Integris Baptist Medical Center

Overall: Not Recommended

My Mother received medical care from Integris Baptist from March - April of 2020 before her passing on April 10th. My Mom had multiple chronic autoimmune disorders and a heart condition. She started presenting symptoms of liver disease in January of 2020, and had never had any issues with her liver prior to that time. My Mom had been in the Integris system for years prior to her first admission in the middle of March. The first meal she was brought after being admitted to a regular room contained gluten. She had been diagnosed through the Integris system with Celiac disease in 2010. We had to request a new GF meal that day, and multiple days afterwards because apparently it's too difficult to denote that a patient needs gluten free meals in the system. I had to go to the head nurse after the 3rd instance because it was clear that they didn't care whether she was brought GF meals or not. This was my first clue that my Mother was not in capable hands at Integris Baptist.  My Mom stayed for three days at Integris Baptist, and was released with no real answers and no conclusive diagnosis. The physicians stated she had Cirrhosis of the liver, but they had not done a biopsy. They also stated she had "chronic" liver disease, which was not the case. She had only presented symptoms of liver problems in January of 2020. Due to the nature of liver disease my Mom was having to manage her sodium and liquid intake. We were given how much sodium and liquid she could have in a 24 hour period. When she was in the ER her nurse was giving her gatorade, and I asked if that would be ok to give her while at home. The nurse said yes. So when we returned home I would give her a little gatorade every so often because my Mom said it sounded good. We calculated the amount of sodium in gatorade into her daily intake to ensure she did not go over her limit. Less than a week later, my Mom was weaker than ever, was retaining a ton of fluid in her body and abdomen, and was slightly disoriented. We rushed her back to the hospital. After she went through the ER and was readmitted to the hospital the doctors were asking me what she had been eating and drinking. I listed off things and mentioned gatorade. They looked at me like I was stupid and had done great harm to my Mom on purpose. I told them that the nurses who attended to my Mom less than a week ago had told me that gatorade was fine in moderation as long as we took the sodium into account. They berated me for giving it to her and blamed me more than the nurses. This was the second mistake in care and instance of incompetence that we experienced at Integris Baptist, and the first instance of disrespect towards me and my family.  When my Mom was admitted to the hospital the first time they took her off of all of her immune suppressants. When I questioned this and asked how she would manage her autoimmune disorders without them, I was told, "Relapsing Polychondritis isn't a big deal." I suggest you google relapsing polychondritis and determine for yourself if it is a big deal or not. I also asked if her autoimmune disorders could be contributing to her liver issues and asked if she might have Autoimmune hepatitis. They said no, and that the 3mg of prednisone she was on would be enough to treat Autoimmune hepatitis if that were the case. Again, I urge you to google autoimmune hepatitis and see for yourself that 3mg of steroids is not enough to treat autoimmune hepatitis. In one interaction with a doctor from the liver team I was asking various questions about my Mom's symptoms and conditions. The doctor looked at me and asked, "Are you a doctor?" I replied with a, "No," and the doctor then disrespectfully said, " Oh.. so you are a Doctor Google." It was completely demeaning and an unacceptable statement from a physician. I was taken aback by such a statement and could not believe a physician would be so blatantly disrespectful to someone simply trying to get answers for their loved one. This physician's name was Dr. Elias Spyrou. This was the second instance of disrespect that I had experienced at Integris Baptist.   When covid numbers began to rise Integris kicked all family members out of the hospital and told families they would be communicating by phone. My Mom was not in a state in which to advocate for herself or to really even understand the things the doctors were telling her. I was not even given the option to stay. After two days of my Mom being in the hospital by herself, I finally got to speak to her because the nurses would not put her on the phone. When she spoke I immediately knew something was wrong. She was slurring her words and didn't seem to understand that she was speaking to her daughter. I called the nurse back immediately and told him something was wrong and that they needed to do some tests, and needed to specifically check her ammonia levels because she was slurring her words. He replied, "Oh, she doesn't do that all the time?" Clearly some Integris nurses are not paying attention to the most basic signs that a patient's state has changed. I told him to call me back as soon as he had any news. My Father and I waited up all night for a call back, and finally at 4am I called the nurse. He said that he forgot to call and that her Ammonia level was "sky high." At that point I knew Integris could not be trusted to adequately take care of my Mother. There had been too many mistakes in her care. Too many signs that were missed. Too much inaccurate information given. Because of these instances it seemed that the care of my Mother was placed in my hands. What an enormous burden to put upon families and people who have no training or background in the medical field. This was also the third instance of incompetence we experienced at Integris Baptist.  My Father and I drove up to the hospital immediately and simply asked to speak to someone about getting permission to stay with my Mother. We were turned away and told to call a number, and that we needed to leave the building. Assuming that we would be able to get in contact with someone quickly and that the matter would be resolved in an hour or two, we waited in the car and left a message with the number we had been given. After an hour of waiting we received a call back and a woman took down our story and our request, and said she would get back with us. We waited another two hours and never heard anything. Exhausted and disheartened, we returned home where we could be a bit more comfortable. After multiple other calls and many more hours, I finally got to speak to the head nurse of the floor my Mom was on. She said that she understood my concerns, but that Integris was taking good care of her. I listed off the examples of mistakes that had already been made, just as I have listed them in this letter, and said that clearly they were not capable of adequate care. She told me that I would have to stay day and night with my Mom and not leave her room at all until she was discharged. I think she told me this in the hopes that it would deter me, however, I would've done anything for my Mom and said, "Great, I'll see you in 30 minutes." I spent 9 days in the hospital room with my Mom. She had a liver biopsy done and the results came back negative for Cirrhosis of the liver, which they had been telling us for weeks was the diagnosis. In addition, there were major complications during her liver biopsy. Her ability to clot was so low that she had a huge bleeding issue at the site of the biopsy and the physicians had to go back in and fix the issue when her blood pressure started dropping rapidly after the biopsy. She had to be given multiple blood transfusions after this. On top of these complications, a few days later it was determined that she had an aneurysm at the site where the catheter was inserted in her leg for the biopsy. The doctor who performed the biopsy told us that he was furious because it was likely the fault of the nurse who took out the catheter because aneurysms happen when not enough pressure is applied for the correct duration of time when a catheter is removed. He said that instances like that keep happening and that  "those nurses need retrained or more training." So just days after having her body went through a traumatic biopsy, she also had to have the aneurysm rectified. This was the fourth instance of incompetence and incapability by doctors and nurses at Integris Baptist.  After all this they said that they didn't have a diagnosis but that the veins in her liver looked congested, and ultimately diagnosed her with Idiopathic Non-Cirrhotic Portal Hypertension. Again, I asked about the contribution of her autoimmune disorders to her condition and begged them to consult a rheumatologist. They said that wasn't necessary. I have no idea how it wasn't necessary to consult a rheumatologist when a patient has chronic autoimmune disorders that had not been treated for over a month! At the end of our stay we had no answers and started the liver transplant process. Starting this process made my Mom and our whole family very nervous. How and why could a liver be transplanted when we had no idea what was causing it to not function properly? Who's to say that the exact same problems wouldn't begin to happen to the new liver? I voiced these concerns with the liver team, and they brushed them off and said they were not valid. This was the third instance of disrespect that I experienced at Integris Baptist.  My Mom was not doing well. She was weak, her liver numbers kept rising, and her blood counts were very low. She was home for 4 days before she started exhibiting symptoms of severe disorientation. She was taken in an ambulance back to the ER, and we were not allowed into the hospital once again. After 2 days in the hospital she was determined to be septic and we were asked to do an emergency liver transplant consultation over the phone with the transplant officer and our family. We spent three hours on the phone getting her at the top of the transplant list and she died the next day. I didn't understand why we went through the transplant process when she was already septic, her blood counts were incredibly low which would prevent her from clotting, and there were signs of internal bleeding at the sight of her liver biopsy.  A year later we still had so many questions about her plan of care and wanted to voice the disrespect that we received by doctors and nurses. We tried for multiple weeks to get in touch with anyone at Integris and were never called back. After weeks of attempting to get in contact with anyone who could help us, my Father wrote a letter and sent it to "the higher ups" at Integris. He was finally called back, and gave more in depth details about our story and the questions we had. This resulted in a 7 month journey with multiple people at Integris. They said how we were treated was heartbreaking and that they would get us the answers that we deserved. When we started this process with Integris I had high hopes of receiving the answers we had been seeking. We were thanked for helping Integris find the holes and gaps in their care. However, it has become clear that it was never the intention of Integris to help us get answers or to make changes to better the care of current and future patients. For many months we were told what a big difference we were going to make and how many of the "higher ups" were quite concerned with our story. But after months of talking, meetings, and asking questions, we were still without the answers that we had sought or with any proof that changes were being made to ensure that families are not treated with such disrespect and incompetence. The only tangible thing we can see is that families can now go to the Integris website and voice a concern through a message submission. At first I was happy with this change, and thought that if more families had a place to go to voice their concerns and tell their stories, that surely changes would happen. But now more than ever, I am certain that this is simply a buffer to make patients and families feel that they are being heard. Their stories will be taken, they will be told that changes will be made or that "files will be started" on certain doctors. If they push any further for real change they will be strung along for months. We were told that an apology letter was on the way from the liver team, but specifically from Dr. Elias Spyrou who called me "Doctor Google." We heard there was a "draft" of this letter, but have never received it. It is unacceptable that doctors are not allowed to even apologize for disrespectful words because it's too much of a "liability risk" for your hospital. What kind of institution is being run when doctors and nurses are not held accountable for their words and their actions? There is no system for tracking mistakes or disrespect, and no consequences to physicians. That is why the care and atmosphere at your hospital is so poor. Because people are not allowed to speak honestly or know that there are consequences to their actions.   At the end of seven months we have absolutely nothing to show for our efforts to get answers and to help future patients and families. We finally requested a meeting with clinicians who could answer our questions and with representatives from the leadership team, because we were at a stand still in this process. We waited two weeks for this meeting to be scheduled and were told that "things were being discussed." We received a call back from Andreanna Wynkoop, who we had been working with closely all these months, and she told us that no such meeting would be happening. Since that call, we cannot get Andee to call or email us back and are now assuming that she had been told to not have any further contact with us. This is the fourth instance of blatant disrespect we have experienced at Integris Baptist. I feel bad for Andee because I believe she was only placed in this position to be a buffer between families and leadership and risk management teams, and that no one actually wants to hear from families or do anything to fix issues.  Integris does not care about people or patients. When families are too much "trouble" for them they put buffers in place so that the "higher ups" don't have to deal with nuisances like us, and so that they can protect the impression that people have in the OKC community that Integris actually cares and does right by their patients and families. The only motivation Integris has is to protect themselves. They do not care. And anyone who does care and who puts in effort to make changes will be stifled by their leadership. I will tell everyone I know to never receive care from any Integris hospital or clinic. If you have questions about our story you may contact me at (405) 519-3928. But I am assuming that no one will, because no one cares, and anyone who does care must hold their head low and not make any ruffles within the hospital. Sincerely,  Alissa Cartwright

Overall: Not Recommended

I am writing this review to let people know when you give a bad review the hospital says it wants to hear more about your experience. If you call to tell them about it they will sound concerned about it but there will be nothing done. I call for 3 weeks to try to talk with integris about my wife’s stay. But no one would call me back. I had to write a letter and send it to the high ups at integris. I a call back and he seem to be concerned. But after 7 months of working with integris I still have no answers. They said that they had an independent review done. We had a meeting with Dr. Mansalis all we were told was the care was appropriate.Dr. Mansalis would not answer any questions we had. My daughter spent 9 days in the hospital with my wife. During that time she was called a doctor google by DR Elias Spyrou M.D. Ph.D. when she simply asked about my wife's condition. We ask for him apology but NZTI Clinical leadership Respectfully decline. I Received a letter from Rex Van Meter Chief Hospital Executive At this time we are concluding our investigation over. My daughter has written a review with more details on my wife case. The people that were involved in these decisions. Would they want their family treated this way. It is apparent they don’t care. My wife passed away 4/10/2020 Gerald Brand