Vandy ER is slow.. whew

[Sam1]

Got horrendously sick last night about 11pm, had stuff coming out of me that shouldn't be inside of a human. Don't much like going to the dr. but the wife laid down the law at about 3am and took me over to the ER since it was getting worse. Even though they weren't crowded, we sat there for nearly 90 minutes waiting. All I wanted was something to get rid of the nausea and to lay down. In between the 4-5 times I got sick there, finally we told them if they can't get me a bed I'm just going to lay out in the floor. They actually got a bit pissy and told me I wasn't allowed to lay down there.

After they finally got me into a room, I was so dehydrated it took 3 different people 6 tries to finally get an IV in so now it looks like I'm some failure of an addict with all of these holes and bruises in my arm. After another hour of being in the room, they finally gave me something for the nausea. Not sure what was going on from their end but that is insane to make anyone wait that long just to get some medicine.

We're in the Brentwood area of Nashville and just moved here last weekend so we have no idea where the other hospitals were at, and was hoping someone could point us in the direction of some others in case we need help late again some time. It may have just been a fluke and they don't normally operate like that, but I'd rather have something else lined up because for me to even go there is as a last resort, I can't sit around and wait for hours when that kind of stuff happens.

[monkeylizard]

Welcome to Nashville, and sorry you had to visit Vandy's ER your 1st week here.

In Vandy's defense, they are one of, if not the, busiest ERs in the city. You don't always see the activity happening in an ER.

Vandy is the place to go for trauma and for their children's hospital. They're tops in both and are the only level-1 trauma unit in the area. That's where the Life-Flight helicopters usually go.

That said, I don't go to Vandy for anything if I can help it.

You basically have 5 reasonable options from Brentwood, and your choice may depend on what part of Brentwood you are in.

1. St. Thomas (my personal choice)
   
2. Williamson County Medical Center
   
3. Southern Hills
   
4. Centennial
   
5. Baptist
   

If you're along Old Hickory Blvd. (aka OHB) west of I-65 near Hillsboro Pike and Harpeth Hills golf course, St. Thomas is your closest. Take OHB west until it dead-ends into Hwy 100. Turn right. That takes you directly to St. Thomas which will be on your left. If you're closer to I-65, there are closer options, but if you want St. Thomas then you can take I-65N to I-440W then exit at West End Ave. westbound. St. Thomas will be on your right.

Williamson County Medical Center is directly south on I-65 at the main Franklin Exit (Hwy 96). I have no experience with them, but it seems like they may be less busy than the Nashville centers. If you're on the southern end of Brentwood towards Cool Springs, that's the closest ER.

If you're on the east side of Brentwood (aka Brentioch), then Southern Hills is the closest. It's in a not-so-great part of town, but they advertise themselves as having some of the lowest wait times in their ER.

Centennial and Baptist are not far from Vandy. Just a little bit closer to downtown. Typical large hospital complexes.

From the OHB exit on I-65, Southern Hills and Williamson County Med. are about equal distance, with St. Thomas being about 5-10 minutes further. The usual rush-hour traffic disclaimers apply.

<<Edit fer spellin' and other stuff>>

Edited June 4, 2012 by monkeylizard

[Pain103]

I like Summit Medical Center in Hermitage for normal stuff my primary is there. Vandy is where I want to go if I get shot or something serious. They are the best trauma docs around. If your actually in Brentwood and not the wanna be portion of Davidson County people call Brentwood I would say go to williamson for your normal stuff. If you are in Davidson near that area there is Southern Hills. I haven't had to make a trip there but the nickname it used to have was Southern Kills.

[Volzfan]

From your location I would recommend Williamson County Med Center. I only had to deal with them once and that was with my Mother. They were absolutely awesome!

[Sam1]

Thanks for the info everyone, we'll have to get around and see which of them is closest. I think we've seen St. Thomas around here somewhere, hopefully we never have to use anything again but we'll definitely have a better plan for next time

[peejman]

Going to the ER sucks, glad you're feeling better. I learned a trick to getting quick service in and ER from a friend.... bleed on them.

My friend was being dumb and fell. His hand hit a curb causing a compound dislocation of his pinky finger... mean it didn't actually break the bone, just separated the joint causing part of the bone to poke through the skin. So we took him to the local ER, which was pretty busy. He walked up to the front desk, took the towel off his hand, stuck it in the nurse's face and said... "Can you fix this?" She was rather startled and when she noticed the blood dripping on her paperwork, she said... "Just go in that room!" He walked in and got fixed right up. We could tell that several people in the waiting room were thinking...WTF! I've been sitting here for an hour!

[dlm37015]

i carry a card in my pocket it says take me to st thomas

[Guest Ceolas]

Summit has been pulling the multiple billing crap on our family for the past couple years...

When you finish you ask them for a final bill and they tell you this bill is the only one, and any other bills should be alreayd covered under this one.

Of course in the next week you get a bill from the outside company that runs the emergency room, the radiologist that bills seperately, the phlebotomist, etc... Try to fill them in on what the ER said and they threaten court immediately.

[laktrash]

I'm done with our local ER.

Gonna try UT next trip, if there is a next trip

The medical proffesion sucks anymore, its all about the money and coffee breaks

[Guest FiddleDog]

The ER is almost always clogged up, no matter which hospital. There are certain thing that they will triage with urgency (chest pains, stroke symptoms, etc) to bump people in front of those who use the ER for non emergency issues (which is most). If you have a doctor with the hospital that you are going to, you can often call their office and have them get you into the Urgent Care Clinic. Most people don't realize this, so that's usually ready to rock for you as soon as you get there.

Patient advocacy is a personal passion of mine. My family is in the medical community, and there is a lot of things that the average person doesn't know about, and most people don't have ready access to a hospitalist.

@dwwaldron - I hate seeing stuff like that happen to people. Often times, the individual clinics within the hospital are considered separate billing centers and supply individual bills. I think that it's a direct result of the power that the insurance companies have, as most people only look at copays, deductibles, and "what I owe now" lines. Because we've been removed from the product so much, Medical Fascilities have had to alter their billing practices so that they can cover costs on the 11 or so percent payout that the insurance company tells them that they will pay them - as in, the Hospital sends them a bill for $100 and they tell the hospital that they will only send $11, and the hospital should be happy that they're getting that.

[mcurrier]

Maps of Middle TN Hospitals -

http://www.tha.com/Default.aspx?pid=47

http://www.nashvillerealestateauthority.com/hospitals.aspx

I am also in Brentwood, and generally the closest two hospitals are:

Williamson County Medical Center

and

Southern Hills Medical Center

[UncleJak]

My problem with ERs: they are full of people without emergencies. I went when I cut my finger off and had to wait 3 hours because some pillheads were trying to get a fix. There was one legitimate case should have been in front of me (heart attack). And if it's not the pillheads, it is the people with no insurance whose kid has a sniffle and figure the only way to get them medical help is the ER. Weed out these two groups and my stay would have been 90 minutes total time.

[Caster]

Working in a restaurant about 15 years ago, I cut my finger on a tomato slicer [bad] manager took me to the hospital where I waited an hour for stitches. I bled through my bandage and when we asked the nurse for a little help, she rudely said we'll have to wait our turn. I left her a nice puddle of blood in the floor to clean up.

[subsonic]

I can vouch for Wiiliamson County Medical Center ER, had to go because of a slipped disc in my back on New Year's, they were awesome.

[Sam1]

My problem with ERs: they are full of people without emergencies. I went when I cut my finger off and had to wait 3 hours because some pillheads were trying to get a fix. There was one legitimate case should have been in front of me (heart attack). And if it's not the pillheads, it is the people with no insurance whose kid has a sniffle and figure the only way to get them medical help is the ER. Weed out these two groups and my stay would have been 90 minutes total time.

Agree with this totally, one of my paramedic buddies said that they have now started putting people on a "watch list" or whatever it was called because those pillheads were calling 911 requesting ambulances for completely silly stuff. He said if they are on the list they get no pain meds at all, they'll treat the injuries but they're no long allowed to give them meds.

[JPR1959]

Vanderbilt usually has tons of Mexicans waiting for their free healthcare, while the taxpayers have to wait. It's sad, but true.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I'm done with our local ER.

Gonna try UT next trip, if there is a next trip

The medical proffesion sucks anymore, its all about the money and coffee breaks

Don't worry, you still have Obamacare, maybe.

To the OP. Sorry you had the bad experience. St. Thomas is on West End/Harding Road, east of White Bridge.

ER's are like that all over town. A good triage nurse sometimes can only do with what he or she can to get you

decent care, and it depends on time, how busy they are and all the "sniffles" are waiting. They all want to see those

insurance cards and that takes time. We have some of the best hospitals in the nation, right here in Nashville, so

please check around with the others and stay away from Vandy's ER. That place gives fantastic care to real bad

stuff coming in the door 24/7. You probably would have had a better experience at St. Thomas, Baptist(which is

the same, nowadays, just different locations), Centennial. I can't say anything about the others because I haven't

been to them, but I'm sure all of them have their moments, good and bad.

Plenty of places in town to shop around for your health care. Be picky next time, if you can.

[Sam1]

Sort of on the topic of this, can any of you recommend a good family doctor anywhere around? Don't have any kids to deal with, it's just my wife and I. We were on the BCBS website and there are a blue million of them around, but word of mouth gets more credit than some anonymous vague review on google.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

The word "triage"-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triage

Maybe it is a matter of luck? About 15 years ago two fellas I knew with acute emergency heart troubles--

One friend about 50 years old went to Chatt Erlanger emergency room with chest pains. They tested him and told him he was OK and he should go home, but he refused to leave convinced that something was wrong. After hours of his hanging out in the ER waiting room trying to convince them he was sick, he finally collapsed and was dead before they got him to cardiac ICU.

Another friend about age 30 got some kind of virus infection of his heart and was delivered to vandy unconscious. He was so far gone they had to hop him up on drugs to wake him up long enough to sign treatment papers. Then they put him in an artificially induced coma for a month until some biker with a good transplant match killed himself on the hiway, then gave him a heart transplant and sent him on his way in not too bad condition, considering such radical treatment.

One would think that the fella still walking and talking and explaining his pain, would have been a better survival candidate requiring less heroic effort, but maybe it comes down to the luck of the draw? Vandy seemed to have done a better job than Erlanger on those two guys I knew, but that is just two random cases and hasn't any statistical significance. Maybe the worse off your condition when you show up, the better your odds of survival? If you have to go to the ER, maybe you should make sure that you are obviously near-dead when you show up?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Maybe this is straying a bit too far, but since you brought it up, call it heroic. I call it immediate and life threatening.

Ever been in an ER with a helicopter landing outside with the latest auto accident from 50 miles away? Plus a local

car accident, along with a knife wound. Someone with a hole through their neck from a gunshot wound? Someone

has to sort through the mess, along with all the "sniffles" sitting around. Usually one person has to sort through it

and decide who needs the most immediate attention, and, while deciding that, something goes from bad to worse.

It's a fairly daunting task. I just described old Metro General Hospital for about a hour one night, years ago when

I was there training for the old EMT course. Vandy is like that every day. Erlanger is, too. Been there, done that.

Some times things slip through the cracks, I imagine like the fog of war. You go to the ER for immediate needs for your

body. You go to the doctor's office for everything else.

Compare our system to Canada or England and then think about your local hospital. They are usually maxed out

before you get sick. Canada's system is so bad that you may be seen, but get your treatment a month later. That's

why so many come across the border and pay here to get treated.

People without insurance and/or on welfare flood the ER because they can, according to the Hill-Burton Act of 1947.

Several other laws built on that, including Medicaid and Medicare.They go there because they have to be seen, even

without having resources to pay. Sometimes to just be given a Tylenol. People are human and can be trained well

enough to deliver excellent health care, but, until the day you fix all of society's woes, you won't see it improve much.

It also needs to be understood that to assist your example of a walking and talking patient, diagnostic equipment

needs to be available at the time and that might not be the case until a more serious patient is treated. That's

just the way it works. You can't rely on statistics until you have information, and the more serious patient is more

obviously in need of treatment. Triage is what determines it, usually, but humans can make mistakes.

Sometimes things just don't work out like we want, though.

[laktrash]

Sort of on the topic of this, can any of you recommend a good family doctor anywhere around? Don't have any kids to deal with, it's just my wife and I. We were on the BCBS website and there are a blue million of them around, but word of mouth gets more credit than some anonymous vague review on google.

All the good doctors aren't taking new patients is what I've run into.

I know mine isn't If you can try to get one thats hooked up with UT

They have alot better resources in my opinion

[Guest 6.8 AR]

A good doc can be found, but it can be time consuming.

Check out your insurance carrier's referral pages. And

use a local one. In Brentwood, I'll venture to say there

are more good than bad ones. Pick a hospital and use

one who is admitting there. Shouldn't be to hard. You're

in the right part of town.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited June 5, 2012 by 6.8 AR

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Triage is what determines it, usually, but humans can make mistakes.

Yep, nothing will ever be perfect and ER workers generally do the best they can AFAIK. Was just guessing it can be the "luck of the draw".

Am guessing that ordinarily in times of peace in a USA ER, the "most obviously sick" who ain't dead yet, are most likely to get the quickest attention.

However in a big disaster or a desperate enough war situation, the "most obviously sick" who don't look like they have much chance of survival, would get passed over in preference for the sickest ones most likely to survive if treated. At least in some triage schemes. Ignore both the least-sick and the most-sick.

Wonder if squeaky wheels in the ER get quicker attention, or alternately if it might make workers "drag their feet" or become resentful of the squeaky wheel?

I have a fairly high pain tolerance and try not to complain. When I had the kidney stone it hurt like an SOB but I might not have looked like I was suffering. Told em it was real painful and where it hurt, in a matter of fact tone of voice. It took em awhile to put me in an ER cubicle and then several hours to do the catscan and get around to writing me a pain RX and sending me on my way. It was a private hospital that isn't a madhouse ER like Erlanger but chances are they were busy with folks worse off than me. On the other hand it hurt too much to lay down or sit in any but a certain position, and mostly stand up moving around trying to find the least painful posture. It was a chore hanging out so many hours with nothing but a couple of tylenols.

Maybe the staff would have hopped-to a little better if I'd screamed and flopped around some, better acted the part of a feller in pain?

Edited June 5, 2012 by Lester Weevils

[Sam1]

There was a woman up there partaking in that pretty heavily. She walked in by herself said she had abdominal pain, after they put her in a wheelchair and pushed her out to the hallway she was looking around and whenever a nurse or someone would come near she would start moaning but my wife was laughing at her because she started moaning like she was having sex not like she was in pain. I don't remember much of it but she said it was funny.

Just don't understand why people would want that kind of attention

Edited June 6, 2012 by Sam1

[laktrash]

When I was in ER with a kidney stone I thought I was dying doubled over with pain. It was my first one.

They took the guy in first that was calmly reading a book, drinking a coke and taking a smoke break.

Edited June 6, 2012 by laktrash