Public Resources
Community Forum – Share your Stories
Please share your stories with us. Are you having a difficult time obtaining health care? Did you have a good experience with a clinic? Do you have a health story to tell? Please add your story here: Share your Story Thank you for sharing with us.
Please Leave a Story with the Comments Bar, or Read the Patient Stories Below:
I'm writing to you about my current situation regarding my health problems with no insurance. I ended up going to the emergency at Legacy Emanuel hospital last Thursday because I had great pain in my left leg. After some X-rays and an ultra sound they finally found [multiple fractures].?They also gave me some additional information about the fracture saying it could take four weeks or longer to heal and for me to follow up with treatment as advised. They also gave me some paperwork on charity care.
?I live here with my elderly father and mentally challenged brother who I was trying to take care of but now it?s near impossible to do with my condition. I haven't worked in quit a long time because I was also helping to take care of my mother whose health conditions had made her bed ridden here in our living room over a year ago. She passed away this past summer and now my fathers health and the mental state of my brother has made it very difficult for all of us.?I had told my father that I needed to get back to work and I planned on it by the end or this month. It doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon.
[a few weeks later]
I was going to let you know of the final results of everything that has happened since I last called you about my leg.?It turned out to be my old injury to my back which along with the leg injury led to an extreme sciatic pain which shot down my leg and left me crying and hurting for a long time. I did make it to the doctors many more times and have been treated for both injuries and although the pain is sometimes still their, I'm much better now.
I eventually ended up going to OHSU on the hill for a MRI and to the one on 39th and Division for many more visits. I found out I have 2 herniated discs in my lower back. My medical bills were in the thousands and I worried for the longest time, but you were right and the hardship status made my life so much less stressful. Legacy wrote off 100% of the bills and OHSU wrote off 100% for eligible OHSU Patient Business Service billed charges and 50% for eligible OHSU Medical Group charges.
Most of the doctors also wrote them off except a couple so far who are having me pay 50% for Legacy hospital services.
I have been trying to get my self in good enough condition to be able to handle a job that I have an opportunity to work at. I'm?on the list of?[county jobs] to be hired in the next 2 months. I don't know what kind of health questions they will ask but I did great on the test, the interview and the reference checks and I can't pass this chance up. If I can get in condition I can pass the physical and get the job. Thanks for everything.
You have been of the greatest help and have made life for me so much better during this very difficult time. I'm very appreciative and thankful of all that you have done for me.
I have read these important stories regarding healthcare experiences, but I would like to stress that healthcare does not always equal healthcare insurance (and YES, I do work in the industry, but admit that it's not a perfect system). It is possible to have healthcare insurance, but not access to the actual healthcare itself. If you get enrolled in a health plan and have to wait over a month before you can see your own doctor, what then? What if you can't wait? Then you might be referred to an urgent care clinic (one step closer to being in a scary, overcrowded emergency room) which isn't appropriate place to be seen for certain conditions. Emergency rooms and urgent care clinics, etc have my applause, because they do the best they can to fill in the healthcare gap (especially for those w/o access) but they can't do it alone. Thanks.
.:.:.:. My personal experience has been healing, educational and encouraging, caring, exciting and trusting. In no words can I ultimatly express my gratitude for how I've felt in regards to my visitations to the West Burnside Chiropractic clinic,but I'll try.Obviously, I was plagued with immense back pain which enabled my immobility and discomfort,and after visiting the clinic and enrolling in the first day of assessment and adjustment I walked away feeling the amazing physical healing of those efforts. The intern who assisted me on my path of lifelong spinal- related healthcare, presented such a perfect plan and pattern of therepy and physical assistance that I regarded as caring, instructive and devoutly encouraging.I share my gratitude for his encouragement and confidence in both he and myself to have succeeded with the steps we have both taken in my recovery and most importantly I cherish the gift of love and caring I have newly attained from my newfound friend and amazing bodypart, MY SPINE. I presently feel as good as I did in my youth and find that every day I awake I,m grateful for life and stretch my bod to my hearts content......:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. Congatulations to the student and patient alike and graduate...Sincerely, Alexia..................................................
I contacted Dani Leis a few months ago in when I needed a doctor desperately. I have no health insurance and what little extra money we have goes towards insuring our infant son. She immediately sent me a list on not only all the clinics that saw patients on a free or sliding scale, but ones that specifically could help me with an OB/GYN problem. I contacted several and found that SW Community Health Center could see me the next week. Fifteen minutes after making the appointment, the receptionist called me back and told me they had a same-day opening if I could make it in! The staff, nurses, doctors, and students at the clinic all went out of their way to put me at my ease. They took wonderful care of me, even holding and playing with my 5 month old son while the doctor conducted her exam. I left the clinic not only knowing that my health problem had been addressed, but that I'd been treated in a respectful manner. Thank you so much for this truly essential service, I never would have found the clinic on my own. Jessica L.