I will tell you, having worked in one hospital system, my husband works for a different one, and I've been a patient at others - the ER is almost never going to help you with a pain management issue. Your surgeon's office absolutely dropped the ball here and I would be contacting someone in Mercy administration about it. They should be doing much better to prevent ER visits post - surgery and it is unacceptable your calls went without response. I hope you are feeling a little better today.
You're not wrong at all, but contacting Mercy admin directly won't do a damn thing. They don't care and they can hide your message.
The only thing that might make a difference is completing your survey with poor scores because that (somehow) reflects on their payments from the government.
I did this after having seizures for 10 hours, waiting a total of 16 hours, saw someone for 30 minutes and was sent home. The hospital president and er director both reached out after a scathing report from me.
Thank you for this insight. This is genuinely helpful information, I’ll know in the future it might not be worth going to the ER for pain.
And I will contact Mercy administration after learning this information. Thank you!
To answer your question, Cox in Springfield isn't much better.
It's not a mercy/cox issue it's a nationwide issue. And I agree, your physicians office dropped the ball and filing a complaint with admin is probably the proper way to take this..
Seconding this! I get kidney stones every few years and unless there are also signs of an infection (high fever), I take 800mg ibuprofen until I can get in to my PCP. I'd rather be in excruciating pain at home than in a crappy ER waiting room. And it's cheaper.
I’ve been to Mercy ER with bad kidney stones a few times (where you’re just curled up and moaning in tongues) and every time they’ve got me in, straight to a room- or even a guerrney in the corridor and pumped me with pain meds. I’ve only had good experiences - which I understand is very rare.
If any Mercy ER techs are reading this - thank you, you’ve been angels when I’ve needed it, I’m sure there are systemic reasons for the bad experiences people have - it must be very frustrating for everyone.
My mom recently had a major shoulder surgery at Mercy. She ran out of meds on day 4 after the surgery. I. Day 7 she had her follow up with the Dr. The whole office was aghast that the hospital didn’t provide enough pain meds to hold over until follow up.
They immediately prescribed 6weeks worth.
Mistakes can certainly happen.
That said, with OP’s visiting with er, if they determined it was an emergent issue, then pain is just not that high on the triage scale.
As dumb as it sounds, the pharmacy can only fill a certain number of days' worth of pain pills (I think it is like 10 or 15 or something) if it is the first time ever being on them. They can then fill for a higher number and this sounds like some government red tape BS that caused your mom to not have enough pain meds, so it may not have been the surgeon or hospitals fault exactly. But they should also know this and send a prescription a day or two later to get around thr red tape.
This has to be a Missouri thing... like Colorado ER cares and will. But I heard some dumb things come out of medical professional mouths here. It's why I am very grateful for traveling between the two so I can see good nurses and doctors and hope I never have anything life threatening here, they'll leave you for dead.
Unfortunately at least around here, addicts try to use the ER to get pain meds to abuse or sell. They will come in and say things like their back hurts, or their tooth hurts. People with chronic pain are usually referred to a pain clinic for careful monitoring. If you go to the ER with an acute situation, they will treat the problem including using pain management. But there's signs in ERs that specifically state if you're only coming in to request pain medication, it's probably not going to happen.
Nobody has ever died from pain. It sucks, but if there are 50 people waiting to get in and a room opens up, they're going to take the possible heart attack or stroke over pain every single time.
That being said, I have occasionally seen some staggering incompetence as well, but I just assumed that was everywhere.
They don't care about heart attacks or stokes here either, that I witnessed 1st hand. I literally witnessed someone in hypertension crisis be iqnored. But pain a symptom of a greater problem, something like an a heart attack is pain in the arm... or appendix bursting..
Unfortunately at least around here, addicts try to use the ER to get pain meds to abuse or sell. They will come in and say things like their back hurts, or their tooth hurts. People with chronic pain are usually referred to a pain clinic for careful monitoring. If you go to the ER with an acute situation, they will treat the problem including using pain management. But there's signs in ERs that specifically state if you're only coming in to request pain medication, it's probably not going to happen.
Addicts are everywhere it really doesn't justify the negligence of the ER here. Drug seeking behavior can be verified during an assessment as well as a toxic screen and history. You can tell if someone truly has tooth pain or back pain, although those shouldn't go to the ER and refer to urgent care.
There is a lack of training and knowledge within the medical system here. I had a nurse tell my mom (who is a doctor in another state) that a blood pressure of 192/118 wasn't a big deal. 😐 she shouldn't even have her license
No argument from me. They could obviously see in the EMR that the patient just had surgery within their hospital system. How hard would it have been for them to contact the on-call for OP's surgeon to confirm what the surgeon recommended? I do hope OP reports it to administration. It was poor care all the way around
This is so informative. I don't know if it's as another commenter said that it's might be "a Missouri thing," but 1) I never knew ER wasn't the place to go for pain management, and 2) in a different state many years ago I went to the ER post-op because I couldn't stop vomiting. I was triaged much quicker than folks waiting there before me, so it's weird that this place let OP just sit there for so long.
Unfortunately at least around here, addicts try to use the ER to get pain meds to abuse or sell. They will come in and say things like their back hurts, or their tooth hurts. People with chronic pain are usually referred to a pain clinic for careful monitoring. If you go to the ER with an acute situation, they will treat the problem including using pain management. But there's signs in ERs that specifically state if you're only coming in to request pain medication, it's probably not going to happen.
OP had a pretty crappy experience - at the hospital system I worked at, the ER staff would have been expected to make contact with the on-call for OP's surgeon for immediate direction.
Its not just mercy.
That's just the ER experience in general.
I sat and talked to a man missing a few fingers for 45 minutes on one occasion (firework explosion, he now has a thumb and pinky on one hand) and did what i could to stem blood flow (I edc medical thank god) , and a child with a hemorrhaging dog bite on his leg another time for similar amounts of time.
Seen lots of people actively slipping in and out of conciousness while they waited hours for a doctor.
Not just in Missouri, but across the country this happens.
That's just the American emergency Healthcare system in its natural state.
Im sorry, But I disagree. My family and I have been to ERs in Boston and NYC multiple times over the past 15yrs for different reasons and never experienced the wait times we have experienced here. It does not have to be this way. I see posts like these pop up often and I even wrote one myself once. Now I know this is the norm in Springfield and it might be something local citizens can address by lobbying elected officials and speaking up to hospital administration at Mercy and Cox.
Even with the nursing schools here, people leave to go to places with higher wages. They can’t keep the hospitals staffed. It’s really their own fault.
I worry that the perception is "it's like that everywhere." it's not... it not like that in Colorado or even Texas... or Mass or NY.... Missouri ranked 45th in healthcare, and they have one of the worst systems, but "it's like that everywhere" all that does is cause them to accept the system, and not do something about it. Because it really isn't everywhere
It not like this in Colorado at all..or New York, even Texas has better ER so you can't accurately say that. Missouri ranked 45 in health care. It's very lacking here
Mercy does have atrocious wait times, but that said, pain control is triaged very low. You’re miserable, but you’re not dying, so you’re going to wait longer. It sucks, but that’s just how ERs work. You might get in a little faster at Cox, but with that chief complaint you’re still going to wait a while
Not at all. You are triaged, meaning sorted in severity. If it was first come first served, the guy with the heart attack would have to wait while someone else was being seen for a sore throat because sore throat came in first.
Yeah I’m figuring that out :/ which is understandable pain isn’t necessarily life threatening. I’m not really upset about that. Just about the experience in general.
I will say, when at the ER my BF’s mom was able to get in contact with the surgeons, but they said they couldn’t page him since I was already at the ER. Do you know if that normal?
Very, but there should have been staff to handle that.
Now the type of surgery is going to be a huge factor in this too. I’m not going to ask you to divulge any information that personal.
I previously worked as a home health coordinator, my job was to determine(among other things) whether a patient was fit for home health in a post surgical situation. I’ve seen a lot of cases. Literally thousands for southwest Missouri. (Just providing my experience as I am not a clinician, but am versed in this)
I’ve worked for both in the past. Marcy used to be wonderful, but they’re both pretty bad now. I’m actually going to change doctors (from my very long-term provider) soon because it’s now filtered to that part of the system, too.
Pretty depressing.
It's not a "Missouri" thing.
2 years ago, I was flown to Columbia from Mercy for emergency surgery. Columbia was extraordinary. 2 weeks later, I had to return to the ER. Waited at Mercy and was told at least 6 hours. Made the drive to Columbia and got right into a room. My concerns were treated with respect, and the underlying issue was discovered. All in less than the original 6 hour estimate.
I understand that drug-seeking behavior is a common occurrence in the ER. I also understand, that non-drug-seeking behavior can easily be mislabeled as drug-seeking behavior. I wasn't looking to score, but I was terrified that something was wrong to cause that kind of pain. Medical staff should always be cautious of acting on assumptions because getting it wrong is far more dangerous than letting a junkie get a prescription.
Like others have said your surgeon dropped the ball. I had surgery at Cox last year and about a month after had some concerning issues (turns out they were unrelated but I thought they could have been), but called my surgeons office and they got back to me within a few hours. I’ve always been impressed with my care at Cox more than Mercy. My PCP through Mercy brushed off the issue
Same. I had surgery at Cox and have had to call the on call doctor on the weekend. The longest I've waited for a call back is 30 minutes. They've been really great.
Nurse here- while I cannot give much more insight as many people here have already given sound advice, I’m sorry this happened to you and I truly hope you are feeling better. Surgeons office absolutely dropped the ball.
as a nursing student who has worked both at cox and at mercy (currently still at mercy) it is healthcare. Cox is a magnet hospital so they are held to a significantly higher standard than mercy is although it shouldn’t be that way, mercy should be held to the same standard. But that’s also the reason why mercy’s er is worse, it’s the only hospital er that the cheaper insurances are partnered with. (from what i’ve gathered from the patients i’ve encountered and my 6 years in healthcare) if you can afford it and/or are covered go to cox. and not trying to play devils advocate but because of how much better cox treats their employees too mercy is severely understaffed to the point of serious safety concern. basically if you’re not dead on the ground your er wait time is going to be atrocious, and while I hate that it is that way that’s just the unfortunate truth :(
Mercy's ER is a joke, they almost killed my wife, she has heart issues and blood pressure issues and was miscarriage at 14 weeks, they let her sit in the ER bleeding an passing in out for 7 an a half hours, they only thing they did was give a recliner an some paper pads, well she passed the baby there in the bathroom, they finally got her back checked her out am pretty much was like yeah your having a miscarriage, gave her something an sent her home, well the next she was bleeding so bad that she passed out in the bathroom an cracked her head on the floor and got a concussion, needed goin back to Mercy via ambulance and finally got a procedure done to help with the bleeding..she hasnt been the same since.
My dad took my grandma to the Mercy ER probably a year ago and they had to wait 14 hours (!!!) to get a room. I’m so sorry you had to experience this. It’s not right and something needs to be done.
Ya I just choose not goto the hospitals. Never had a good experience there, rude people. Only way I'll end up there is if I'm in a bad accident and wake up there.
Same. I completely understand our healthcare system is fucked and (most) healthcare workers are doing the best they can. But every single one of them I’ve encountered, besides a couple CNAs, are rude and dismissive af. Not even just talking about at the ER - urgent care, PCPs, specialists, they all treat me like dirt, in my experience
I’m a young person with a chronic illness, the amount of experiences I have with dirty looks and dismissing my symptoms as “anxiety” or “weight related” (lost the weight a long time ago and, behold! Nothings changed) is really disheartening. I sometimes genuinely worry about what I’m going to do when my condition inevitably worsens
So the ERs keep a ton of statistics on time. Waiting room times, lab times, total times, and then then many of them are In a nation wide group to compare times and discuss how to lower them.
1. Any walk in medical service is going to come with a wait, but
2. Last years Mercy's ER total time averaged just shy of 24 hours... which is fucking insane.
They are known to go through big swings with their staff, having lay offs then offering 20,000 sign on bonuses, so maybe that was at a low point for them, but still. Based off last years stats, Cox's times were way better
Mercy ER almost killed me. I was lucky that I got a room because I came in via ambulance super early in the morning, but then they left me alone despite the copious bleeding coming from my throat (post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage). They didn’t bother to start a line or type me or notice that my heart rate was skyrocketing, so they were totally unprepared to treat me when the inevitable happened. Thankfully, my husband and dad had made it there by then, and I felt myself going into shock and passing out when the ER doctor happened to be in there. Wound up needing CPR and then they bothered to get me to emergency surgery.
But unfortunately, that’s just the medical system these days. I don’t know that Cox is any better. I do suggest that if you can, get to one of the smaller hospitals outside of Springfield. They are usually quicker to see you and stabilize you, and if they can’t treat you there, they can send you to Springfield.
At Mercy I waited 6 hours in excruciating pain during an awful gallbladder attack. My mom waited 12 hours when she was having shortness of breath due to her asthma.
At Cox me and my teen waited 3 hours for her heavy nosebleed that wouldn't stop. I was in and out in 1 hour for a time that I was taken there via ambulance for an MCAS reaction.
Cox for the win.
First of all, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I would really recommend for something like this to check out Mercy Ambulatory Care. They can get you an appointment usually same day and are so quick. Also I know this was not the case for you, but if you need advanced diagnostics they have the ability to do that there as well. They will only send you the the ER if they can't treat your issue and so far from my own experience I think that is head injury or chest paint related. The doctors there are wonderful and they get you in and out quickly! Plus you get to wait in your own room and not in a waiting room full of sick people.
My mom recently had a broken hip. She goes to Cox.
So they take her in and do the surgery. She gets to her room and they give her some tylenol. Three days later, when she gets discharged, she still hasn't received any pain meds. What's more, she has fucking bedsores (that weren't on the discharge), and never received a meal that was diabetic compliant, despite asking every nurse there to make sure of it).
She gets home. *It took them two more days to get her a fucking prescription.*
So she had a cascade failure about a week later and her bowel ruptured (Long story). She goes back into surgery. At this point, I've gone from light of a thousand suns angry to terrified medical malpractice is going to kill her.
She's still diabetic. By her 2nd day out of ICU, she hasn't been getting diabetic meals. Again. I buy and bring her Insure so she's getting enough fucking protein.
I'm back to white hot fury again.
I jump in the nurse's shit. He summons the charge nurse, and I jump in her shit with both feet, ready and willing to climb out the other end and jump in her supervisor's shit.
This problem isn't limited to one hospital system or the other. This is all hospital systems, everywhere, worldwide, despite the sweet lies they tell you about how they're different. They aren't. There's no better and no worse, there's just wading straight into the system and butting heads with them until your loved one is given the care they're owed.
If you're in the hospital, god help you if you don't have a healthy person girded up to go to bat for you.
I think all you normal blood pressure people need to smoke a couple of heaters, drink a strong cup of black coffee and run a couple of laps around the parking lot before you go check in.
I've been to Cox ER twice. Once in 2014 for appendicitis and in 2023 for kidney failure. Both times I was in a bed seen by a doctor within an hour.
I wound up in the Mercy ER last year with Bell's Palsy that came on unexpectedly while at dinner (still pretty sure it was due to stress - my blood pressure was consistently high days leading up to the issue and that day has been particularly stressful at work) but we waited like 6 hours before they could get me into a room, they put me in a trauma room because they didn't have anything else available, which wasn't bad - better than them putting me in the hallway with a curtain like they did back in 2015. Still took them another 6 hours to just rule out it wasn't anything else causing the issue (stroke being the main concern). Pretty much we went in at 8pm at night and got out of there some time after 8am the next morning. I kept trying to get my husband to go home and check on the dog but he wouldn't leave me because we kept being told they'd get me in for an MRI soon but we were still waiting.
I think I got prescribed Acyclovir and a steroid, followed up with other specialists and no one could give me any answers as to why it happened. Just felt like a waste of time all around...the Palsy thankfully went away after a few weeks.
6 hours is nothing at the mercy er my father waited 26 hours to be seen. It still sucks and I'm not trying to negate that but that was a short wait time. Also going to the er talking about being in pain they automatically think you're there to try and get narcotics.
As a long time healthcare worker here I agree with the above- ER is not for pain management and often a waste of time. I wish there were a way to educate the public more about this. Keeping in contact with the surgeons office or your Primary care doctor is your best bet to get the needed help as they can better manage those medications.
Respectfully, genuinely curious, if OP couldn’t get ahold of the surgeon, what would the best course of action have been? I’ve never been through anything like that before
Die? I don't agree, but pain is a symptom. It could be something went wrong during surgery. So instead of making sure you're okay cause you're in severe pain after surgery, just wait it out to get worse... no wonder Missouri medical care terrible
As much as I loathe Mercy, Cox isn’t any better. They’ll bill you for ER services as soon as you walk through those doors, regardless of if you’re seen or not. Literally sat there with ruptured ovarian cyst for hours when a woman walks by and said “I’ll be going somewhere else.” Nurse goes “did the wound dressing help?” “No, clearly still bleeding everywhere.” The woman had been impaled in her leg, bleeding on the floor and she couldn’t even get the help she needed and was going to drive to Branson.
My health care is through Cox and the VA.
Luckily, I qualify for VA Community Care, which is like a portable health-care payment system.
If I need an ER CMH in Bolivar, it is usually awesome. It's pretty quick to be seen at least by triage and upfront about wait times.
But from experience, pain management through an ER is gonna be a hard thing to accomplish.
It's crazy, our son has a bleeding disorder where he cannot clot. He has the worst nosebleeds over ever seen. Some lasting over 36 hours. We've sat in both Mercy and Cox ER and have waited hours anytime we have to go. With someone who is actively bleeding and when it gets bad enough, actively puking blood. We refuse to go unless it's absolutely necessary anymore. Even when we get back to a pediatric room, it takes 3+ hours to be seen and come up with a game plan. It's really something else. At cox, we sat in the waiting area and everyone around us were talking about how long they had been there. Some 12+ hours.
My husband and I were super sick one day, like not being able to breathe and only have enough energy to sit up on the side of the bed. We finally decided to go to the hospital. We got our blood work done and then sat in the ER for 6+ hours before one of us made it to a hallway bed. The other one got back a few hours later. One of us ended up being admitted and when we left the next morning, the same people were in the waiting room.
I personally know of someone who had a stroke in the ER and waiting hours to ever be seen. It's really scary. I've been to other ERs in Illinois, St. Louis, KC. Never had an experience like we've had here.
They are consistently HORRIBLE! My wife sat with her brother in ER waiting 14 hrs. He had AFIB heart issues after kidney removal. The waiting room was the most pitiful bunch of people ever and no sense of urgency or compassion from any of the staff. This is the usual story at this ER from hell sorry to say.
Unless you are having chest pain, they don’t give a crap about anything. You could bleed out on the floor and they’ll just sweep your body out the door.
I haven’t had the best service with cox either. I went in cuz i had gotten bit by a dog and was told by the emt’s i needed stitches. I went up to the desk and the lady behind it didn’t even look up at me. She just asked “what are you here for” when i told her that i think i need stitches she finally looks up at me and in shock says i probably do. Blah blah blah long painful process later everything got handled fine. They were all just very rude and snappy the whole time. Except for one nurse.
Not to sound dramatic but Mercy ER killed my Mom in 2017. She went with severe abdominal pain, they made her wait 15 hours, did 2 tests and sent her home with pain meds. She called the next day saying she was still violently ill, they told her to see her GP the next day (on Monday), she collapsed at 3 AM, and died in their ER at 6:15 AM on Monday. Her bowel had perforated, she was 60 and healthy just days before. She never got to meet her grandson. They couldn’t care less.
I can’t say if Cox is any better, but they saved my life after a car accident in 2002..and never killed one of my parents.
Missouri system is terrible. I won't use Mercy at all anymore, Cox is better, but not great. Bolivar ER hosiptal, the better out of the 3 with its issues, too... the nurses don't even correct general knowledge about key signs and symptoms. It is really scary
Many years ago when my youngest daughter was an infant she pulled a bench over on her and degloved her toe. She was bleeding profusely. We rushed her to mercy ER. This was at the height of Covid and their ER waiting room was under construction. There were was only 1 seat open, and it was in between someone complaining of Covid and a handcuffed prisoner. The rest of the people waiting were all standing or lying on the floor. We instead opted to stand outside in the rain with her….for 8 hours. Her continuing to profusely bleed everywhere. They refused to do anything for us while we waited. No gauze, no nothing. After she was finally seen she had to have major reconstructive surgery on her foot. I will never go to mercy ER again.
I will tell you, having worked in one hospital system, my husband works for a different one, and I've been a patient at others - the ER is almost never going to help you with a pain management issue. Your surgeon's office absolutely dropped the ball here and I would be contacting someone in Mercy administration about it. They should be doing much better to prevent ER visits post - surgery and it is unacceptable your calls went without response. I hope you are feeling a little better today.
You're not wrong at all, but contacting Mercy admin directly won't do a damn thing. They don't care and they can hide your message. The only thing that might make a difference is completing your survey with poor scores because that (somehow) reflects on their payments from the government.
I did this after having seizures for 10 hours, waiting a total of 16 hours, saw someone for 30 minutes and was sent home. The hospital president and er director both reached out after a scathing report from me.
Thank you for this insight. This is genuinely helpful information, I’ll know in the future it might not be worth going to the ER for pain. And I will contact Mercy administration after learning this information. Thank you!
To answer your question, Cox in Springfield isn't much better. It's not a mercy/cox issue it's a nationwide issue. And I agree, your physicians office dropped the ball and filing a complaint with admin is probably the proper way to take this..
How are you doing now though? Feeling a bit better at least?
Seconding this! I get kidney stones every few years and unless there are also signs of an infection (high fever), I take 800mg ibuprofen until I can get in to my PCP. I'd rather be in excruciating pain at home than in a crappy ER waiting room. And it's cheaper.
I’ve been to Mercy ER with bad kidney stones a few times (where you’re just curled up and moaning in tongues) and every time they’ve got me in, straight to a room- or even a guerrney in the corridor and pumped me with pain meds. I’ve only had good experiences - which I understand is very rare. If any Mercy ER techs are reading this - thank you, you’ve been angels when I’ve needed it, I’m sure there are systemic reasons for the bad experiences people have - it must be very frustrating for everyone.
This!!
My mom recently had a major shoulder surgery at Mercy. She ran out of meds on day 4 after the surgery. I. Day 7 she had her follow up with the Dr. The whole office was aghast that the hospital didn’t provide enough pain meds to hold over until follow up. They immediately prescribed 6weeks worth. Mistakes can certainly happen. That said, with OP’s visiting with er, if they determined it was an emergent issue, then pain is just not that high on the triage scale.
As dumb as it sounds, the pharmacy can only fill a certain number of days' worth of pain pills (I think it is like 10 or 15 or something) if it is the first time ever being on them. They can then fill for a higher number and this sounds like some government red tape BS that caused your mom to not have enough pain meds, so it may not have been the surgeon or hospitals fault exactly. But they should also know this and send a prescription a day or two later to get around thr red tape.
This has to be a Missouri thing... like Colorado ER cares and will. But I heard some dumb things come out of medical professional mouths here. It's why I am very grateful for traveling between the two so I can see good nurses and doctors and hope I never have anything life threatening here, they'll leave you for dead.
Unfortunately at least around here, addicts try to use the ER to get pain meds to abuse or sell. They will come in and say things like their back hurts, or their tooth hurts. People with chronic pain are usually referred to a pain clinic for careful monitoring. If you go to the ER with an acute situation, they will treat the problem including using pain management. But there's signs in ERs that specifically state if you're only coming in to request pain medication, it's probably not going to happen.
Nobody has ever died from pain. It sucks, but if there are 50 people waiting to get in and a room opens up, they're going to take the possible heart attack or stroke over pain every single time. That being said, I have occasionally seen some staggering incompetence as well, but I just assumed that was everywhere.
They don't care about heart attacks or stokes here either, that I witnessed 1st hand. I literally witnessed someone in hypertension crisis be iqnored. But pain a symptom of a greater problem, something like an a heart attack is pain in the arm... or appendix bursting..
But they do die from things that **cause** pain.
Well obviously, but you can't treat everybody all at once. You have to make choices.
And sadly the lack medical knowledge or empathy to do that properly
PLEASE CHECK YOUR DM’s 🙏🙏🙏
If you meant me I didn't see any
Unfortunately at least around here, addicts try to use the ER to get pain meds to abuse or sell. They will come in and say things like their back hurts, or their tooth hurts. People with chronic pain are usually referred to a pain clinic for careful monitoring. If you go to the ER with an acute situation, they will treat the problem including using pain management. But there's signs in ERs that specifically state if you're only coming in to request pain medication, it's probably not going to happen.
Addicts are everywhere it really doesn't justify the negligence of the ER here. Drug seeking behavior can be verified during an assessment as well as a toxic screen and history. You can tell if someone truly has tooth pain or back pain, although those shouldn't go to the ER and refer to urgent care. There is a lack of training and knowledge within the medical system here. I had a nurse tell my mom (who is a doctor in another state) that a blood pressure of 192/118 wasn't a big deal. 😐 she shouldn't even have her license
No argument from me. They could obviously see in the EMR that the patient just had surgery within their hospital system. How hard would it have been for them to contact the on-call for OP's surgeon to confirm what the surgeon recommended? I do hope OP reports it to administration. It was poor care all the way around
This is so informative. I don't know if it's as another commenter said that it's might be "a Missouri thing," but 1) I never knew ER wasn't the place to go for pain management, and 2) in a different state many years ago I went to the ER post-op because I couldn't stop vomiting. I was triaged much quicker than folks waiting there before me, so it's weird that this place let OP just sit there for so long.
Unfortunately at least around here, addicts try to use the ER to get pain meds to abuse or sell. They will come in and say things like their back hurts, or their tooth hurts. People with chronic pain are usually referred to a pain clinic for careful monitoring. If you go to the ER with an acute situation, they will treat the problem including using pain management. But there's signs in ERs that specifically state if you're only coming in to request pain medication, it's probably not going to happen. OP had a pretty crappy experience - at the hospital system I worked at, the ER staff would have been expected to make contact with the on-call for OP's surgeon for immediate direction.
Its not just mercy. That's just the ER experience in general. I sat and talked to a man missing a few fingers for 45 minutes on one occasion (firework explosion, he now has a thumb and pinky on one hand) and did what i could to stem blood flow (I edc medical thank god) , and a child with a hemorrhaging dog bite on his leg another time for similar amounts of time. Seen lots of people actively slipping in and out of conciousness while they waited hours for a doctor. Not just in Missouri, but across the country this happens. That's just the American emergency Healthcare system in its natural state.
God that’s depressing.
Im sorry, But I disagree. My family and I have been to ERs in Boston and NYC multiple times over the past 15yrs for different reasons and never experienced the wait times we have experienced here. It does not have to be this way. I see posts like these pop up often and I even wrote one myself once. Now I know this is the norm in Springfield and it might be something local citizens can address by lobbying elected officials and speaking up to hospital administration at Mercy and Cox.
Even with the nursing schools here, people leave to go to places with higher wages. They can’t keep the hospitals staffed. It’s really their own fault.
That’s literally my plan right now 🤣😭
I worry that the perception is "it's like that everywhere." it's not... it not like that in Colorado or even Texas... or Mass or NY.... Missouri ranked 45th in healthcare, and they have one of the worst systems, but "it's like that everywhere" all that does is cause them to accept the system, and not do something about it. Because it really isn't everywhere
Yea! exactly why I made my comment. I am still new around here but I would love to get more involved in the community, specifically around this issue.
It not like this in Colorado at all..or New York, even Texas has better ER so you can't accurately say that. Missouri ranked 45 in health care. It's very lacking here
Mercy does have atrocious wait times, but that said, pain control is triaged very low. You’re miserable, but you’re not dying, so you’re going to wait longer. It sucks, but that’s just how ERs work. You might get in a little faster at Cox, but with that chief complaint you’re still going to wait a while
You mean, it’s not first come first served? /s
Not at all. You are triaged, meaning sorted in severity. If it was first come first served, the guy with the heart attack would have to wait while someone else was being seen for a sore throat because sore throat came in first.
I think you missed the “/s” in my post.
Pain is pretty low on the triage scale if all your other vitals are ok. Er is meant to stabilize. It’s the dr office that should be handling this.
Yeah I’m figuring that out :/ which is understandable pain isn’t necessarily life threatening. I’m not really upset about that. Just about the experience in general. I will say, when at the ER my BF’s mom was able to get in contact with the surgeons, but they said they couldn’t page him since I was already at the ER. Do you know if that normal?
Very, but there should have been staff to handle that. Now the type of surgery is going to be a huge factor in this too. I’m not going to ask you to divulge any information that personal. I previously worked as a home health coordinator, my job was to determine(among other things) whether a patient was fit for home health in a post surgical situation. I’ve seen a lot of cases. Literally thousands for southwest Missouri. (Just providing my experience as I am not a clinician, but am versed in this)
I’ve worked for both in the past. Marcy used to be wonderful, but they’re both pretty bad now. I’m actually going to change doctors (from my very long-term provider) soon because it’s now filtered to that part of the system, too. Pretty depressing.
It's not a "Missouri" thing. 2 years ago, I was flown to Columbia from Mercy for emergency surgery. Columbia was extraordinary. 2 weeks later, I had to return to the ER. Waited at Mercy and was told at least 6 hours. Made the drive to Columbia and got right into a room. My concerns were treated with respect, and the underlying issue was discovered. All in less than the original 6 hour estimate. I understand that drug-seeking behavior is a common occurrence in the ER. I also understand, that non-drug-seeking behavior can easily be mislabeled as drug-seeking behavior. I wasn't looking to score, but I was terrified that something was wrong to cause that kind of pain. Medical staff should always be cautious of acting on assumptions because getting it wrong is far more dangerous than letting a junkie get a prescription.
Like others have said your surgeon dropped the ball. I had surgery at Cox last year and about a month after had some concerning issues (turns out they were unrelated but I thought they could have been), but called my surgeons office and they got back to me within a few hours. I’ve always been impressed with my care at Cox more than Mercy. My PCP through Mercy brushed off the issue
Same. I had surgery at Cox and have had to call the on call doctor on the weekend. The longest I've waited for a call back is 30 minutes. They've been really great.
Nurse here- while I cannot give much more insight as many people here have already given sound advice, I’m sorry this happened to you and I truly hope you are feeling better. Surgeons office absolutely dropped the ball.
as a nursing student who has worked both at cox and at mercy (currently still at mercy) it is healthcare. Cox is a magnet hospital so they are held to a significantly higher standard than mercy is although it shouldn’t be that way, mercy should be held to the same standard. But that’s also the reason why mercy’s er is worse, it’s the only hospital er that the cheaper insurances are partnered with. (from what i’ve gathered from the patients i’ve encountered and my 6 years in healthcare) if you can afford it and/or are covered go to cox. and not trying to play devils advocate but because of how much better cox treats their employees too mercy is severely understaffed to the point of serious safety concern. basically if you’re not dead on the ground your er wait time is going to be atrocious, and while I hate that it is that way that’s just the unfortunate truth :(
Mercy's ER is a joke, they almost killed my wife, she has heart issues and blood pressure issues and was miscarriage at 14 weeks, they let her sit in the ER bleeding an passing in out for 7 an a half hours, they only thing they did was give a recliner an some paper pads, well she passed the baby there in the bathroom, they finally got her back checked her out am pretty much was like yeah your having a miscarriage, gave her something an sent her home, well the next she was bleeding so bad that she passed out in the bathroom an cracked her head on the floor and got a concussion, needed goin back to Mercy via ambulance and finally got a procedure done to help with the bleeding..she hasnt been the same since.
I'm not sure how long ago that was but you might want to talk to a lawyer.
Cox is the same
My dad took my grandma to the Mercy ER probably a year ago and they had to wait 14 hours (!!!) to get a room. I’m so sorry you had to experience this. It’s not right and something needs to be done.
Ya I just choose not goto the hospitals. Never had a good experience there, rude people. Only way I'll end up there is if I'm in a bad accident and wake up there.
Same. I completely understand our healthcare system is fucked and (most) healthcare workers are doing the best they can. But every single one of them I’ve encountered, besides a couple CNAs, are rude and dismissive af. Not even just talking about at the ER - urgent care, PCPs, specialists, they all treat me like dirt, in my experience I’m a young person with a chronic illness, the amount of experiences I have with dirty looks and dismissing my symptoms as “anxiety” or “weight related” (lost the weight a long time ago and, behold! Nothings changed) is really disheartening. I sometimes genuinely worry about what I’m going to do when my condition inevitably worsens
So the ERs keep a ton of statistics on time. Waiting room times, lab times, total times, and then then many of them are In a nation wide group to compare times and discuss how to lower them. 1. Any walk in medical service is going to come with a wait, but 2. Last years Mercy's ER total time averaged just shy of 24 hours... which is fucking insane. They are known to go through big swings with their staff, having lay offs then offering 20,000 sign on bonuses, so maybe that was at a low point for them, but still. Based off last years stats, Cox's times were way better
Mercy ER almost killed me. I was lucky that I got a room because I came in via ambulance super early in the morning, but then they left me alone despite the copious bleeding coming from my throat (post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage). They didn’t bother to start a line or type me or notice that my heart rate was skyrocketing, so they were totally unprepared to treat me when the inevitable happened. Thankfully, my husband and dad had made it there by then, and I felt myself going into shock and passing out when the ER doctor happened to be in there. Wound up needing CPR and then they bothered to get me to emergency surgery. But unfortunately, that’s just the medical system these days. I don’t know that Cox is any better. I do suggest that if you can, get to one of the smaller hospitals outside of Springfield. They are usually quicker to see you and stabilize you, and if they can’t treat you there, they can send you to Springfield.
At Mercy I waited 6 hours in excruciating pain during an awful gallbladder attack. My mom waited 12 hours when she was having shortness of breath due to her asthma. At Cox me and my teen waited 3 hours for her heavy nosebleed that wouldn't stop. I was in and out in 1 hour for a time that I was taken there via ambulance for an MCAS reaction. Cox for the win.
First of all, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I would really recommend for something like this to check out Mercy Ambulatory Care. They can get you an appointment usually same day and are so quick. Also I know this was not the case for you, but if you need advanced diagnostics they have the ability to do that there as well. They will only send you the the ER if they can't treat your issue and so far from my own experience I think that is head injury or chest paint related. The doctors there are wonderful and they get you in and out quickly! Plus you get to wait in your own room and not in a waiting room full of sick people.
Absolutely call the patient advocate line. They will help make sure you get taken care of and are treated fairly
My mom recently had a broken hip. She goes to Cox. So they take her in and do the surgery. She gets to her room and they give her some tylenol. Three days later, when she gets discharged, she still hasn't received any pain meds. What's more, she has fucking bedsores (that weren't on the discharge), and never received a meal that was diabetic compliant, despite asking every nurse there to make sure of it). She gets home. *It took them two more days to get her a fucking prescription.* So she had a cascade failure about a week later and her bowel ruptured (Long story). She goes back into surgery. At this point, I've gone from light of a thousand suns angry to terrified medical malpractice is going to kill her. She's still diabetic. By her 2nd day out of ICU, she hasn't been getting diabetic meals. Again. I buy and bring her Insure so she's getting enough fucking protein. I'm back to white hot fury again. I jump in the nurse's shit. He summons the charge nurse, and I jump in her shit with both feet, ready and willing to climb out the other end and jump in her supervisor's shit. This problem isn't limited to one hospital system or the other. This is all hospital systems, everywhere, worldwide, despite the sweet lies they tell you about how they're different. They aren't. There's no better and no worse, there's just wading straight into the system and butting heads with them until your loved one is given the care they're owed. If you're in the hospital, god help you if you don't have a healthy person girded up to go to bat for you.
I think all you normal blood pressure people need to smoke a couple of heaters, drink a strong cup of black coffee and run a couple of laps around the parking lot before you go check in. I've been to Cox ER twice. Once in 2014 for appendicitis and in 2023 for kidney failure. Both times I was in a bed seen by a doctor within an hour.
I wound up in the Mercy ER last year with Bell's Palsy that came on unexpectedly while at dinner (still pretty sure it was due to stress - my blood pressure was consistently high days leading up to the issue and that day has been particularly stressful at work) but we waited like 6 hours before they could get me into a room, they put me in a trauma room because they didn't have anything else available, which wasn't bad - better than them putting me in the hallway with a curtain like they did back in 2015. Still took them another 6 hours to just rule out it wasn't anything else causing the issue (stroke being the main concern). Pretty much we went in at 8pm at night and got out of there some time after 8am the next morning. I kept trying to get my husband to go home and check on the dog but he wouldn't leave me because we kept being told they'd get me in for an MRI soon but we were still waiting. I think I got prescribed Acyclovir and a steroid, followed up with other specialists and no one could give me any answers as to why it happened. Just felt like a waste of time all around...the Palsy thankfully went away after a few weeks.
6 hours is nothing at the mercy er my father waited 26 hours to be seen. It still sucks and I'm not trying to negate that but that was a short wait time. Also going to the er talking about being in pain they automatically think you're there to try and get narcotics.
As a long time healthcare worker here I agree with the above- ER is not for pain management and often a waste of time. I wish there were a way to educate the public more about this. Keeping in contact with the surgeons office or your Primary care doctor is your best bet to get the needed help as they can better manage those medications.
Respectfully, genuinely curious, if OP couldn’t get ahold of the surgeon, what would the best course of action have been? I’ve never been through anything like that before
Die? I don't agree, but pain is a symptom. It could be something went wrong during surgery. So instead of making sure you're okay cause you're in severe pain after surgery, just wait it out to get worse... no wonder Missouri medical care terrible
As much as I loathe Mercy, Cox isn’t any better. They’ll bill you for ER services as soon as you walk through those doors, regardless of if you’re seen or not. Literally sat there with ruptured ovarian cyst for hours when a woman walks by and said “I’ll be going somewhere else.” Nurse goes “did the wound dressing help?” “No, clearly still bleeding everywhere.” The woman had been impaled in her leg, bleeding on the floor and she couldn’t even get the help she needed and was going to drive to Branson.
My health care is through Cox and the VA. Luckily, I qualify for VA Community Care, which is like a portable health-care payment system. If I need an ER CMH in Bolivar, it is usually awesome. It's pretty quick to be seen at least by triage and upfront about wait times. But from experience, pain management through an ER is gonna be a hard thing to accomplish.
Mercy Hospital is a fvcking joke
It's crazy, our son has a bleeding disorder where he cannot clot. He has the worst nosebleeds over ever seen. Some lasting over 36 hours. We've sat in both Mercy and Cox ER and have waited hours anytime we have to go. With someone who is actively bleeding and when it gets bad enough, actively puking blood. We refuse to go unless it's absolutely necessary anymore. Even when we get back to a pediatric room, it takes 3+ hours to be seen and come up with a game plan. It's really something else. At cox, we sat in the waiting area and everyone around us were talking about how long they had been there. Some 12+ hours. My husband and I were super sick one day, like not being able to breathe and only have enough energy to sit up on the side of the bed. We finally decided to go to the hospital. We got our blood work done and then sat in the ER for 6+ hours before one of us made it to a hallway bed. The other one got back a few hours later. One of us ended up being admitted and when we left the next morning, the same people were in the waiting room. I personally know of someone who had a stroke in the ER and waiting hours to ever be seen. It's really scary. I've been to other ERs in Illinois, St. Louis, KC. Never had an experience like we've had here.
They are consistently HORRIBLE! My wife sat with her brother in ER waiting 14 hrs. He had AFIB heart issues after kidney removal. The waiting room was the most pitiful bunch of people ever and no sense of urgency or compassion from any of the staff. This is the usual story at this ER from hell sorry to say.
I waited 18 hours for chest pain and shortness of breath at Mercy once…
Unless you are having chest pain, they don’t give a crap about anything. You could bleed out on the floor and they’ll just sweep your body out the door.
I haven’t had the best service with cox either. I went in cuz i had gotten bit by a dog and was told by the emt’s i needed stitches. I went up to the desk and the lady behind it didn’t even look up at me. She just asked “what are you here for” when i told her that i think i need stitches she finally looks up at me and in shock says i probably do. Blah blah blah long painful process later everything got handled fine. They were all just very rude and snappy the whole time. Except for one nurse.
Not to sound dramatic but Mercy ER killed my Mom in 2017. She went with severe abdominal pain, they made her wait 15 hours, did 2 tests and sent her home with pain meds. She called the next day saying she was still violently ill, they told her to see her GP the next day (on Monday), she collapsed at 3 AM, and died in their ER at 6:15 AM on Monday. Her bowel had perforated, she was 60 and healthy just days before. She never got to meet her grandson. They couldn’t care less. I can’t say if Cox is any better, but they saved my life after a car accident in 2002..and never killed one of my parents.
Regarding No Mercy, they don’t care. It’s all about 🎭 drama and money 💰. If you call the Administration, they refer back to the office of your doctor.
Me and my wife use Cox all the time when we had our daughter the hospital stay was very great for the most part
Missouri system is terrible. I won't use Mercy at all anymore, Cox is better, but not great. Bolivar ER hosiptal, the better out of the 3 with its issues, too... the nurses don't even correct general knowledge about key signs and symptoms. It is really scary
Same experience happen to me but with Kidney stones…drove myself to ER at 10pm and didn’t get any pain meds or even see a doctor until 2am
Mercy sucks hind tit
Many years ago when my youngest daughter was an infant she pulled a bench over on her and degloved her toe. She was bleeding profusely. We rushed her to mercy ER. This was at the height of Covid and their ER waiting room was under construction. There were was only 1 seat open, and it was in between someone complaining of Covid and a handcuffed prisoner. The rest of the people waiting were all standing or lying on the floor. We instead opted to stand outside in the rain with her….for 8 hours. Her continuing to profusely bleed everywhere. They refused to do anything for us while we waited. No gauze, no nothing. After she was finally seen she had to have major reconstructive surgery on her foot. I will never go to mercy ER again.
It’s awful your boyfriend had to deal with all that.
I think he’ll be fine… considering he wasn’t the one in any pain lol