Customer ReviewsforWatauga Medical Center, Inc.

I had services completed at the hospital all went well. The billing department is ridiculous. I had a payment plan set up, made payments monthly. WMC got a new billing system, I no longer received a bill. I called tried to pay on my account, no one could find it. So I couldn’t pay it. I’d call back same issue. Finally received a bill in February. They wanted me to pay the full amount. I explained that I needed a payment plan. Samantha told me I’d heara decision via email in 7-10 days. Nothing. I’d call back same story no account on file. Then I receive a paper in the mail and it has been turned over to collections. I was told it was because I hadn’t made a payment. I explained as to why I couldn’t make the payment and no response. I won’t do business with them anyone because the billing department is non caring and very unprofessional in communication.

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We are investigating this issue in compliance with our regulatory and accreditation standards for all complaints received.

Today was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life, not because I was hurt or ill, but because of the treatment of my boyfriend by the hospital staff. The issues starts here, in the initial triage me and my boyfriend sat and of course discussed why we came in. During this process two staff members walked in with NO WARNING OR INDICATION. The nurse directing the current session showed no urgency or action at all to protect my privacy. My boyfriend ask in a polite tone “hey can we please lock the door” which the nurses responds with “the triage is connected to lobby for staff members”. Clearly upset and frustrated due to the lack luster privacy protection my boyfriend lets me know how frustration and tries to calm down while pacing. At this point we are in exam room 14. The nurse returns, but this time leaving the door completely open where an officer was on standby. Confirmed by the officer the reason he was contacted by the nurse is because she felt threatened and unsafe. At this time my boyfriend has not said anything or even acted remotely nasty towards the nurse at all. The officer came in wanted to talk to my boyfriend which he did not want to speak. The officer responded and said here soon it won’t be an option. At this point my boyfriend was scared and wanted to leave I decided to stay and my boyfriend spoke with the officer. He relayed that if my boyfriend was threatening the nurse and she felt unsafe and he had to step away for the time being. If he did calm down he would be removed by the premises by law enforcement. Completely outrageous for a nurse to be an nonchalant uncaring person and all it takes is a few words to have my boyfriend almost handcuffed. I believe this to be racially motivated for I cannot see any reason why the nurse felt threatened at any point. I already spoke with Mrs.Cherri A***** from risk management. I don’t believe based on the conversation this is being taken as serious as it need to be.

Thank you for referring an issue to us for review.

Unfortunately, we are unable to confirm or deny that any individual is a patient of ARHS.  If we were to discuss a patient issue with you, we would need a specific consent from the patient.  On a side note, our regulatory and accreditation standards require us to reply to all complaints received.  We believe we are in compliance with these requirements.