Need to vent

[cariaad]

OK, I just lost a long post somehow. Im going to try to keep it short this time. Alli's chart at The Children's Hospital is "lost". It is checked out to the ORL clinic since Mar 8 but she hasnt had an appt there since Jan. so that makes no sense. Hospital outpatient surgeries keep a separate chart, as do the emergency departments and every other division you can think of...We need copies of her records to establish her as a patient at the ORL's new office and get her surgery scheduled. I was ablke to (finally) gert surgery and OU Physicians' ORL records, but Children's ORL records are in the missing chart. As she only has Medacaid we have no choice about who she sees unless we pay out of pocket, so we have been toughing it out at Children's...now this. I wish I even knew who to complain to. Oklahoma University bought out Children's hospital and got rid of about 50% of available drs, and no other drs are allowed to take Medacaid patients. They are even trying to close Oklahoma City's only level 1 Trauma ER because it doesnt make any money. So far, the govenor has stopped them but I cant stand this. I am screaming because we cant get decent care. A lot of people still feel Children's is the "best" place for complicated kids, buty i refuse to have her In-Patiewnt there for anything. I dont know where im going with this but I feel better for talking about it...thanks for listening. Deb

[Barb]

Deb: Is there a patient advocate/representative at the hospital? How about a parents' advisory committee? A favorite doctor or something? Can you enlist someone with "clout" to help you?? A chart can't really be lost forever . . . well, I would not be surprised at all if it really is (don't even get me started on "lost" labwork!!) . . . but sometimes it just takes a person who knows the system and carries some weight to help it turn up.

Good luck! I'd bet it will show up, you just have to have someone who scares the staff to help you find it!!

-Barb

[christyw]

Just trying to put myself in your place is pretty frightening! I would be very stressed if I didn't have a place for gaithy to be, safely, in-patient. Of course, I HATE to have her in the hospital, but the system here is very kid-friendly and so is AR Children's Hospital and UAMS (University of AR Med Ctr). We have always been able to see any doctor. I didn't realize that this was a problem in other areas. I know for adults it is a problem here. For instance, since I no longer have insurance on myself (because Jeremy's work covers him for free, and Gaithy is on Medicaid, but we can't afford the $250 a month to add me to Jeremy's plan) if I were to accidentally become pregnant, I would have to apply for Medicaid, and the OB-GYNs that accept Medicaid around this area are not the cream of the crop by a long shot. And since I am quite high-risk and need someone who really knows what they are doing (like a perinatologist) I would be up creek! So, that is VERY frustrating - now take that situation and put it on my kid, and I would be going thru the roof too!!!

I hope it all gets worked out quickly. What surgery is this? A resection?

Christy

[cariaad]

Its really strange about the drs and hospitals and medacaid here. We can take her to other hospitals, we plan to have her surgery done at Baptist Integris (we love them and it's the only place we feel ok having her in-patient) and the drs can bill medacaid (I think because they can't turn you down if you go in thru the ER) but as far as pediatricians and all, we are limited to Children's, and they are so overloaded it's not even funny. You all got me thinking and I do have a friend with some "clout" that Im going to call on Monday. We're lucky that Dr Clark is making arrangements with medacaid to finish the care for patients like Alli who he has cared for since birth and who are so close to being "finished" with ORL, trach etc. I was so upset yesterday at their whole system--we are still waiting on results of the head CT done on Tues, but that's another story--I couldnt think clearly. Thanks everyone, Deb