St Davids North Austin Medical Center

I had my first baby here with Dr. Allison Divine. It was clean and the staff was perfect. I had absolutely no complaints. I got my epidural as soon as the pain got strong because I was told the anesthesiologist might take a while– he didn’t. I expected this to be the worst part of baby having but he was great (helpful boyfriend distracted me too). My postpartum nurses were the best. I wish I remembered they’re names but this was almost a year ago. They were super helpful with breastfeeding and my night nurse in particular saved my daughter some hard times by pumping extra amniotic fluid from her stomach –apparently a common thing that babies just pass. It helped her to stop feeling full and actually eat. The food was okay from what I remember but we just had family bring us outside food.
Bottom line– I’m having future babies here.

DO NOT GO HERE FOR SEVERE, ACUTE ABDOMINAL PAIN — YOU WILL SUFFER.
I laid on a gurney for over an hour in the ER with a pre-​diagosed condition of bile duct trauma. A bile duct splint had been removed earlier that morning at the SAME hospital. I was in excruciating pain for over an hour while the ER Gastro Dr. spoke on the phone with my surgeon trying to figure if my esophagus was damaged or whether he had nicked my bile duct on splint removal. IN EITHER CASE, THE ADMINISTRATION OF A PAIN RELIEVING IV DRUG (DILAUDID…ANYTHING) WAS *NOT* CONTRA-​INDICTED. Meaning: ER Dr. could’ve prevented my hour long writhing agony, but chose not to. I was finally hospitalized for the next 3 days. This is not the ER you want to go to if you are passing a kidney stone or having some other excruciating body malfunction. The ER staff first views you as junkie seeking a quick fix, then waits to somehow ensure your pain is genuine. I highly recommend you travel a couple of blocks further & use Seton’s ER. I know I will.
Later:
The staff at St. Davids just replied to the complaint message I sent directly to them. The salient sentence of their lengthy letter: «.. . it is our conclusion that your evaluation and care in the Emergency Department were appropriate and met the standard of care.» One can only interpret this to mean that if I have another excruciating gastral flare-​up, I’ll writhe on the ER gurney for the requisite one plus hours. No. I’m a Viet Nam vet with 10 years in the Corps. I have a fairly high threshold of pain, and this ER team unnecessarily pushed that threshold to the limit for no rational reason, but to paranoidly cover their inept butt against junkies seeking fixes.

I delivered my second child at this wonderful facility. After my first delivery experience at Fort Hood, this hospital was a dream come true.
My OBGYN was awesome (Dr. Clarissa Guiterrez, Renaissance Women’s Group). I was induced at 0800 and delivered my son at 1118. Dr. Guiterrez was just the best! My delivery nurses were Bobbie and Abbie and my husband and I deemed them «team-​amaze balls». You wouldn’t have known that they had any other patients, considering the time and attention they devoted to us.
Rupauli was our very caring baby nurse. From there we were transferred to a beautiful ante-​partum room where we were carefully attended to by Chantal and Elizabeth. During our stay we also encountered some other really special care providers including:
Prabina (night), Neju (day), Kimberly (night), and Kasi and Katie (day). I also want to acknowledge the most wonderful lactation expert and RN, Rowena.
I had the most awesome labor and delivery experience with this group of people and this great hospital. My first experience with was less than desirable and I had an ocean of trepidations, but the professionalism and courtesy extended to my family and me at St. David’s leaves me wanting a third child (earmuffs, husband! Haha)
The St. David’s staff was committed to excellence from the moment we stepped foot into the building until one week after we were discharged. I received two follow-​up calls checking in on my physical wellbeing, as well as, inquiring about my overall experience during my stay. I was just so pleased and impressed with every aspect of our experience.
I would be happy to discuss any questions or concerns for anyone considering delivering here. Please don’t hesitate to message me!

Now the hospital is trying to charge my mother for services she didn’t receive because we chose to leave. This is a serious disappointment. How can you charge someone for medical treatment, when they got up and left the ER because they were uncomfortable with what they were witnessing and chose to deny your faculties care. This so so so shocking.
We will go to Seton

Updated — I wanted to just say that the morning after this transpired, the hospital director called me and addressed the situation with the personnel in question. He was sincerely apologetic and thorough with his follow through. I appreciated it very much and hope my situation was an isolated incident.
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My dad was a patient at St. David’s North Austin for about a month, before he was transferred to a rehab facility.
The 2 stars are for the doctors who watched over him, and like 3 of the 30 nurses — they were communicative and caring.
I’m compelled to write a review because other than the above, this facility is a disgrace in terms of the nurses who work there. My dad had a surgery go very wrong with complications, and had to have a life saving emergency surgery — he was on death’s door for quite a while. I live in California, and while I flew down to see him for about a week, I had to go back home and speak to the nurses via phone. It’s obviously very frustrating to not be able to be in the facility in person, so I was hoping to talk to some caring people.
In particular, the nursing supervisor in 3S called Ivy was one of the most heinous, most rude human beings I’ve dealt with in any situation — like disgraceful on a level I’ve never experienced in my entire 32 years if life. When I called to find out about his care, she told me she was too busy to deal with me and hung up. She also told me my dad was «annoying» and «blowing things out of proportion» — meanwhile, he was very close to death. I had to call back a few weeks later as the facility lost my dad’s wallet and I needed to figure out where it was. I got the lovely Ivy again, and she scoffed at me and laughed, and said she was too busy to care about it and hung up the phone. When I called back, she refused to speak to me. I’m not doing the rudeness of the situation justice here, but I need to say that I’ve never encountered a worse human being in my life and I’m still shellshocked that a moderate level ICU facility would be filled with such callous people. (Andrea, Z and Sandrine excluded — they were lovely.)
His medical care itself seemed okay, but that’s thanks to the doctors invested in his case.

What kind of freak show are you guys running ?? !!! Got transferred over to different departments over 7 times — just to find out about a friend who was admitted in an emergency ?? Finally the phone line gets disconnected!!! Pathetic !

Fantastic maternity care. I had 3 excellent L&D nurses who looked after me with attention and care. They encouraged me to do what worked best for me. Even after I had my epidural placed and had to stay in bed, they helped me try different positions to be more comfortable. I was able to hold my baby for 20 minutes after he was born. Then the nursed asked if I was ready for him to go to the bassinet to be cared for. They did all the weighing, measuring, washing, etc. in the delivery room so that my baby and I didn’t have to be separated. The post-​partum care was also excellent. The nurses were all respectful, kind, and knowledgable. Babies «room-​in» with their mothers and are only taken to the nursery for about half an hour each night to be examined. My husband also felt very welcome during the whole process and was seen as part of the team.

This lovely review is for the ER Dept, where my elderly relative was shuttled by ambulance, after a fall. I met her there moments afterward, which was a good thing, since her communication skills were severely hampered by a previous stroke, and this hospital’s staff was severely hampered by a commitment to quality care.
There weren’t many patients in the ER that day. So you’d think she’d have pretty decent care. However, we sat alone in a tiny, windowless, airless room for hours, during which time she was never given fluids, either by IV or mouth, never offered a bedpan (possible hip/​pelvic fracture made a trip to the BR risky), and rarely checked on. The nurse who took her vitals and history disappeared down the hall.
After awhile, I peeked my head out a couple of times, and then walked down to find the doctor, chatting up the nurses at their station. He finally breezed in and out, ordered an X-​Ray, and returned to his coffee klatch.
When the burly X-​Ray tech came to collect my relative, I followed him down the hall and into the X-​Ray Dept. I waited outside like a good girl, and then returned to wait for another hour or so, until the doc returned, gyrating his prayer hands at me as if we were in a yoga class or at the Academy Awards, and told me he’d accidentally had them X-​Ray the wrong hip. «If there’s a problem with your insurance covering it, let us know and we’ll take it off,» he said. I told him I wanted him to take it off the bill now. Is it too idealistic to expect them to pay for their own mistake? Apparently, because when I got the non-​itemized *HUGE* bill and demanded an itemized one, I noticed that it was indeed still on there, and that my insurance did indeed pay.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital (for 9 hours), another X-​Ray tech came to collect my relative, this time a harried looking woman. I followed her back and into the room this time, against the tech’s wishes. Maybe because she couldn’t transfer my relative and didn’t get help, she was trying to get the patient to transfer herself to the X-​Ray table. That’s right, with a potential pelvic/​hip fracture. I stopped her.
Back in the airless, fetid ER room, where my blood sugar had reached new lows and I was getting fairly bitchy, I decided to seek nutrition for myself and for the patient, who had still been offered no fluids or food of any kind. I found the exit door locked, and had to talk to someone in billing to get them to buzz me out. That’s right. Billing has to let you out. And they require a credit card first.
When Dr. Yoga finally came in with the news that there was no fracture and we could go home, we had been suffering through the abysmal ER experience at this hospital for 9 hours. I can’t imagine how things would have gone, had the patient really been injured. I decided then that, should we ever need another ER trip, it would be to a different hospital. If you’re stuck going here, my best advice would be to bring along an advocate. And some food and water.

These 5 stars are for the children’s emergency room alone… I’ve had my issues with this hospital but the new children’s ER is great. Don’t have to drive all the way to Dell children’s and the doctors and nurses are all great with kids. Very patient and informative. They answer all your questions and don’t scare the kids. it’s set up kid friendly with chalk boards and puzzles in the rooms and child stickers on the walls. They’ll put on cartoons in the room for them and on one visit they gave my daughter a popcicle… it’s always a quick ER visit anytime I’ve come and the biggest thing as I’ve said before they are great with kids.(something you would hope with a children’s ER)

This review is for the women’s center. I had my son here s few months ago and it was overall a very good experience. The staff were pleasant, and the doctors in the nicu were awesome about keeping us informed with everything going on with our son. The birth registrar did mess up his first and last name, and his dad’s name as well when she entered his info so that has been a pain in the ass to fix but other than that everything was great.

Fab-​u-​lous!
I am very thankful for the care and concern that I received while being an ER patient at NAMC. Warren is a wonderful RN and really took the time to explain my care to me step by step. Dr. Hatfield showed care and concern and listened to my worries while completing his assessment. The Charge RN Jenna, made me feel secure and safe in my room placement.
I am beyond happy with the care I received at NAMC and would never go anywhere else!
Thank you staff!

Today was my first time in this hospital. My cousin gave birth to a healthy little boy. It is a really nice hospital. Much nicer than those in my hometown. While in my cousin’s room, the nurse came in to check on them. She was a really kind, professional yet casual, funny nurse. Seemed very attentive and willing to help with anything she could. Very refreshing to see. Not all healthcare professionals share this quality unfortunately. The rooms are nice and spacey. It just looks really clean and taken care of. My cousin’s experience was exactly what she was looking for during the process. It is great!

Around 3 AM, I had to visit the ER at SDNAMC because of some complications I get every few years after a major surgery. I was seen right away and I felt that the staff (nurses and doctor on duty) was very responsive to my pain needs and took into account every one of my symptoms and concerns.
I was in excruciating pain and probably wasn’t very nice, but they never missed a beat. I wouldn’t hesitate to seek out these caring professionals in the future, for myself or my family. Thank you all for your dedicated service!
(I had some issues w/​billing, long after my departure, but they have since been resolved and are detailed below.)
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Update on my prior review:
Soon after posting this review, I received the reply below my review requesting that I contact someone to help me resolve the issue.
Bobbie Melde who I spoke with is a medical professional and was very attentive at listening to my long list of concerns. She directed my exact needs and complaints to the attention of people who could help, even though it was late in the day. I really appreciated her timeliness and attention to detail.
There were some additional hiccups that were resolved the next business day. I am gathering there are some disconnects between billing and medical care rendered, but I am just glad that it got resolved and I now have more confidence heading back to St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, if needed.
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To start, this is a review mostly reflective of the horrendous billing practices after a visit to the ER, August of last year. I would give 0 stars if not for the competent, professional and responsive staff in the ER.
About every 2 years, I have some very painful complications after a major surgery (brain). August 2014 was one of those times. The ER staff took care of my urgent need and the wait was short.
At the time of registration, I gave my current address and info. They copied my insurance card and DL which also has my current address. Actually these items were copied twice: once at the time of admittance to the ER and once after I was in hospital. I thought the billing wouldn’t be an issue.
Unfortunately I thought wrong. Nevermind the issues I had w/​the insurance company (that were eventually resolved). St. David’s North Austin Medical Center never filed my insurance or updated my address. They still had me living at an address 8 years prior and when I was uninsured.
Over the course of the next 3 – 4 months of my life, I had to call about 30 different people, different times, to be updated w/​physician’s biller, the hospital itself (this one took several different calls), the hospital’s billing contractor in Kentucky, all to share w/​them my current address and insurance info that I had *already* shared. Finally, after wasting many lunch breaks at my job, I was told by all of these various parties that they had my correct information and only a small balance remained after insurance. I paid that balance. I stopped receiving bill collection notices.
Well, turns out that was all a waste of time.
Fast forward to August 2015, when I am applying for a mortgage. I had recently looked at my stellar and hard-​earned credit and felt very proud, but I was surprised that I was denied based on a low score, so I pulled my report.
It turns out that Austin Radiological Association was never given my correct address — despite my even asking specifically about billings for scans and if I needed to follow up. They had been sending these notices to an 8 year old address. Of course, now it is too late for the insurance to cover it, a year later. I was told then that the only way to have this mark against me removed was to get St. David’s Hospital to write a note stating that I gave the correct address originally and they could take the mark off (and of course I’d still have to pay the full balance).
Well, a lot of luck w/​that. I have been trying to get in touch w/​someone to send this note, since. They have various numbers for «financial counseling» and «billing» the difference of which is never explained. The financial counselors NEVER answer the phone and do not call back. The billing people in Kentucky just transfer you to the voicemails of the other people.
I don’t know what the next step is, but there is no way such a process should be so ingratiatingly difficult. I almost wish I had never gone to the ER, although I didn’t have much of a choice at the time.
So, word to the wise: If you are in agony and think you may be in imminent need of medical care? Think again. The billing and registration process could cause a lot more pain for you, in the end.

This review is not taking into account billing, which I’m still going through for my procedures, and which, in my experience, is a cluster anywhere you go. I’ll update if something comes out of this whole billing process that I determine is a miss on St. David’s part.
My first visit here was to the ER. I was having a gallbladder attack, which presents very similarly to a heart attack. I was brought in right away and received all the necessary tests to rule out a heart attack, including EKG, blood test and a chest x-​ray. These were done SUPER fast, right at the beginning of the visit. I’d barely settled into my bed when x-​ray showed up bedside to take the pics of my chest. After all of that was ruled out, my attack had passed, and I spent a few hours waiting for labs to be returned and to be observed. Finally, the Dr. came in with a script for tramadol (for future attacks) and a referral for a surgeon. Everyone I encountered during this time was really nice. The facilities were clean and I really didn’t have any issues. The fact that this couple hour visit cost $ 4,600 made me want to barf a little, but I have pretty decent insurance (though 10% co-​insurance really sucks when the bill is almost 5k!) and I don’t think St. David’s is the only hospital raping people financially.
I returned less than a month later for my gallbladder removal surgery. Leading up to surgery, I had a pre-​op call with the nurse and the call with the financial person to discuss what I’d pay for my portion of the surgery. I liked having this info upfront (though I’m still terrified I’m going to owe a lot more than what they originally charged me for, based on the claims I’ve seen coming into the insurance. But again, this is not about that part…) and I felt really prepared when I went in.
The nurses were really great and friendly. I met and dealt with a couple of them and they were all really great. I was at ease the whole time and when you get taken into your pre-​op room, there’s a board on the wall that tells you all the people who are going to come in and talk to you before surgery. My surgeon was running late because of a prior procedure and they kept me up to date the whole time (it was only about a 45 minute delay). My boyfriend and mom were able to sit in the pre-​op room with me and wait in there while I was in surgery/​recovery. While I was in surgery, the hospital called my boyfriend at the number I provided to give him an update on how it was going. Fancy!
I really have no complaints and found the surgery process really easy (it was my first!). I always knew what was going to happen next, the facilities were really clean, I wasn’t rushed out of recovery, but they also let me go as soon as I felt ready and didn’t try to unnecessarily keep me longer.
I wouldn’t hesitate to return to St. David’s North for a future procedure or emergency, but I really hope I don’t have to!

My stay has been incredibly pleasant for the most part. With the exception of the first hour in the emergency room where they had students trying to get their first IV stick — which I warned all involved I was a terribly hard stick. I had no idea I could say no to having students woke on me.
St David’s North Austin Center Medial Center Hospital March 24 2015 — March 27 2015
*911 took me there following complicated side effects of March 24^th surgery at Arise Medical Center in South Austin on Bee Cave.
*Emergency Room: curtain room 13. RN: Mike. A group of students came in to stick me for an IV and I am a terrible stick so l was not thrilled with the many bruises that ensued due to this fiasco. I saw Dr. Milner and right away, he told me he had talked to Dr Shaw and I was being admitted. However, there were no beds ready upstairs just yet. (Laura & Zach came and saw me) RN change: Rita. Omgosh my favorite person in the world. She was so so nice despite being super busy. And, at this point, I had not received my psych meds still and she was very kind and told me things would be okay. She went above and beyond anything I could have imagined a nurse to be.
Emergency Room 18. RN: Zach. It was as though they read my mind’s suggestion to move me somewhere else when things hit the fan in the curtained area. This room was private but very tiny, but I I liked it. Zach was a bit scattered, but very sweet and always came when I needed, no waiting and very kind. Even Rita popped in when Zach was at lunch to give me my meds. What a treat!
Emergency Overflow room 32. Very nice — earthy — lighter green on the wall, hardwood floors and it was a very small area with only one nurse: Krysta. I was very frustrated and in a lot of pain by the time I had been moved here because I had felt uneasiness and more due to still not having a room even though I had been moving around the hospital. (which was huge!) Krysta’s smiling face, her kind demeanor and her readiness to make me feel as comfortable as possible. And then …
3pm on March 25^th, I headed upstairs to room 449. It was 3pm. So the current tech was Ron, who was the most fun, most awesome, most everything you could have imagined and made me smile like I did not think was possible in here!!! The RN at the time was Shona, who again shined as well — they were a good team. Shona seriously made each time I needed her, Ron, too — a treat. I never felt like I was a bother, or that I might have been an interruption. And I felt they were genuinely glad to see me.
PM shift, March 25^th: Anusha was the RN and I was freaking so happy and excited to see her, not because I knew who she was, but because she was so so kind to me, and so sweet. She reminded me of home for some reason and she always always checked on me hourly. It was amazing. The tech was Carol who I honestly did not see much of — but when I did, she was great.
March 26^th AM: Melissa was the RN and she was awesome and very competent at her job, she had the most amazing way of reassuring me that all would be okay and that she was close by if I needed her. And she checked on me a lot. The tech was Kaitlyn who was helpful and kind but she had to go home early because of her back so then Leticia took over and was wonderful!
PM shift, March 26^th.: Deepa was the RN and wow. Just when I did not think that I could possibly be more blown away by this hospital — Deepa comes a long. She was very attentive, very caring and always helping me figure out easier way to do things -. And the teach was Rosemary and Baljeet, both of who I did not really see so I cannot talk about them.
(discharge day!) March 27^th AM: Taylor is my AM nurse and though I have only seen her as of right now 9:15am, she is just as sweet as she could be. And omgosh so so sweet. And you can see that she wants to help in any single possible way, and I respect that. My tech is Nancy and he has been awesome.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
March 24^th help from Jason
March 24^th help from Trang
March 25^th help from Thomas
March 25^th help from Jeff
March 25^th Room Service: Ryan — went above and beyond what he had to do and made me smile!
March 26^th Housekeeping: Felicia — great and wonderful personality and put a smile on my face!
And am sure there will be more good news to come. One thing — this is by far the nicest hospital I have ever stayed in. The facility itself is amazing. Everything is a bit more done up well if that makes sense? The treatment is beyond what I could have asked for during a very scary time in my little workld.

I gave birth here in early 2015. On the whole, the experience was satisfactory, but there were a few rough spots.
I was able to have a 40-​hour-​long natural childbirth with induction here. I was never pressured for more intervention or a c-​section, which was my goal. Part of this laid-​back approach was, I’m sure, the OB practice I chose to carry out the birth. The nursing staff I had in labor and delivery varied wildly; I had several during such a long labor. The first two were poor to mediocre, and in the beginning of my active labor my husband and I were kind of left abandoned for hours. The important thing is, the nurse I had for the last 8 hours of labor was AMAZING and didn’t leave us until my daughter was born. (Her name is Maureen and she’s on day shift. Ask for her!) I’m not sure if this was luck of the draw, or a more experienced nurse being assigned to me exclusively since I was approaching the end of labor, but she would also make a rad doula. The nurses in antepartum were all fantastic, and all questions and concerns I had about my daughter were answered thoroughly.
What made this a lackluster experience was how it began. In addition to poor quality care at the beginning of my labor, there was much confusion when I arrived in L&D as scheduled for overnight pre-​induction. In sum, they had no idea why I was there, although this had been scheduled through my OB’s office for over a month. I’m not sure if this miscommunication was on the hospital’s end or my doctor’s. The first 12 hours there, I experienced a lot of gaps in my care: what drugs should be ordered, what conditions existed, etc. My husband and I had to listen closely, ask a lot of questions, and speak up early and often. Fortunately, I wasn’t yet in active labor, since I was induced, so I was level-​headed enough to be an advocate for my care. It would have been much more challenging to handle these issues while in full-​blown labor, I’m sure. Before we left antepartum, all these issues were discussed with nursing managers when they visited us to ask about our stay, so I’m glad they’re aware of these issues. (We also got a chance to recognize Maureen who is again, the best labor & delivery nurse EVER. I would still be in labor today if not for her!)
Before my arrival in L&D, I experienced a lot of problems with registration, verifying insurance coverage, etc. Communication here is very poor. When I called billing recently, the link is STILL broken on the St. David’s web page to the phone contact info for this particular hospital.
So I rate this place a-​ok because I had the birth I wanted and my child arrived safe and healthy. Still, if and when I birth my second child, I’m not sure I will choose to deliver here. It seems to be the best choice for a hospital-​based natural birth in Austin, but it would be way more attractive without the hassle.

My father was admitted here late last year. The staff was friendly but the cafeteria was horrible. The food is overpriced and is really bland. I realize that the selection is limited, but for someone who is sick or has sick relatives and has to be at a hospital for weeks at a time this was torture.
My dad was treated nicely and the staff did what they could.

I am writing this review based on the hospital bill that I received, or that Medicaid received rather. You know, you hear those stories about hospitals/​doctors/​clinics over charging medicaid a boat load just for profit but since it’s just another story on the news, how much truth could there be to it, right?
Here’s my story:
I am 7 months pregnant. I went to the ER for some chest pain. I didn’t feel like I NEEDED to be there, I’ve always been a, «it’s nothing» «it’ll pass» type of a person. However, I have a baby inside now and traveling the day before made me want to make sure there wasn’t anything serious going on. So with a push from my Fiancé, I went on in. My wait was SHORT and I appreciated that. The lady took me right in and did an EKG. A 3 minute, stickies on me, push of a button, stickies off me procedure. I now know that this little test cost medicaid a whopping $ 577. This little computer, that an app on a phone could probably out perform, cost $ 577. (Okay, I’m venting here, but still — it’s outrageous)
I went to a room right away. A straight forward, no nonsense, very blunt nurse came in and I was told I was out of breath because I’m pregnant. I agreed, I understand how this all works. The minute she opened the curtain she began typing on a computer. She didn’t take vitals she just typed away and looked at me like I was an idiot. Pinned to the wall was my $ 577 EKG reading (normal by the way). Doctor was in within a few minutes of her being there. I told him the issues and basically, a not so long story short, he told me there was really nothing that could be done because I was pregnant. He didn’t believe anything was really wrong with me and I could have an x-​ray if I wanted it. That was IT. I had an x-​ray (that I now know cost an additional $ 600) and the results were normal. I walked in and out of that Emergency Room within 40 minutes.
A week later I logged into my benefits account and a claim had been filed to Medicaid for $ 1,988. I immediately called the hospital and was referred to billing. This is when I was told (and read this slowly because I am expressing it with extreme passion) that it cost $ 800 to walk my little feet into the ER and have a doctor and a nurse tell me (in one way or another) that there was no need for me to be there. $ 800. Is this a joke? My mind is completely boggled at this point. I literally walked in and walked out with nothing but an x-​ray. Do the math. That is $ 50 a MINUTE. The billing lady told me it was a «visit fee» and there was nothing I could do but receive a price breakdown from an auditing nurse.
My fiancé jokes that I’m the best Medicaid recipient ever — lol. I am grateful to receive benefits, don’t take advantage of them! If you’re still reading this and you have been billed by this emergency room, please message me because I am EAGER to compare «fees».
In conclusion, I’m moving to Australia.

The ER here is awful. I have bad luck and tend to be injury and accident prone. Every time I’ve visited the ER, something bad happened. I’ve lived in Austin over 6 years so these visits are a bit old.
The first time I had to come to this ER was for carbon monoxide poisoning. My oven was leaking CO and the fire department measured pretty high levels in my house. Thankfully we had an alarm. An hour after the leak, I was still having a headache, so I had my roommate drive me to the hospital. It took awhile to check in, then they gave me oxygen for about an hour. I was feeling back to normal. A nurse came in and put an IV in my hand and told me they were giving me morphine. I told her I felt fine and didn’t want that. They gave me morphine anyway. It made me feel really amped up and awful. Why didn’t they listen to me? I was fine.
Second visit to the ER was early in the morning. I had a really nasty sore throat and I felt like it was swelling and constricting my breathing. My then bf drove me to the ER, I filled out the paperwork, returned it to the counter, and it took them 30 minutes to even look at the clipboard. Thankfully my throat didn’t worsen, but seriously, intake is a joke. There is no sense of urgency at all.
Third visit was after a stupid chiropractor did some bad neck adjustments and I was suddenly feeling very dizzy. I feel dumb for going to a chiropractor, but my D.O. recommended it and I was dumb enough to trust her. Anyhow, this ER doc has the nerve to tell me «are you sure it’s not just your period?» I gave him such a dirty look. OH WOW, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT MENSTRUATION IS LIKE, MAN WITH A FANCY DEGREE. It’s just insulting.
At this point I would recommend any other hospital in the area. Maybe even the emergency vet, or an oxygen bar, or just ask the nearest male to mansplain your period to you.

So I kind of have a health issue that popped up again. It first started in 2012, not at all in 2013, and out of nowhere now. It landed me in the hospital. I basically live across the street from St. David’s North, so it’s stupid for me NOT to go there.
The ER is VERY quick. You check in and they’ll get right to you. They’ll do their best to be expedient. You may be in pain or whatever, but understand that you’re not a special flower and they have other people who got there first. I know it’s enraging at the time, but take a moment to understand their position.
The facilities are clean, surprisingly large. I’ve never shared a room with someone and I don’t even know if they do that. Oh, wait, no that’s a lie. The very first time I went in, the ER was INSANE and I had to stay in the room with convicts and crazies. I was in so much pain, but laughter is the best medicine and what I saw and heard was so amazing. The cop on duty kept coming over to apologize that I was seeing a bunch of crazy and I kept having to re-​assure him that I loved it. I watch too much reality television to not enjoy what I saw.
Anyway. Blah, blah blah. Sometimes the doctor doesn’t come to see you every day, which they’re SUPPOSED to. If you get the offer to go home, TAKE IT. I once got held for four days longer than my initial medical issue due to a fever that wouldn’t break. I can have a fever there or at home. The medicine is the same. Also, sometimes they restrict your diet pending your medical issue. The clear liquid diet is brutal, but be mindful of what you order and don’t over do it. Also, heads up: they WILL NOT let you order something out of your dietary restriction. If you get upped to the full diet, the chicken quesadilla is oddly delicious. I only say odd because you’re in a hospital and you’re not expecting anything. So when something comes and it’s actually probably one of the better quesadillas you’ve ever had? All of the breakfast options are good. Build your own sandwich, that’s always acceptable. The burger is fine, the pizza is skippable, the fajitas are nonsense, the vegetable stir fry is terrible, the roast turkey breast can be tough. The BLT is a BLT. The Philly Cheesesteak is messy, not a must, but alright. The fun part is the popsicle. It’s fun. The desserts are all pretty safe. Skip the pasta bar options, they’re really basic. The salads are pretty good. Again, I’ve spent a lot of time here, so I know the food.
Make friends with your RNs and techs. They have a really great staff here and they’re your best liaisons. Also, forgive my focus on the food. I’m not coming here just to eat. Unless it’s that chicken quesadilla.