Blount Memorial Hospital

Since we moved here, we’ve been warned to never use Blount Memorial. The horror stories abound. We had little choice but to use them when my son was sick on Christmas Eve and Children’s Hospital had a six hour wait time. The staff was attentive and kind, and they kept him in a secluded wing to prevent him being exposed to the flu/RSV that was hitting hard at the time. I’m incredibly grateful to the staff from that night!

My review is aimed at the experiences I’ve had with their billing team since then. Whenever I call to pay the monthly bill, they never can find my son’s bill. They’re super rude, incompetent, and leave you sitting on hold for quite a long time. Twice I’ve waited on hold for 20 minutes only to be hung up on. I called back the first time and they rudely informed me that they would never leave someone on hold that long. I doubt anyone in that department knows what they’re doing.

My father was recently and unexpectedly admitted to the hospital. Overall, the quality of care met the need. However, I would like to specifically point out the care provided by Jordan, one of his nurses, David List - a physical therapist, and Dr. Mark Green, hospitalist. These three men set the standard for all BMH employees. Compassion, care, kindness, understanding, time and consideration of patient and family were exhibited throughout his stay. I was especially impressed with the time Dr. Green spent listening to our family questions and concerns. It made a most difficult situation much easier.

I visited the Blount Memorial hospital ER when I was 7 weeks pregnant and after EIGHT HOURS I was told I was in the middle of having a miscarriage. They sent me home and told me to “rest” and “wait it out.” The doctor who told me this seemed unreliable and it felt odd that they did testing on me and didn’t tell me the results, so I went to Fort Sanders immediately after. The doctors there spent ONE HOUR to tell me I was not having a miscarriage, and that everything was normal. They even showed me my baby’s heartbeat, whereas Blount Memorial told me they couldn’t find a heartbeat at all. This was easily one of the worst experiences I have ever had in my life, along with one of the worst days of my life, due to the doctor and emergency room staff at Blount Memorial Hospital.

Took my son after speaking with his DR. After waiting in the lobby for 45 mins we were then led to the hallway where the exam rooms are located. They placed us in chairs outside of room 23 and we had the privilege of waiting almost a hour. Then they proceeded to exam him in the HALLWAY! Took him in a exam room for a shot but told him not to sit on the bed. They just released a patient from there and hadn't cleaned it yet. So back to the hallway we go. That is where they put bandages on his legs while people our up and down the HALLWAY!! This was are first visit and it will be the last!! When you are new to the area you take a chance and hope it goes well. Unfortunately that's not how it went this time. I do want to say the 2 gentlemen at registration were WONDERFUL!!!

Rarely do I write bad interviews, but will take the time to do this one. I hope we never have to go to this hospital again. My research will begin to see where we will need to go. My husband was brought by ambulance to Blount County Memorial and brought to the emergency room with stomach problems. He is extremely healthy, no medication and was in a lot of pain that night the ER. The nurse was okay and the doctor was very flippant. They kinda acted like he was being a baby. I had my kids there and needed to bring them home and they ensured me that he would be discharged in a couple hours. So I laid down with my phone and I never received a call, so I assumed he was put in a room. I called at 6:50 the next morning and found out he went to ICU! I never even got a phone call. I guess they found out that he wasn't faking. Then the ICU department was not friendly at all and defensive on any questions we asked. The communication was terrible (No communication). Anything I did find out I had to ask. I would strongly suggest that anybody go anywhere else. We also brought my daughter they're 15 months ago and neither my husband or I cared for the way they were. Now the second time proves our feelings were correct.