bad ones. All the other negative experiences I’ve seen at CEIRMC have to do with a bad employee or bad doctor, not the facility itself. And I’ve seen many examples of good employees as well.
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0 0 FeelingLucky,
Hard to know what had already started in your brother in law that couldn’t be reversed. Luckily, all people have choices of where they can go for medical care.
Insurance companies don’t always see it that way and sometimes won’t pay the extra $5-8,000 to fly someone to Salt Lake City. Pocatello isn’t an option for many injuries or complex medical situations.
Everyone has their own stories and I think it depends on how far one wants to dig and what is an issue to one person may or may not be to another.
I can’t wait for Joe to start the thread about Mountain View Hospital. My first question will be: How many of the physicians who opened Mtn. View Hospital were recruited by EIRMC and paid their guaranted salaries by EIRMC for how many years.
But, back to EIRMC, like Ace ODale has said, I’ve had good experiences there. I realize the complexities of medical care being recruited locally.
Somedays, one just wants to do something destructive to see, for example, how hard EIRMC has worked to get the High Risk OBs, now called MFMs, in Idaho Falls weekly. This started in 2004. That means that mom’s with high risk babies no longer have to travel to Salt Lake City (Boise didn’t get there first MFM until after then) to stay in a travel, motel or with relatives the last 3 months before their high risk babies are born). Rather, they stay at home.
That means patients from Malad north to potentially Bozeman can use EIRMC as a much closer resource. And the doctors HCA brought in to start this dynamic program - there’s no need for me to write more. Those who need and want to know already do or know where to look.
Then, there is the fact that EIRMC has a full-time Neonatologist already working with the MFM’s ont he high risk delivery. Good poll question: What’s the weight of the smallest baby kept at EIRMC? Under 4 lbs., under 3 lbs. Under 2.5 lbs. under. 2 lbs. under 1.5 lbs.? More neonatologists are coming.
Ask the families who have worked with these services, or the GYN Oncologist- the ONLY one to serve the state of ID- who comes monthly from the U. of Utah School of Medicine so women who need GYN cancer surgery can have it at home.
I’ll be the first to admit people who didn’t want to see the Consolidated Hospitals of Idaho Falls merge into one building had bitter feelings. I’m not sure they were fact based thought. I remember the article the local physicians put in the paper repeatedly stating why a new hospital was needed.
Ace said he was born in the hospital that was Sacred Heart, Community and Parkview at various times in the years it stood. I was born by the river at what was LDS or River Hospital. Both hospitals were somewhat landlocked in neighborhoods where they couldn’t build stories more of hospital. Both needed new physical plants.
But, don’t take my word for it. I believe besides EIRMC, which has the accurate history of consolidation on bulletin boards, the Museum of Idaho or the Public Library do as well. Besides, for those with online access to the Post Register, most every article retraces the history briefly.
When consolidation occured, neurosurgeon from complex head injuries had to have surgeries at Riverview, yet the MRI scanner had to be placed at Parkview due to physical space constraints. If you’ve ever watched “The Golden Hour,” it didn’t do too much positive to have to load a patient in an amublance to take to Parkview for a scan then back to Riverview for surgery and ICU monitoring. Valuable time was lost in transit.
What MOST people forget, it the role IHC - Intermountain Health Care- based in Utah, played. From my perspective having dealt with IHC for many, many years, the events that next unfolded for IHC to leave Idaho Falls were an extreme blessing. Just ask the residents of Pocatello who got stuck with two hospitals, neither of which could provide all the service needed, thanks to IHC.
Like every medical facility, sometimes things don’t go right. The question is what has the facility done to correct the problem?
So I ask you another question: where would you be without EIRMC? No helicopter rescues, no verified trauma units, no guarantee of two E.R. physicians and a radiologist in house 24/7 (yes, a radiologist is there at 2:00 a.m. reading x-rays so E.R. docs aren’t giving the films their best guess, which is what happens at designated trauma centers), and sooner rather than later, more doctors will be in house in the “off hours.”
EIRMC is the only Designated Trauma Unit in Idaho. While being a Level III, they qualified for a II. There is a lot of Spin why St. Al’s in Boise lost their accrediation. Portneuf, in Pocatello is much more simple. Loss of JACHO accredition and physicians wiling to perform certain procedures.
It costs money to stay accredited. And it costs money to train staff about the last technology and equipment.
EIRMC was a BEACON winner for nursing. Look it up so you know what it means. Let me explain it like this: LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City only made BEACON excellence in 2006, a year after EIRMC, given all that is required to a BEACON winner.
There are great things on the horizon at EIRMC and the staff will take care of those who don’t like the hospital, if they come their for care. It would sure be easier to say drive 200 miles to the next hospital that offers these quarternary services. But, that doesn’t happen.
My guess is the view of EIRMC depends on when people last had contact, whether they have ownership in Mtn. View and what they are really angry about. Some were very angry that choice was taken away. Some people are angry out of ignorance of the changes made and what facilities are available locally.
Is there room for improvement, absolutely. I think constructive comments are useful to any hospital. However, the angst and what feels like anger, when Joe wrote his comments in the chatbox and there here, makes me rethink this again.
Prior to today, it seemed that those who talked the most about what was wrong with EIRMC were people who either chose not to see what changes have been made, saw physicians that only practice at Mtn. View (ask if YOUR doctor recruited by EIRMC or Mtn. View, if you don’t know), those who refused to learn the facts or some who enjoyed repeating rumors.
The factual information is there for those who want to learn facts. I’m always interested in those who haven’t had good experiences at EIRMC how many other hospitals in other states they’ve been hospitalized.
Should I write here how the “sins” of certain doctors at U. of Utah Health Sciences Center, which resulted in my father’s death? I have a copy of his original medical records. Let’s see, how many of you have been lied to after an 8 hr. operation your loved one is doing fine only to find out how many units of blood he/she went through during the surgery?
Should I write about all the screw ups I know about at so many hospitals in the area? No - physicians, nursing staff and healthcare professionals are not perfect or omniscient. But, fewer and fewer will take certain cases.
I strongly urge all of you uncomfortable with EIRMC to make sure your doctors know that ASAP. It is only fair to your doctor, who depends on Interventional Cardiologists, Infectious Disease Specialists, Neurosurgeons, Interventional Cardiologists etc. to send you to another hospital.
But, make sure you are referred to a hospital beyond Rexburg or Pocatello. Sub-specialists recruited by EIRMC are working with hospitals up and down the valley, including Madison Memorial and Portneuf to make them better. So you need to go to WY, MT, or UT to make sure you don’t have these doctors involved in your care.
Maybe it’s time to get updated about what EIRMC offers now, what additional services are being added and what the physicians who see care daily in huge hospitals, like Glenn Closes’s physician father said when he was a patient, or the Chief of Neurosurgery at Columbia Presbyterian had to say when his wife was admitted. Read the letters, if you are open-minded enough to walk into the EIRMC of 2007 and see the changes for yourself.
Personally, I don’t care what hospital you go to. I do care where I go, given which physicians are on staff, what equipment is available and the experience factor of the nursing staff and other health care specialists.
I’ve never had as great of treatment as I did in EIRMC’s E.R. I’ve sat with the “street people” and others for 4-6 hrs. in some other hospital E.R. waiting rooms. I’ve waited in waiting rooms that had NO CHAIRS regardless if the patients were kids, adults or wheel-chair bound patients.
I’ve slept on the FLOOR of other hospitals because they didn’t care if the person with the patient had a place to sit.
Just my view, but unless one has experienced those other situations in hospitals offering comparable services but in much larger cities, I find it very hard to understand why some opt to repeat or believe previous bad experiences than find out what has changed at EIRMC.
Ask your hospital of choice how much they have spent recruiting additional medical staff so more local services can be offered. Then check the facts against EIRMC.
Portneuf started a heart program about 3 years ago. I don’t know how many cardiac caths they’ve done, but EIRMC was way beyond the 25K - 30K mark years ago. Did you notice when Mountain View shut their Cardiac Cath unit down no announcement was made.
BTW - ask the labs at the other hospitals which tests they can do, vs. which they do and send to EIRMC.
At the end of the day, I doubt anyone will change the minds of anyone else who posts here, except for those who are new and have experienced big city hospitals. The letter writing contest about this went on for weeks in the Post Register.
Just learn the facts, that is all I ask so no one is repeating rumors.
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0 0 This doesn’t have to be hard. For those who aren’t fond of EIRMC and the advanced technologies, equipment and staff; just go to an attorney and write your wishes. Then carry you with you. Here’s a list of just 10 situations or specialists for which you’ll need to arrange out-of-town care:
1. If you, or your family member, are in a car accident and have a head injury, you/your family can be flown by either an out-of-state helicopter to Salt Lake City, Billings, Missoula or Boise for treatment. Check with your insurance to see if they cover the thousands of dollars more it will cost. Perhaps Life Flight from Pocatello can fly the mission depending on all sorts of factors, but don’t plan on it.
No AIR IDAHO.
2. Declare which hospital you wish to provide any cardiac care for you or your family members. Remember, the “over-flight rules” probably pertain to cardiac as well, but that depends on where it happens.
Certain cardiac problems will necessitate you/your family members being flown to Salt Lake City.
3. Should you or your family members get cancer, check to see which is the next facility to have Phase II, III trials that SWOG has placed at EIRMC. For that matter, check for your closest comprehensive cancer center. Ogden is about 150 miles away and probably the closest. However, unless something has changed, Ogden does not have the elite status of the SWOG membership the oncologists at EIRMC do, so the approximately 40 clinical trials with newer drugs and treatments most likely will be at the Huntsman Cancer Institute or MISTI in Boise.
4. High risk pregnant women - pack up for a 3 month stay in Salt Lake City, or maybe Boise. Three months is usual - maybe it wil be more or less, depending on your circumstances. More experts in SLC, but that’s your call. Funny how the high risk moms from Pocatello to Bozeman and Jackson are now coming to EIRMC. But, you don’t have to do so.
5. For emergencies, make sure any paramedics who rescue and transport you are made aware of your wishes and can divert you to another hospital that has 24 hr. physician coverage. You will have to be selective though, as many EIRMC physicians provide specialty services at Madison Memorial, Bingham Memorial and even Portneuf. So you may end up in Burley or Ogden. But, that is up to you.
6. Psychiatry, Portneuf recently got a second co-director of their limited unit. You may ask to go there. If they are full, it’s Ogden, Salt Lake City or Twin Falls.
7. Interventional, MSK, Cardiac, PET radiology for diagnostic tests - Salt Lake or Boise.
8. Neuroradiology- now Pocatello has enclosed (non-trailer MRI). No 3T and limited MRIs. But, neuroradiology can be done there now.
9. Infectious Disease - - Boise or Ogden/Salt Lake City.
10. Neonatology - probably Ogden or Salt Lake City. Can go to Boise, but they often have to place infants in Portland, Seattle, Spokane or any place in the northwest that has room. These would be NICU’s with full-time Neonatologists, just like EIRMC. But, no worries, others are in the northwest.
11. Ok, I cheated - I said 10, but this isn’t one most people think of. If you have an operation and the surgeon needs a pathologist’s report on a frozen section, what other hospital will you select to provide sub-specialty trained hematology/oncology and dermapathologists to review frozen sections of your tumor or other suspicious cells? Frozen sections allow the surgeon to know while you or your family member are still under anesthetic whether a tumor or cancerous or not and how much to remove. Probably MISTI and several hospitals in Salt Lake, as well as 2 could provide this care.
There are other examples, but no need to belabor the point.
Please be aware that Mountain View Hospital made an interesting decision. No, I’m not talking about them shutting their cardiac cath lab down and not telling the public, or not building the ICU they said they would. Maybe those are all still coming.
However, if you need emergency care in Bonneville County, Mountain View Hospital, by being a Boutique Hospital, with no emergency room, cannot accept ambulances and walk in patients regardless of their ability to pay. Instead, paramedics and ambulance have to take you to a full service hospital that has an Emergency Room, EIRMC. So all the patients who uninsured, on Medicaid, Medicare or are gravely ill are taken to EIRMC. But, you can ask to go to a different hospital as long as there is a 24 hr. emergency room.
If you opt for care at Mountain View’s Redi Care in Taylor’s Landing, which is Urgent Care, not Emergent Care, please remember the family physicians and one pediatrician from Blackfoot are the doctors staffing that facility. It could be tricky if they could admit someone in your family to Bingham Memorial or whether they are contractually obligated to send folks to Mountain View for whatever tests, care or surgeries they might need.
Certainly, let your doctor and family members know your wishes. Nothing is worse than to wake up alive, with lots of I.V.’s piggy backed to find out you’ve survived an accident or cardiac episode and are at the wrong hospital. Every patient has rights and it helps if your doctor knows yours.
People should go where they feel comfortable and be treated by staff only affiliated with that hospital. I have no problem with that. You just need to plan how and where you or your family members will go, as sooner or later, you will need a hospital for some condition.
Actually, I like this idea a lot. It may cause confusion and chaos for paramedics, but they will get use to it.
Joe challenged someone to ask at work and he believe that at least 1/4 people at each person’s work would have horror stories about EIRMC. That may be true. I’d challenge you to ask 3 more questions:
1. How basic was the problem? Could care have been provided by other hospitals within 200 miles?
2. How long ago was this bad experience?
3. Has the person or family member ever been back to EIRMC for care and noticed any changes?
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0 0 Well let me say I really have no strong feelings for or against EIRMC myself. I’ve only been a patient there once, for a minor cut or something when I was a teenager. It was in and out in a couple hours and not memorable either way.
It’s funny Ace mentions Gritman Medical in Moscow because that’s where we had our first baby. They were really awesome and took great care of us. We even got steak dinners served to us in her room the evening after the birth. We felt like royalty there.
My wife had a really bad experience at EIRMC, though, and given all that we heard over the years we chose Mountain View hospital for our second child’s birth. They were really great also (no steak dinners but hey).
I think it would be very fair and informative to start a Mountain View discussion thread also, I’ll try to publish it tonight after work.
I would hope feelings about healthcare and EIRMC are not as hard as religion or politics, where opinions will not change. I’ve had many of my opinions changed from discussions here on different topics, and that’s why I raised this issue.
Let’s see if the hard feelings against EIRMC are valid for their performances, or if they are leftover memories that people should get over?
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0 0 I had a bad experience at Gritman once (maybe we should start a Gritman thread for all of us who have lived in or been to Moscow). I cut my arm pretty badly and obviously needed stitches. I show up at the emergency room bleeding all over the place and they won’t even so much as give me a towel to stop the blood until I’ve sat down with their admitting clerk for fifteen minutes doing paperwork. I’m right handed and the cut was on my right arm and since they wouldn’t even give me anything to put pressure on the cut with I ended up twisting my arm around and pushing the cut down on my leg to apply pressure while I tried to fill out forms left handed. I was not a happy camper.
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0 0 My opinion of EIRMC is somewhat mixed.
I have gone to the Emergancy Room twice. The first was for a horrible flu that I got and that stay was ok other then they did nothing for me.
My second trip was to get stiches in my finger (who knew that doing dishes could be so dangerous!). The nurse came into the room, pull the skin apart to look at the wound making it start to bleed horribly again and said “yeap you need stiches” and then walked out and left me sitting on the bed dripping blood on the floor. My mom finally had to find some kleenex to wrap around my finger because I wasn’t going to just keep bleeding everywhere.
During my second pregnancy I had to have some medical tests done. My doctor wanted to have it done at EIRMC which was fine with me because I was confident in his skills. However once I was all checked in and ready to go a nurse brought in some paperwork for me to sign regarding my “treatment.” The paperwork she brought in was for a bi-lateral breast reduction which is NOT what I was there for. It turns out that the paperwork was for someone else. I was so glad I read through everything before I was shipped back to the operating room! The nurse didn’t even seem that concerned when I pointed out the fact that the paperwork was not for my procedure.
Lastly, a family that I know had a member go in for chemo treatment at EIRMC. The nurse giving the treatment gave him the wrong brand and dosage of medicine. By the time the doctor discovered the error it was to late and the gentleman died a few days later from the “treatment.”
Honestly for any major services I wouldn’t trust EIRMC. If I am under the care of my family doctor or OB/GYN then I am less concerned because I trust them. I also make sure to ask LOTS of questions and read through all of the paperwork and repeat any health care concerns/allergies to EVERYONE that I speak with even if they are suppose to have the information already.
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0 0 I’ve been to the ER at EIRMC twice over the past year and the wait was less than 15-20 minutes both times. The staff was very friendly and personable. We were treated with the utmost care by professional Doctors, RN’s AND staff and will continue to support them by using their services when needed in the future.
No hospital in the world is perfect and mistakes are made everywhere, no matter what hospital you go to. What’s important is the overall quality of care and treatment you receive, and EIRMC is tops in that area in our opinion.
There will always be human error in every aspect of life. Mistakes happen and thats just a fact of life. As long as we (or the hospital in this case) can learn from their mistakes and strive to make improvements to better themselves, that’s all we can really ask for. We should be proud to have a facility such as EIRMC in our community.
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0 0 It’s easy for people to think of EIRMC as a big huge building, but what it really is is a collection of people. They have jobs that are hard and demanding, and making a “mistake” in those jobs isn’t blowing a deadline, or making a typo… they are dealing with human life.
I have seen a positive change in EIRMC over the years.
Healthcare is an aversion topic: none of us wants to be sick or hurt, and nobody wants to go to a hospital. Just thinking of a “hospital” is sort of like thinking of “the IRS.”
That said, I am glad EIRMC is here. When I have needed care for the people I love (my daughter’s leg burn which needed wound care and skin graft surgery; my son’s broken wrist; my daughter’s friend’s bad cut that took 40+ stitches), the people at EIRMC have not only been good at the medical part, but also at the human part. They understood we were scared, and took time to make us feel better.
It’s time for the reputational stuff to be retired. It’s been a favorite pasttime in our town — either kick The Post Register or kick the hospital — but it’s worn out. Neither one is perfect, but both have made positive changes, and we should all move on.
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0 0 BRAVO, GUEST. VERY WELL WRITTEN. THERE ARE A FEW FAVORITE KICKING POSTS OR PEOPLE IN TOWN. MAYBE SOME LACK OF TRUST WAS ONCE JUSTIFIED, BUT WE ARE LIVING IN REAL TIME WITH MANY POSITIVE CHANGES.
EXCELLENT ADDITION TO THIS THREAD, IN MHO.
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0 0 We are extremely lucky to have HCA see the needs and wants of residents and plan accordingly.
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0 0 Joe, I have to ask…how old were you when you broke your arm? (Or your hand, I can’t remember which)
Which hospital did you go to then?
Or did family physicians still do casts for broken bones back then?
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0 0 Speaking of broken bones….it reminded me of when I broke my arm when I was 7 y/o. I broke it roller skating and my parents were out of town for the weekend. My Aunt was watching my brothers and I. She took me to the Broward Medical Ctr.(in S.FL) to have it tended to. After waiting for 6 hours, we were finally brought into another waiting room where a nurse told my Aunt they couldn’t treat me because I was underage and she wasn’t my legal gaurdian and therfore had no right to authorize care. They wouldn’t so much as give me a sling for my arm! I had to wait for two days until my parents got home, after which my Mom went down there and raised all sorts of cain! After threatening them with a lawsuit, my arm was x-rayed, put in a cast and our bill was free of charge. On another occasion I was in an accident and was admitted there for a detached retina. The care I received was top notch and the surgery went extremely well. Everything turned out great.
The point is, accidents & human error can happen in any Hospital no matter where you are. We should all be thankful we have such a nice state of the art facility in the area such as EIRMC. I’ve been in there a couple of times with family and friends and the wait time was under an hour and the care given was excellent. For a town the size of IF, having a Hospital like EIRMC is a great assest in my opinion.
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0 0 CR67
You continue to make good points in every thread I’ve read. Again, what you add to this site, along with others, is your experience in S. FL and the realities of medical care elsewhere. I sometimes think local residents wouldn’t believe what happens in some other states and other hospitals. (babies stolen, wrong appendages amputated etc.)
I believe sometimes we totally take for granted how good things really are. It’s far easier to complain or try to blame someone else when things don’t go right.
I have to write this, given your comment about your detached retina (besides that is scary as you know what!), how many other areas with a Metro Population of 116 have 3 ophthalmologists who are Fellowship trained retinal specialists? That’s two years beyond regular ophthalmology residency.
Idaho Falls won’t get the third retinal specialist until July, but his practice is already being announced.
Also, another opthalmologist has a fellowship in oculplastics.
That is four (4) fellowshiped ophthalmologists locally. In surrounding states or cities in ID of comparable population, how many have that many sub-specialty ophthalmologists?
And that ties into the endocrine care locally. Not every city has an endocrinologist, former Assoc. Prof. at Vanderbuilt, who still lectures nationally about the treatment of diabetes, given his success rate. But, endocrine is a totally different issue and I don’t have the time today.
I do hope Rich and others will opt for an Anoynous or Guest name and write what they want and should write. No patient names need to be involved, or specific practitioners. But, I strongly believe it’s time to educate many who appear either to not understand what really happens in hospitals or have just stuck with negative reviews to make decisions.
Speaking of negative reviews, of course there will be more the more services offered, and time open. EIRMC has ~ 350 beds. Mtn. View has 17. You do the math. What’s the probablity someone will have a bad experience each day?
I fully acknolwedge bad medical situations happen that known of us want (myself included - which I think a few of you could punctuate with a ! this week, given the sub-specialist I saw and my own personal reality.). How we deal with news we don’t necessarily want to hear and whether we blame others for not finding a symptom earlier or not answering a call button within 5 minutes, is up to us. The reality is we are all going to die.
Technology that allows quicker transportation times, short cuts and better lives in so many ways, or “funner” experiences, like rock climbing, bring injuries that are more dangerous too.
There are reasons for legitimate complaints. I encourage them to the people who can make change.
There are also people who fear medical care - and prefer almost “low tech” ‘cuz if they can’t find it, it ain’t there, right?
There are also people that misunderstand hospitals are not hotels.
I honestly think the majority of physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, in this area, do their best to provide care for those for whom they are responsible. I’m not asking anyone to agree with me, simply stating my opinion having observed dozens of hospitals and working in many.
Oh, just to clarify because someone asked me, I don’t work for either EIRMC or Mountain View Hospital (or the Idaho Falls Surgical Center, also a licensed hospital).
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0 0 I didn’t want to write anything last night after I saw someone remove content from a live chat. I don’t know the particulars only there was nothing obscene or illegal, as far as I could tell. Just some people who disagreed.
So I doubt this comment will be allowed to remain, as one person in particular may disagree and remove it.
Facts are FACTS. Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center is the DESIGNATED White House Hospital in the area, after the University of Utah and until St. Pat’s.
I know lots of people here don’t like Pres. Bush, so let me assure you it was Pres. Clinton’s staff who made this designation years ago.
I don’t like politics. I do like the facts. The facts are for American Policy makers, EIRMC was deeemed the safest and most sophisticated hospital (with the most specialists) to care for Federal Officials, Visiting Heads of State and others - like the current head of the UN when he was in Jackson Hole a few months back).
Say what you will, but having trained in many states, seeing that a hospital is a White House Designated Hospital, plus a Designated Trauma Center, that tells doctors a lot about how good the medical community and services are.
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0 0 Never heard the “white house designation” before about EIRMC, interesting if true.
Look there is a big difference between the live chat and comments like these. The live chatbox holds 25 messages at a time, so conversations can fly fast through it. Sometimes it gets cleaned out also. Such is the nature of short-term conversations. Last night I was grouchy and being a jerk, and when I left I realized I should clean out the bad stuff I had left in it so hopefully better more positive conversations would flower after I left; I just didn’t want my bad mood to foster more negativity.
Comments like these are permanent. The only time they get edited is if they violate a guideline listed below (right above the chatbox).
So relax.
I must say this discussion thread has changed my perception of EIRMC for the positive.
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0 0 Joe wrote:
“Never heard the “white house designation†before about EIRMC, interesting if true.”
It is true Joe and I think the Post Register has published that info before as well as others. But, don’t believe me, call Administration or Public Relations at EIRMC at those employees.
I’m guessing that given visiting dignitaries from other countries etc. that the White House doesn’t exactly make this information accessible to just anyone. Both the University of Utah and Harborbiew (at the University of Washington) note their status on their websites as Designated White House receiving hospitals. There are certainly reasons why I wouldn’t advertise that info, if I we’re EIRMC.
That being said, it may be in one of the pull down files at the top of the EIRMC(dot) com website. I don’t have the time or need to look, as I know the truth. But, please search yourself so you know the truth for yourself.
I’m not willing to give my password and account out, but this is the only effort I will put into proving this point. The following is from a classified ad from one of the major medical journals. There are several similar ads in respective journals.
I’ve edited out the part of what type of physician and bit about the practice, but included enough so the average reader would understand this ad is for a physician to practice at EIRMC.
Under classifieds, this appears online (and in the journal):
LOCATION: Idaho Falls, Idaho FULL TIME/PART TIME: Full Time
CLIENT: HCA - The Healthcare Company PERMANENT/TEMPORARY: Regular
POSTED: 04/09/2007 EMPLOYMENT/CONTRACT WORK: Employment
REPLY SENT: NO VISA WAIVER AVAILABLE: No
DESCRIPTION:
This unique opportunity offers tremendous professional advantages including the following:
Work in one of the most physician-friendly malpractice states in the country
Serve on the medical staff at one of the top 100 hospitals in the US
Work in a White House designated health care facility.
Live in a safe, family-orientated community in the shadow of the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park”
CONTACT:
Eric Mack
Physician Specialty Recruiter
HCA Healthcare
Office: (949) 366-4154
If anyone else can post what they find, great. I don’t have the time. Nationally, thousands of physicians, reading journals and ads, are looking at what HCA is saying about EIRMC being a White House Designated Hospital.
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0 0 As an EIRMC employee, I can also confirm the White House designation that EIRMC has. Our cardiac surgeons always know when Cheney is fishing on the South Fork…
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0 0 Do they also keep tabs on when he’s hunting in the area?
Not for him, but for his hunting buddies…
BLAM!
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0 0 That is very interesting! I’ve never heard of a hospital being “White House Designated”. That’s great to hear that EIRMC is a part of this. That just goes to show the level of quality and the standards that this facility has and upholds in order to keep this status current.
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0 0 nevermind,
Your comment was funny.
While not promoting violence and urging moe caution/training for hunters, yes trauma centers have to be prepared for people who are hurt by others.
So buckle up this weekend, if ethanol is part of your weekend plans, PLEASE have a designated driver (or two or three, depending on how much booze and how many people).
Others would have to speak for themselves, but for me, one of the hardest parts about a designated Trauma Center, like EIRMC, are the accidents/injuies that didn’t have to happen. However, many think the really severe injuries or medical problems can’t happen to them and ignore the warnings.
Injury and illness know no socio-economic brackets. It’s really difficult to be an a E.R. room after a major attempt to save someone’s life has been made, by many trained professionals, and they lost. But it is much harder to be in that same room if the patient was drunk, doing drugs, or a parent wasn’t watching their child swim, or ride his/her bike etc.
The comments people make who have recently lost loved ones, or parts of their own bodies, due to preventable accidents, are extremely difficult for me to hear.
So please have a great, relaxing and safe weekend. And plus take the time to be safe.
Should you end up at a medical facility for some type of urgent care or emergency, think about thanking the people there for taking care of you. Odds are they would like to be enjoying this weather and time with their friends and family too. Sure, it is the chosen job of some.
I’ve never seen someone not appreciate a “thank you” from a mechanic to a florist or someone who does something kind or hepful in a hospital.
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0 0 ISU is looking to bring PMC into their management fold, possibly buying it from Bannock County and making the cornerstone of a future ISU medical campus.
Interesting….
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0 0 Saw the press release. PMC can dream on. They can only hope someone soon will rush in and save the day. The heads at ISU have no desire whatsoever to buy PMC. They would like a working relationship for health care such as supporting furthering medical education in the state and that’s it. The MOU doesn’t promise any sort of purchase. The state/governor would never approve it, IMO. The MOU is a pleasant piece of paper but it will not solve the crises PMC continues to be in.
PMC is making a bigger deal than one would expect about getting some good ratings on a recent Health Grades scoring. EIRMC didn’t do badly either. PMC needs massive PR help so they have taken out new billboards all over in the last few weeks. A sinking ship must raise every flag possible.
A medical school is a long shot in Pocatello. Increased health care education is the direction ISU wants to take. One wonders if the people in Pocatello understand what a real medical school is. It is not a hospital with a few classrooms bought out by a small campus. It IS generally a separate educational institution that sends their MDs in for training and internships and later out to hospitals across the country for residency programs! Does a medical school exist anywhere in the country in a community as small as Pocatello with such limited resources? They’d have to send half the class to Boise for rotations it seems. I doubt there would be so many MD’s with the time/desire to be on staff either. A medical school works in a much different setting.
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0 0 Having just had major surgery at EIRMC, I have a cheers and a condemn for them.
First off, the care was fantastic! I probably had 12 nurses total, and probably 3 that could certainly stand improvement. The rest were awesome. Third floor, Bryce, Lori and Stephani were the best. They really “cared” for me. The nursing profession is clearly important to them. I was too out of it to remember the first nurse I had but I do remember she was quite good. The vast majority were caring, friendly and very helpful. I was in a great deal of pain and they did everything humanly possible to ease that from propping pillows to helping me stand up. The physical therapists (demons in disguise lol) were awesome too even though it was quite painful to do what they asked. The surgeon and his assistant were also incredible and took great pains to work together on a time and date for my surgery, as I really wanted to pick who would assist him (a doctor I work with).
My only beef comes with the billing department. I initially went in on 8/24. I received my EOB and bills within 10 days and paid them in full right away. Last week they called stating they sent two letter (neither of which I’ve received) and want to know when I’m going to pay? First, they woke me up, I had just gotten home from the hospital. I told them I did pay and they stated that they haven’t received payment. I looked up my checking account and called them back. I had 3 different account numbers (insane), all of which were on the check. One check which had cleared my account. When I called back the automated recording had me punch in my account number (allowing for only one # not 3) and then my date of birth and the last 4 digits of my SSN. After having done all that, it gave my balance on the single account. I pressed to speak to a person who then needed to also verify my address and name. She stated that with online bill pay, if it’s on EFT it will be rejected. Well, I’ve always paid them that way and it hadn’t been rejected yet. She stated two letters were sent. Again, haven’t received any letters. I stated they were paid, gave the date, and they my account shows that the money was taken. If it’s rejected, I consider that their problem not mine and told her as much. I also question why I had 3 separate account #’s. Apparently there will be many more account numbers now that I’ve had the surgery because each department is billed separate. I have real issues with that.
Medical care is horribly expensive in the US. For each account number, you are to pay minimum payments on each. That is horribly difficult for most people. And the billing department and they way they handle accounts leaves a lot to be desired.
So again, when it comes to the professional staff, I was very impressed. But something has got to give with the way they do billing.
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0 0 “I also question why I had 3 separate account #’s. Apparently there will be many more account numbers now that I’ve had the surgery because each department is billed separate.”
EIRMC’s business office needs to change this immediately. It is not difficult to combine the various department billings into one bill, then when payments come in to disburse the money out again to the appropriate departments.
Creating separate billing from each department in the same facility makes EIRMC appear to not have any business sense, certainly not any customer service sense.
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0 0 me Says,
Your thoughts mirror my own so much it’s uncanny. PMC has to spin. Anyone who knows how cases are “selected” for certain procedures knows why it is a joke. No other ID hospital…ha!
Medical school in Pocatello won’t happen for more reasons that I want to write at this time. But, about 3 are so blatant anyone who has read anything knows:
1. Boise is already training to get the U. of I. Law school re-assigned to Boise. The split of the “State of Ada” again. Boise/TV residents think ALL professional schools should go there.
ISU’s best chance of a medical school bearing ISU’s name, is ISU-Boise.
2. Idaho isn’t ready for a medical school. The Gov. threw some $ to quiet people down. Doesn’t mean it will happen.
I don’t know if people really understand what had to happen for the University of Utah (with Major NIH Funding and MAJOR donors - Huntsmans, Soresen and Eccles) to first become a two year school for many sciences.
The two year school, covers the courses before the 3rd and 4th clinical years. All students had to transfer elsewhere to finish. It took years for Utah to “grow” into the 4 year status. And even now, that school is at best, only 106 seats/year.
Plus the faculty is essentially subsidizing 70% of medical education in UT. But, that is neither anything I should or can discuss here.
3. Idaho has a medical education program. It needs expanded. Every year 25 students are in training as Idaho residents at neighboring schools.
Every year, 40 students are doing their basic sciences (pre-clinical) years at the U. of I. along with 40 from the U. of Washington. It’s a perfect fit, it just needs expanded.
The Boise crowd doesn’t like to admit the fact that the Spokane-Cd’A area is a bigger MSA than Boise. Not that Moscow is in Cd’A, but it’s also not isolated.
U. of I. needs to expand the in -place program with the U. of Washington, IMO. It’s the most cost-effective. Maybe it can only be 10-20 seats/year, but that is far easier to fund that a fully functional medical school.
Scheez, do people realize how much current residencies in Idaho rely on their residents receiving specialized training at out-of-state facilities?
That being said, it would be easy to expand the RESIDENCY programs in Idaho. Not a medical school, the residencies.
To their credit, I just recently read about the work the Idaho Chapter of Family Physicians has done with the University of Washington to start a brand new residency in Idaho in July 2008. It’s a win/win for all.
The U. of Washington has shown they can work with multiple settings and can “think out of the box,” about how to educate medical students plus PGs II+.
I do think the day will come when Idaho has a medical school, but the current proposal will not be how it is done.
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Abby,
I hope you are feeling better and have positive benefits of your surgery.
Just from guessing, given what you wrote as well as knowing how hospitals do things, it sounds like you had an inpatient account for your inpatient care, an outpatient account for PT and potentially a third account either for PT/OT or a specialized therapy. And anesthesia always bills separately too.
I do empathize with your frustration. If only all patients could be like you and be so responsible about paying your bills.
I’d recommend you ask to speak to a supervisor. My understanding is EIRMC’s billing is still done offsite, as a measure to contain cost. I might be wrong, but I wouldn’t trust my credit and lack of payment to just anyone who answers the telephone. You have the right to talk to the supervisor.
While I doubt this will help you, maybe it will help you understand more.
Insurance companies are being more and more restrictive in what they will pay for. Consequently, hospitals and physicians have had to “adapt.”
Unfortunately, having to have different accounts for different services is one of those complexities that insurance companies really don’t need to require. Yet, they do.
I should say the insurance companies don’t require it, but for the hospital to be paid, or the PTs/OTs/Speech Therapists etc. to be paid, there have to be separate accounts. I hope that is clear.
Personally, I’ve dealt with a hospital chain, much smaller than HCA, and to me far more confusing. I had to have OT two times/week post wrist surgeries. EVERY “encounter” with my hand therapist was billed under a separate account. In six weeks, that was 12 different accounts for seeing the same person.
The same thing happened when I had to have several lab draws for an infection. Each encounter is billed under a separate account.
I’d recommend writing your insurance company and asking why hospitals/providers affiliated with hospitals are forced to do this.
Just a guess on my part, but the answer you’ll receive is, “It’s not us, it’s them.” NO, that isn’t true when every hospital system that has more than one hospital has to do the same to be reimbursed.
Secondly, I doubt they will be this honest, but usually insurers follow what Medicaid and Medicare do. If Medicare can demand a separate account for each encounter, there the insurance companies think they should too.
Those covered by Medicare don’t have the hassles you and I, along with dozens of others, have experienced with the numberous accounts from a hospital. That is because to be a Medicare provider one signs a co-signment contract that the patient can’t be billed beyond what Medicare pays. So those patients don’t see the hassles.
Trust me, being on both ends of this spectrum, the paperwork is just overwhelming to document what insurance companies want.
Furthermore, Medicare is decreasing payments in 2008. So if anyone has parents or others close to them that are covered by Medicare, I’d encourage you to review their coverage NOW. IF possible, get a supplemental plan at the highest reimbursement possible.
Idaho Falls residents, at some level, have been very spoiled. With less than 10% of insured being managed care, most people don’t even understand what it is like to not even see Dr. X because s/he isn’t a provider on their health care plan.
Additionally, while Medicare isn’t a managed care, NO physician MUST sign up to be a provider.
I’ll predict it now, physicians will stop taking any new Medicare patients.
Many refuse to take any new Medicaid patients, yet many still do. Idaho Medicaid is far better than Medicaid in surrounding states.
One of the real concerns I have about seniors moving to ID to retire and the growth of population, is how will their medical needs be met? I’ve seen it first hand in St. George and didn’t like what I saw there 10 years ago.
Yet, I can see how other physicians in other cities are now being forced to do what St. George did 10 years ago, due to their Sr. and tremendous Medicaid and uninsured population.
And while this has NOTHING to do with EIRMC, I don’t have time to start a new thread.
I back Pres. Bush for his veto of the Children’s Health Care Bill as it was presented for a number of reasons. The Bush Bashers will just bash, although I would encourage those intelligent enough to read to read the facts.
Certainly there is a percentage of our popoulation who needs assistance like Medicaid. I have no problem with that, given the means testing and the responsible adult completing the paperwork to make a child or adult eligible for programs in place.
However, I don’t understand what a government or individual provider/hospital is to do, if that person has REFUSED to apply for the programs already available. Check the numbers, some may be surprised.
Absolutely those with limited means deserve access to health care. So what stops so many for utilizing the programs already in place? That is a major source of frustration to providers!
Secondly, it’s ridiculous IMO to allow parents who make 3X the poverty level to “insure” their children with state-sponsored Medicaid. That allows the higher end income parents can opt out of providing health care insurance through their work. This particular issue really makes me angry.
Parents can buy extra vehicles, boats, remodel houses or whatever their $50,000+ incomes (to the point of being 3X the povery line), yet the bill initially proposed would allow that. There is no guarantee what physicians their child/children could see under Medicare. However, in my experience, those with the mentaility that nothing happens in their family, health insurance is a waste of their money, will be the same ones who threaten lawsuits, be semi-complaint and do nothing but complain about the limitations the Medicaid system has.
Conversely, those who really should have Medicaid due to circumstances beyond their control, are usually grateful for the help.
I don’t recall anything in the Constitution or any Bill of Rights that make health care a RIGHT the Federal or State Gov’t must pay for.
As I’ve written elsewhere, I find it ironic that we’re all guaranteed representation by an attorney, but not health care.
The really interesting thing is to determine who makes more hourly, physicians or attorneys.
So I support President Bush and his veto of the first draft of that bill. As the talking heads have said, those who refused to lower the income standard to cover more people/kids who needed the care, did so to make this issue a talking point for the next election.
Many in Congress knew it wouldn’t pass - they were warned the initial bill, at 3X poverty level wouldn’t pass. Yet, they still voted for it. Watch for it to be a real wedge issue in the next political cycle.
Joe, if you decide to create a new thread out of my last comments about backing Pres. Bush in his veto of this bill, that is fine with me. I doubt it will generate much discussion except Bush bashing.
And I’ll speculate that many who bash the most are not on the receiving end, as I am, still waiting for Medicare and Medicaid payments from a year ago and absolutely from April forward in this year. So I don’t expect others to understand there is indeed another side to the story.
How many of you could keep accepting “customers” who didn’t pay you? And while the other favorite thing on this site seems to be beating up pharmaceutical companies, how many of you have a better life because of a new drug that was developed?
How many of you are alive because of a medication, or have a relative who takes a blood pressure pill etc. and hasn’t had a stroke because of it? That’s just one example: diabetes, infertility, G.I., neurological, infectious diseases etc. all benefit from the newer drugs. They do cost billions to create, but consumers don’t want to realize that.
Just be relieved with new guidelines that have come out. One specialty of medicine no longer advocates treating upper respiratory infections with any anti-biotics. Personally, I think that is insane, given the much more severe diseases that consume far more health care dollars.
For those who are positive pharmaceutical companies are driving up health care costs, if you have a family member who is covered by that specialty, your dreams have come true.
Don’t tell me about costs when your family member has to be hospitalized or receive daily I.V. treatments etc. due to the pneumonias, mastoiditis, sinus infections etc. that can become meningitis, encephalitis and many more very debilitating diseases. No, don’t tell me as I won’t listen. I’m happy to live in the time when modern drugs are available to keep ME and those who matter to me alive.
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0 0 I think you’re right about the usefulness of a discussion on the SCHIP bill.
“..ISU-Boise”
That cracked me up, hilarious! Maybe we should change Idaho Falls’ city name to “Boise Jr.” and see if we get more cash our way.
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0 0 Boise, Jr. That is funny, if it weren’t so true.
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0 0 The three different account #’s were for only the outpatient treatment on one day. I have not received the inpatient treatment bills (barely 2 weeks out). I am sure those will have a variety of different accounts. The surgeon’s office checked insurance prior to surgery and of course they state that while it won’t gaurantee payment, they agreed treatment was necessary. They have you coming and going. The billing is totally inappropriate, I agree Joe.
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0 0 The separate billing from EIRMC departments really bugs me. They are multiplying their costs to generate each separate billing. They would be much more cost effective to centralize it.
I doubt EIRMC would pass those savings onto us consumers/patients, but it is disturbing that they are functioning in this costly manner, as if they do not value cost savings or customer service experience.
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0 0 Any hospital chain will have their own way of billing. There is no other hospital in the region that is part of a larger chain.
St. Luke’s in Boise, Meridian, Twin Falls and Ketchum would come the closest.
I agree it is confusing and a WASTE of time and effort. I also know a local hospital doesn’t change the procedure for the corporation.
But Abby, I’d still e-mail EIRMC’s CFO and Doug Crabtree asking why it has to be this complicated. Maybe we can hope a good idea from ID can be taken back up the tree elsewhere.
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0 0 I guess congratulations are in order for EIRMC, today’s PR reports they earned the Level II trauma center designation, the only one in all of Idaho (yes, not even Boise hospitals have achieved this yet!) It’s a great day anytime Idaho Falls can pull one past the Treasure Valley.
They earned their level III designation in 2004, so it has taken just three years to upgrade to level II (I don’t even know if that is aggressive or normal or what, but it sounds impressive to me.)
I appreciate that the paper explained what this realistically means to you and I.
It means if you experience a trauma accident (stabbing, gun shot, or motor vehicle accident), paramedics who reach you first will report the severity of your injuries to EIRMC. It yours is a trauma case, the EIRMC trauma team is paged, and as many as 15 medical professionals meet you as you enter the hospital. Your trauma team can include “surgeons, lab technicians, respiratory therapists, and other specialists.”
And that sounds pretty awesome. I think EIRMC has come out from the dark cloud of their past and has become something our area residents can truly be proud of. When folks ask what makes the Idaho Falls area so great, I think EIRMC can be listed in the top ten.
Kudos to EIRMC and all their employees who make it great.
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0 0 I also understand that EIRMC is the “White Hospital” for visiting dignitaries in a four state area. I have heard that Dick Cheney was a patient there. Anybody know anything about this?
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My wife is an RN with a non-practicing license (she’s hasn’t worked for several years due to a medical disability). She worked at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow. Just before we moved here, she had an extended stay at EIRMC for a compound fracture to her ankle.
Any medical professional will tell you that other medical professionals tend to be the worst patients! They know right away when you’ve messed up a proceedure.
In light of that, she found the care at EIRMC some of the best she’s experienced. She’s had worse care both in Spokane and Seattle.
No complaints here.