Community Hospital Gift Shop

Dec 2023

My father receives care from Community Hospital which part of Montage Health. It has been a terrible experience. Hospital discharge planning has been inadequate and disorganize. Montage is also affiliated with Hospice of The Central Coast. Referrals are made by doctors from Montage and in my fathers case was done during his latest discharge just a few months ago. I believe he has been inappropriately placed on hospice. He has improved significantly since being placed on hospice yet somehow they have managed to extend his eligibility. They attempted to send dad to Hospice three years ago and at the time I was able to make the decision to decline. Seems like living a quality life for three years is evidence that it would have been an error to be in hospice back then yet the recruitment was aggressive. I believe that in my fathers case Hospice has been predatory and that Montage has helped to contribute to this. I urge you to be proactive. Ask questions and do research before allowing Montage and its affiliate Hospice Of the Central Coast to enroll you or a loved one. Beware of these organizations.

Oct 2023

Regularly double bills you. Last 2 office visits I payed the full amount yet every month they send me an invoice to pay again. After the first time they double billed me I told the girl at the front desk of my Doctors office about it. She called it surprise billing and was aware of it. They even offer a protection plan that covers the way they double bill you. 2 different Doctors both affiliated with Community Hospital. Paid both Doctors in full and Community Hospital keeps billing me each month. Going on 4 months now. Btw on the patient portal there is a zero balance. I feel this is very illegal. Incompetent billing department for sure.Update.8/29/23 Just got doubled billed again from Community Hospital. Another different doctor's visit and the bill was payed in full at the time of visit. Told them that Community hospital was double billing and sure enough 2 weeks after doctors visit Community Hospital double billed me. Going to take the bill up to the Doctors office and let them handle it. Community hospital phone calls do not work and people are rude. That's if they answer.Update: 8/17/23 Appointment with a spine doctor. Payed the bill in full. 3 weeks later got double billed plus they added 20% more to the bill. Multiple phone calls to finally get them to stop billing me. The girl on the phone told me they get lots of calls like this.Update: 9/6/23 Yearly check up. Paid in full the day of the appointment. Double billed 3 weeks later. Called and she said that I only owed $61.40 instead of the $253.40 double bill. Told me it was taken care of and to wait for the new bill of $61.40.10/18/23 Just got another double bill for $253.40 instead of $61.40. Have to call again, plead my case. Worst health care provider I have ever seen in my 58 years. Have an appointment with a new Doctor that is not affiliated with this incompetent, mess of a medical care provider named Community Hospital.

Jun 2023

I was on vacation and presented with bloody diarrhea. I had finished a round on clindamycin 10 days before and so I had a heads up that I could end up with diarrhea or worse case: c.diff. So, I got online and the internet said to go to the ER as I had been hitting up every outhouse in rural Colorado for 2 days. I went to Community Hospital in Grand Junction. CO. June 9, 2023. I gave my stool sample. I was given no instructions on how to alert the nurses so I walked over to them and said I had done the deed. They went in to look at the stool sample and proclaimed, "That is not blood!" Not one, but 2 nurses said, "THAT IS NOT BLOOD!". I said, "yes, it is!!". They never acknowledged me or gave me respect and they just walked off. I gave it another go shortly thereafter and it was BLOODY. I actually took the toilet paper to the nurses station and showed them. That is when they decided I was a mental patient. They ignored me. But soon after let me know that I was being "discharged in 30 minutes with 1 Cipro pill." I said I am not taking antibiotics without knowing what is wrong with me. At one point, I was in tears crying to the security guard because they said I couldn't wait for my husband in the waiting room after they kick me out in 30 minutes. I would need to leave the hospital with no ride and no where to go. I had sent him away to a concert knowing that this process of giving a stool sample would take awhile. AND I don't live in Grand Junction and have no way back to the KOA that I was staying at. I was crying and the security guard suggested an uber or I take the Sunshine Bus (that is for people over 65, and I am 58 years old.). There are so many more details, like they said it would only take an hour (I expected a lot longer) and so I had my hubby come back only to have to leave again because that wasn't true. We were supposed to be going to a concert. That is why I kept sending hubby away, to go to the concert because properly done, this stool sample business could take hours. But the number one main thing here is that they are negligent and uncaring. I left and barely signed the discharge papers. They brought them to me sitting on a bench outside of the ER. It took 3 days to get home. I called my primary care doc Monday morning. He ordered a stool sample. it came back c.diff. You can die from that people. In fact, I was in the Phoenix ER waiting to be seen for bloody diarrhea when I checked my lab results. Positive for c.diff. I called my doc again. He said, "Stay in the ER!". They prescribed vancomycin NOT cipro like the doc at Community Hospital. Community hospital prescribed an antibiotic that was not the right one for c.diff and could cause MORE HARM had I listened to them. And early intervention is important with c. diff. I had looked this hospital up on line and both the town hospitals had bad reviews so I picked the closer one. Go to St. Mary's, it has to be better. You can DIE from c.diff. cdc.gov/cdiff/what-is.ht…What if I have symptoms?If you have been taking antibiotics recently and have symptoms of C. diff, you should see a healthcare professional.Developing diarrhea is fairly common while on, or after taking, antibiotics, but in only a few cases will that diarrhea be caused by C. diff. If your diarrhea is severe, do not delay getting medical care.Your healthcare professional will review your symptoms and order a lab test of a stool (poop) sample.If the test is positive, you'll take a SPECIFIC antibiotic (e.g. vancomycin or fidaxomicin) for at least 10 days. If you were already taking an antibiotic for another infection, your healthcare professional might ask you to stop taking it if they think it's safe to do so.Your healthcare team might decide to admit you to the hospital, in which case they will use certain precautions, such as wearing gowns and gloves, to prevent the spread of C. diff to themselves and to other patients.