BEWARE?Omega Medical Hospital Negril

Good Day!
I am taking this opportunity to share my experience at Omega Medical Negril.

February 4 following the donkey races I stepped out to the road, hit a pothole and down I went. In excruciating pain I opted for Omega Medical for assessment and treatment. Upon arrival a porter brought a wheelchair to assist me. As I attempted to get out of the van he said to me, ?can you hurry up, it?s my lunchtime and I?m hungry; now I have to deal with you.? Shocker to me! He proceeded to take me inside where I was approached and asked to complete the intake forms and if I had insurance. No, I don?t have insurance. I was required to pay $1,500 USD, as a deposit towards assessment and services. Under duress and in need of care, I complied. I was placed in a room, filled with nurses, observation nurses and assessed by Dr Duval Ashley who ordered an X-ray of my hip. Taken to X-ray, I was told by the porter to ?get on the table.? I had to pull myself on the X-ray table, pulling along my dead leg, screaming in pain I was told to ?hush, hush,
hush!? I received no assistance in accessing the table. Once completed I was taken back to my room and given a pain injection for comfort. As the day progressed Dr Ashley advised the X-ray showed a fracture of the R femur but to be certain he would like to call in an Orthopedic surgeon and did so. Dr Mario Thomas appeared and ordered a CT scan, so back to X-ray I go. Dr Thomas advised the CT confirmed a fracture; thus needing surgery. I was admitted overnight. That evening a clerk from triage/business office came to advise me the estimated costs of surgery would be $20,000 USD and I was asked
if I am prepared to pay in full, in cash. I laughed with what little energy I had. I proceeded to ask for a payment plan and was told Omega does not offer payment plans. Morning of Feb 5, a clerk once again came to my bedside to advise the surgery would cost $23,000 USD and if I could pay in full, in cash. Really? No! I asked again for an amicable payment plan- I need surgery! No agreement could be reached. Later on in the day, Dr Duval Ashley presented himself to my husband and I and advised I could have the surgery at Sav public hospital, with same surgeon, Dr Mario Thomas, on Feb 6 for around $9,500 USD but he would require $500 USD cash for his pocket to make the arrangements. I need surgery so we paid him the $500 cash and watches him place it in his pocket. Evening of Feb 5, I was transferred to Sav public hospital via Omega ambulance. I was told 2 nurses would be accompanying me while in transit and the ride in the back with me but they were not there for my comfort, rather a ride home on my dollar! Once inside at Sav I was assessed by a Dr Donahoo, I believe was his name and later taken to the womens ward where I lay all night with little medication, little attention. Morning of Feb 6, ?surgery day?, I received 2 calls from a 754 Ft Lauderdale number, not recognizing the number I didn?t answer. Shortly thereafter, Dr Thomas appeared at my bedside and advised ?his Secretary? is trying to reach me to collect payment for surgery, ?so answer when she calls.? I told him I had not received any invoice. Dr Thomas stated quietly to my face, as he?s watching his surroundings, ?I should not be taking patients from Omega who have been admitted, but it is a monopoly over there and I want a piece of the pie.? Yes, he said that and left my bedside. Minutes later I received a text asking to pay J$837,000 before surgery. Nowhere on this invoice does it say who is invoicing me, nor how to pay. I called the 754 number seeking information on methods of payment. Dr Thomas? secretary notified me via text I could send payment via direct deposit using a third payment vendor or cash app, or I could make a deposit to his bank account and thus provided all his account details. At this point we asked to speak with Dr Thomas directly and offered $2,000 USD on a card, if he could process the payment, with the balance paid in 30 days. He dropped his head and ?let me check with the team.? He never returned.
His Secretary aka girlfriend called to advise, ?they could not accommodate me?, and she disconnected the call.

I had my husband call the nurse and I asked to be discharged from Sav. She inquired as to why and I presented all these details to her. She was shocked and stated ?who, Dr who? No Dr should be collecting payment from me. Minutes later I was approached by a staff orthosurgeon. He told me the type of surgery I needed is not, and could not be performed at Sav Public Hospital and he discharged me.

I collected my thoughts, reached out to several friends who referred me to an Orthopedic in MoBay. I met with him the evening of Feb 7, admitted to MoBay hospital and had surgery Feb 8. Wonderful Dr and amazing team of nurses helped me get on the road to recovery and I am coming along nicely.

Now back to Omega. I was taken for $7,148.90 USD, plus $500 USD in cash by Dr Duval Ashley. Makes me sick how they operate at Omega and how they took advantage of my vulnerability and condition. Money driven with no care, no compassion and no humility.

Omega will not/has not given me my records after 3 attempts requesting them. I have in my possession 4 of 5 credit card receipts and (2) 1 page X-ray reports. Nothing more. No intake records, admission records, financial records, nor discharge or X-ray films, and they owe me a refund of $J59,000 and want me to provide them with my banking details to gain the refund.

Omega is pay as you go service. If you can?t pay you get no service. You lie there until payment is made or you are transferred to Sav Public Hospital.

I would rather die en route to MoBay than darken the door of Omega.

Criminal actions! Scam, scam, scam!

Wow, such a sorry story. How did the payment go to the MoBay Hospital and what did they charge? Did they use the X-ray and CT scan from Omega? Please get back and let us know the final outcome.
Regards,
Bob

Having no films in hand to provide the MoBay surgeon, I had to retake them. As far as the costs, it was 1/3 of what Omega was charging and full payment was required before surgery.

I saw my Surgeon yesterday and he’s quite pleased with my progress. Follow up in April. Let the healing begin!

Excellent care and compassion at MoBay Hospital!

wishing you a speedy recovery

Wow! That was a nightmare! I'm glad you finally got help in Mobay. Hope you get well soon!

So sorry this happened to you!
No one should have to deal with that absolute nonsense and more so after such a serious injury!

Same thing happened to someone I know last year. They had to go to Mobay as well and felt like they were getting extorted by Omega.

While we've never had to use it, this story reminds me why we always buy travel insurance with medical coverage with emergency evacuation coverage.

The repatriation of remains would just be a bonus lol.

Same here Homebrewer but the issue is you have to pay up front of course and then try to get receipts and bills ect to turn into the insurance company and hopefully you can get that info from the hospital. Good idea to have cash/high credit card limits in case you need it in an emergency. If you can't get the documentation from the hospital, you might be out of luck on the reimbursement side?

Complete extortion! Staff corrupt! Cannot speak to anyone of authority. Left messages, no response for a week now. They have no compassion and care nothing about those in need; just money money!

Still no records received after 3 requests.

Was informed yesterday someone is there now needing surgery. Quoted $33,000 USD payable before surgery. Deposit of $5,000 USD at intake. Shame shame shame.

Their day will come! Yes it will!

Have a similar experience but with a Mobay hospital had to evacuate ( their description ) my wife when the dr after 14 hrs pulled me aside and told me she was going to die in this hospital because they didn?t know what to do as she was getting worse I told them not if you give her the medicine i told them to give her but they didn?t/couldn?t give it to her because they didn?t know what it was or couldn?t find information on it Yes trip insurance is a must in Jamaica my insurance company took care of getting the information billing everything 45 minutes later a plane touched down in Mobay 5 person trauma team whisked in and 25 minutes later we were in the air to Florida @a top 5 trauma center in the US
Forgot to mention she had had a stroke As were getting her ready to the leave the lead nurse? told the dr go get her f?-ing medicine which she gave to my wife right then and during the flight she became coherent and was talking

The Omega Medical Hospital seemed too good to be true!! Once in 1978 I was in Negril with a guy I knew from college and he developed severe abdominal pains and was doubled over at the waist. I was told that there was a hospital in Sav so I hired a mini bus and took him there. It was beyond belief, no sheets or pillows on beds, Cuban doctors who couldn't speak English, etc... Luckily for my friend there were a couple of Jamaicans in the hospital who had been in the US picking apples and they took my friend under their wings and got him food to eat and looked after him. They didn't do any tests and after a few days he felt better and was released and flew back to NYC. I believe the issue was kidney stones but it was a scary couple of days. At that time there was no threats of no pay no play but the conditions were no where near the healthcare of the US. I wondered how this new Omega Hospital would be able to do business but I guess now we know!!

You need to ASAP block your card and any other bank info you may have given them. I am so sorry this happened to you and that nothing worse happened at Omega. Definitely extortion when they said first it would be $20,000.00 then the next day $23.000.00. You already paid $500.00 with no receipt then telling you to pay $837,000 Jamaican which is $5,393.95 US dollar.

The last time I went to Negril was in 2011. I haven't gone back due to my health issues and what would happen if I had to go to the doctor or hospital. My family couldn't get there.

What hospital were you treated at in Montego bay? My husband had surgery at hospiton and everything went quite smoothly. our travel insurance reimbursed us 100%

I went to Montego Bay Hospital Mt Salem St James.

Excellent, professional treatment and care!

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Originally Posted by sandytoes

Good Day!
I am taking this opportunity to share my experience at Omega Medical Negril.

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Hi Sandytoes --- After reading your story, I realize who you are :) You went through such an ordeal. You never try to get over on people so it sucks even more that you were taken advantage of. Do you remember when I had to take my mom? We had such a different experience which was positive but they had also just opened. I'm glad you were able to get back on your feet and always thankful for the support you receive from C. ~Joanie

What a horrible experience! I needed blood work done and called Omega.the draw would cost 4500jmd but you wouldn't get the results back for a week and a half. What kind of hospital waits that long for results? Went to lab in the plaza....2500 for the draw, results back the next day.

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Originally Posted by Babalew

What a horrible experience! I needed blood work done and called Omega.the draw would cost 4500jmd but you wouldn't get the results back for a week and a half. What kind of hospital waits that long for results? Went to lab in the plaza....2500 for the draw, results back the next day.

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The fees are over the top nonsense!

A few examples
First Day -
Room and board 225,000 J
Lab services 28,400J
Lab Emergency Fee 20,000J
IM Admin Fee 10,375J, per inj
Medical disposables 19,025 J
Emergency Rpt Fee 17,000J
Observation Fee (4) hrs at 12,262.50J per hr- while the person plays on the phone

Second day
Medical disposables 17,430J
More IM Admin Fee at 10,375J, per inj
3 IV infused meds at 13,500J per med
Out patient bed 86,400J
Ambulance Fee to Sav 52,000J
Discharge Fee 17,670J

Might have been easier to post the invoices.

Quick cash grab!