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.
00:10All right, Ascension is now under investigation and scrutiny on a number of fronts.
00:18Ascension is, of course, one of the United States' leading non-profit and Catholic health
00:26systems.
00:26They have over 134,000 associates, 35,000 affiliated providers, and 139 hospitals under its management
00:39in 18 states.
00:42In the Birmingham, Alabama area, this includes St. Vincent's and associated hospitals such
00:48as St. Vincent's East.
00:50Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin earlier in 2023 accused Ascension, which is registered
00:59as a non-profit tax organization in the U.S., of operating like a private equity fund and
01:09aggressively pursuing investment opportunities while staffing and services were allowed to
01:16slide into decline in its hospitals.
01:19And this was addressed to Ascension CEO Joseph Mpichike in a written letter.
01:27The catalyst for these concerns were articles published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and
01:34Milwaukee Magazine, alleging Ascension recently experienced disruptions to patient care, long wait time surgery delays, and staff concerns about safety.
01:47One of these hospitals was Ascension Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee.
01:53Senator Baldwin also wrote that the St. Louis-based Ascension has for-profit investment activities, dwarfing what it provides in
02:04annual charity
02:05care as a non-profit tax-exempt organization.
02:09As she mentioned, she mentioned the closure of Ascension's Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. in 2018.
02:17Ascension allegedly charged the hospital for services provided by the subsidiaries and companies within its private equity portfolio amounting to
02:29$27.5 million in fiscal year 2017,
02:32while Providence Hospital posted a loss of $32.8 million U.S. dollars.
02:39Meanwhile, at this year's J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Ascension CFO Elizabeth Foschidge highlighted Ascension's $18 billion worth of cash
02:52and investments.
02:53As you can see in my videos, where I record phone calls dealing with representatives of Ascension in the Birmingham
03:03area,
03:04after my own experience as a patient, is that there is apparently rampant corruption within this healthcare provider.
03:14I think one thing that's apparent is Ascension may suffer from being too big to fail.
03:22It looks like there is not adequate enforcement or resources by governing bodies and authorities at the various levels,
03:37such as city, county, state, and federal, to properly check and balance Ascension's activities.
03:45And what's been allowed to occur here is the corruption has been allowed to grow out of control.
03:54I think it's disgusting that Ascension brags about investments and profits on the order of tens of billions of dollars,
04:05after my own experience, because what I know is that underpinning the fortunes of these medical doctors
04:16and not-for-profit businessmen, a mountain of wrongful, dead patients.
04:24And as big as these issues are that Senator Baldwin highlights, if you take a look at what happened to
04:32me,
04:33there are far greater issues of importance that relate to corruption, fraud, and medical negligence
04:43when it comes to Ascension and their associated doctors and facilities.
04:49I went to Ascension as a patient in 2018.
04:53I was misdiagnosed.
04:55I had an x-ray scan.
04:56I got my records later.
04:58I found out that while the radiological doctors told me and the emergency department doctors told me I had no
05:07injuries present,
05:09it didn't sit right with me.
05:10I got the records.
05:11I got the original x-ray images.
05:14I put the x-ray images and the records in these videos so you can see the truth and the
05:20contradiction.
05:22I left the emergency department at Ascension St. Vincent's East in Birmingham, Alabama, believing I had no injuries present.
05:30Eight months later, infection grew in this wound, as well as three-inch-long parasite insects.
05:38I almost died from this injury.
05:40I almost didn't make it, all right?
05:43I believe that there are many patients like myself who are not so fortunate to discover the truth of their
05:50injuries
05:51and challenge Ascension on the facts.
05:54I survived, and I'm not happy about what happened to me.
05:59So one activity that I have pursued in the midst of my recovery is documenting firsthand corruption as experienced by
06:11a patient,
06:12trying to go to these millionaire doctors and have my injury acknowledged and the errors corrected.
06:20And you can see in my videos, I don't have such good luck in doing that.
06:25I called Ascension CEO, Joseph Impicciccay, in 2021, never got a call back from the CEO.
06:34And I'll play that call once again at the end of this video.
06:39You can hear some details about what happened to me.
06:43One issue that I had firsthand dealings with that I will mention here as it relates to the subject of
06:53non-profits operating with profits in mind.
06:58This would be my visit as a patient with the Christ Health Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
07:06Now, Christ Health was spun off from St. Vincent several years ago.
07:14And what happened to me, you can see a couple hours worth of video on my dealings with this in
07:23-depth on my YouTube channel.
07:25But one experience that I had here was I was charged $109 to see a MD, a medical doctor.
07:37This was Terry Daniel Smith.
07:40And then a short time later, I went to another Christ Health Clinic in Birmingham.
07:46I saw a nurse, NP, nurse practitioner, Anna Musgraves.
07:52I was charged $107 for that visit.
07:56I had to pay out of pocket to see a lot of nurses and doctors around the time of those
08:03visits in 2019.
08:04So I got some firsthand market analysis.
08:09At other clinics and medical practices around Birmingham, Alabama, I was only charged around $50 to see a nurse practitioner.
08:19So Christ Health also registered as a non-profit and they operate Ascension's residency in this area.
08:31Ascension hospitals also refer patients to the emergency department to Christ Health.
08:38So they have a partnership.
08:39Why would I, why was I charged double the going rate around town to see a nurse practitioner and almost
08:49the same amount to see a medical doctor?
08:52I discussed this issue in a recorded telephone call with Christ Health Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Robert Record, MD, earlier
09:04in 2023.
09:07Yeah, and again, if you go to university to become a medical doctor in the state of Alabama, you're looking
09:15at four years in college, at least a $30,000 tuition.
09:21To become a nurse practitioner, you're talking about 2.5 years at a community college, around $13,000.
09:30So there's a big difference between nurses and doctors, okay?
09:35So why is this non-profit apparently charging people double the going rate in town?
09:44And this didn't sit right with me.
09:48The answers that you get from the medical practice administration,
09:54they rattle off a bunch of gobbledygook about government protection and certification to justify the price gouging.
10:07Thank you for calling Ascension.
10:09At this time, our administrative office is closed and our associates are working from home to limit the spread of
10:15the coronavirus.
10:16To leave a message in the general delivery mailbox, please press 2.
10:22You've reached the Ascension System Office General Mailbox.
10:25After the tone, leave a detailed message and someone will respond to your call.
10:32I'm trying to reach CEO Joseph Impechike, and he can contact me at that number.
10:39And I have a message that I would like to give to Ascension.
10:42Between 2018 and 2019, I was an emergency department patient at Ascension St. Vincent's East Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.
10:52I believe I had broken my neck.
10:54I had an x-ray, two CT scans, and later an MRI looked at by Ascension St. Vincent's doctors.
11:01Each time they had told me I had no injuries in this area, I knew their diagnosis was an error
11:08as my condition worsened.
11:10The area became infected and infested with parasites by summer of 2019.
11:15I almost died.
11:16I obtained my medical records from your hospital along with the x-ray, CT, MRI imagery, and discovered the truth
11:23of my injury.
11:24I had broken bone in the underside of my skull in the area of the condylar canal and occipital condyle.
11:30How the doctors could have missed such a large and serious injury over multiple hospital visits is inexcusable.
11:36I believe some element of organized corruption may exist in this hospital.
11:41I have compiled over 10 hours of video documentation on what happened to me on my YouTube channel.
11:48And the name of the channel is My Medical Nightmare.
11:51I believe I may have been a victim of patient dumping in the course of my seeking treatment, which is
11:58a violation of EMTALA, E-M-T-A-L-A.
12:01When I told medical staff associated with Ascension about my discovery, that I had been misdiagnosed repeatedly,
12:09I was personally attacked and my psychological state was challenged.
12:13And this is reflected in medical records I obtained later.
12:17I could not obtain proper treatment or diagnosis for this injury because doctors and nurses that I would subsequently have
12:28encounters with
12:28would only entertain what the erroneous Ascension ER findings were.
12:33My mother, who was a nurse for 20 years, had the misfortune of working in an Ascension hospital
12:39when I questioned my MRR findings involving St. Vincent's Ambulatory Healthcare Network, LLC,
12:46and Dr. Michael Brandt Ruff, MD, radiologist, in March 2019.
12:52My mother, who was a nurse for 20 years and worked in the Ascension hospital, she was terminated from her
12:57job there around the same time.
13:00And so this phone call, I challenge the misdiagnosis of Ascension St. Vincent's East Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama,
13:08and I challenge the policy of this hospital.
13:12And Mr. Impecheke, I think you need to look into this, please.
13:16Please listen to my message, look into what I'm saying, and you're free to contact me.
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