Southwest Washington Regional Surgery Center 200 Northeast Mother Joseph Place, Vancouver, WA 98664

"My significant other needed surgery that was over a year wait if he went with his contracted insurance coverage. The doctor insisted he couldn’t wait that long. He was rear ended by a truck while on his motorcycle and left for dead on I5 and the driver ran. We proceeded with the surgery and allegedly he signed a waiver stating he would be responsible for the difference due to the insurance being out of contract. At that point patients signed whatever is given to them, with the medical necessity to survive. When the bills came, the financial agent, Danielle, stated he could qualify for financial assistance as he hasn’t been able to work for over three months and was on state assistance, due to his injury. We provided all the necessary proof of financial deficit, he qualified, and then they refused to honor it since it’s “in our policy that he signed a waiver.” For a procedure that NEEDED to be done asap. No one can predict their future health outcome day to day and a waiver shouldn’t depict that. I attempted to speak to upper management, Dawn and Marlie and received the same spiel. Avoid this surgery center unless you want to be saddled with a medical bill and no remorse for your financial or medical status."

"I recently had Beth as my nurse upon checking in/prep for surgery and she was excellent!!!! Super friendly, very caring, great listener and made my nerves subside!!!"

"This review will only discuss the quality of care, since none of the billing has had time to process yet, and I see the concerns of other previous reviewers; I have had similarly ridiculous, convoluted issues with OHSU in the past, so I am wary of the fallibility of a health care provider's billing department. My wife underwent a minor but still somewhat frightening procedure involving an epidural-like injection into her spine, to alleviate the pain and symptoms related to a pinched nerve between two vertebrae. Thankfully, she felt she was in good hands with Dr. Kafrouni who, despite looking a bit like a young John Kreese from Cobra Kai, was exceptionally caring, communicative, reassuring, knowledgeable, and clear in his descriptions of the procedure itself, as well as all after-care instructions. Whether this procedure will be the silver bullet that fixes my wife's issue has yet to be seen: the effects of the injection will take days to manifest, and a full vertebrae-replacement surgery is still in the cards if it doesn't). Either way, Dr. Kafrouni's insight into the nature of her suffering, the likelihood of it being transient versus permanent, the symptoms to watch out for (in case of the latter), and the path towards total recovery, in addition to his excellent surgical prowess and incredible bedside manner, made the whole experience so much less frightening and frustrating as it could have been. PeaceHealth as an entity may not be perfect (far from it), but surgeons like Dr. Kafrouni aren't far off the mark."

"The wonderful kind competent care provided by the nurses is overshadowed by the rude detestable office staff. Upon checking in for surgery they wanted me to pay $6,000 and told me that would be my out of pocket liability after my insurance paid. I refused. The maximum annual out of pocket cost on my insurance plan is only $1,400 and I had already paid $500 of that. The office woman was so rude I almost walked away from a neurosurgery appointment I had waited 6 weeks for. Fast forward to 60 days after surgery. I get a call from the billing department telling me my insurance had recuperated funds and I owed them $230 which was now 60 days past due. In the conversation that continued I was told what my insurance company did was my problem and despite the fact that the billing through the insurance company was only finalized in the last few days the bill was still past due and they would send me to collections. I hung up, called my insurance company and explained the situation to them. The wonderful lady at Blue Cross called SW Surgery Center and spoke to the same people I did. The poor Blue Cross agent was aghast at how rude they were. Blue Cross explained to me that multiple large claims for the surgery (surgeon, surgery center, anesthesiologist, etc) all came through at once and had just been completely processed and paid by Blue Cross. This process is what tells the claimants what to billed the insured. You can't be past due on a bill when the company doesn't know what to bill yet! For me, Blue Cross confirmed what I already knew in terms of medical billing because I am a regional supervisor for a national healthcare company. I have never been treated so poorly. All they care about is money, not taking care if a patient. They billed my insurance $40,000 and were going to send me to collections over $229. 88"

"My preferred stop for minor, same day surgery. Great staff and they are highly concerned for your comfort and safety. The level of care is just amazing."