I've grown disenchanted with the aggressive and insulting insurance shakedown process at Columbia-St. Mary's. They have some excellent physicians and paraprofessional staff, but in order to get treatment, you have to penetrate a thick protective covering of non-medical, unsympathetic, call center drones who clearly prioritize ability to pay. I hope you never know the discomfort of diverticulitis, but under those conditions it's even more annoying to have to repeat all your insurance information no less than five times to make a distant appointment to see a physician. So lower back pain isn't quite at that level, but I didn't want to play a long game of phone tag and proving over and over again that I have good insurance so I was attracted to a Wheaton Franciscan orthopedic clinic website that seemed to allow appointment requests via e-mail. As it turns out, no one monitors those email requests, so you have to go through the phone process in a very similar manner to the other big giant hospital corporation. I was complaining about this situation to a nurse friend who was complaining about the negative reviews here, blaming the patients for using the urgent care facilities instead of making appointments with the appropriate primary care or specialist physicians and I realized none of the workers from bottom to top have any idea of how hard it is to do that when you're really uncomfortable. There's some serious cultural lag here, I can make appointments using Internet technology with my dentist, I can make my own appointments and choose my seat assignments online for travel by airplane, it's just ridiculous that the medical profession insists on sticking with 1970s communication technology for scheduling. They sent my paperwork by snail mail, for me to hand write, so when I got there they manually entered it into the system! It's like some Soviet bureaucrat designed their intake system. Okay, so the point of my rant here is to put things in perspective. Wheaton Franciscan is not any worse than the other two big box hospital corporations in terms of prioritizing patient ability to pay, being inconvenient to gain entry, and as having numerous costly and indefensible predatory charges. The whole industry makes air travel charges seem absolutely benign and kindly. Health care doesn't follow the usual laws of supply and demand, the highest prices are found where the greatest concentration of physicians and hospital facilities are found. Wheaton Franciscan doesn't overcharge any more than the other two, and once you get in here, the physicians, nurses, and techs are highly competent. Parking is easy, convenient and free. This location has a nice cafeteria, this is one area where some visible progress has been made since the 1970s. read more

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The doctors are okay but the staff seriously needs to learn a few things about customer/guest service. They treat you like crap when you call and/or walk in for your appointment, and then you wonder if you're a patient or cattle. read more

Went to this Urgent Care in Wawatosa for a migraine headache. Asked for a standard cocktail of medicines for migraine and was given a $1700 Emergency Room treatment complete with IV therepy and everything. I asked them to just give me the shot, like so many times before (a $230 magic bullet at other places). I told them I didn't need the ER treatment and couldn't aford it. Now I'm stuck with a huge bill that could have been treated with much less for much less. They refuse to even consider my argument. Unethical, immoral, profiteers. read more

I've raised kids in oak creek for 10 years. Yes they have a nice new building with all the latest gadgets. Customer service at this location is good and probably are the doctors to. But they charge way to much. Their business model is to throw as many darts (tests,visits,meds,etc) at the board and see what sticks. very disappointed that they wont compromise on billing. even though they LOSE money every time they send an account to collections. Not saying I neglect my due. But its hard to keep up with charges that are 270.00 for a 10 min. exam. Healthcare is a scam in this country. No different here read more

I moved to Milwaukee in February of 2017. In June, I was having a situation where I needed to visit an urgent care. I chose Wheaton Franciscan because it was in-network for me, and I did as much homework as I possibly could before going. At the front desk, I stood for several minutes speaking with the intake staff, asking if my copay would be $30 for an office visit or $75 for urgent care. I wanted to pay the copay right then. They would not take my payment, saying they weren't sure which way it would need to be coded based on my insurance. They said they would bill me. I should have walked away right then. However, I saw a doctor for literally 4 minutes - who told me to go to Walgreens and purchase some over-the-counter drugs. That was the entirety of my visit. I then received a bill for $250 for a facilities charge, alongside a $30 copay bill for the doctor who saw me. Despite doing as much research as a health consumer should, I was lied to, misled, and disregarded. My insurance company explained to me that this is how a lot of urgent care facilities bill - if they're associated with a hospital, they're contractually allowed to bill as 'emergency facilities' instead of 'urgent care' or 'walk-in clinic.' The woman at my insurance company encouraged me to go to a Walgreens Walk-In Clinic next time, or CVS, as long as their walk-in clinic isn't associated to a hospital. The attitudes of the billing staff have been disgusting. While Wheaton Franciscan agreed to a payment plan, they would not reconsider their fee because it doesn't matter to them how much I was misled. I'd go so far as to take them to court, except I cannot afford that, since I can barely afford the $250 bill they sent me. In order to know I was going to be charged so much, I would have literally had to ask for a copy of their contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and gone through to see how they would bill me. Good waiting room reading material, I suppose. The doctor who saw me uses a company called Emergency Medicine Specialists in Milwaukee (the company who is billing me another $30 for a copay) and during the phone call I was interrupted, condescended to, and accused of not doing my research. This is so far from the truth that it makes me nauseated. I will never, ever utilize Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare ever again. I cannot believe this racket is legal. read more

Excellent Hospital, extremely caring. I have had xrays and have visited someone who was an inpatient. The staff is so caring, compassionate and show such respect. This is my choice of a hospital for any of my care/needs. read more

On Wednesday August 29th, 2018 my wife and i walked into the emergency room at Wheaton Franciscan due to my wife having severe tooth pain. We saw a male nurse, and a male doctor on this visit. This visit was wonderful, we were treated great and received exceptional service. They prescribed my wife some pain medication (12 pills in total) until she could see her dentist that coming Friday. Friday came, my wife had 4 teeth pulled and was prescribed pain medication by the dentist (12 pills). Fast forward to Tuesday, September 4th, my wife and i walk into the emergency room once again at Wheaton Franciscan due to my wife suffering from severe pain due to having 4 teeth pulled, and having ran through both prescriptions (as a side note, the prescriptions read "take one pill every 6 hours", do the math through-out a 6 day period and they were taken as prescribed) . We were greeted by a Physician's assistant by the name of Rachael Larosa, who right off the bat came across as cocky, arrogant, and rude, as if we just interrupted her Phone time. Without performing any vitals on my wife, she briefly looked inside of my wife's mouth and then says "well i'm not a dentist i need to figure out what to do here"...REALLY? I then asked her if she can confirm to us that a piece of tooth was still stuck in one of the sockets in my wife's mouth (the dentist never extracted the entire tooth, he missed a piece). Rachael then looks at me and says "Well like i said, i'm not a dentist, so i can't do that". Really??? I am not a dentist either and i checked my wife's teeth, i just wanted confirmation, a second opinion, and instead i was greeted with a snobby,very rude remark! Rachael then leaves the room after telling my wife that she will see what she can do for her. Fast forward 15-minutes and a nurse walks in the room with a prescription for benzocaine, YES, Benzocaine! My wife is crying in pain, has 4 huge holes in her mouth, one of which still has a piece of tooth in it, and "Rachael Larosa" prescribes my wife something that is the exact equivalent to Orajel!!! Now if this wasn't a big enough slap in the face, it gets worse! Attached to the prescription paperwork was a note which read "We cannot prescribe you anymore narcotics for dental pain", my wife and i immediately ask the nurse what this meant . She told us that "She (Rachael Larosa) did not feel comfortable prescribing pain medication to my wife". Basically what this told us is that Rachael believed my wife was only there to get high off pain medication, as if she (WE) are some lowlife-junkie of some sort! We have NEVER felt so insulted in our lives! We have a beautiful house, 5 wonderful kids, and for her to treat us as if we are some drug addicts who just walked in from a Chicago alley was not only insulting, but the most sickening display of unprofessionalism i have ever come across! In a 3 year period, and only living 6 minutes away, we have been to the emergency room of this hospital a total of 4 times, yes 4. Once because my wife had a cut on her eyeball, the second time was because my wife had a miscarriage, and the last two times were because of this tooth situation. We have NO history of walking into Hospitals and abusing pain meds! Honestly, how low does someone's IQ have to be to prescribe a numbing gel for what CLEARLY is something MUCH more serious? We left the hospital that night in disbelief, with my wife crying the entire way home, feeling helpless. That same night she cried herself to sleep in pain, and the next night. It has now been 2 days since she was denied medication at Wheaton Franciscan, my wife is in excruciating pain laying in bed screaming out that she just wants to die! She refuses to go back to our original dentist as leaving a piece of tooth in its socket deemed this dentist untrustworthy. We have since made an appointment with a family recommended dentist, but his earliest available appointment is September 21st, so who to turn to? What has this world come to when a person in need of help is denied by the very people who claim this as their profession? Denied help because of a Physician's assistant who's intelligence sinks well below that of Forest Gump! I have personally never felt so helpless, hopeless, and frustrated all at the same time. How Rachael Larosa talked to me and my wife was appalling, we have never felt so disrespected! Then to add insult to injury she prescribes tooth numbing gel to someone who's mouth has just been ripped apart. This woman does not belong in customer care, let alone working as a physician's assistant. At one point in my life i owned 2 Rosati's Pizzerias (along with my previous partner) in the Chicago suburbs, customer service was always my number one goal, and that hard work payed off, as business boomed. Point being, i would have never, ever talked to one of my customers the way Rachael talked to me and my wife, EVER! Unless life threatening, we will NOT be go back to this hospital! read more

Absolutely the worst health care organization in the country. They order charge and have no idea how to properly treat patient

Since their merge with Acension they have become rude, inflexible, and cold. I had to book an appointment a year out in advance to be seen and even when I go to my appointments I feel like they do not respect me or my time. On top of customer service, I have had a payment plan set in place and have been able to manage my debt until recently when they wanted to triple my monthly payment even though my balance has significantly lowered. Nothing more than glorified mobsters breaking knee caps over bills. I have honored my part of the payment plan, but apparently they can demand more at any given time. Healthcare in America is broken and so are its employees. read more

I agree with Scott C. that this place is NOT the place to go if you are using a medical savings account because they will quickly suck it dry with their crazy overcharging. They charged me emergency room rates for urgent care! I got two bills, one for the facility and the doctor sent me a separate bill for $230 for checking a bruise on my rear after falling! He saw me for not more than 10 minutes! That means he's billing at over $1,400 an hour?!?! That's higher than any brain surgeon on the PLANET makes! And for looking at a bruise and telling me to go take some ibuprofen? Oh please! They are nothing more than crooks that need to answer for their illegal overcharges! read more

Never going here again!! What a horrible place to have surgery!! After surgery they kept me in the "recovery room" for over 7 hours because they didn't have a clean room for me, even though my surgery was scheduled 6 weeks in advance. No family or friends are allowed in the recovery room, so my family sat outside in the lobby, no updates, no nothing from any of the nurses or staff!! The kept telling me I would have a room in a half hour, and over 7 hours later they FINALLY had a "clean" room, which still had garbage on the table and someone else's stuff in it!! Halfof the nurses in the recovery room couldn't believe I was still there while the other half thought I was long gone!! When the issue was brought up, every single person I talked to passed the buck to someone else, always blaming someone or something else for this ridiculous wait!! The nurses who finally got me my room just shrugged their shoulders and said oh well when I complained about the wait, which was over 7 hours after I was totally awake after surgery, and we're of absolutely no help. What a horrible feeling after surgery!! I would never recommend this place to anyone for surgery!! I felt that no one cared, no one gave a s*** about me at all there!! There was no one to voice my frustrations to either, they just kept saying it was someone else and refused to let me talk to anyone in charge!! I saw Dr. Butler by the way, and his nurses were the ones who didn't care enough to even tell my family how I was doing or what was going on. Please pass this along to anyone thinking of going there, please change their minds!!! read more

I have been seeing the same gynecologist for about 25 years. I never had a problem until I turned 51, had some unexpected bleeding, went to see my dr. She threw the cancer word around, said that's what she would be looking for. Sent me for an ultrsound, then apparently she went on vacation and left me hanging for 2 weeks waiting for results. As if that's not enough, she told me I needed a hysteroscopy, which I scheduled, cost me over 5000.00. When she didn't find anything wrong, she just dismissed it as "sometimes women bleed for no reason". So I end up with a huge medical bill, paid 2900.00 of a 3900.00 bill within 3 months, they send me to collections....really? Needless to say I am looking for a new dr.... read more

i recently had a echo of my heart done and dr york she said i had unremarkable result ok. but then bill time came look into my $700 echo gram and on my insurance record it said i had mitral valve disorder so i was freaking out badly since dr york said nothing was found then i read that so the next day i went to my clnic to get a answer if i do or dont have a heart problem and i got told it could take a few day i dont understand why since a heart dr and my primary dr both look at it. so 4 days later went back because i never got a call back and turns out i do have mitral valve disorder wow how can i or anyone else but faith into our doctors were suppose to trust with our lives when this goes on its bad enough it 700$ for the test but has me thinking what else did they miss read more

First two experiences going to them for primary care and an urgent care were both really bad. They did tests I said were unnecessary but said to just do it while I waited for the doctor and then see what doctor said. Doctor agreed with me but tests still got processed, cost over $300. Primary care physician was egomaniacal know it all that refused to fill a prescription multiple doctors have put me on for years and when I found a new doctor and told him about this he said he had never heard of any concern like that for that medication. I told the wheaton primary care doctor I was moving onto another doctor and he sent me a letter saying I was dropped as his patient and if 2 more wheaton doctors dropped me I would be banned from wheaton Franciscan hostpitals? What is he, 12? I already severed him from being my doctor, it's a little late to drop me as a patient (and for no reason mind you). It's embarrassing to be a catholic and have the catholic hospitals in town be the worst in the area. They are bad at medicine and rude on top of that. read more