Anderson County Hospital

Pros

• The staff are described as great and wonderful.
• Mona in X-ray is always excellent.
• Christy in lab provides excellent, efficient care.
• The hospital is appreciated as a valuable part of the community.
• A nurse in the ER was praised for treating a patient with dignity and care.
• A patient reported fantastic, attentive care in the ER for a broken wrist.

Cons

• The reviewer stated that Vipul Kella was extremely cold toward the patient and irritated to tend to him.
• The reviewer claimed hospital staff embarrassed the couple by calling local police and portraying the husband as abusive.
• Another patient said the ER care was substandard and the staff treated them with disrespect, with only one nurse showing genuine compassion.
• The veteran asserted that hospital staff involved police and misrepresented the situation, leading to unnecessary police involvement at their home.
• A reviewer alleged the ER misdiagnosed pneumonia as a viral cold and failed to provide adequate relief or appropriate testing.
• The family claimed Dr. Spears refused testing due to lack of insurance, did not coordinate with VA, and forcibly moved the patient, causing distress.
• They further alleged the hospital billed their mother for their father's care after his death, implying neglect and mismanagement.

Review

What emerges from these accounts is a hospital that can feel like two different places at once: on one hand, a facility where some patients and their families have experienced kindness, efficiency, and genuine care; on the other, a place where others feel ignored, misjudged, or mistreated in ways that left lasting frustration and fear. Taken together, the reviews paint a wide spectrum of experiences that touch on the human realities of medical care in an ER and hospital setting.

Several reviewers sing the hospital's praises for its everyday operations and staff who seemed to go the extra mile. One person called the staff "great wonderful" and said they were treated well across multiple visits, with never feeling disrespected. They described very short wait times for lab work and X-rays, and highlighted specific team members - Mona in X-ray as "excellent" and Christy in lab as providing "excellent efficient care." Others echoed similar sentiments, calling the hospital a blessing for the community and noting moments of attentive care, such as a caller who had a broken wrist and felt the staff were "very attentive to my needs." A veteran patient also acknowledged the hospital's role for local citizens in their community, underscoring gratitude for having a local resource they could rely on in emergencies.

Yet alongside those positive experiences lies a deeply troubling cluster of accounts describing perceived mistreatment, miscommunication, and even alleged wrongdoing. A prominent critique centers on an ER visit by a couple involving a physician named Vipul Kella. The attending physician was described as cold and irritated, with the husband's toe infection and the need for antibiotics treated as if it were an inconvenient hurdle. The reviewers allege that after the husband's medications list and medical needs were explained, the physician questioned why they waited to seek care that night and pressed them to leave, even offering to let the husband put his shoes back on and leave. What followed, according to the account, was more than medical concern: hospital staff allegedly contacted the town's police and portrayed the scene as if there had been domestic abuse, prompting a response from law enforcement that caused public embarrassment and anxiety about neighbors' perceptions. The couple claims that this mischaracterization stuck with them long after the incident, and they resolved only through police involvement, with ongoing implications suggested for future interactions with local authorities.

Another account focuses on a veteran couple who describe long-standing disabilities and dependence on assistive care. The husband, who has palindromic rheumatism and uses a wheelchair, along with a wife who helps him with basic tasks, recounts feeling devalued when a doctor, again cited as Dr. Spears, suggested testing was contingent on insurance and seemed to ignore the husband's documented needs and pain. The narrative emphasizes how the doctor returned the husband's ID, placed him in a wheelchair, and sent him out to the truck, with the implication that the medical team did not pursue necessary testing or communicate effectively with the VA or insurance providers. The couple asserts this sequence contributed to a traumatic memory of treatment and a belief that hospital care for a veteran's needs was compromised, culminating in a broader perception that the hospital's staff could fail to advocate for life-saving interventions in critical moments.

There are also explicit charges about disrespect in the ER on a separate occasion. One reviewer detailed a visit on a Thursday morning in September where they felt "disappointed and disrespected by most of the ER staff." Only one nurse was described as treating the patient like a person, while others spoke to them condescendingly, implying a lack of empathy even as the patient pleaded about severe pain, chest discomfort, and respiratory distress. The patient ended up seeking care elsewhere, receiving X-rays and tests that led to a pneumonia diagnosis - revelations that clashed with the initial ER's diagnosis of a viral cold and a brief, inadequate pain management response. The experience left the patient vowing never to return and to avoid a recurrence of such care.

A related, heartbreaking narrative centers on a long-ago July 4 incident that a family ties to a physician, Dr. Spears, and to the care of a beloved father who was a veteran. The family claims that the doctor refused to administer necessary testing or to contact the VA for authorization, instead returning the father's ID, rolling him into a vehicle, and telling the family that testing could not proceed without insurance. They allege the doctor's actions, carried out with insufficient concern for the patient's pain and needs, directly preceded the father's death at home from a blood clot to the heart - an event the family says could have been different with appropriate testing and timely VA involvement. The hospital subsequently billed the family member (the mother) for more than a thousand dollars, a charge they equate with the doctor's refusal to save their father's life. The family's conclusion is stark: this hospital, by their account, is a place to avoid, especially for veterans and their families, whom they feel were neglected or harmed rather than cared for.

Taken as a whole, these reviews present a hospital that clearly inspires strong loyalty and gratitude in some patients while provoking anger, fear, and distrust in others. The positive notes emphasize competent, compassionate basic care and targeted staff excellence that helps people feel seen and heard. The negative stories, by contrast, reveal perceptions of coldness, miscommunication, and systemic gaps - especially around complex needs, mental models of pain and disability, insurance and entitlement issues, and the way in which authorities (be they police or emergency services) respond to difficult hospital situations. The common thread across these accounts is the powerful impact that bedside manner, timely and appropriate medical action, and clear communication have on people in crisis - and the equally powerful damage that perceptions of neglect, misrepresentation, or denial of care can cause to families, veterans, and community trust.

Hospitals

• Anderson County Hospital (0 miles)
• Anderson County Hospital Specialty Clinic (0.1 miles)
• Ameripath Anderson County Hosptal (0.1 miles)
• Coffey County Hospital Ltcu (20.3 miles)
• Ransom Memorial Hospital (21.9 miles)

Physicians

• Saint Luke’s Plastic Surgery Specialists Garnett (0 miles)
• Family Care Center (0.1 miles)
• Midwest Hearing Aids (0.5 miles)
• Waverly Medical Clinic (20.4 miles)
• Ottawa Family Physicians (21.8 miles)
• Frank Eye Center (21.8 miles)
• Kenneth J Frank (21.8 miles)

Transportation

• U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer (0.2 miles)
• Ottawa Airport (17.7 miles)
• Dodson Aviation (17.7 miles)
• Lemaster Aviation (18.1 miles)
• U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer (20.1 miles)
• Budget Truck Rental (21.7 miles)

Places of Worship

• Waverly United Methodist Church (0.2 miles)
• First Baptist Church (0.4 miles)
• Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (0.4 miles)
• New Life Baptist Church (0.5 miles)
• First Christian Church (0.5 miles)
• Trinity Lutheran Church (0.6 miles)
• Parker United Methodist Church (0.6 miles)

Parks

• Lake Garnett Park (0.2 miles)
• Garnett City Park (0.9 miles)
• Williamsburg City Park (18.1 miles)
• Prairie Spirit Rail Trail (21.4 miles)
• John Brown Memorial Park (21.9 miles)

Restaurants

• Subway (0.4 miles)
• Sonic Drive-In (0.4 miles)
• Daylight Donuts (0.5 miles)
• Handlebar Chinese Restaurant (0.5 miles)
• Trade Winds Bar & Grill (0.5 miles)
• Pizza Hut (0.5 miles)
• Wing Street Garnett (0.5 miles)

Cafes

• Dutch Country Cafe (0.5 miles)
• Whistle Stop Cafe (22.1 miles)
• Chris' Cafe (22.3 miles)
• Corner Market (23 miles)

Pharmacies

• Medicine Shoppe (0.5 miles)
• AuBurn Garnett (0.6 miles)
• Auburn Pharmacy (0.7 miles)
• Auburn Pharmacy Abilene (0.7 miles)
• Walmart Pharmacy (20.8 miles)
• Walgreens (21.7 miles)
• Auten Pharmacy (22.7 miles)