Methodist Hospital

Dear Patient Advocate,

I am writing to formally request a review of my recent emergency department visit at Houston Methodist, as well as the associated charges.

During my visit, I presented with severe and persistent pain that was significant enough to bring me to the emergency room.

While imaging was performed, including an ultrasound and additional scans, I did not receive a thorough physical examination related to the area of my pain. I was never provided a gown, and the affected area was never visually assessed.

I was visibly holding my side in extreme discomfort.

I understand I am not a medical professional, but it seems like a basic step would have been to examine the area where I was clearly experiencing pain. Aside from a brief instance where a doctor pressed on my stomach, causing severe, visible and audible pain, no further physical evaluation was performed. Everything else focused solely on imaging.

My husband even expressed to the doctor that I do not have a low pain tolerance and would not be reacting that way unless something was seriously wrong.

Despite this, I was discharged and told that nothing was wrong.

Five days later, on 04/20/2026, after my symptoms continued to worsen, I sought additional medical care and was diagnosed with shingles. Both my diagnosing physician and my psychiatrist expressed extreme concern that this diagnosis was even missed during my ER visit, especially given that a basic visual exam likely would have identified it.

As you know, early diagnosis of shingles is critical.

By day three, symptoms significantly worsen, and by day five, the day I got my diagnoses from your ER 4/15/26, the pain can become severe and much more difficult to manage. This progression, along with the nerve pain I am still experiencing, could have potentially been minimized with a timely and thorough examination.

As a result of this missed diagnosis:

* I continue to experience significant nerve pain and complications

* My condition progressed to a more severe and painful stage than it likely would have if caught earlier

* I incurred additional medical expenses, including further imaging and treatment that may have been avoidable

* I received a hospital bill totaling approximately $17,000 for a visit that did not result in an accurate diagnosis or appropriate care

While I understand that medical professionals are human and mistakes can happen, I am deeply concerned that a fundamental part of the evaluation process was overlooked. As a patient, I relied on the medical teams assessment and was reassured that I was fine, which delayed necessary treatment.

I respectfully request:

1. A formal review of my emergency department visit and the care provided

2.

Consideration for an adjustment or reduction of the charges associated with this visit

3.

Guidance on any additional steps I should take moving forward

Attached is my shingles diagnoses from my doctor, pictures of the shingles on the day I visited your hospital, and a copy of the insurance claim itemized by procedure.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kayla Hill

DOB: 06/16/1988

432-425-****

Day of visit 04/15/2026 Time of visit 0206- **** in bay E.

All they care about is money. The place is run by greedy pig accountants and correspondence school MBA flunkies with no knowledge of medicine.

All they care about is money. Dr. Boom is a figurehead. The place is run by avaricious accountants and nursing school flunkies with fake MBA degrees who can only see and work for their next bonus.

They are the biggest money-grubbing bastards. If you go there, you will get quoted an amount, and then they will keep billing you for other things. I think that balance billing is illegal. DO NOT PAY them a dime until you get your EOB from your insurance.

This place would do better if they drove out the professional managers like St. Patrick ridded Ireland of the snakes.

I wish I could rate ER and Hospital separately. ER a definite 100! They take very good care of you regardless of the volume of people coming though. You just have to be patient as it can be a very long wait.

The Hospital on the other hand. After being inpatient there 4+ times, I can honestly say, they are rating right up there with Conroe and Kingwood and its not a good place to take your pet, much less be a patient there. Its not the same at other Methodist locations. Its just this one. Theres a prison warden / Hitler mentality that starts at the top and goes down through the Doctors and nurses. They treat you like youre in prison with no rights as a human being. I for one will not go back to this location. Each inpatient stay, its getting worse, not better. They say its for patient safety but in reality, they have no clue what a patient needs, because they dont listen to anything the patient has to say. Ive had my body for 55 years. I know it way better than a Doctor/Nurse who treats me for 15 minutes and talks to me for 3. I even had a Charge nurse make the comment, well, youre the expert to invalidate my feelings, my opinions and my thoughts.

If you want to have zero say and just be told whats best for you - Methodist The Woodlands is the hospital for you, but if you want any sort of say over your best interest - go to another hospital. This one is awful and I know for fact Administration does not care about your grievances /complaints and wont until it hits their pocketbook. I just got out yesterday. I was there in April for the same exact problem that caused me to have emergency surgery this time - yet, I was discharged anyway. I complained and complained in April and it did zero good! After this visit, Ill go elsewhere if I need to be admitted. Maybe Ill try St. Lukes.

It took over 8 hours to get Gas X after having intestinal surgery and being so full of gas, that I could not pass - I had to get mad to get the med. I also had to bring some of my medications from home, because the hospital does not carry it. Everything at this Hospital is centered around making things easier for their staff, not for the patient. Its geared toward making sure their *** is covered from any and every legal aspect that could potentially come up, not for what a patient needs. From a patient or even loved ones standpoint, it seems the hospital is being run by Lawyers not Doctors/Caregivers who have a damn. They act like they are doing you a favor , like youre not paying for it. Nurses cant seem to speak up. Its obvious they are not allowed to voice their opinion. Some of the nurses go above and beyond, but they seem to have little to no input nor say and they are not willing to buck the system. This hospitals idea of patient safety is taking away as many freedoms from you as possible. Lord forbid you need to go *** - every patient, regardless of why you are there, gets an alarm! You stand up to adjust your underwear and all of a sudden, the entire Hospital gets to know because an alarm sounds and calls the nurses station. If you complain- you will find, you become the patient who miraculously recovers and is now ready to go home. They process you out so fast - you are home before you can blink.

Not only do you deal with all of this, but in the days that follow, your test results will appear on your MyChart/Methodist App and youll find out you had all kinds of abnormal results that were NEVER mentioned to you.

They also forget to provide necessary services after a surgery with general Anesthesia. Like a spirometer. I can barely breathe, cant cough up the stuff in my lungs, yet, I was never given one despite asking and being told I would.

If I could give zero stars, I would. If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, do not come here.

I brought my father in with a 105F fever, severe chills, body aches, and drenched in sweat. Despite the urgency of his condition, we never made it past the check-in deskno one acknowledged us or made any effort to assist. Staff could be seen and heard talking and laughing behind the desk, and though we made eye contact several times, we were completely ignored.

After waiting for over 10 minutes with no help, we had no choice but to leave and seek care elsewhere. This was an extremely disappointing experience and a poor reflection of what Methodist claims to stand for.

On 12/3/24 I was admitted for total right knee replacement surgery to be performed by Dr. Christopher Smith.

While being given anesthesia the anesthesiologist hit a nerve. I screamed and he said he made a mistake and was not suppose to hit that nerve. I lost confidence from that moment. After surgery I awoke and was told again that I would be going home and not to inpatient rehab as I requested.

I am 71 years old with multiple comorbidities that require monitoring after a procedure such as this. My insurance said they would cover the cost of my admission to rehab but my surgeon refused to sign tge paperwork. A social worker at tge hospital brought me a list of nursing homes that I could go to for skilled nursing. I chose one while I was under morphine for pain.

They discharged me at almost 9pm and when I got there the place is was substandard and I could not stay so my elderly husband took me home in pain. I was given no pain beds on discharge. For the past 5 weeks since tge surgery I have been to the ER twice and readmitted to the hospital for pain. No one could find out what is causing the pain and I have not seen the surgeon since 12/9/24.

On my first ER visit the doctor found a blood clot in my leg.

Still i am in excruciating pain and not getting better. I need help with this matter.

Methodist is criminal organization. They screwed me over 3 times in one medical visit:

1- They billed me over 10k for visiting their ER bcz my wife had miscourage and she was bleeding and we had no choice.

2- We signed up for payment plan and after it was canceled bcz my card was compromised and canceled they sent our bill to collection without notifying in one single email or call or message.

My wife credit got ruined .

3- After negotiating with the the collection agency we agree to pay the full amount after receiving 40 % which we did. It turns out methodist was working with the collection agency to get as part of the money because methodist is billing us for again for the 40%

THIS THUGERY AT ITS FINESTalal