Complaint Review: Saint Rose Dominica Hospital - henderson Nevada

 On Saturday December 1, 2012 I was hit by a car while riding my bicycle at the intersection of Racetrack Road and Boulder Highway in Henderson, Nevada about 2:30 PM.

I was seriously injured and my wife came to the accident scene and placed me in the car and recovered my bike and took me to St Rose de Lima Hospital Emergency room on Lake Mead Parkway. Less than five miles  from where I was struck.

Becuase of the overall incompetence of the Henderson Nevada police and the local EMS, I had to be transported by my wife and not an ambulance.  I had a concussion, a seriously mangled left arm, and an expensive bike that was destroyed.

The driver who struck me, William Steven Gubanic, was at fault and possibly under the influence and drove a considerable distance before stopping and returning. However the investigating officer was apparently a close friend and because Mr. Gubanic's blood alcolhol level was less than .08 he was not even cited and I was initially deemed to be at fault for "failing to yeild",  yet I was in a crosswalk with a green light when Mr. Gubanic came around a corner, driving  to fast and hit me broad side throwing me onto the traffic island and into the utility pole that holds the traffic light.

I remained at the accident sight as the police would not allow me to leave until they were done with their investigation, which mostly consisted of 6 officers standing around  telling ribald jokes and determining that Mr. Gubanic was not legally impaired, mainly because I was from out of town at the time.

I was bleeding profusely from my left arm and had a severe headache. My bike was destroyed and my helmet shattered.

After about two hours, I was "released" from the accident site and allowed to seek medical attention.

I was taken to the emergency room at St Rose de Lima hospital, where I then had to wait nearly an hour before being seen by a nursing assistant and then another hour before seeing a doctor, Jeremey Newman.

After yet another extended period of time I was taken and Xrayed and then placed in an examination  room where Dr Newman  informed me that I had a "mild" concussion and  no broken bones. Although I had a serious deep puncture wound in my left elbow, the wound was merely cleaned and dressed, not sutured nor examined closely.

The only medication I was givien was buffered aspirin and bottled water.  I was in a great deal of pain and here I was at a major medical facility and being treated like garbage.

At some point my wife needed to go to our car to retrieve some personal effects, only to discover my bicycle had been stolen.

My bike, a $5000 Cannondale was secured to the back of the car on a rack and parked less than 50 feet from the emergency room entrance. This area is under video surviellence and well lit.

When security was notified, the security officer asked my wife if it was her bike missing or mine and what did she want him to do?

An officer who watched the theft occur  did absolutely NOTHING, saying that he saw a male individual  walk up to the car, take the damaged bicycle and walk off. When he was asked why he did nothing, he replied that he thought the bike belonged to the individual and yet the individual was wearing street clothes.  I was the ONLY person in the emergency room wearing spandex cycling clothes and the only one who had been in an accident involving a car/bicycle accident.

The head of security, a black man in his 40's  who had previously insulted my wife,  told me it was NOT his job to pursue anyone and it would be me who would have to contact the Police about the theft, and that Saint Rose Hospital was not responsible for thefts or breakins!

I was in a great deal of pain, I was essentially incapacitaated, I was practically naked from having my clothing torn in the accident and covered in blood, I received basically NO medical treatment beyond a Xray and some aspirin and now my bike, which I had worked and saved for for two years had been stolen and could have been prevented.

After I told the director of security a few choice words, I was told to leave Saint Rose Hospital or the Police would be called and I would be arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct.

After a brief period, I left with my wife and we went tot the Henderson Police Dept and made an extenssive report.

The Police could care less about my bike and my injuries did not matter.

The following Monday morning December 3, 2012 I returned to St Rose Hospital and demanded to speak to the hospital administrator.  At first I went to the front desk and asked a young lady there to find an adminstrator I could speak with.

She was not familiar with what happened and contacted  someone who was in a nearby office and then handed me the telephone to talk to soemone in another location.

The individual from the nearby office came over and told me to hang up the telephone  and leave the premissis or I would be forceably removed and arrested for trespassing and  disorderly conduct.

I explained to the individual making demands of me that I wanted to talk to someone about the theft of my bike and the incident that had occured. I was told by this unidentified individual I had no right to be on hospital property and I had to leave and the Police had been called.

While this exchange occured, 6 armed security guards appeared as well as the black man who was head of security and the head of nursing who told me she was the interim hospital director. At this time the male individual who had verbally threatened me was dismissed and the female head of nursing  escorted me to an office where we talked briefly about the incident.

I was informed at this time, that under no circumstances would St Rose de Lima Hospital replace my bike and they were under no obligation to do so and they were not responsible for the theft and the security officers did "exactly" what they were supposed to do.  If I did not like that, then it was just too bad and I was to leave or be arrested for trespassing and disorderly conduct.

It has now been almost 1 year since this occured and to add insult to injury, I have been billed nearly $15,000 dollars for the hospital visit, in which I basically received no treatment and had a $5000 bicycle stolen. Additionally St Rose has billed my insurance company for payment and reported me to a collection agency and to all 3 credit reporting agencies for failure to pay. And I have been told that if I disclose anything about what occured to me I was threatened with a law suit.