For all the negative comments about mistreatment and long waits just to be told nothing is wrong...I garantee you can find just as many of the same complaints about every other respected hospital in middle Tn from patients that visit them as well. I have always received great care at the Bedford Co. Emergency room and other dept's. I understand that if I have to wait, usually there is others with more severe problems being treated before me. I do however think that we all can run into disinterest and lack of empathy from staff (medical and other) but it is usually more to do with that specific employee that is there for a job and not a sense of duty. That happens anywhere though, you just have try and manuver around the road blocks sometimes(frustrating as that may be), but try not to group those who do wish to serve and do so, in with those who lack the same work ethic, there are many great people serving Bedford County.

This forum for suggestions for the new hospital looks to have turned into a field day for bashing the Emergency Department at the existing hospital. I am sure there are some valid complaints but most of the ones who have sent theirs in here really only make the writer of the comment look bad. You really have no right to speak about what the nurses/doctors are doing behind the desk because you simply don't know!! What looks like "flirting,socializing,joking" to you most likely is concerned and caring individuals discussing your's or your loved one's plan of care or treatment options. This is our workplace and we are co-workers. We enjoy our jobs here, otherwise we would work elsewhere because the market for nurses is booming. While I'm thinking about it let me complain about the abuse we take while we are trying to get our jobs done. We are verbally and sometimes physically assaulted on a daily basis while at work. We call the police to come in here to protect us quite frequently. Don't talk about us until you walk a mile in our shoes as they say. You might not think it is as easy as it looks.

I just read a letter to the editor from one of the OR nurses at BCMC. I agree with everything she said but the ER part. DR Monajjem did a friend of mines surgery not long ago, she said he was great. I have thought about trying DR. Moyd. I hope that I would see them in the office first. I am sure she was seen quickly in the ER, she was a co-worker. That happens in all jobs even healthcare.Why didn't she go to urgent care?

Thanks for the comments folks! Again, the right people are listening. Please keep them coming. It ALWAYS does good to complain!

I have had the opportunity to make it past the joke in the ER. I have had 2 of my 3 children at BCMC, the nurses in the OB department are AWESOME! I am sure when someone reads this they will start calling some of there names and smiling, you think in your mind you did not even need your doctor. It's not all bad. My hope is the CEO questions why so many people leave without seeing a doctor. It's easier to send out bills than to address problems you know exist.It does no good to complain because you are directed to the secretary and I am sure her plate is full.

I personally will NEVER take any of my children to BCMC, I will pay all that I have to have them taken anywhere but there.

My beloved cousin went to the ER, not once, not twice but 3 times throwing up blood only to be sent home "nothing was wrong" they told him. Only hours after the last trip he was airlifted to Vanderbilt only to die because his liver ruptured due to a pre-existing illness that the hospital was well aware of. Vanderbilt doctors stated that if he in fact had received the proper medical care at BCMC then he would have lived.

I have also experienced 6-10 hour waits with a 5 year old running a 105 fever, while the nurses and staff were laughing and gossiping, after the first 5 hours my husband had to take my other children home and I had to take a taxi with a very sick child home at 3 in the morning. So I will go out of my way to avoid that hospital.

Dr. Monajjem

I woke up on a Saturday morning with a swelled hand. I toughed it out and about 4:00pm. I could not move my fingers. I did go to urgent care they told me I had to go to the ER because they could not do an x-ray. I was not lucky enough to get sick during the week. My daughter broke her arm skating 9 monthes ago, we went to Harton Hospital in Tullahoma where the skating rink was, she was seen within 15 minutes, a surgeon was called, both bones were set in her arm and we were back home in 6 hours. I kept trying to give them her insurance information and they said they would get it later. I gave it to them before we left.I have never used our hospital as a ppo provider. I have always used it because I trusted them. I know if the director of the ER at BCMC would have been present there would not have been 2 nurses working and 4 sitting down, I have never known her to sit down.

First of all, I will start with the remarks that I am a hometown girl that has always stood by Bedford Co Hospital through thick and thin. Never once did I even think about going anywhere else. I have seen many changes in our hospital. Maybe this is progress? One of the biggest concerns that we are faced with, how many of the persons in front of you being treated even should be there--this is causing many problems for the staff and might...just might be judging the reasons of why the person is visiting the ER instead of urgent care or a family doctor. At this point our feelings get hurt because we are there for good reasons and never receive the treatment we feel we should have. Yes, there are still a few that go for true emergencies. For those with private insurance, the bills tend to mound up quickly, as the wait drags on. Our emergency room should not be your PPO, but truly an ER May our hospital bounce back and be the 'home' place we used to be able to go.

Doc B,

The ER does have a dedicated triage nurse, but all patients, once triaged go to the same general areas. If the patient is triaged emergent, they bypass all areas and go to acute ER bed, where the MD is summoned immediately. Care is time-rationed (quite appropriately) in this manner. With a little bit of analysis, it is clear that (way too) many of the ER visits are for non-emergent conditions.

I know some ERs, during the day, REFUSE non-emergents outright...sending them to an on-call clinic or primary MD office. At night, a fast-track area for non-emergents is sensible, but has to have separate staffing (MD/extender) and physical area. I cannot go into details about specific plans or policies currently in place because, as a specialist, it is outside my purview. I am very concerned about some of the comments made in this and other blogs; I have made sure that the people who really need to know about them (not this lowly surgeon :)) are aware. But I realize these blogs are not even close to a representative sample of Bedford County. There are alot of folks out there who have spoken out in other media about the life-saving care they have received in our ER and Hospital. Could it be better? Of course. Bedford Countians, keep speaking...someone is listening.

Hey Tim Baker,It's great to know you are still concerned about Shelbyville,please help!You are an old family friend and I am glad to here from you.It has been "forever"

I agree.. Healthcare in America is something that needs more attention.

Sorry I was not finished! A nurse came in and ask how bad my pain was,I answered her.An ambulance came in with an attempted suicide. The ER staff was yelling out the womans name and even spelled the last name outloud, I could not believe what i had heard.Still waiting,a lady came in to talk with the man next to me,she said "Are you from the Tony Rice Center"he replied yes she asked him if he worked,what he made an hour,how much he could pay a month,and when would he make his first payment. If he had not already had a heart attack I was sure he would after being interrogated and humiliated with no privacy. I had been there 4 hours,still had not seen a doctor,and another ambulance on the way, I chose to leave so I could get me some motrin at the store,they never asked if I needed anything. The only thing I got from this side show was a bill for $488.

I think the wait in the ER is the nature of the beast. If your life is not in mortal danger, you wait while those who have greater need are seen first. I have personally taken my children on various occasions to the ER in Shelbyville, Murfreesboro and Vanderbilt. None of these situations were life threatening, but were serious enough to warrant a visit to an ER, and being the mother, I wanted my babies seen immediately! So I do understand the frustration of trying to comfort your child and ease their pain, when you know that medical attention is needed. I actually felt like I was seen in a more timely manner at the Bedford County ER. My child recieved quality care at each hospital. I know that our hospital has gotten a bad reputation for making mistakes, but I would bet if one was serious enough to do a little digging, negative information could be found on any ER at even the most highly regarded medical institutions. It is up to the patient to be informed and to ask questions. We are as responsible for our medical care as the doctors we choose to provide it.

SoldierMom... that is the truth!

EMERGENCY means EMERGENCY... It shouldn't mean, "Sit here and fill out a chart or a clipboard full of different papers" -0R- "Have a seat, we have a wait."

I am sick and tired of living in the wealthiest country on earth and IN HISTORY and our people still have to wait for HOURS in an emergency room. I do realize, there are a few hospitals that go above and beyond their call of duty, such as Vanderbilt, St. Thomas, and many more. But why in our own country can't we get a staff equipped to handle ALL emergency situations within specific and prompt timing.

Hm, that must not have been you sitting in the ER with us dmdezotell when my son cut his hand open and was required to sit in the ER for almost 2 hours. By that time, the blood had soaked through the towel and created a puddle the size of a dinner plate in the floor. . .or the time that my daughter was involved in an automobile accident, and because we drove her rather than wait for the ambulance (it was out in the county) and her wrist was broken and the wait was FOUR HOURS. Then when we get into the actual ER room, there are empty beds everywhere and only one or two other patients. I realize the ER personnel have a stressful job, but they chose that profession. If they are not cut out for it, then they should move on to something they CAN do.

A process where waiting to see the doctor in the ER would not take hours and hours would be nice.....Course that would probably cut into their (the personnel's) visiting/gossiping/flirting time.