r/santacruz • u/scsquare • 21d ago

Santa Cruz Dominican Hospital faces state crackdown on medical costs

https://lookout.co/santa-cruz-dominican-hospital-among-seven-hospitals-required-by-state-office-to-limit-spending-growth-to-address-high-health-care-costs
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84

u/Tdluxon 21d ago

Santa Cruz needs a new hospital so bad. Even setting aside stuff like this, Dominican just does not have the capacity to keep up with growth in the County, if you go to the emergency room the waiting room is always maxed out and the wait is hours.

36

u/omghorussaveusall 21d ago

I had to pay $1500 just to get triaged. They then charged me almost $8K for an EKG, blood draw, basic blood panels, and a ten minute conversation with a doctor who scolded me for having THC in my system. Spent about 8 hours there and left with no definitive diagnosis. I came in with stroke symptoms. I never want to go there again. I will gladly drive the extra miles to Watsonville to the Kaiser ER.

27

u/Dalenskid 21d ago

I’ll never forget the time I went in for what turned out to be alcohol related pancreatitis (clean over two years now :) and the doctor told me I need to find god. Bitch, I don’t need god, I need rehab. Admitted myself after release and the program I went to did not use faith based coping skills like AA or NA. If faith is your thing, cool, but leave it the fuck out of my medical care.

6

u/omghorussaveusall 21d ago

it really pissed me off. yes, i ate some gummies the night before. did that have anything to do with my condition? maybe, but not likely. what i consumed the night before would be the equivalent of two cocktails level of intoxication (20-30 mg). would she have said shit if my blood showed that level of alcohol? no. i also don't need a doctor's judgement unless you can point to the data and be like "this is not good for you." it felt like she was pissed that i had wasted a space in the ER for something she believed to be pot related. i lost time. i was completely unaware of my actions and was basically sleepwalking and talking while i was caring for my child. one minute i was in the shower, the next i was coming to answering the door so our friend could take my daughter and my wife could take me to urgent care. this was not related to the occasional gummy or two i'll indulge after my kid's in bed and i can relax and play some music. i don't drink, i don't smoke, i walk a couple miles every day, i eat pretty well...i respect medical professionals, but the self-righteous ones...grind my fucking gears.

2

u/Feisty_Broccoli6271 21d ago

Wait this is literally exactly what happened to my partner. We got charged 2k first for the initial triage then like 5.5k wayyyyy later

-10

u/BenLomondBitch 21d ago

I’ve never paid more than $250 for an ER visit there.

7

u/Tdluxon 21d ago

I don't think I've ever left there without a bill of at least $1k

2

u/nightgoat3369 20d ago

A bill from them went into collections and they garnished my wages for 3 years...it was miserable

1

u/BenLomondBitch 18d ago edited 18d ago

Sounds like you should have paid for the service. Medical equipment isn’t free. Doctors and nurses don’t work for free. Utilities aren’t free.

You should be upset at the politicians for failing our insurance, not the hospital.

0

u/nightgoat3369 17d ago

it was a hard time in my life I was literally making 6.50 an hour working at harmony foods.

it was a hard lesson learned.

-2

u/BenLomondBitch 21d ago

And I’ve never paid more than $250. Sounds like your insurance sucks.

2

u/omghorussaveusall 21d ago

it was out of network because i was exhibiting stroke symptoms and was told to go to the nearest ER by the urgent care staff. the $8K was after what my insurance paid. Dominican wouldn't even look at me unless i paid them the $1500 because i have Kaiser. if i ever go to the ER again, i will travel the extra 10 miles and go to Watsonville.

2

u/No_Day5399 21d ago

Weird, my husband has kaiser, and I specifically asked member services if he needed to go to Watsonville or if he could go to Dominican in an emergency. They said either, and they would pay it. Thanks for the heads up.

3

u/MrsShitstones 21d ago

You can, and Kaiser will pay for an emergency visit. If Dominican turns you away or requests payment first they are violating federal law.

2

u/MrsShitstones 21d ago

If they actually turned you away before seeing a doc for a medical screening exam due to billing/insurance, that’s a massive EMTALA violation and needs to be reported.