Rancho Springs Medical Center, Murietta, CA…just a few reasons to seriously consider before choosing to deliver your baby there…from the viewpoint of One Pissed Gramma.
Positive - the location is good. Location is not everything.
When entering the Medical Center, do not be confused by the two office buildings that look like they could be the hospital. It is the one story building that looks like a very old Nursing home. Hope it is not raining, the front desk person directs you thru an outdoor courtyard, to a phone, to call into the delivery area. There was a group of about 15 tired, anxious family members that had been there for 24 hours, waiting for the delivery of the new family member. They were communicating via texts messages for updates and pictures. They talked about how pregnant women would arrive, they were refused admission, told to call back in 2 hours to see if a bed was available. Oh, the waiting area consisted of long wooden benches, about 8 inches deep, against the wall. They did have what once may have been 1” padding, covered in plastic.
Our delivering mom was placed in a closet…formerly a sleeping area for Dr. This process took a couple of days. Dad tried to sleep on the floor, no pillow or blanket was offered. He was rather invisible to the staff.
Now, for the really important stuff for your family… the Visitor limit is 2, so if there is a Dad present, that leaves only one person that is allowed to share in the miracle of birth of this new baby. The nursery is closed for viewing, so the time spent warming those 8 inch plastic covered wooden benches is not eased by the viewing of new babies.
After your new Grandbaby, or niece or nephew is delivered, while you are warming those 8 inch wooden benches for extended HOURS, there is an hour of bonding time. That time still does not include the bench warmers. When you are FINALLY allowed to enter, they are whisking the baby away for another hour…without even offering for you to NOW get to hold or see that baby up close. Only thanks to a request, did they now allow the holding of the new grandbaby.
A few more things to consider. No hot water for patient showers, the visitor bathrooms were closed for repair, both for men and women. Mom was moved to four different rooms. On the first visit out of the delivery area, we asked the room number. As the two grandmothers walked down the hall, we were chased down by the person at the front desk that informed us that ALL visitors were BLOCKED by this patient. After checking with the mom, we were allowed to enter, glad we did not take their word and leave. Construction workers had better access than the grandparents. We brought food for each meal…it looked really nasty.
While this new Gramma warmed the bench, having just lost out on one of the few “best life experiences” of her life, actually it was stolen from her, since she can never get it back, due to the “Hospital Rules”…she asked an employee if there were comment cards that could be completed. The person was actually the Chief Operating Officer, Gino Patrizio. One Pissed Gramma was seething, and was looking to make some very specific comments on the “unfriendly Family experience”.
His response included offering me a cup of coffee, or water. HE also wanted to state that the new wing would open in two months. The new wing held NO consolation to me…it would not change my extremely negative experience at this facility. I asked him to WALK AWAY. As he continued to stress how great the new wing was, I STRONGLY asked him to WALK AWAY, NOW! A cup of water was not a good trade for stealing the birth of my Grandbaby from me. Somehow, I do hope that he, and all the administrators of this hospital get the same experience in the birth of their grandchildren. Still not good enough…I will never get that experience that this hospital stole from me.
Overall, the Rancho Springs Medical Center provided a VERY NEGATIVE experience for a new Grandma. Keep in mind, you do have a choice of where to deliver. Does location really outweigh the rest? Take the opportunity to research this big decision on line. There are LOTS of postings, about 95% are less than glowing. Also, check out quotes from different news article:
“MURRIETA: State denies Rancho Springs Medical Center expansion. History of violations causes state to halt opening anticipated since the new year”
“Southwest (Rancho Springs Medical Center) received word from the Department of Public Health that it was in jeopardy of losing federal funding under Medicare/Medicaid and that a process was underway to revoke its hospital license.”
“State letter details reasons for possible hospital license revocation action”
“Federal Medicare officials told two Riverside County hospitals yesterday that they would no longer pay for seniors' care after June, signaling the end of a three-year process of trying to get the hospitals to follow basic care standards.”
“Three of the five delivery rooms at Rancho Springs Medical Center have been temporarily closed due to possible mold contamination resulting from water leaks”
