If you live in a rural area, hospitals are not as well equipped as city hospitals. As far as diagnostic testing and the care you receive. Our rural hospital will stabilize you, than life flight you to larger hospitals for care. But that is not always the case. I have had to demand family members be life flighted to city hospitals when I was told "There is nothing more we can do. You need to start making arrangements" for something as simple as a broken wrist. My brother was admitted and was having cluster seizures at rural hospital. They refused to give him his seizure meds because "The Dr didn't leave instructions for him to receive them". I said "Well, can't you call the Dr and get an order to give him his Dilantin?" and they said "No. He went out of town for the Labor Day weekend". I said "Well, get the on call Dr to prescribe his meds!!" They said "There is no on call Dr." I said "Well, don't you have an ER Dr or another Dr in this whole hospital that can prescribe his Dilantin?" Nurse said "There are no Drs in the hospital this weekend. Just Drs assistants. A Dr or Surgeon will be called in if there is an emergency like a car accident". I said "My brother his seizing every 13 minutes. This IS an emergency to my family!!". She said "It's not the kind of emergency to call a Dr. in for." So, I screamed for them to transfer him to Knoxville immediately or I will file a malpractice lawsuit against this whole hospital and against YOU, (the nurse). They found him a bed at Ft. Sanders in Knoxville and he was life flighted there. When helicopter arrived, he was seizing every 7 minutes". When he arrived at Ft. Sanders, Dr. called me and asked if I wanted him to be placed on life support bc his blood pressure had dropped so low and they couldn't get it back up. I said "Absolutely!". He was on life support a week, hospitalized 2 weeks, than went to nursing home for a month and came home with slight damage to his brain, but otherwise OK. So, you have to advocate for your loved ones and if you have no one to advocate for you, find someone. Anyone. And write down your meds, instructions in certain cases, and hospitals you do not want to be admitted to for anything more than stabilizing you than you want to be transferred to hospital A, B, C or D. Research your local hospital, their protocalls, what emergency staff do they have on holiday weekends, do they have life flight contracts. Do your homework and advocate for yourself and your loved ones. Not all rural hospitals are as horrid as the one near me. I have had to demand and threaten to have my brother, (a triple stroke survivor), life flighted 4 times. 2 of those times he was dying from neglect by rural hospital. Not changing his cathetor and he got an infection and I was told he was going to die. And he broke his right wrist and had surgery. He couldn't use his left arm from strokes. In ICU, they would set his food and water down on bedtray and leave. He had no way to feed himself. They kept telling me he was refusing food. He wasn't refusing food!! He had no way to eat it so I demanded he be life flighted to Knoxville. He was severely dehydrated, malnourished, and his numbers were crazy. Knoxville filed complaints against rural hospital with AMA for neglect. Within 24 hours of care at Knoxville hospital, he was close to 100% better. So, do your homework and demand a 2nd hospital if need be.
No. In fact they are VERY VERY different according to how they are staffed, according to whether they are teaching hospitals or not, according to the state they are in and the support they have, according to whether non profit or for profit (though there are ways for "non profit" to profit if you know what I mean. Most now have hospitalists giving care, not your local MD. They vary also in the services they offer. Some small town hospitals don't even have an emergency department. Specifically what are you curious about, or what do you need to know.
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Not all rural hospitals are as horrid as the one near me. I have had to demand and threaten to have my brother, (a triple stroke survivor), life flighted 4 times. 2 of those times he was dying from neglect by rural hospital. Not changing his cathetor and he got an infection and I was told he was going to die. And he broke his right wrist and had surgery. He couldn't use his left arm from strokes. In ICU, they would set his food and water down on bedtray and leave. He had no way to feed himself. They kept telling me he was refusing food. He wasn't refusing food!! He had no way to eat it so I demanded he be life flighted to Knoxville. He was severely dehydrated, malnourished, and his numbers were crazy. Knoxville filed complaints against rural hospital with AMA for neglect. Within 24 hours of care at Knoxville hospital, he was close to 100% better. So, do your homework and demand a 2nd hospital if need be.
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Why do you ask?
Yes, every hospital is different even in the same State.
Specifically what are you curious about, or what do you need to know.