Monday, January 15, 2007

UPMC St. Margaret's-Big Insult to Injury

So I head to UPMC St. Margaret's Hospital today to visit a pal of mine who has a chronic illness. He frequently has to be admitted due to pain, where subsequently they dope him up since there is no cure, and he lays there zombified until his pain goes away. But I digress.

Upon arrival to the suburban hospital, I find that for a half an hour visit I must pay THREE DOLLARS to park in their lot. There are 3 lots, none of which are being used except the one I am parked in, and the one I am using barely has any cars in it.

Now this hospital isn't run by the Shriners, where you may expect them to ask for handouts since they dish out all the cash themselves, and may ask for the 3 bucks to help pay for property. This isn't a hospital run by the Sisters of Mercy where they may ask you to toss in a buck or two to help out. This is UPMC, the KING of hospitals in the western PA area, not to mention a hospital basically in Fox Chapel where Pittsburgh's richest live!

The Hospital also expects my friend to dish out 5 bucks a day for TV service. Can he bring his own in? No. But he has to use their piece of shit service with 5 fuckin channels on it.

Just for your info, UPMC made a record $523 million in their '06 fiscal year (they have been trending up.) There are companies that would give their arms for 1/10th of that. They brag about their $60 million in charitable care. Don't believe this shit. If it wasn't for the bad press for refusing someone, I just can't see these dickheads handing a dime to anyone. If people still can't afford it, where is all my medicare money going???

If you expect me to pay even a DIME for my parking, then I expect you to provide full security to my car. WHAT THE FUCK AM I PAYING THREE BUCKS FOR?? If my car gets fucked up, or busted into, you should be liable. Don't put those jerkoffish "Park at your own risk" signs. If you are taking my money, I want a service.

The ironic thing is, if I weren't a member of the interminably stupid as well, I would park on one of those fancy streets a block or two away and not pay a dime. But silly me.

Hey Jeff Romoff, CEO of UPMC, maybe you can give back some of that 2.4 mil you earned in 2005 so that you don't have to ask people with friends and families with cancer to begin our agony 1000 steps earlier into the hospital by paying your redicuous parking fee. Fuck yourself, Romoff, you asshole.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree they rip off with the parking. But to add more to the UPMC St. Margaret mess, I was scheduled for a dopplar last January. The person at the desk had NO idea where I was to go and just sent me somewhere, which of course was WRONG, who sent me back and the MORON at the desk got MAD at me because SHE did not know where I should go. She sent me to another place where the woman working in some back room NASTILY told me I was supposed to register at the desk (I guess from her indignant tone this was MY mistake as she treated me like the village idiot). I go back and inform the MORON at the registration desk that I was supposed to REGISTER and the MORON blamed me because I was supposed to tell HER I had to REGISTER! This hospital has been identified as one of the Western PA death hospitals, and it is evident to me now. These people have NO IDEA what they are doing, but they will happily overbill for it! Which is the other mess. The insurance company requested information from them for over 6 months and each time I called I got passed to some other LOSER that works there.
You are correct about the CEO - there is NO PERSON worth that income running such an awful business - and that is all UPMC is but a business, not a hospital. They overcharge, charge for unnecessary things, CANNOT provide information about why they are billing (overbilling).
This world is getting worse, and I can see why Americans are so hated.