HSV Hosp Orthopedic and Spine Tower

In case anyone may be facing surgery at the Ortho & Spine Tower, I hope it may be helpful for me to share my recent experience. Overall, my day there was about as positive as I've experienced in over 20 operations in three other states as well as in Birmingham.

Getting the negatives out of the way first, both of which were post-op:

The monitoring equipment screen had a red warning to replace its battery which may be why it frequently alerted to both very low blood pressure and low blood oxygen level. After the first few alerts made my husband worry when most were ignored, he decided that since I was still lucid and responding to him it might not be accurate.

There was a long wait for their occupational therapist to drop by, for which the nurse apologized, and the OT's comments were not of any help. I would have preferred to head home much sooner. However, I've previously waited for hours to be released, being made to wait on a facility's billing department or for what turned out to be a home care kit that was pretty useless, so the second incident was very minor.

Now the positives:

The facility was very clean, well maintained, brightly lit and kept at a comfortable temperature.

The woman who greeted me at the front desk before 5:30 a.m. was incredibly cheerful and sweet, especially for that hour. (I'm sorry I didn't make a note of her name, but I do recall a lanyard with pink flowers.) While not everyone had her personality, no one was ever rude or even abrupt. There's always been at least one person who clearly isn't happy about their job or something going on, but not in this case. The few questions I had for the nurses were answered succinctly but no one ever acted too busy to respond. When I mentioned some previous issues related to anesthesia, for example, notes were made and care was taken to avoid any similar problems. Dori and Janna signed a get well note that was placed with my discharge folder.

My anesthesiologist was Dr. Jess Power. He immediately put me at ease. I read his notes a couple of days post-op and it was clear he understood how best to prevent any negative reactions. The nurses also provided heated blankets before hand, and I can only assume they did afterwards because this was the first time I didn't wake up shivering.

My surgeon was Dr. James Hughey. His pre-op instructions were the most comprehensive I've ever seen. Over the years, I've dealt with a few surgeons who have God complexes and are incredibly arrogant. Dr. Hughey is not one of them. I was also impressed by his CRNP, Keith Kunze. I spent hours reading reviews online before contacting TOC since I'm not from this area and was a little nervous since I didn't know anyone who'd had similar surgery here.

So far I have no regrets, other than delaying the surgery for so long (my choice.) Dr. Hughey had to pivot once he opened me up, which he detailed in his notes. I wasn't too surprised and am glad he was clearly prepared to deal with whatever he found. While I hope that neither my husband nor I will ever need any more surgery, I'd have no hesitation recommending that my husband see Dr. Hughey or having surgery at the Ortho & Spine Tower.