St. Michael's 24 Hour Emergency Room

24 years of Rugby! \r Thank you to the entire team at St. Michael’s ER on Westheimer in Houston for doing such a great job on my separated shoulder. After twenty four years of Rugby, traveling all over the world, my shoulder and I finally went separate ways. While playing in a recent tournament here in Houston, I made a hit during the match, which according to the paramedics cost me a level 2-3 separated shoulder. ER- here I come….not so fast! My buddy and president of the club told me about St. Michaels. He was right. After a short drive and arrived and was in and out with my X-Rays on CD in about 25 minutes. Awesome Job! The St. Michael’s team took great care of me and I was able to get back in time for the post tournament festivities. Thank you to all the members of the St. Michael’s team. Steve B. \r more

Misdiagnosed, wrongfully medicated and over charged. The fancy waiting room is not worth the hassle. I also found it very interesting that a St Michael's employee called me to tell me our $1500 bill was inflated. You think?? more

Get someone in the ER entrance that knows what they are doing. I was there Sunday night. At no time did anyone inform me that my insurance would not accept what they charged. They also, while I was on Valium, double charged my debt card. This may not be important to you, but if you are the sole support of three people and the only one working, it becomes very important. They know they did wrong, but when you call there all you get is the girl in the ER. They were suppossed to debit my card for one amount, and when I got home I discovered they charged twice as much. To me this is fraud because they specifically know what they are doing. I am in the prosess more

I would give St. Michael's zero stars if I could. Or negative stars. Whatever. I meandered into St. Michael's to have a swollen finger looked at. After a brief wait, the doctor saw me. He picked up my hand and peered down at it for ten seconds, after which he sat down, peeled off his latex gloves, and said, ""the swelling will go away on its own."" This apparently costs +$870. I have been charged three different times over the past year in escalating amounts in the hundreds of dollars. There are items listed on the bill that had nothing to do with my condition and played no part in my diagnosis. The billing staff is unhelpful, rude, and is unable to give me a reason for these mysterious items I am being billed for beyond, ""just pay it because we say you owe us."" Knowing what I know now, were I given a chance to go back in time, I would rather perform an amateur amputation on myself with tooth floss than visit St. Michael's. Finally, while I am certainly not accusing St. Michael's of any criminal wrongdoing, I can't stop thinking of words like, ""fraud"", ""thief"", and ""extortion"", along with a long list of profoundly unladylike words. It is my opinion that the people at St. Michael's are morally bankrupt, unethical (unladylike word). Pros: They totally have a big screen TV in the waiting room and it's like wicked huge and stuff so that's awesome. Cons: Everything else. You will have to invent new words to describe the frustration and pain you will feel as a result of doing business with St. Michael's. Passersby should be warned to not stray too close to the front door, as you may be billed for the experience. more

St. Michael's has a great staff. I don't have insurance anymore and needed to get checked out. There was no wait I've been there on two separate occasions and got everything that was needed was done. more

Having four very active children, we need a frequent flyer card to the ER. Luckily, St. Michael's is an ER without the ER wait. It is not the cheapest route, but if you want excellent care and no wait....this is the place. The staff is wonderful and my children always feel special and cared for when they have to go there. more

We went to St Michael's Emergency room as my daughter was having an asthma attack. Told them upfront which insurance and they told us that they are just like a regular emergency room with deductable. The doctor was very good and got her treated. Two weeks later I recieved a $7600 bill because they are NOT in network and they can charge us all the costs over the insurance allowance. Not once did they let us know that they weren't on my insurance. After 9 months of going back and fourth they settled with us to pay the in network and drop the extra charges. It was a nightmare. Better to go to the hospital and wait. more

It is now 11:30pm, and my dad just got back from this hospital. A few months ago, he was diagnosed with an ulcer. For the past 2 days he had been feeling a sharp pain on the top of his stomach, and I finally convinced him to go to the doctor. He went, but when he got back, he told me that the doctor did not believe him when he told him that he had an ulcer even though my dad showed him the paperwork from his previous doctor. He asked my dad if he had any vomiting or diarrhea, and my dad told him NO. The doctor then proceeded to tell him that what he had was gallbladder disease. My dad insisted that he has an ulcer and that he wanted to get that checked, but all he got was a blood test and a diagnosis randomly thought of by the doctor whom I will refer to as ""Dr. Pig, DO."" My dad was prescribed pain killers/aspirin, which make ulcers worse, and pills to stop vomiting and diarrhea, which my dad told the doctor he did not have. When my dad took the prescription to CVS to get it filled, the pharmacist thought it was odd and felt compelled to ask my dad what he was taking the medication for. My dad told her what had just happened and the pharmacist told him not to take the medication because it could cause the ulcer to get much worse. I can't imagine what could have happened to my dad if the pharmacist had not noticed the stupidity of that doctor to prescribe that to my dad. On op of all that, they charged my dad over $500. I hope that idiot doctor has good malpractice insurance because if he keeps pulling diagnoses out of his a$$ like that, he is really going to need it. It's not even because of carelessness, the doctor deliberately ignored what my dad told him. more

I broke my collarbone playing softball when I tripped over a girl trying to steal second base. They wanted to call 911 but I didn't want to go through all that. So my friends drove me to St. Michael's ER. It said on TV that it was fast. It was really fast and the people there were nice, even if they did tease me about tripping over a girl, but so did my friends. My collarbone is fixed and I'm glad I went to St. Michael's Emergency Rooms. I should be able to play softball again soon. But I'm staying away from girls. more

I recently took my niece to St. Michael?s on Westheimer for severe dehydration. The facility is beautiful and sparkling clean. We were seen right away by the friendliest people. Both the doctor and nurse attending to my niece were so kind, patient and thorough. They even made her laugh! I?ve had occasion to visit hospital ERs before, and they?re never been like St. Michael?s. The hospital ER patients are always in despair by the time they?re seen. And my final bill at St. Michael?s was much less than I usually pay in a hospital ER. Thank goodness for St. Michael?s! This will be my permanent ER. more

Last Nov. I was assaulted late in the evening. After EMS cleaned my wounds and I figured that I was capable of driving myself, I went home to look for a hospital where I could get stitches. Looking to avoid high ER costs, or at least a long wait while I was bleeding from my head, I found what seemed to be the best option after midnight, St Michael's ER on Westhiemer. As I checked in, I asked about billing, and was assured that the billing would be the same as if I were ""in-network"", but that the machine was down at the time, so they couldn't give me an exact answer. I got my stitches, and several days later got them out. No complaints about the services. However, the billing was less than uncomplicated. At first, I was billed for the removal of my stitches, which I was told at the initial visit, and at the removal visit, were included in the original visit's cost. The billing department corrected this, and credited me for the ~$200 charge. A month later, I received my bill for the initial visit. I carry high-deductible insurance through BCBS of TX, so I knew that the visit wouldn't be paid for by my insurance, but that's why I have savings. However, only $222 of my $1200+ bill was counted towards my deductible. After talking to both St Michael's and BCBS, the discrepancy appeared to be that BCBS covered the in-network payment that they would normally pay for the services in my area, whereas St Michael's held that their rates were the normal rates for my area. If I had gone to an ""in-network"" hospital, I would have been charged for the $222 that BCBS ""adjusts"" for its customers. However, since BCBS does not contract with St Michael's, my bill would not be adjusted, going against what I was led to believe when I signed in to the ER just after midnight. Eventually, I was given a 30% ""discount"" if I paid in full, by the end of the day, which I did. In summary, St Michael's misrepresented their costs as being ""in-network"", whereas they billed me over 4 times what ""in-network"" would have cost me. Had I have known that St Michael's ER would have been so expensive, I would have gone elsewhere. However, ""shopping around"" for ER prices isn't possible even at the best of times, and especially not at the time when you need emergency care. more

We thought my husband broke his ankle on a Sunday afternoon at a swim meet. We took him straight to St. Michael's. We were seen immediately, x-rays were taken and read very quickly. It ended up not being broken, but a Class 2 Sprain. They wrapped it up, gave him some pain meds, crutches and instructions on what he should do to heal it and we were on our way home. It was a very fast, and pleasant experience. We only paid our $100 copay and insurance was billed for the rest. I would definitely go back in second!!! Thank you, St. Michael's!!! more

Over the past 40 years, I have been to the ER at least 100 times and gone through the traditional 4-6 hour wait only to have every intern come and ask the same ridicules question(s). Hospital service is notoriously as bad as the food they serve. NOT THE CASE at ST. Michael?s ER! Professional, great service and very friendly has me hooked and I will not be going back to the traditional hospital ER anytime soon. more

This place does not even deserve a one star rating. I went in in the middle of the night for a abscessed tooth. My face had a golf ball sized knot from the abscess. Upon my arrival I signed in and was back in the back very quickly. However, when the Doctor came in my night went from horrible to worse than horrible. The Doctor who calls himself Dr. Happy wanted to stick a needle in my gum and inject Lidocaine to numb my tooth until I could get to the Dentist the next day. Through tears of pain, and fear of needles I asked him if I could lay down and was shaking and scared. He immediately ripped off his gloves and said ""I can't deal with this, you are uncooperative."" I told him that I was uncomfortable having him stick a needle in my mouth while I was sitting up on a bed. He told me to get out of the ER (and this after he swiped my debit card for $100.00). When I stated that I wanted his supervisors name that's when he became even uglier and called for the HPD officer who was sitting in the waiting room. I explained to the cop that all I asked for is to lay down and the physician became irate, and is now even more irate because I am asking for his supervisors name. I then looked at Dr. ""Happy"" and told him I wanted my money back, I did not get a service and since he was kicking me out I wasn't going to pay. He said fine and yelled at the nurse to go tell the reception to ""Give me my d%mn money back and get her out of my ER."" I went to west Oaks hospital where I was treated wonderfully and the Doctor was comforting, compassionate and eased my fears, and allowed me to lay down. Yesterday I received a bill for $100.00 and saw they billed my insurance for over $400.00. Today I am reporting them for fraud to the Attorney Generals Office, and Aetna. Then I find out from other people who have gone they have also been treated rudely by either Dr. ""Happy"" or the nursing staff! It may be fast treatment, but it is expensive and the treatment you may receive is not worth it! more

I was shocked totally shocked by the bill. the room cost almost 900 and the doctor almost 400. We were there a total of fifteen minutes for a minor infection. Insurance paid the doctor bill but declined the hospital bill due to the fact the hospital is not licensed. I DO NOT recommend going there due to the exorbitant cost. I received notice from my insurance company three months after the visit and have yet to receive a bill from them. Pros: seen Quickly Cons: Cost Wayyyyy wayyyy wayyy too much more

Preface this by saying that I'm aware that emergency room costs are higher for the obvious reasons. However...... Pros: Looks nice. Cons: very high relative cost !!! more

We went in for an ankle injury around midnight a few months ago. They charged us $100 for our ER co-pay after we told them it was only $60 and they would not call the insurance company. They said if our co-pay was less than they charged they would re-imburse us... 4 months later, the claim still has yet to be submitted to the insurance company, we have not been re-imbursed and the billing department won't call us back. Pros: no wait, large tvs in every room Cons: incompetent billing department more

You won't have a wait here!! My son was clearly dehydrated, and having called several ERs in my area of town, my doc mentioned St Michael's. It was WELL worth the 30 minute drive, and the care was fantastic. I did not even have a seat in the waiting room before they took my son back for his vitals and to get him set up with IV fluids. They made the experience as comfortable and soothing as could be asked for, and as if that wasn't enough... today I received a follow up call from them inquiring how my son was doing! I would give them 10 stars if I could! Pros: Clean, warm, caring, attentive, thorough doctor and staff more

4 months after visit, I get a bill that charges me an additional $50 because I came in after 8pm or 10pm, depending on who you talk to. They never mentioned this at check in, just took my $100 copay. They should have told me it would be $150 then, not 4 months later. The bill also had no phone number to contact anyone about this. Not a well run organization. Pros: Not a long wait. Cons: Charged too much. more