My Experience with the Hocking Valley Community Hospital

It is hard to believe that I live in a society that is so hung up on appearance that I was practically refused quality medical care because I was not looking my best when I needed help the most. In this article I want to share my experience with the Hocking Valley Community Hospital located in Logan Ohio with other readers in the area to help them make a decision about where to go for medical attention if they have a choice in the matter.

My story is not extraordinary. I had a very long day at work, I was absolutely filthy. I had just got home and taken off my shoes, I went upstairs to grab a change of clothes so I could hop into the shower and wash my day away, and all of the dirt and grunge I had acquired while working. It was late, around 10:45 pm. I stepped into a pair of slippers and headed back downstairs. Then I fell.

I landed on my right arm and I hit my head quite hard on the stairs. My boyfriend rushed me into the hospital's emergency room. I really scared him when I blacked out for a minute and he did not want to take any chances.

I sat in the waiting room for nearly 4 hours before I was taken into the examining area. I then waited for 3 more hours before I was examined. I was feeling terrible. I looked and smelled terrible. I just wanted to go home at this point. The doctor sent me for a few x rays, and then I waited for another hour and a half before he got back to me. I broke my arm in 3 places. The doctor was not concerned about my head, I told him it hurt as bad as the arm did. He said "Well, take an aspirin. You will be okay, I will send someone into wrap your arm in a minute." As he stood outside the door talking to his medical assistant, I heard him say "Normally yes we would offer pain killers, but in this case we are not going to give her anything, she is only here for pills, we see it all the time. She probably intentionally hurt herself for the pills."

That is the truth- the doctor actually said that about me. Had I gone in to the ER after showering, and putting on fresh, nice clothes would I have been treated with more respect and like a human who was in pain? I think so.

Now, had I been to the Emergency room multiple times with painful injuries I might be able to understand this logic, but I had not been to the Hocking Valley Community Hospital in at least 5 years. I have also never returned since this visit, and I won't return if I have a choice in where to get medical treatments.

As a finish note, the technician who bandaged my arm cut off the circulation to the point of causing nerve damage in my right arm. This is a joke in terms of an Emergency Room, I would not recommend that anyone go in to this hospital unless they absolutely have to.