Source: al.com: June 25th it was announced UAB (University Of Alabama At Birmingham) Health System will acquire 5 Ascension St. Vincent’s hospitals in north central Alabama in fall 2024 for an estimated $450 million dollars.
The facilities include: Ascension St. Vincent’s Hospital in downtown Birmingham, along with St. Vincent’s East, St. Vincent’s St. Clair, St. Vincent’s Blount and St. Vincent’s Chilton. Also included: physician offices, a freestanding emergency department in Trussville, the One Nineteen campus and imaging centers.
“UAB is hopeful that most – if not all – of Ascension St. Vincent’s roughly 5,000 caregivers and associates will remain in their roles,” said UAB spokesperson Alicia Rohan.
Rohan said UAB Health System plans to operate the hospitals without any changes and has no plans to eliminate or consolidate services.
This comes 1 month following a cyberattack on Ascension that operates in 19 US states with 140 hospitals, 160000+ associates & 36000+ affiliated providers.
In this video I share my outlook and some possible samples as to what people & the healthcare seeking public in Birmingham have to look forward to from this new partnership. This is My experience as a patient trying to access service in 3 UAB facilities:
- Hear my recorded telephone call where to see a primary care physician (family doctor) in a Leeds, AL. Satellite in 2023 I was quoted a 8 month waiting list.
- I also describe standing 5 hours in their hospital Emergency Department in 2019 and never being admitted, I was triaged and had a broken skull head trauma where 6 inches diameter infection showed up in an MRI around a month later. By 2 am I couldn't stand any longer and was so fatigued I had to leave and go home.
- Finally, I was referred to a UAB neurologist in 2019 where I waited 3 months on a list only to be called on month 3 and told my appointment was cancelled.
My analysis is there are more questions than answers provided in this announcement. There may be behind the scenes factors involved that have not been made public as to their motive in selling. One possibilty is Ascension was ordered to sell their assets and leave Alabama. If my experience as a patient is any indication there are many service related claims against the hospital. The timing on the announcement is suspicious: June 25th is a week before the 4th of July holiday, making this a news story that people potentially will forget about by the time July 8th rolls around and everyone returns to work.
The health care market in Central Alabama is a pure growth concern, demand is only increasing as are profits across the board. Ascension St. Vincent's enjoys a majority share of business as a health provider in Central / Eastern Jefferson County at the time of the sale.
#uab #ascension #emtala #phantombilling #birminghamradiologicalgroup #vulcanimagingassociates
The facilities include: Ascension St. Vincent’s Hospital in downtown Birmingham, along with St. Vincent’s East, St. Vincent’s St. Clair, St. Vincent’s Blount and St. Vincent’s Chilton. Also included: physician offices, a freestanding emergency department in Trussville, the One Nineteen campus and imaging centers.
“UAB is hopeful that most – if not all – of Ascension St. Vincent’s roughly 5,000 caregivers and associates will remain in their roles,” said UAB spokesperson Alicia Rohan.
Rohan said UAB Health System plans to operate the hospitals without any changes and has no plans to eliminate or consolidate services.
This comes 1 month following a cyberattack on Ascension that operates in 19 US states with 140 hospitals, 160000+ associates & 36000+ affiliated providers.
In this video I share my outlook and some possible samples as to what people & the healthcare seeking public in Birmingham have to look forward to from this new partnership. This is My experience as a patient trying to access service in 3 UAB facilities:
- Hear my recorded telephone call where to see a primary care physician (family doctor) in a Leeds, AL. Satellite in 2023 I was quoted a 8 month waiting list.
- I also describe standing 5 hours in their hospital Emergency Department in 2019 and never being admitted, I was triaged and had a broken skull head trauma where 6 inches diameter infection showed up in an MRI around a month later. By 2 am I couldn't stand any longer and was so fatigued I had to leave and go home.
- Finally, I was referred to a UAB neurologist in 2019 where I waited 3 months on a list only to be called on month 3 and told my appointment was cancelled.
My analysis is there are more questions than answers provided in this announcement. There may be behind the scenes factors involved that have not been made public as to their motive in selling. One possibilty is Ascension was ordered to sell their assets and leave Alabama. If my experience as a patient is any indication there are many service related claims against the hospital. The timing on the announcement is suspicious: June 25th is a week before the 4th of July holiday, making this a news story that people potentially will forget about by the time July 8th rolls around and everyone returns to work.
The health care market in Central Alabama is a pure growth concern, demand is only increasing as are profits across the board. Ascension St. Vincent's enjoys a majority share of business as a health provider in Central / Eastern Jefferson County at the time of the sale.
#uab #ascension #emtala #phantombilling #birminghamradiologicalgroup #vulcanimagingassociates
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00All right, as always, you can go to YouTube channel My Medical Nightmare and see 40 plus
00:07hours video on everything that happened to me.
00:10June 25th, 2024.
00:13UAB to acquire Ascension St. Vincent's Hospital System in $450 million deal.
00:21This is according to al.com.
00:24Included in this agreement is a change of hands in ownership to St. Vincent's Hospital
00:32in downtown Birmingham, St. Vincent's East, St. Vincent's St. Clair, that's in Pell City,
00:39St. Vincent's Blunt, and St. Vincent's Chilton.
00:43Physician offices are also included, the freestanding emergency department in Trustville,
00:49the 119 campus and imaging centers, as well as current Ascension St. Vincent's services,
00:58facilities, caregivers, associates, and their network of providers.
01:04UAB says they are hopeful that most, if not all, of the Ascension St. Vincent's roughly
01:095,000 caregivers and associates will remain in their roles.
01:14The representative says UAB Health System plans to operate the hospitals without any changes
01:22and has no plans to eliminate or consolidate services.
01:26All right, so what can people and the general public out there seeking health treatment in
01:33the Birmingham, Alabama area expect in terms of service and patient experience in the future
01:42when going to these hospitals and doctors?
01:45My general experience doing with UAB is one of waiting and no service forthcoming.
01:55And I thought I'd put together this video sharing my first-hand experience trying to make an appointment
02:03with a UAB medicine primary care physician going to the UAB hospital emergency department with my injury.
02:15At the time, I had around six inches diameter infection in my head.
02:21It was standing room only, and the hospital would not admit anyone outside of the triage queue
02:29unless they collapsed and passed out on the emergency department floor.
02:36And finally, my experience, waiting three months on a waiting list to see a UAB neurologist
02:43only to be called until my appointment was canceled and I would have to wait another month.
02:50All right, UAB primary care, Birmingham, Alabama.
02:53They told me on March 23rd, 2023, that if I wanted to see a primary care doctor,
03:06that's like a jack-of-all-trades family doctor.
03:11As a new patient, I would have to go on a waiting list,
03:15and the soonest that they could see me at the Leeds, Alabama clinic was November 2023.
03:26And that is an eight-month waiting list.
03:31If I was willing to drive into downtown Birmingham,
03:35I could be put on a waiting list for August 2023.
03:40That's five months.
03:41I did some research and some asking around,
03:45and from what I can find, it looks like eight months' wait to see a primary care doctor
03:55in the United States of America.
03:58This is probably a bit too long.
04:02For an organization the size of UAB, I think this is really unacceptable.
04:09If you drive downtown Birmingham on the south side,
04:14you'll see that the entire UAB campus is around 83 city blocks.
04:23A good portion of the real estate in downtown Birmingham on the south side, it's UAB.
04:32Becker's Hospital Review, in 2020, rated UAB the eighth largest hospital in the United States of America
04:44with 1,207 beds.
04:49So yeah, I think for them to have a primary care network
04:55network that makes new patients wait eight months,
04:59this is totally unacceptable.
05:03I found out something interesting in that phone call,
05:07and I'll play this excerpt.
05:08The receptionist here, she tells me that my chart was printed
05:27in 2022, and this is interesting.
05:36I was referred to UAB Neurology by Dr. Perry L. Savage Sr.
05:45of Ortho Alabama Spine and Sports.
05:47And you can see my uploaded medical records and documentation
05:53with him and that medical practice
05:56at my YouTube channel.
05:59It's my medical nightmare.
06:01I showed him, printed out CT images,
06:08and we both looked at MRI pictures on a CD-ROM
06:13that showed broken skull bone
06:17and around six inches diameter infection
06:23in my head.
06:26And I knew what I was looking at.
06:30I asked him about those anomalies,
06:32and he told me with a straight face right in front of me
06:35that there were no injuries present in those pictures.
06:39I put the pictures up on that YouTube channel.
06:41They're in many videos.
06:44You can see for yourself the truth about my injury.
06:48So from that visit, yeah, I was referred on to UAB Neurology in 2019.
06:55The last contact that I had with anybody at UAB as a patient,
07:04this was in 2019.
07:07So it looks like my chart may have been updated in 2022.
07:16Yeah, and I'm real interested to know who printed this
07:23and for what reasons.
07:27And taking all this into account,
07:28yeah, I think this opens up the possibility
07:30that I may have been blacklisted by the UAB network.
07:38Because what I was doing in 2022
07:41is I had started documentation efforts
07:47on the fact that I had an injury
07:50that was misdiagnosed by other doctors.
07:54And yeah, I was going to UAB to try to get
07:56another opinion on this.
08:01Calling UAB Medicine leads.
08:03For prime care and pediatrics, please press 1.
08:07Thank you for calling UAB Medicine.
08:09This is Bailey.
08:09How may I help you?
08:11Yes, ma'am.
08:11I would like to make an appointment with the doctor, please.
08:17Okay, sure.
08:18I can help you with that.
08:19Have you ever been seen at UAB before for anything?
08:22Yeah, I went to the emergency department
08:26and I stood there downtown Birmingham
08:30for five hours waiting to be seen.
08:34And I never saw a doctor.
08:35I got tired of standing.
08:37I had to leave the emergency department.
08:38Do you want to make you aware
08:39before we get started for a new patient
08:42here at the Leeds Clinic in primary care?
08:45We are booked until November.
08:47And we do have a wait list as well
08:48that I could add you.
08:49Okay, I would just like to confirm
08:51you say that the earliest you can see me is November.
08:56I'm calling and my calendar says
08:58it's March 23rd, 2023.
09:01Is that correct?
09:04Today is, yes.
09:06So that is, let's see,
09:09April, May, June, July, August, September, October.
09:12That's eight months from now.
09:15Right.
09:16For a primary care visit,
09:18there's no other place I can go to
09:20that will see me any faster.
09:23Okay, so we have the Whitaker Clinic,
09:25which is in Birmingham.
09:27The first available there is August the 7th.
09:30Yeah, I really don't want to wait that long.
09:33It's not professional business practices
09:34to make customers wait so long
09:37for such a menial service.
09:40My condition worsened and the infection grew.
09:45This is late summer.
09:49Getting into late summer 2019.
09:54I felt like I was dying.
09:56I decided to go to UAB Hospital
09:57Emergency Department in downtown Birmingham
10:00some weeks later for another diagnosis.
10:03UAB's emergency department
10:07is much different from St. Vincent's East Hospital
10:11in Birmingham, Alabama.
10:12The way they run it is a lot different.
10:15The space is small, crowded, dirty, old,
10:18with very little privacy for patients.
10:22Many unsecured infectious disease vectors
10:24exist in this environment.
10:26Among them, sick homeless people
10:30off the street,
10:31which apparently take refuge
10:33in the emergency department waiting room.
10:36I was sitting there
10:36and they talked to this one guy
10:39who came in and he said,
10:41oh, you're in here like regularly.
10:43So there's people that just come off the streets
10:44and they see them regularly there.
10:47And by far, the most common person
10:49I saw in this waiting area
10:51was an overdosing or overdosed
10:53or withdrawing a drug addict.
10:58Another issue, disease vector,
11:02pathogen vector,
11:05infectious disease vector,
11:07is mosquitoes.
11:09They're mosquitoes that fly around
11:11in the waiting room
11:11of UAB Hospital Emergency Department waiting room.
11:16I poured,
11:17they have a public water dispensing machine.
11:21Pour me some water in a styrofoam cup.
11:24A little black worms,
11:25maybe half an inch long,
11:27dropped into my cup
11:28from the public water dispenser.
11:31Or it's not cleaned.
11:34I can't drink that.
11:35I'm sorry.
11:37But thank you, UAB Hospital.
11:43Homeless people off the streets,
11:45mosquitoes, worms,
11:47from the public water dispenser,
11:50not a good situation.
11:52UAB has a lot of money,
11:54though, apparently,
11:55as is evidenced
11:57by the massive sprawl
11:59of real estate
12:00that exists in
12:02Southside Birmingham.
12:05Go to Southside Birmingham,
12:06drive around,
12:07look at the schools,
12:08the hospitals,
12:10businesses.
12:11Look at the,
12:11look at the,
12:12the satellite
12:13businesses that exist around UAB,
12:16that service UAB,
12:17serve UAB,
12:17take the overflow from UAB,
12:21kind of like the place
12:22I went to.
12:23All around UAB,
12:24there's this medical industry,
12:26and it's all based around
12:28University of Alabama,
12:29Birmingham.
12:30Much of the staff
12:31in the emergency department
12:34at UAB
12:34is visibly young.
12:37The atmosphere
12:38is like a college dorm room.
12:40Many staff
12:41had fast food
12:42takeout and snacks
12:43on the triage area
12:44and ate and drank
12:45as they performed
12:48triage and medical procedures,
12:50emergency department
12:50medical procedures.
12:52It did not look like
12:53a professional environment.
12:56There was a long wait
12:57at UAB,
12:58emergency department.
12:59I was told several hours
13:00for my triage condition
13:01despite my serious symptoms.
13:04If you want to know
13:04my symptoms,
13:06check out some of my other
13:07audios and videos.
13:11I have a broken skull,
13:13I have a basilar skull fracture,
13:15busted up,
13:17occipital condyle,
13:18condylar canal.
13:19It's leaking CSF fluid
13:21into my neck,
13:22and by this time
13:23I've become infected
13:23by parasites.
13:25A very serious issue
13:26I waited five hours.
13:29I stood there
13:30waiting five hours.
13:32I was never saw.
13:33I was never attended to.
13:35I was never called back
13:36and saw any doctor
13:38beyond the front waiting area.
13:42I saw other people
13:44that had been there
13:44for ten plus hours waiting.
13:46Ten hours waiting
13:47in the emergency department.
13:49Some people,
13:50if you've got an emergency,
13:52you can't wait ten hours,
13:53or you can't wait five hours.
13:55Maybe you can't wait
13:56a couple of minutes,
13:57but there was
13:58a waiting room
13:59full of people there,
14:01and it's unacceptable.
14:02I mean, UAB,
14:03come on,
14:04this is professional stuff, right?
14:06All right.
14:07Others became angry
14:08on the waiting
14:09and were asked to leave.
14:11Somebody said,
14:12hey man,
14:12I've been waiting here
14:13five hours.
14:14Could a doctor see me, please?
14:17And they were told,
14:18sir,
14:18you keep talking like that,
14:20you're going to have to leave.
14:22Sitting around this place
14:23for five hours,
14:24I noticed something interesting.
14:27Every couple of minutes,
14:28somebody would come out
14:29and they would call
14:31somebody's name.
14:32Then they would disappear
14:33and five or ten,
14:37fifteen minutes would pass
14:38before they'd come out
14:40and call another person's name
14:41from the triage list.
14:44Some of the people
14:45in this waiting area
14:46had been there
14:47for ten hours or more.
14:49but they're not able
14:53to accept new patients
14:56very quickly
14:57because they keep calling
15:00the same people's names.
15:02And two or three hours
15:03after I got there,
15:05they were still
15:06going through this thing
15:07where they'd come out
15:08every ten or fifteen minutes
15:10and they would call
15:11somebody's name.
15:12They called two or three hours
15:13before and it was,
15:15you know,
15:15very obvious
15:16that these people
15:17were no longer
15:18around this building.
15:21Their procedure needs
15:23to be reworked.
15:25The one proviso
15:26to this
15:27was the
15:289-1-1
15:29emergency
15:30ambulance
15:32and helicopter
15:33that would arrive.
15:34these people
15:37were rushed
15:38back
15:38into the back
15:39of the hospital.
15:41I believe
15:41that either
15:42they waited
15:43in another area
15:44or they went
15:45straight to a doctor.
15:47So if you walk
15:47into the emergency room
15:49like I did,
15:50you could be
15:51waiting a while.
15:53Looks like
15:54the people
15:54that called
15:559-1-1
15:56and get a hold
15:57of an ambulance
15:57or a helicopter
15:58are able
16:00to be seen
16:01by doctors
16:02a lot sooner.
16:03I was told
16:04someone could
16:05see me soon
16:06every two hours
16:08or so
16:09that I asked
16:09by 1 a.m.
16:11I got so sleepy
16:12I couldn't stand.
16:13I had to go home.
16:14Had to go home
16:15from the emergency department.
16:19From my visit
16:21with Perry L. Savage
16:22Sr.,
16:25Ortho Alabama
16:27Spine and Sports
16:28on September 4th,
16:31Birmingham, Alabama.
16:34This is located
16:35off of Highway 11
16:36near Trussell.
16:38I got a referral
16:40to UAB
16:42Neurology
16:43or UAB Neurosurgery.
16:45When I was leaving
16:51Ortho Alabama
16:53Spine and Sports
16:54at like
16:566.30
16:58in the evening
16:58after I had waited
17:03I probably had
17:06three hours total
17:07in this visit
17:08and $300.
17:11I didn't have much
17:12to show from
17:12this visit either.
17:13their referral
17:15was about as good
17:16as it got.
17:18The doctor
17:18looked at the images
17:21I took in
17:23showing broken skull
17:25MRI, CT,
17:28x-rays
17:29brought in all that
17:30stuff on CDs
17:31printed stuff out
17:33brought it
17:34and showed it to him.
17:38He did not note
17:39any abnormality
17:41clear images
17:42showing broken skull.
17:47I got a referral
17:49so as I'm leaving
17:50he introduced me
17:52to a woman
17:53who's supposed
17:53to call me
17:53a few days later
17:54with my referral
17:56to UAB
17:57Neurology.
18:00So
18:00anyways
18:01I waited
18:02I waited a day
18:05I waited a few days
18:07went into weeks
18:09and I never got
18:10a call from them
18:11I had to call them
18:12back
18:12never received
18:15a follow up call
18:16they're running
18:19dozens of people
18:22through this place
18:22every couple of hours
18:25it's ridiculous
18:26so yeah
18:29I must have
18:29fell through the cracks
18:30my injury
18:32my injury
18:32I believe
18:32is
18:33classifies
18:34as some kind
18:36of emergency
18:37issue
18:38and
18:39you know
18:40it had been like that
18:41for over a year
18:43now it was infected
18:44with
18:45parasite worms
18:47and it was a whole other
18:49enchilada
18:50but
18:52yeah
18:53it was waiting
18:55more waiting
18:56and
18:57you know
18:58real high power
19:00professional doctors
19:01who
19:01can't see
19:03a very obvious
19:04injury
19:04lots of money
19:07changing hands
19:08nobody's trying
19:10to help me
19:11finally called
19:13ortho Alabama
19:14spine and sports
19:15back
19:17like a few weeks
19:18later
19:18because I mean
19:22you know
19:23like they refer
19:23me to this
19:24neurology place
19:25I'd already been
19:26to a neurologist
19:27who
19:27basically
19:28didn't help me
19:30for
19:31$260
19:32so I wasn't
19:34too enthusiastic
19:34about going
19:35to another doctor
19:36and
19:37trying to get
19:38$300 more
19:39that I didn't have
19:40but anyways
19:42a few weeks
19:42later
19:43I called them
19:43back
19:44and
19:45they told me
19:46I was on
19:47the schedule
19:47with
19:50Dr.
19:51Mina
19:51Lubos
19:53or
19:54Mina
19:54Labos
19:56that's
19:57M-I-N-A
19:58L-O-B-B-O-U-S
20:00U-A-B
20:02Neurology
20:03scheduled
20:05for December
20:06and this
20:08visit was
20:09going to cost
20:09$300
20:09also
20:10so I had
20:12to wait
20:12three months
20:14and I was
20:17going to pay
20:18$300 more
20:18dollars
20:19yeah I was
20:19down for
20:20this
20:20but guess
20:22what
20:23a few months
20:23later
20:24several months
20:28following this
20:29I got a call
20:32from UAB
20:32Neurology
20:33and guess what
20:34happened
20:34my appointment
20:38which I had
20:40waited several
20:40months
20:41on already
20:42had been
20:44canceled
20:44they called me
20:46to tell me
20:46my appointment
20:47was canceled
20:48and why
20:50Dr. Mina
20:54Lubos
20:55his office
20:56which is
20:57located in
20:58Birmingham
20:58was going
20:59to move
21:00to Gardendale
21:01so my
21:05appointment
21:05was canceled
21:06and so I
21:07asked
21:07okay
21:08when are you
21:10going to
21:10reschedule it
21:10and it
21:11hadn't been
21:11rescheduled
21:12so they
21:13were going
21:14to reschedule
21:14it then
21:15and I
21:15said okay
21:16when's the
21:16earliest
21:17appointment
21:18you have
21:19and I
21:19was told
21:20it was
21:20January
21:212020
21:23so it's
21:24a month
21:25later
21:25than the
21:26December
21:28appointment
21:29yeah
21:31if a
21:31doctor's
21:32going to
21:32move
21:32offices
21:33is that
21:36normal
21:37for the
21:38appointment
21:38to be
21:39to possibly
21:41be pushed
21:41back
21:42a month
21:43also
21:44doesn't
21:45make so
21:45much
21:46sense
21:46to me
21:46maybe
21:49a bunch
21:50more
21:50people
21:50more
21:51important
21:51than
21:51me
21:52got
21:53squeezed
21:53in
21:53in that
21:57interim
21:57period
21:57maybe
21:58the guy
21:58went on
21:59vacation
21:59or something
22:00I don't
22:01know
22:01but anyways
22:04they asked
22:07if I was
22:08okay
22:08with my
22:08appointment
22:09being
22:09rescheduled
22:10and I
22:10told
22:10them
22:10no
22:11yeah
22:15I say
22:15at this
22:16point
22:16I've
22:17decided
22:18I'm going
22:18to start
22:18saying no
22:19to these
22:19people
22:20they're not
22:22doing me a
22:23favor
22:23they're not
22:23trying to
22:24help me
22:24and you
22:28know
22:28I wait
22:28months
22:29I spend
22:29all this
22:30money
22:30nobody's
22:31trying to
22:31help me
22:32I can't
22:32do this
22:33forever
22:33you know
22:34felt I was
22:36being scammed
22:37told them
22:40that it was
22:40urgent already
22:41which
22:41go look
22:42at my
22:42information
22:43you'll
22:44understand
22:45how urgent
22:45this
22:46thing is
22:47very urgent
22:48basically
22:52I could
22:52die
22:52any day
22:54any time
22:55I don't
22:58even have
22:59a diagnosis
23:00from
23:02July 25
23:042018
23:05I have
23:06a broken
23:06skull
23:07infected
23:07by
23:07parasite
23:08worms
23:08I have
23:13no idea
23:13what the
23:14diagnosis
23:14is
23:15I don't
23:16know what
23:16I'm supposed
23:17to do
23:17what I'm
23:17not supposed
23:18to do
23:18nobody's
23:19being honest
23:20with me
23:20I'm getting
23:21sidetracked
23:24just put
23:25off
23:26nobody's
23:27trying to
23:27help me
23:28oh yeah
23:32and the
23:33other
23:33big hospital
23:34in town
23:34St.
23:34Vince
23:35lied to
23:35me
23:36about
23:36this
23:37injury
23:37and
23:37tried
23:38to
23:38cover
23:38it
23:38up
23:38I
23:39had
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