Northeast Baptist Hospital
San Antonio Texas

Subject:  Enjoyable Stay at Your Hospital.

To Whom It May Concern.

My initial visit for pre-op admission is where this story begins. Upon arriving at Northeast Baptist Hospital I was immediately greeted by a representative your hospital. She conducted herself with utmost professionalism and courtesy. She informed me the approximate time that it will take and so I sat down and booted up my laptop to start doing some work. I did this figuring that this will be no different than any other visit to a hospital that I have been to and will be there for an hour or more. To my surprise I was actually called in less time than previously notified and did not even get my laptop to the point where I can start doing some work; approximately 7 to 10 minutes; and this is only the beginning.

The professional that did all my preadmission was very empathetic to my situation and made the process less stressful than any other time with hospitals. At every point of the preadmission process I informed of how much time it would take and they were 100% correct at every milestone. Interestingly enough even though my paper work said the process would take up to four hours I informed my employer that it could be an all day affair; I was out of there before 11am.

On April 13, 2009 I arrived at your hospital at 6am to get prepared for my total hip replacement surgery. Again I was greeted; my information was taken, finished my admission process, and then sent up to the waiting room before going into the pre-op center. Everyone that was there was also very professional and empathetic to my situation. All the places that I had been in the hospital, and the ones that I would visit, was also at the highest level of cleanliness.

Additionally all the staff was very respectful of my religious beliefs by honoring my requests but also curious as to my stand in refusing blood. Questions were asked about them but these questions were given and the answers that I gave were done with highest respect and always to preserve my dignity.  They also, at every step of the pre-op process, were very informative on what they were doing and explained the risks involved with. I can honestly say that I am pretty much an authority on this process since this was not my first surgery, not my second surgery, and not even my third surgery but my fourth surgery. In my three previous surgeries I have approximately 18 hours of operating room time.

After the surgery I was taken to my room. They were always empathetic to my situation and very concerned about relieving my pain. My room also had a board that kept me informed of who my nurse was and others plus the date. It also had a pain chart. Now my experience with a pain chart is interesting. For years I used to, and still go, to the Veterans Administration and they also have a pain chart. It too is on a scale from 1 to 10. However there are some interesting differences. When I would give a representative of Northeast Baptist Hospital a pain level of four or higher they were very concerned and were always ready to help. On the contrast with the Veterans Administration they would not do anything unless you were at a 10 and then they might give you two aspirins and wait to see if you make it to an 11.

I cannot praise them any higher because Northeast Baptist not only met my expectations and now they are extremely high because I will always compare other hospitals to them that  I might use, but I doubt if I will use any other hospital. Interestingly enough this is the hospital I went to after I sat in Christus Santa Rosa, in New Braunfels Texas, emergency room for two and a half hours with what my home health care nurse suspected to be a possible blood clot. I would highly recommend that Christus Santa Rosa should send their staff to Northeast Baptist Hospital for training.

Also the four other persons that were with me in that emergency room, and that are eyewitnesses to the complete ordeal,  made the statement that they will make the drive to another hospital even if they may be dying. 

Sincerely,

Lloyd A. Gilmore