Letter to the Editor-PMC

Dear Editor,

    I went to Prowers Medical Center on April 6, to get x-rays and an MRI to try and find out why I was having excruciating pain in my arm and shoulder.  I was treated very nicely when I handed them the $3,000 they insisted upon before I could receive the services, in case my insurance didn’t cover the cost.  There was also some accommodation done because of some confusion about my appointment time.  At X-ray the radiology technician placed me in a standing position that was too painful for me to maintain.  I told him I was in pain and felt faint. I was told we could stop, but I would have to pay for the x-ray anyway and then pay for another one when I could stand the pain.  He also informed me other patients were waiting. Trying to do what was requested; I fainted from the pain and hit my head, and as I found out later my posterior.  It was then that I was told we could do it with me sitting in a chair.  I followed with an MRI that went without incident.

    I then returned home to see a very large bruise on the side of my eye from when I had fallen. I called and was told “you fell on your butt”.  I was very upset and went back to X-ray to talk to someone in charge, and they wanted to make sure I wasn’t injured from the fall.  I was told I needed to go to the emergency room to be checked out.  When I arrived there I started filling out paperwork and asked if I was going to have to pay for the emergency room.  After a long time of waiting until they found somebody that could answer the question, I was told that yes I had to pay for the emergency room because it was my fault for fainting.  I told them I would go to my own physician to be checked out.  I was told I would have to sign a paper refusing medical treatment against their recommendation, which I refused to do and left.  Later I saw my on physician and had x-rays of my face done there.

    PMC is very concerned about people going out of town for services and will be asking voters to approve up to $9,000,000 for a fancy rehabilitation center next month. I am empathetic to rehabilitation services as they do an excellent job.  It seems to me that if they want community members to stay in town and property owners such as myself to pay for a new facility, we should be treated with respect and dignity.
 
    I hope we get some Board Members elected that will direct the PMC administration to be more sensitive to those of us living in the community instead of everything being about the money.

Francene Brooke
201 Prairie St.
Lamar, CO 81052
691 – 2291