They shove every patient to the ER. I don't know why. It's ridiculous. If you have something going…read moreon that's been going on for a while it's not urgent. It's definitely not an emergency. Sending you to the ER for a chronic condition is not right. It's just a way for the system to make more money.

Rude nurses. Long waits. Billing issues. Terrible parking. Doctors with no bedside manor. The list…read moregoes on...​​

I have been admitted to St Mary's Hospital several times in my life. I wrote a blog on my…read moreexperience in January 2018 at mnnoreaster.com.com. Https://mnnoreaster.com/2018/01/16. Previously I had a quadruple bypass (17 years ago) and in 2016 (?) for a blocked bowel duct and in May 2017 for issues with my legs. I also had need of their facility two weeks ago. I am sitting in my hospital room as I write this. I am boiling mad. I came to emergency yesterday driven by my wife. The day prior I was released from Ecumen Rehab. I woke up 2 times after 4 AM on February first struggling to get my breath. Around 11 AM I felt extremely out of sorts. About an hour later I was having my wounds dressed by a home care nurse when I experienced the same feeling again. The RN. Suggested I consider going to the hospital. I had not considered the idea maybe out of fear. However when she spoke the words I recalled struggling for great 17 years earlier. St Mary's has always been a touchstone for me. Two of. our sons were born there. My mother had a heart valve replaced. I knew I was close to exceptional care that was close by. Of course their have been clunkers too. I sat with my sister in the emergency room looking for assistance with her medical issue. Fortunately we did not receive quality assistance. I turned to the internet to find and exact doctor she needed at a different facility. ONE THING YOU ALWAYS NEED TO FIND OUT WHEN ENTER A HOSPITAL - under your own power or in an emergency. Find out if you are being admitted as a patient or 'for observation'. I can be a life changing experience. First, if you are admitted as a patient you are first in line for tests and other procedures. You don't have to wainin line. Second your insurance will cover you. I am not sure what Medicare pays for but I am sure it is the same as insurance carriers. The papers are on my bed and I only glanced at the heading 'As an outpatient'. I found that, from experience in May that insurance DOS NOT COVER your medications. My bill for one day was almost $900.00! The reason? If you are an ' outpatient' you RE NOT a patient. You may be in the hospital but you are not 'in the hospital' You are there for the purpose of observation. As n outpatient the pharmacy is considered out of network. Which means the hospital will send "you the bill to pay'. Your insurance company will say ' that pharmacy is out of network and pat only a small fraction of your medications. In my case only about $120.00 of the $890 plus. When I found that out I had a response to the hospital collections person. If you would have told me that I would have brought my medications from home. Oh 'we don't allow that'. 'You can't use medications you bring from home' I am now being pursued by collection agents hired by the hospital. I am siting here wondering if I should slash my wrists now or wait until I get the bill! I know I am going to contact the collection agency and tell them to hold off on this piddly amount and wait until they get THIS HUGE BILL to add to it.

I had back surgery scheduled for several months at St. Mary's in Duluth on April 15, 2026. I…read morearrived as directed at 10:45am. By 11:00am I was in the pre-op area and changed into surgical gown and hair net. An I. V. Was put in my arm then I was taken down for a C. T. Scan to guide the surgeon during the surgery. Shortly after I was back in the pre-op area and told as son as a room was open I would be taken into surgery. By 2pm I was still waiting. I of course had not eaten per direction since the previous night and had not had anything to drink per instructions since before 9am that morning. Around this time an elderly patient whom I assume might have had some sort of dementia was put in a room directly across ghe hall from me. That patient was yelling screaming and swearing for around two hours as the nursing staff tried to calm him to no avail. Finally that patient was taken into surgery around 4pm as I was still waiting thirsty, hungry and in pain. I was told by the Anesthesiologist and surging that as soon as the next room was available I would be taken into surgery. At approximately 4:30pm the surgeon came to my pre-op room and told me that there was not enough surgical staff and they would not be able to do my surgery. I and I could go home. I thought it was some kind of a joke but it was not. After talking to several people I found out that Essentia and St. Mary's management did not pay enough surgical staff to be there the second half of the day to ensure that surgeries in the later part of the day would be staffed if the surgeries in the earlier part of the day ran later than expected and not enough surgical staff would volunteer to stay late to do me surgery. My wife who rearranged her schedule to drive me the hour and a half to St. Mary's had already returned home as I was told I would have to stay in the hospital for two to three days after the surgery. I called her and she again drove another hour and a half each way a second time that day to bring me back home. I tried to complain to management but was unable to have anyone from management speak to me. The only thing I was told I could do was to call patent relations and leave a message which I did and a day later they called me. I lodged a complaint and told them I wanted a call back from upper management responsible for making the decisions not to pay enough staff to be there to ensure the surgery I came in for would be performed. I also told employee relations that i wanted to make sure this was not going to happen to anyone else or I felt the public should know that St. Mary's was doing this to patients. No one ever called me back. This is the poorest third rate example in my view of a hospital that only cares about money and not the patients. The stress and anxiety of waiting to have a very painful surgery along with hours of being naked and draped with a hospital gown with an I. V. In my arm dehydrated, hungry only to be told I had to call my ride and leave was unbelievably poor and pathetic care. I have no issues with the doctor or nurses just management who made the decision that lead to this happening to me and then did not even have the courage or decency to respond to my request to speak to them. What happened to me should be a warning to everyone what St. Mary's is about. In my opinion they only care about money and have no respect for patients.

Good luck hiring and keeping staff for the new building! Careful if you apply, they run the "bait…read moreand switch" tactic. Very poor employee culture. You are just a number to them, which is surprising since this is such as small community. For the longest time, I wondered why this hospital was so short-staffed for having so many nursing schools in the town. After working here, I no longer wonder. Tip: Drive to Minneapolis for healthcare. This town has seen better days.

Had x-rays done there 5 days later still not read and other facilities read them In 2 to 3 hrs…read more Appalling service. It's really bad. Go to another facility seriouy!​

After I broke my ankle , I drove myself to the urgent care in Hermantown , where I called and asked…read moreif someone would come out and help me with the wheelchair to get into the clinic and they said they could not help because it's not their policy, so they watched me crawl across the parking lot to enter. During the workman's compensation the Doctor went behind my back and sent a note to my company saying that I can drive with my boot on which is illegal and we never talked about restrictions but he went and sent another note that was never discussed with me. What a mess this caused with insurance. I do not recommend this hospital.

Inefficient, disorganized, and unprofessional. Overreliance on MyChart by the staff resulting in…read moredelayed and poor communicate with patients. A quick curtosey phone call would often be more encompassing and appropriate. Instead I wait for hours to days between each message received. It has taken me over a week to get answers to simple questions - multiple times. When you call back at the number the doctor leaves/ (218)576-3800 it routes you through the general Essentia phone system and forces you to leave a message with an operator who then passes along your message to the nurse.... What a waste of time!!!!! Dr Kassing has been talking out both sides of his mouth about getting me the HRT I need after a complete hysterectomy. He says he will "run any labs or tests I want" then also says "we usually just adjust hormones based on how you feel". When I asked for additional hormonal support aside from estradiol patch he prescribed me MORE estrogen. ZERO sense of urgency to address progesterone and testosterone. I am 2.5 months post op and still dealing with disbyosis and hormonal deficiency symptoms. Women's health and wellbeing is CLEARLY not a priority at Essentia OBGYN.

Unethical billing practices. Billed annual physical as Level 4 visit. Difference is level 4 is…read morenot covered by my insurance and Annual Physical/well visit is. $600, when no one in family of five has every been billed more that $250. Tried to discuss with their billing dept, but they wouldn't listen and sent to collections.