One star is way more than they deserve…read more
I was picking my wife up after a long day of airports and driving. As she was leaving Hobby Airport, her right leg spasmed and she fell on her left side. She had never had anything like this occur before. The nice folks at Hobby helped her into a wheelchair and into our truck. She did not want EMS. As we started home, I noticed she was in much more pain than she had said and was complaining that she couldn't feel her right leg and she had crushing pain in her left chest radiating down her arm.
Scared she might have a DVT causing a heart attack, I went to the first ER we could find.
Unfortunately, it was Grace ER.
We arrived there Monday night about 9pm. There was no one visible in the office and the light were turned off. I rang the bell, knocked on the glass, yelled, and finally, just before I was walking out the door, I decided to knock on the glass with my ring, just to see if that would get someone's attention. When I did, the person in the office, who was strategically sitting in the only part of the office you could not see from the window, was apparently sleeping and startled by my knocking.
She asked me what I wanted. I told her I needed a wheelchair, my wife couldn't walk. She brought out a ratty old wheelchair and handed it to me. No offer to help. I got my wife into the wheelchair and rolled her in. We were met in the waiting room by a woman who asked what was wrong. I explained the injury. My normally stoic wife was in excruciating pain. They asked me for her ID and insurance card. I gave them both. They went in the office and came out to tell me their system said our policy was "inactive". It is not. I have used it several times already this year without issue. I was told, "We can't treat her if we can't verify your insurance". I explained to them that the insurance was good and my wife needed treatment. They continued to argue.
Just as we turned to leave, a doctor came out and asked what the issue was. I explained the injury again and that I was afraid she had a DVT and she needed treatment. He said he would see her. We went back into a tiny, sketchy looking exam room, where he asked her about her injury and said he would order some labs and an echo for her leg.
Just after he left the room, another man came in and asked for our insurance information again. I told him they already had it. He said he ran it again, and it still shows "inactive". We had been here for nearly 15 minutes and no one had provided any care. No vitals. No history. No nothing. The man said," We can't treat her if we can't verify your insurance, unless you want to pay out of pocket". I explained that we have insurance and I am not paying out of pocket, and under Texas law you are required to provide care even if I don't. I was very worried about my wife as the pain seemed to be getting worse.
I was VERY angry. My wife said she wanted to leave and did not want them touching her. She was still in the wheelchair, so we started to leave. The staff, two women and one man, continued to argue with me and trying to get me to pay out of pocket. They followed me into the freezing cold parking lot and continued to try to get me to pay. As I opened the door to load her into the truck, the man stepped between her and the door and continued to argue with me. I got him to move. The doctor comes out and asks what was wrong. I said they won't treat her unless I pay out of pocket. He said he would. I said, "You might, but they won't (referring to the staff) and I'm not going to stand in the cold and argue with y'all while my wife is not getting treated."
All four of them were on their phones speaking to someone the entire time. We left. I took her to the HCA ER in Alvin where she was seen immediately. See my review of HCA Alvin. They are awesome.
About an hour later, a woman from Grace ER calls and tries to tell me it was a big misunderstanding and that she was mad because I said they didn't care about their patients (I did, they don't). She did not apologize. She said I was wrong, she does care about the patients and wanted to make sure I knew that. I told her that their lack of care could have killed my wife and I would never step foot in their ER under any circumstance.
I will be filing my complaint with the Department of State Health Services tomorrow. If you've had similar experiences, please do the same. These people are going to kill somebody.
