In March I paid a visit to the ER of the Spring Hill Regional Hospital, on the advice of yet another quack (more on him later) who I had seen in this area, where professional incompetence has assumed a whole new meaning among doctors whose primary objective is to make money rather than to look after the health of their patients. New York it is not.
Other than being misdaignosed and given a wholly incorrect and inappropriate medication for what later turned out to be to be a life threatening (though entirely cureable) condition, the doctor on duty, a certain Dr. Bradley, had only a single bit of advice, to with' "You know, what, you need to see a doctor".
As amusing as this was, his brief (less than 5 minutes) examination, if you can even call it that, did not so much as inspire him to tell me a damn thing about what might be troubling me; rather than admit his ignorance, or tell me that what it was might possibly be serious, or to insist that I get a biopsy etc, he summarily dismissed the case as unworthy of attention.
God knows why he would have prescribed a medication that was not only useless, but inappropriate; for all I or anyone else knew such a medication might have caused harm, since it did not address what was really going on with my health. A responsible doctor, on the other hand, would have demanded I get myself to a lab for tests and a biopsy.
Upon leaving, I paid the attendant by credit card for my visit, in full. A few weeks later, the doctor on duty sent me a monumental bill of his own, which was followed only two months later by another bill from the hopsital ER itself, which was in error; I had already paid the ER, and had my receipt in hand. A call to their office proved that someone was asleep at the wheel and had "forgotten" to do the proper paperwork, or so I was informed. More likely it was a customary and usual attempt to rip off the consumer, in the hope that he wouldn't remember or notice.
Then I went to see the hospital's Patient Advocate, Kay Norris, to complain about this abusive treatment, who had a curious Freudian slip when looking up my record, claiminig a "workup had been done", when no such thing took place. Dr. Bradley didn't work up a damn thing, much less provide a correct diagnosis or advise me responsibly.
Acknowledging her error, she promised to have the hospital's physician in charge of such matters to give me a call within "a few days". After nearly 3 weeks went by without a return call, I began calling her, leaving messages. On one occassion I actually reached her.
In the typically duplicitous manner of the southern hillbilly class, for which I have zero tolerance and even less respect, she arrogantly attempted to make be the bad guy.informing her of my intent to go public, as I am a journalist with several major newspapers in Florida and throughout the country, she barely recoiled, only saying that, if I took legal action, she would no longer be able to talk to me.
Of course, thanks to recent legislation, it has become virtually impossible to bring a malpractice suit against any doctor or hospital unless they have accidently torn off a limb or killed you. Negligence to the point of putting an individual's life in danger by virtue of misinformation is barely actionable, unless one is willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to fight.
For me it's not about money, it's about teaching these fakes a lesson and making them accountable. That I have the advantage of being a writer is helpful, and a valuable resource for exposing these incompetent twits.
In the meantime, caveat emptor to any one who would avail thmeselves of Spring Hill Regional Hospital.
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