Hospital Info + St. Croix

188 beds, JCAHO accredited. Not sure on the # of patients the ED sees. If you are interested in more info, call Ms. Hannifer Britton, Head of Nurse Recruiting. 340-778-6311, ext 2293. Hopistal is currently in the midst of a fairly aggresive capital expansion, with the construction of a 25,000 square foot cardiac center starting as we speak.

Thank you very much

Hello! I am a Physician Assistant and will be moving to St. Croix to cover the fast-track on the weekends at the hospital. Jason Snow is the PA who covers during the week and he tells me they can see between 10 and 30 during an 8 hour shift. I imagine the ED sees about the same, but I will ask him when I talk to him tomorrow.
Good Luck!

so nice to see your post! i'm also an ER nurse looking to travel to STT in january. anyone know much about the hospital there? i was told my one of my attendings here that there are more local consults on STT than STX, is this correct?

best, amanda

Thank you, any indication on how the staffing in the ed is, nurse pt. ratio, , beds, physicians, etc... ?

As a frequent "guest" of the ER, I can say that it unequivocally sucks from a systemic point of view, although there are a good number of well-qualified docs, RNs and PAs who also have an excellent bedside manner. Sadly, though, there are an equal number of staff who are rude, don't listen to the patient, and who seem to lack in specific skill sets (e.g. correct procedure for taking a urine specimen from an individual with a Foley).

I have never gotten in and out of the ER in under 8-10 hours, and have been left unattended and seen individuals with dementia or other altered mental capacity left unattended for long periods of time. Many times this is caused by the ER being filled to capacity while waiting for beds to open up for new admits, slow test and lab results, and such. However, I have also seen staff hanging out (sitting down, leaning back) chatting with one another for up to 20 minutes at a stretch while the treatment rooms are packed with people waiting for workup, diagnosis, treatment, or admission/discharge.

One major improvement made last January is the addition of a Fast Track clinic, conceived of and run by Dr. Lyn Campbell, whom I actually met on a Cape Air flight to PR when he was just in the early discussions about the clinic with the hospital poobahs. The Fast Track clinic is currently open from noon to 8pm six days a week, and is staffed by Dr. Campbell and an RN. Any patient who is determined by the Triage nurse to have a non-life threatening medical need will be Fast Tracked. Dr. Campbell is awesome, the care in his clinic is of the highest quality and administered quickly, although his clinic is still held hostage by the other systemic hospital problems like slow, slow, slow triage (the triage nurse is also assigned to other near FT ER duties), registration, pharmacy and lab services, and don't get me started on billing. Still, this new clinic has improved the patient experience by 1000 percent.

All in all, I've got to give kudos to the folks at the ER for being willing to tackle some of my medical issues when other docs on island have turned me away. Sadly, the hospital seems to be hell bent on paying all the perks to bring traveling medical staff in instead of taking that same amount of money and making permanent hires of /paying better wages, providing continuing ed and training, etc. for the talented folks who put in time at the ER.

Re. your comment about docs turning you away - have you thought that maybe they did not feel qualified or competent to treat a patient with extensive problems. Sometimes your posts make it sound as though they just didn't want to treat you. Maybe they had your interests at heart.
Your comments about Juan Luis ER are spot on - some well qualified staff working extremely hard in a systemically "screwed" situation.

this is just a quick note from a current traveler on st croix...i strongly suggest yhou research the violence mugings, robberies..there has has been 3 in my condo unit in 2 weeks, 2 of the nurses left immediately...they stalk you from the hospital and the airport...many nurses break contract to get out of here...think about it ............talk to me more later. best wishes ..sheila

As a former 'frequent flyer' at the ER as well as HipCrip, I do have to say that the system was awful when I arrived, however some individuals were recruited from Stateside to assist in streamlining the system. One of them was the charge RN in the emergency room, who just left to move to PR.

The good news is that there is a job opening up even as I write. The not so good news is that if he were simply an ER nurse, things might have gone better. There was some hostility from other professionals as he was there to foster change (and it shows), however they did not like the receiving of directives from a (should I say it?) white statesider.

I can only suggest, but beginning as an RN with no directorial duties would probably help you to form bonds with other team members. If later on, the admin. wanted to promote you, that might be a different story.

I have found as HipCrip mentioned that there were many good people at the hospital, kind and competent, however I also found that periodically, as I live with a chronic pain disorder from a crushed back/neck/shoulders, and as I was not bleeding profusely, I would often get into the refrigerator (the actual ER treatment area) and wait for nearly two hours for someone to poke their heads in. Although I have not had to go in quite some time, I was told that as my treatment is always the same, I am now on a fast track system, and just will get pulled in fairly quickly, given my three shots and sent on my merry way. I think this is one of the changes that the Head RN made while he was there.

As muggings (unfortunately) are common near many hospitals, not just in STX, I would suggest that at shift change, you leave with a few other folks who are also getting off. As I walk with a marked limp, kind of dragging one leg, and have been there late at night, I would imagine I would make easy prey. No one has ever bothered me, and the parking lot is extremely well lit. Just two cents worth of information.

I you do make it here, and work in the ER, I would love to meet you or stay in touch as it would both be nice to meet a new person, and perhaps you could support me with maintaining my 'fast-track' situation.

Best wishes,

Dan

Thank you for the information. You have been very helpful......

i am a board certified fp/pain specialist american trained ,own my clinic,on staff at regional hospital, do invasive procedures in icu,have pain practice epiduralsetc..am considering relocating would this be a good supportive hospital,would they assist in startingpain clinic/practice

pain specialist? WHat island -- Dan and I could give you a great start on clientele. I've deliberately avoided jusing the ER for unmanageable breakt hrough pain simply because of circumstances I don't want to go into here, and would welcome a pain doc with an open mind and a willingness to take on complicated cases with degenerative conditions that cause severe pain.

BTW, there is a "pain secialist" on island in STX. He returned my voice mail message personally to tell me that he wasn't interested in treatiing me because, in his words, "your kind of pain because I focus on procedures like nerve blocks." I now fly to PR every 3-5 months to be treated for chronic pain syndrome and severe spasticity.

Come on down!