Cleveland or Pittsburgh

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

Wanted to ask a question. My gastro is making me go to a transplant

center to establish a relationship. I think that I want to go to

Pittsburgh rather than the Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland is about 50

minutes from my house and Pittsburgh is about an hour and 50

minutes. My question is this, Is it foolish to drive an extra hour

just because you don't like the hospital that is closer?

I had to go to the Cleveland Clinic when we were working on my

initial diagnosis. At the time my gastro was concerned about

cholangiocarcinoma because of how large and tight the stricture in my

common bile duct was and Cleveland could do a needle biopsy of the

stricture and an endoscopic ultrasound. I made 3 or 4 visits to

Cleveland and spent a little time as an inpatient. All my visits

with the exception of my initial consultation were a nightmare. I

could probably type three pages on how bad my experiences at

Cleveland were. I'll just summarize my main complaints. When I

showed up for my ERCP at Cleveland they had lost my chart, along with

all my labwork, brushings and scans from the local hospital as well

as the labwork and CT scan they had ordered. Its not very reassuring

when you're sitting in a gown on a cart and the dr. you're meeting

for the 2nd time says " well we lost your chart and I don't really

remember you -- could you give me a quick summary of what's going

on? "

When I was admitted for pancreatitis, it took 6 hours to get the

nurse to answer the call button and get pain meds. My experience

with the nursing staff was terrible. I will admit by the end of the

stay I was a monster because I was hurting and upset. They even sent

me home with my IV still in my hand. Finally, the insurance/billing

person I was supposed to work with refused to precertify things with

my insurance company which meant that I would have an $8,000 out of

network deductible instead of everything being free. I think I spent

5 or 6 hours on the phone and was basically told that my insurance

was my issue not theirs and that I should be happy " The Cleveland

Clinic " was looking at my case. That's only a few of the things that

went wrong there are even more.

I just don't think I can go back there and feel like I'm in good

hands. I know they have a good reputation but I don't know why based

on my experiences. I even hold a grudge against them because all the

Cleveland Browns players they operate on end up with staph infections

and repeat surgical clean-outs. I hate that place. I can't imagine

myself having a major surgery there. I don't trust them. I just

don't want to make things harder on my family with the drive if I'm

being unreasonable about Cleveland. Is it wrong to not go back

there? Do you think Pittsburgh has a better center?

Thanks,

Darcy