LMH Health (Lawrence Memorial Hospital)

Kim dieker

I recently visited LMH walk-in clinic on Iowa. I had a tick bite that was showing classic symptoms of Lyme disease. I waited nearly and hour to be seen. The young women who called me back, weighed me and took me to the exam room was almost non verbal and very unfriendly to say the least. The next young lady who came in for my pre-exam was also less than friendly and acted as though she was very put off with me. The doctor or practitioner who I saw obviously didn’t listen to my worry about possible Lyme disease. She did prescribe an antibiotic, however it was not an antibiotic that would be prescribed for Lyme disease. Why if you are prescribing an antibiotic would you not prescribe the one for the disease your patient is worried about. I ended up going to my regular physician who prescribed the cheaper appropriate antibiotic.

Max Primm

It's sad that Lawrence only has the one hospital to its name, and that so many dedicated staff have to choose between making a long commute to the next nearest hospital or working for a place that engages in extremely unethical practices. Every time I've personally been to LMH due to medical emergency the staff have been patient, understanding and kind. My appreciation for them can't be overstated. Unfortunately, as backed up by a few ex-staff I and family have spoken to, the price gouging at LMH is steep enough that I would recommend making the drive to Topeka or KC if the wait is at all medically possible. Any and all services will be severely overpriced, and the financial assistance and patient advocacy teams seem to operate almost entirely to run you around in circles until you run out of time and are forced into a payment plan for an overinflated bill you shouldn't have to pay. Even when applying for financial aid LMH expects significantly more than is reasonable to ask based on patient circumstance, particularly given the rent and wage crises in Lawrence. Beyond that, asking the finance team for an itemized bill might as well be a joke for all the good it does. I had an ER trip around two years ago and called to request an itemized bill, and was sent essentially a copy of the original bill for services I'd received the first time around. After calling several more times to request an actual itemized bill showing a breakdown of individual prices, the finance department employees were audibly frustrated -- which is understandable, given how many times I'd contacted them for something LMH apparently is unwilling to provide as an operation, but nevertheless was upsetting to deal with. Each time, the "itemized bill" was just a list of the greater services rendered and aggregate costs, with no breakdown for cost of supplies or individual treatments. This is to say that the itemized bill had the exact same information as the initial bill I had received for service, just formatted as though from the back-end. If that's the extent of their record-keeping, they have much more to worry about than just their financial policy issues. I was so frustrated and worn down from trying desperately to figure out why I owed as much as I did, I eventually just gave up. This last time I went to the ER I received a bill of five figures -- not including the physician's services -- and, after sending proof of income barely above FPL, it was reduced to a bit over $4,000.00, which is still absolutely unpayable. Generally, not-for-profit hospitals list their charity care/medical bill forgiveness policies on their website, with a sliding scale based on federal poverty level. Most NFP hospitals will forgive 100% of medical bills for patients making anywhere from 0-150% (or sometimes more, up to 300% depending) of the NFPL, and this information *should* be publically available on any NFP hospital's website. LMH's charity care policy URL as shown on their financial assistance application leads to a page for the Federal Register, with no useful information to both current and prospective patients whatsoever. This means patients have no way to see LMH's medical billing forgiveness policy for themselves, which I find incredibly suspect, especially given their financial team's apparent inability to produce legitimate itemized bills. Overall, avoid LMH at all costs. If you have insurance and are seeing a provider you know your plan covers there you're probably fine, but otherwise, you're better off treating LMH like the plague it is.

Rebecca Jones

I was admitted to the ER with severe stomach pains. five hours after blood and urine tests, as well as a CT scan. i got sent home from the hospital with the “stomach flu” yet i had no symptoms of the flu. I went to an urgent care two days after only to find out that on my LMH chart, it says they found a kidney stone in my CT. I am VERY displeased and am in so much more pain because they clearly didn’t read my chart and the CT scan well enough.

Pete Romano

Recently had a routine coloscopy at the LMH Health Endoscopy Center. Checking in was quick and easy. Everyone on the staff was very helpful and kind. Not once did I feel as though I was being rushed though the system. I was given excellent care and treated very well. Kudos to Dr. Phipps and his staff.