4-St RN

Dear HCA Hospital,
You keep calling me and I don’t answer the phone; you keep sending me a bill and I ignore them. So now I want to ask you—How does it feel to be ignored? How does it feel to want something and to be ignored?
The bill you sent me is about $2000k and I want to review a few things with you: I was brought to your facility four different times, in less than 5 months, for the exact same issue and symptoms, via ambulance. $700 for each trip and my insurance covered half, leaving me to pay $1400. Now, if your staff had done their job, the first or second time I sought treatment, I would only be out about $700. The way I see it, because you failed, you should pay me the $700 for the third and fourth trip.
Each time I was brought there, a CAT scan was performed—FOUR scans, in less than 5 months, for the exact same issue and symptoms. What do you charge the insurance company for each? If I paid out-of-pocket, I know it would be a lot less, so what is your kickback? What “profit” do you make on each CAT scan? Given that you “used” me for that income, I think I should get a percentage; again, you owe me money.
Now, I’m a registered nurse and my role as a patient, in your facility, included me having “teaching moments” with some of your staff. I think $60/hour is reasonable for me to receive as an instructor. I’ll be conservative and say maybe 10 hours total for the 7 days I was in your facility. $600 to me for teaching/instruction.
Regarding my second visit, where the doctor was grossly incompetent, diagnosing me with a UTI, despite never performing a UA that day and ignoring the negative results from just 36 hours prior, his salary should be docked, and that money should come back to me! Sitting in your ED for 6 hours, writhing in constant pain, because the doctors can’t or didn’t read my current medication list, which includes LDN for chronic pain. They gave me pain meds that were contraindicated with that medication. Did anyone ask me? Did anyone talk to me? NOT ONE—EVER!!
No, HCA, I don’t owe you money—you owe me! A simple diagnosis—which you finally determined after 4 visits and countless repetitive tests to be, as one of your very professional nurses said (yes sarcasm), “it’s just a gallbladder!” I’m trying to wrap my head around all the money, staff, equipment, and medication used to diagnose “just a gallbladder”.
Every time you call my phone and I don’t answer, I want you to think about all the times I called out, rang my call button (when it was made available to me) and begged to be heard and listened to, while I was a patient in your facility. You clearly have ripped off the insurance company and me, with repetitive and yes, expensive tests. Tell me the cost to pay your staff, to care for one woman, over the course of 8 days for something that should have been resolved in less than 24 hours—NOT days. Might I make a small suggestion? Efficiency? Have you ever hear of that? The definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Maybe, just maybe, you should try a different tactic? You have all the advanced technology; supposedly your staff has some medical knowledge and this isn’t their first day on the job, correct? 4 abdominal CAT scans in less than 5 months, for the exact same symptoms, and nobody could figure anything out?
Here’s the kicker: you sent me home 3 times, with totally unresolved issues and a bunch of papers, instructing me to return, should my symptoms persist. It’s a total joke and it’s beyond disgusting.

🥰🥰🥰

NEGLECT IS ABUSE.

I’m saying it out loud and again because too many people dance around it, sugarcoat it, or pretend it’s something else. There’s a world of difference between parents who are struggling, doing their best, trying to provide, and parents who neglect because they put themselves first. Kids can tell the difference. Kids always know.

If a parent is struggling financially, trying to put food on the table, clothes on their back, and still showing love… they are not neglecting. That is hardship. That is poverty. That is life being hard. And yes, poverty is awful. Yes, addiction is a disease. But there is no excuse for choosing a bottle over your baby. Choosing drugs over your child. Choosing your habits over the cries in your own home. That is neglect. That is abuse.

Neglect doesn’t always look like bruises. It doesn’t always leave a mark. But it leaves a scar no one sees. It’s the meals missed. The homework ignored. The cries for attention that fall on deaf ears. The doctor’s appointments skipped. The clothes never clean. The love that is absent. Children notice. Children know. They feel it deep down. And the world needs to stop pretending it’s okay.

Neglect steals more than childhood. It steals trust, safety, dignity, hope, and identity. It tells a child they are not worth showing up for. And that is abuse.

We need to say it. Out loud. Neglect is abuse. Don’t confuse it with hardship, struggle, or poverty. Don’t hide behind excuses. Kids don’t forget. Kids don’t forgive easily. And those who should protect them…social systems, communities, society… we need to start holding people accountable.

Neglect is not subtle. It is not a lesser evil. It is abuse. And it’s time we stop pretending it’s anything else.