BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — BocaNewsNow.com clearly struck a nerve with our story Tuesday comparing West Boca Medical Center’s website with that of Boca Raton Regional Hospital. We’ve received significant feedback from members of the community who are concerned by what they perceive to be a total lack of situational awareness — or at the very least communication — from West Boca’s parent company, Tenet Healthcare.
Boca Raton Regional, now run by Baptist Health, is providing a homepage full of COVID-19 information and even a link to real-time, LIVE telemedicine. You can video conference with a doctor — at no charge — through Baptist’s telemedicine service.
But West Boca Medical Center is apparently offering nothing.
Even a day after our initial spotlight, West Boca’s homepage is seemingly no different than it was weeks ago. It’s promoting a doctor search area and a form to sign up for classes. But there is no information on COVID-19 other than an announcement restricting some hospital visitation. The webpage — clearly a template — is also being used by West Boca’s sister hospital Delray Medical Center. The hospital chain has issued no COVID-19 media advisories.
The lack of a realtime online presence raises questions about Tenet’s ability to deal with the crisis. While a website don’t speak to a specific doctor’s medical ability, it does raise questions about a medical facility’s ability to communicate with the public during a time of crisis. And Tenet is no stranger to crises. The Dallas-based hospital company unloaded Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia just months before a new owner said it was forced to shut down. Tenet’s stock price (NYSE: THC) closed Tuesday at $13.14, down from a 52 week high of $39.37 and a 5 year high of $59.43.
Baptist Healthcare’s takeover of BRRH, however, has clearly had an impact on the community — or at the very least communication with the community. Baptist, which runs Boca Raton Regional and Betheseda East and West in Boynton Beach, is proactively advising the community and media with COVID-19 updates, is in the process of setting up infrastructure for a potential increase in patients, and is using technology to permit concerned residents to seek medical help without leaving home.
For no-charge telemedicine help, Baptist is asking you to use your hospital’s website (brrh.com for Boca Raton Regional, or BethesdaWeb.com for the Bethesda properties, click the “see a doctor now” button, and use code CARE19.
If you seek assistance at West Boca Medical Center or Delray Medical Center, please let us know about your experience. news(at)bocanewsnow.com.
