Dignity Health Medical Group Surgical Specialties - St. Joseph's

Feb 9th, 2023

Last year on April 2018 my daughter Theresa was diagnosed with stage 4 cirrhosis of the liver. We were all in shock and grief not knowing how much time she had left. The attending NP Kelly Hortel would be her liver specialist moving forward. Our first appointment was somewhat stressful as Kelley just stared at my daughter with out touching her looked at her and said in a condisending way you have stage 4 cirrhosis of the liver. We were clueless and trusted that she would explain Theresa's condition to us in detail yet failed to do so. We did know this was illness would end her life quickly if not treated properly. The emergency room Dr basically stated that Theresa's liver was failing. I am a witness to Kelley's horrific bedside manner which left us feeling as if we weren't good enough for her medical care. I'm talking about St Josephs claim of dignity health, and human kindness which in this moment was nonexistent... However we continued to see Kelley. In short she kept us uninformed, she had an air of prejudice about her, she was negligent, and sadly enough did not prescribe the medication most important that would immensely help Theresa. So I wanted a second opinion and had her visit another liver specialist. This Dr helped me at one time when I was miserably ill. So we went to see him instead. And I didn't know he happened to be a Liver Specialist as well. He ordered various panels of blood work for Theresa. He prescribed to her Xifaxan which was vital to her present health. He was compassionate and caring. He explained in detail what Theresa needed to do in order to improve her quality of life. Other physicians at St Josephs emergency department stated that her gull bladder was very inflamed, as she complained about pain on her right side. Dr's mind you in the emergency room informed her that she needed to have her gallbladder removed but couldn't because her liver was too inflamed. Yet this other liver specialist stated "If her liver has been inflamed this long since her diagnosis, she be dead by now" Dr went on to say that it was not her gallbladder but a back injury which was the cause of her pain, which mimicked gallbladder pain. Today my daughter is nolonger sickly, she nolonger vomits all the time, she's gaining weight, and looks so much better. It really distresses me to have to write such a bad review about St Josephs hospital. They have always been a good medical institution for me. What makes me sad is I'm the one who referred Theresa to St Joe's. Needless to say, It only takes one bad apple to cast a bad light on such a excellent business as a whole such as St Josephs Medical Center.
Apr 30th, 2019