St Mary's Medical Center
Categories: Physical Therapy, Hospitals, Medical Centers [Edit]
Neighborhood: Western Addition/NOPA450 Stanyan St
(at Fulton St)
San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 668-1000
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Announced 3 weeks ago
- By Appointment Only: No
45 Reviews for St Mary's Medical Center
One of St Mary's Medical Center's Favorite Reviews
I had knee surgery at St. Mary's a week ago and I was very impressed with the staff here. Everyone that I encountered was extremely friendly, did what they said they'd do, and made me feel as comfortable as possible. They were very good about talking through exactly what was going to happen without being condescending. Although it was out-patient surgery, I was assigned to a room and had great nurses working with me throughout the very long (and eventually painful) day.
It was my first surgery, ever, but I've spent many hours in hospitals with family members. I'm very impressed with the experience.
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I would say......one of the worst hospitals in S.F.
The nurses will not check the patients, even though their machines have been beeping for over an hour. I finally called them over, when i read get someone if the machine is beeping...
In the ICU, intensive care unit, the nurses AND DOCTORS were spanking each others' booties, and making sexy jokes, giving each other neck massages...i dont think its the place nor time to joke...
One good thing......uh, they have cable tv. The rooms are pretty small..
This isnt based on one visit, this is based on many many visits...
I just had surgery there 2 weeks ago. Hip revision surgery, a partial hip replacement done 17 years ago needed to be completed. Both my primary care physician, Dr. Ken Mills and orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bill McGann are affiliated there and so of course I'm going there for some of the worst days of my life. I've had surgery and stayed in hospitals before and so I feel I have some basis for comparison. St Mary's was by far the best hospital I ever had to be in. All, and I mean all, of the personnel I ran into were great. All the 6 or 7 helpful nurses that attended to my needs, the physical and occupational therapists, the residents and of course my two fantastic doctors were amazingly patient, kind and concerned with my care and health. Twice the quality control supervisor came in to check on me and make sure everything was going well. Everyone explained everything completely and thouroughly. Everyone had a smile on their face, how could I not recover? Only once was there a problem, one night I couldn't get anyone to answer my page. It took 10 minutes before someone came to check and see what was up. But other times I would accidentally push that button and immediately someone would answer. I think that night was just a fluke. I still give the hospital and the staff all 5 stars, they deserve it in this age of managed care (managed neglect, actually) and short falling budgets. If you have to get sick or need surgery, go to St. Mary's Medical Center.
DO NOT GO. The emergency room is "C" level at best. Very bad service. Incompetent nurses and staff. Doctor did not know how to handle simple cut. Stay away. You will regret going. UCSF AND CAL PACIFIC (A FEW MILES AWAY) ARE WAY ABOVE ST. MARY'S IN QUALITY.
Horrible! We had a choice between UCSF, Cal Pacific and St. Mary's. We chose St. Mary's. What a mistake!!!! There was nobody in the waiting room but they could not handle a simple cut (less than an inch on a thumb) that had a piece of glass inside the wound. Wow! After four hours they put a cast on i and then on to home. Told to come back in a couple days. They also refused me (husband) to see my wife when they were treating her!!!! Wow!! I think they thought we were in communist Russia. Do not be swayed by the advertising. Do not go. In all my years in four major cities, I have never seen such incompetence, arrogance and combativeness in hospital staff and doctors.
St. Mary's expedited me and my severely separated shoulder right through ER. Even on a busy Saturday evening, with a troublesome insurance card, thee drunk guys with random broken bits and my pleading for some sort of pain medication over 500mg, they had me out the door in thirty minutes. While some hospitals market quick turn around, and St. Mary's does with their quite humorous marketing hanging along geary, this place will be cordial, concise and creative.
Creative in the manner that I was in obvious pain, and had no seat in the waiting room and was offered a very nice wheelchair. The X-Ray technician under heavy Eastern European accent was surprised that it was only my ego, not collar bone was broken. And recommended that while medication helps a nice cheap bottle of Vodka cures all.
And parking is easy. While Kaiser has a lot, rather have a slight turn onto Stanyan and parking within a short distance to the ER entrance.
Will take a fifth and Percocet please
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I've had 2 visit to the ER and two hospital stays. It was a mixed bag of quality of service.
Kudos:
-They have a wait-free waiting room!
-One of the nurses was the best I've ever had works there.
-Hospital is good food!
-The hospital was actually a pleasant place to be.
-The ER and the hospital solved my problem.
-Try to get treated by Dr. Zucherman or Dr. McGann or Dr. Goode. Awesome doctors! One of them is even famous. :-)
Shameful:
-ER staff treated me like I was a drug addict. I brought MRI showing fractured spine and herniated discs. Fell on blind eyes and deaf ears.
-Doctors usually (yes usually) forget to enter orders into computer. I waited 2 hours for ice while the paged doc.
-Make sure you don't get treated by orthopedic resident Dr. Van Osten. He was the most unprofessional, cruel, egotistical physician I have met. As the night-shift physician, he decided to overrule my surgeon's pain treatment plan. My surgeon is the chief by the way.
I HAD THE MOST PAINFUL NIGHT OF MY LIFE, and I was in a hospital for pain treatment!
-The doctors can write inaccurate, spiteful notes about you if they feel like it. Dr. Van Osten's notes stated that I was basically a crazy drug addict. There was nothing I could do about it.
-If you complain about one of the staff, you will pay. What you've heard about medical staff sticking together is true. Most of the staff that came in my room after Dr. Van Osten's visit, treated me like a crazy drug addict and also wrote that in their notes. This obviously bolstered Van Osten's claim that I was such a person. There was nothing I could do about the retaliation.
Other than having the most miserable night of my life, being treated w/cruelty and being called a crazy drug addict, the place was great!!!
In all sincerity, my wife said for major surgery, I should choose the best doctor. The support staff are not as important.
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It is interesting to note the disparate feedback from prior reviewers, though tonight's incident mirrored the one experience reported by Heather H.
My mom checked into St Mary's ER due to escalating chest pains at 3pm today. They called me to sleep over our home so I packed my clothes and drove back. After dinner my dad and I drove back to St Mary's to check on my mom's lab test that was supposed to have been processed by 8pm. Two hours and a half later and the best in customer DISservice, we were dismissed by past 10:30pm. The wait time, I would have understood, although tonight the ER was almost empty.
The staff was not only subpar, but the service reminded me of one that is staffed by a roadside diner (the head nurse of the CPEU 1&2), while the orderly (or was that young dude a CNA) seemed to have the same level of service that you'd experience in a very nasty dive bar. Why, I've had way better service with a smile at Zeitgeist, without a doubt!
The young orderly (or CNA perhaps ??) responded when I asked the Nurse's station to help the patient as she needed to use the restroom. He strolled towards the room, pulled out all the wiring and cables attached to her feebled and elderly body, pulled the bed straps down, and muttered, "here you go" and then he skipped away merrily. If I recall, nurses of all levels tend to escort a patient, especially one who allegedly was admitted for chest pain (possible heart condition), with tender loving care.
Among all the industries, the health care industry necessitates and requires customer service par excellence! I was stupefied to witness absolute disgust in attitude and spirit! I noticed the same two staff perform cleanup at the neighboring room with their heavy hearts and hands, as we heard the painful clankering of things and stuff, sounded like we were at a butcher's station!
Finally, upon discharge, the removal of my mom's dextrose needle was an afterthought? I did not have the heart to look and watch, for fear of the uncontrollable instinct that my heavy left may want to swing (a nice left hook would have made me feel oh so good) straight into the head nurse (no pun intended).
On our drive back home we were able to elevate our horrifying experience into a comedic perspective. We laughed at my parents' sudden demotion where service is concerned, last week they were pampered in luxurious skies on Virgin Atlantic's Upper class ride from London to SFO, service was bar none. Tonight, my mom was demoted from six stars to a trashy one star or less, services rendered by a Nurse that would have been more appropriate serving Sloppy Joe's at a roadside diner and her orderly ... oh never mind.
I swear, I'd rather go straight to the crematorium, should I have an ER necessity where St. Mary's ER would have been the only choice. (Note to self: append into my DNR directive.)
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Me and my scooter went for a tumble last week...and I just have not been the same. Thank the great gogglie stars for the following:
1. I know where St Mary's is.
2. The staff is very helpful
3. I have medical insurance
4. Helmets
5. Chemical Pain Management
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!
.... and ouch.
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Many doctors and nurses speak Asian languages; in-house Cantonese, Mandarin and Taishanese interpreters are available, and interpreter services can be arranged for any language. Hospital signs are in four languages: English, Russian, Spanish and Chinese. At nurse's stations, non-English speaking patients can point to printed cards in their language to communicate messages such as "I am in pain" or "I need to use the restroom." Patients and doctors can request Asian food items such as porridge or broccoli beef from the hospital menu. Patients can also get daily Chinese newspapers delivered to their rooms and watch Chinese TV programs.
Even asianweek.com did an article on them http://www.asianweek.c...
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I can`t say enough good about this place . I went to the emergency room after my ankle looked like I had a grapefruit in it. Yes I triped on our fabulous even sidewalks in this city. Thanks for the pain you put me through San Francisco, next time FIX YOUR DAMN SIDEWALKS!!!! If they were dirt they would be smoother..
The reason for the 4 satrs is when I got the bill it was $2800.00 usd WTF? All they did is give me a pain pill ,ice,and x-ray. I`m in the wrong business. But I have to say they took me when I walked in . Thanks!
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My wife had what turned out to be a very minor medical emergency but we didn't know that at the time. We went to St. Mary's because our primary care physician affiliated with it. I can't say enough good things about the very thorough workup they did, The doctors and other staff were skilled, thoughtful, careful, smart--you name it. Fortunately, there was nothing much wrong with my wife.
But I have a serious complaint about their financial sector and anyone who gets involved with this institution should be thinking about this. Here's what happened. As you may know or guess, a million bills come out of such an event--the institution and all the people involved bill separately. Our insurance took care of a lot of stuff and we received many bills from various people and outfits for the part the insurance didn't cover.
We never heard a thing from St. Mary's--for about a year. Then, to our complete surprise, since we had never received a bill from them, we got a dunning letter from a bill collection agency. You know the kind of letter, hinting that they will take your car, house, kids, pets, if you don't pay up right away.
I called St. Mary's and they said, "Well, you didn't pay the bill so we turned it over to them." I explained that we had never received a bill. They said that they had sent out several bills which had been returned to them as undeliverable, You would think that would make them curious but, no, apparently they just kept sending them. I asked what address they had allegedly sent these bills too ("allegedly" because now I was getting suspicious of some kind of skullduggery). They gave me an address in the state of Missouri which had been my wife's address twenty years earlier. I explained that she hadn't lived there in twenty years. They said that she must have given them that address. Where else would they have gotten it? I said that was a good question and maybe they should find out, since they hadn't gotten it from her. That didn't interest them and never has since; their representatives kept saying she must have told them until I told them I might consult a lawyer if they kept saying that. Then they stopped but they have not, to my knowledge, addressed that flaw in their system yet.
Finally we agreed that, if they would send me a proper bill, we would pay it. Then followed a real comedy of (I suppose well-intentioned) screwups but who knows. They turned me and my desire to see an actual bill before I paid it over to a guy whose job seemed to be to cool off people who mention lawyers. After lengthy discussion he said he would get a bill for me. A while later, I got pages of computer printout in which there were a lot of prices but not a lot of explanation. I kept asking for a more informative document and I kept getting this kind of garbage. The guy who cools people out kept saying he'd take care of it but never did. I finally gave up. They don't listen, they don't produce information in a timely way and readable form. and they are evidently mainly interested in getting their money and avoiding litigation.
None of this lengthy complaint should deter you from using their excellent medical services. But, no matter how sick you are, check over anything they write down about addresses, insurance, and anything that will have to do with what you end up paying--their billing and accounting people are not competent the way the medical people are. Keep your hand on your wallet!
When it hurts (alot) to swallow and your snot has been green for a week, time to see a doctor. When this happens on a holiday weekend and your doctor is in the middle of a two-week bender on some unexplored South Pacific island, time to go to the ER.
Here's the sad part about my trip to St. Mary's: I totally bought into their clever, bus-side advertising. Somehow, having read "You'll be seen by a doctor within 30 minutes," approximately 15,326 times, I thought I would be seen by a doctor within 30 minutes. But then, I've been trying to kick that football out of Lucy's hands for about 40 years, and I still keep falling for the same old gag. Good grief!
I wasn't seen by a doctor within 30 minutes. In fact, I wasn't seen by a doctor at all. Instead, after waiting for about an hour (half in the waiting room, half in a closet-sized examination room), an 8-year-old girl wearing a white lab coat came in, introduced herself as a "medical assistant" and started prodding my body. Wait, medical assistant? Isn't that one of the degrees Sally Struthers can help you earn in the privacy of your own home via correspondence? And now I'm trusting my sick body to you?
I guess so, because no other help was forthcoming. In keeping with what I would later discern was St. Mary's standard practice of over-promising and under-delivering, the precocious little kid who examined me swabbed my throat to test for strep throat and promised to be back with the results in about 20 minutes. A little more than 30 minutes later, a nurse poked her head in the door to ask me to leave the examination room so they could put someone else in it. So, back to the waiting room for me, I guess!
About a half hour after that, I figured they must have thought I left, because I still didn't have the test results back, despite waiting 300% as long as I was told I was going to have to wait. So, I asked the receptionist person, who went to check. She then reported back that the lab still hadn't returned the results. About 2 minutes later, the 8-year-old drove her Barbie Dream Convertible into the waiting room and told me the test results had come back, thus instantly revealing that they were lying to me the whole time. Apparently, 21st century medicine has no idea what's wrong with me. "Must be something viral," the fetus told me, which I think is the doctor's version of the popular dodge used by lawyers when they have no frickin idea what they're talking about: "I'll have to run that by the tax department."
So, bottom line: 2.5 hours out of my day for someone younger than some of my clothes to tell me that they have no idea what's wrong with me. Awesome patient service, St. Mary's! Next time, I'll just pray to St. Mary, because I suspect it will be just as efficacious, and I can do that from the comfort and privacy of my own home.
P.S.: Like how I used efficacious there? Yep, just because I'm infirm doesn't mean I've lost my perspicacity. Word to your mother!
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Note: This review is based on past experience (over 1 yr ago). I've been to St. Mary's Quickcare 2xs and my husband 1x over the past few years. I think almost all 3 times it was because it was a holiday and we couldn't get into see our doctor. They do exactly as they advertise...I was seen in less than 30 minutes (usually much less than that), the facilities are very clean, and the doctors & nurses have good bedside manners. I highly recommend their urgent care. Of all the times I've been there, I never saw any ER patients come through, so my experiences there have been calm and not the typical stressful ER atmosphere. Oh, and as I'm writing this review, a friend of mine (who didn't think to call me) has been waiting at UCSF ER for about 4 hrs trying to get seen for an urgent non-ER matter! He even got spit on and his life threatened by another patron, WTF!
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Yes, you will receive your care within 30 min this is true. But it will be dished up with rude, inattentive, and surly staff who will leave you wondering if a bottle of tequila and an Idiots Guide to Self Medical Care would have been a whole lot better. If you have a choice I would go somewhere else.
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Being born at this hospital I am a little biased but when I was head butted at USF I had a nice little gash in my forehead. So I walked over to St. Mary's emergency room and was in and out with 11 stitches in less than an hour. The doctor was very nice also. I don't like coming here (who likes going to hospitals anyways) but I'm glad that its an option when I need help.
The emergency room here is a fabulous place for patients to drop dead from the lack-of-urgency attitude that the hospital employs. Hell, I doubt the staff would rush to the assistance of a person who ran in here frantically screaming and hemorrhaging out of every orifice. While I understand that this is San Francisco, it's no less painful to watch masses of sick people howling for indefinite periods of time in the waiting room until they can be treated for their maladies. Don't even get me started on the other patients. I encountered a crazy woman in the waiting area who asked me if she could live at my house, or if i knew someone who could shelter her. Apparently, she wasn't at the hospital for health reasons, but merely wanted to sleep in one of the rooms. Obviously, she was denied and finally escorted out of the premises. O-M-G, where do these people come from?!
Once my friend was feeling very ill, so out of convinience I dropped him off at the E.R. on my way to school. A few hours of class later, I went back to check on him, and GUESS WHAT? He was still waiting to be seen! Being the awesome friend that I am, I kept him company for a few more hours until they were finally able to examine him. By that time, he was feeling famished and light-headed from waiting around for a good half-a-day on an empty stomach. After his blood was drawn for testing, he was close to passing out. Realizing this, one of the nurses offered to bring him a small sandwich, which we thought was such a kind gesture. But...SURPRISE SURPRISE, my poor sick pal was never given any sustenance to keep him from fainting. Not even a measly crumb.
What a cruel tease for a sick boy :(
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Just had same day surgery recently at St. Mary's and I cant say enough good things about the hospital and staff. I am not the best patient in the world by any means but the staff here made me feel comfortable and relaxed. Rooms were clean, nurses were friendly cant ask for anything more. Hopefully I wont be back here anytime soon but I do give it 5 stars no doubt!
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Not a good experience. Try to find another ER for better customer care.
Came into the ER tonight (saw the ads) and was almost immediately admitted. From here it was all down-hill. The crazy thing was that I had a doctor see me, x-rays taken and a hard-soled boot placed on my foot in a little over an hour...not bad. The kicker is that I proceeded to wait in the hallway for another hour to get crutches. I finally walked up to the nurses station where there were ~5-6 staff and asked for the crutches so that I could be discharged. Which I was, promptly. It must have been the end of these people's shift or something, because I was taken aback at the rude and terse additude taken with other patients in the ER.
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Would you rather go to SF General or Kaiser instead?
Seriously, this is the least annoying / scary / smelly medical facility I've visited in SF and the emergency room is almost as fast as claimed by their advertising.
Yes, 5 stars for an emergency room. I arrived at 830 pm on a Wednesday. I filled out some paperwork and handed over my insurance card. I waited a few minutes and then was called by the triage nurse. I told her what was going on, she took my temp and BP. I had never been to the hospital for myself so I was nervous because I had no idea what was wrong with me. The triage nurse was really, really kind when I told her that. I hung out in the back with one of the Haight kids who peed in the bed and was shouting. Nice. Not the hospitals fault though. In about an hour, I was given some meds, a prescription, and was sent on my way home feeling much relieved. A couple of days later I received the bill, which I am happy to pay after the service I got.
Yeah...what the freak who went to the ER for a friggin "Supposed" UTI failed to realize is that E.R. stands for EEEMERGENCEEE ROOOM.
What's ER mean, folks?
Is it for people who have taken Mr. Johnson in the pooper and then up their Hoo-Hoo (E. coli, anyone?)
...and get an IMMEDIATE UTI? What the hell kind of bacteria are THOSE? That's amazing! I've never heard of such things...even STDs take a couple of days incubation...this must have been one dirty crotch this guy had.
Or is the ER for people who are in danger of losing their lives at any moment? I've not been to St. Mary's, but I gave them 4 stars just for knowing the story and doinig what ANY ER would have done with rotten coochi...take care of truely sick patients first, and the stupid ones last.
I'm an ICU nurse, and I work closely with the ER. You think we don't know the REAL story behind what you say and what you did? Honey, we've seen it all. We can piece a story together faster than you can make up stuff to explain your symptoms. Oh, we smile and say "mmm hmmm" and write down what you say, but we KNOW what really happened. It's what we DO for a living...we can tell what type of "infection" is from dirty places, and which one comes from antibiotics, and so forth, so save your breath.
Pain meds, for your broken pooter?
BWAH HA HA HA...now let me get back to this fella who got hit by a truck on his motorcycle, or the person about to go into seizures from a diabetic insulin reaction, and you sit there and think about that dirty pee pee you let Mr Nasty put in your delicate place, and the logic behind going to the effing ER with a rotten crotch thinking they're going to run around stat to appease you!
Next time, maybe he should wipe it off first, or make sure he wears a condom.
MmmmKAY?
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I had outpatient surgery on my hand at SMMC. Dr. David Chang placed a plate in my hand after I broke my left 5th metacarpal.
From the initial contact (SMMC called *me* the day after my accident, after I found out SFGH is [thankfully] out of network for my insurance - I had no idea where to turn, so this was a godsend) with Skye in registration to Dr. Chang and the anesthesiologist in the OR, to the post-op followups with the PROS center and my OT Lynda, I've been happier than I thought possible.
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It's hard for me to judge hospitals because I work at one and I work for the administration and I know the drill, like why you have to write the time on your intake form and why they ask you your story 25 times. Anyway, this review isn't really about that. This review is about how I came here because apparently, I have the bones of a 95 year old Asian woman because I motherfuckin' fractured my ankle and I will have NO LIFE for the next month or so.
Sore armpits due to those goddamn crutches? I am ready.
Atrophied muslces? Bring it on.
15 pound weight gain due to no activity and a diet of little star pizza? Ow!
Having every single person you know ask you for Vicodin!? YES.
Really. I'm loving life. Every single excruciating minute.
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Want to add my support for this great staff. Any group that can make a colonoscopy bearable deserves accolades!
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I want to heartily second (or third!) the praise for St. Mary's. I've been there for Urgent Care/ER stuff, and everyone was extraordinarily friendly and kind, right down to the people who helped me sort out yucky billing problems months down the line.
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As a student at USF, I ended up at St. Mary's a few times because it's down the street. I had a very bad experience there. I went in to the ER for an upper respiratory infection on a Sunday night, and was taken to a back room and left there for an hour and a half. Finally a med tech gave me a bracelet. When the doctor (Patrick Hand MD) finally arrived 45 minutes after that, he was dismissive, rushed and seemed actually incompetent/stoned.
After he left me there for a while without explaining what was wrong, I wandered down the hall and found a few staffmembers watching the Super Bowl. One of them actually complained to her friend about how "slow" it was that day at work. When I asked if I could check out, one of them said "yeah, well, your stuff is right there" and pointed to a file on the counter.
A friend of mine from school also went there and found it to be dirty, with an elderly patient left alone on a gurney in a remote corner of the hospital.
They billed me over $500 for their total lack of service. I will never, ever go back to that place.
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At first I was afraid, I was petrified. But they're speedy AND in a good mood. What more could you want from urgent care? Super friendly staff made me feel better about my germy, germy self and I could not believe how fast they were. And yes, they take Aetna. Woohoo.
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I went to St. Mary's ED on a Saturday (after waiting a week to try to get into my doctor) for the flu. I walked in, got registered, put in a room and was seen by a doctor within 30 minutes! I was on my way home in less than an hour! I know that most ERs don't work like this, but St. Mary's seems to have it wired. Thanks for the great and quick care!
I had a weird thing going on with me where I ended up in the ER about 3 times before finally being diagnosed. 24 years old, prime of my life, suddenly stricken, and all that.
I had surgery and then spent nearly a month here. For the most part, the staff was unspeakably kind. I'll never forget how many of those nurses and doctors (yes, even those cocky doctors had their sweet moments) tended to me with the most unimaginable compassion. Among the best memories out of this horrible time in my life is when I would wake up in the middle of the night, drugged out of my mind but still in pain, and a nurse would be there in no time. I especially liked those nun nurses --- I don't know what their official designation is, but to me they were Mother Teresas in the flesh.
It pains me to dock 2 stars from my final rating, but during at least two of my initial ER trips, I met some unpleasant nurses. At the time, I was in a great deal of pain and justifiably hated their behavior --- I will never forget the nurse who wanted to shut me up when I was moaning in pain and she yelled at me, "Sir, this is a HOSPITAL!" Well, of course it is, you little...
That glower in her eyes baffled me, how someone could be so cruel when I was lying there in pain and didn't have the slightest clue why it was happening. But I now understand the nature of American health care and how overworked these people are. No, it's not right to take out your frustrations on people, but that's the way it is. And when I think about my overall experience at St. Mary's, those little blips of nastiness don't really matter so much.
I am now required to make regular trips to the clinic as well as the lab on Floor A, the same floor as the ER. The clinic is what it is: a charity place for uninsured and under-income people like me, and backups and inconveniences happen accordingly. But the staff there does what they can and they tough it out like prize-fighters. I'm especially pleased with the lab staff. Most of the time, the nurses greet me with cheery smiles when I register, and the people who draw my blood are generally affable and conversational.
I would trust this hospital with my life. If anything, even those unpleasant nurses were a blessing. I forced myself to tough it out, too.
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Lil' reality check here, hospital visits aren't fun like being the next contestant on the price is right or a surprise visit by the sweedish bikini team
Unfortunately I am sort of an expert on receiving trauma related medical care, a fringe benefit of doing extreme sports for over 25 years (b4 they were even called extreme)
This hospital is a one stop shop and even easy breezy on site parking for cheap
It's clean and odor free
All the staff has been nice and food is decent, wish I could say that about all the hospitals I've been at
As a tip of the hat to some of the other reviews
You wanna really see what a third world country is like? Try breaking your leg on puerto rican day parade wknd in the south Bronx NYC-72hrs and 3 hospitals later getting lost in a wing and having no painkiller and no one even speaks English
My wife had to go find the ortho, cling on to his arm and not let him go until he would sign me out
St marys is way better than that
daylight come and we wanna go home
Update, they sorta dropped the ball on the end game
Forgot to serve me bkfast (about the only thng I was looking forward to) and total confusion getting me outta there on the discharge by 11, waited 2hrs till 1230 before they told me I couldnt have a cane cuz the dr didnt order it (basically leaving me/us hanging while I could been home sleeping)
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Deep down, I knew I had it the minute it was over. I rolled out of bed, panting, dripping with sweat. Warm waves of euphoria gently washing over every little ache ....oh baby, why did we ever break up again? Nothing could interrupt this moment...not even that little voice in my bladder, clamoring for attention, squeaking: "Drink some cranberry juice, for fuck's sake!!"
Still living imprints of orange light, we toss on our clothes inside out and sidle over to Sushi Groove South looking deliciously unkempt. Mmmmmm best sex ever + pretty good sushi = nirvana.
But I squirm in my chair. I can no longer deny it. Something's not right. Suddenly, the world turns grey, the orange light drains and the boy in front me is the same not-quite-smart-enough-slightly-boring-we-only-sta yed-together-for-a-year-cause-the-sex-was-amazing surfer that he was last week.
And all I was left with -- say it with me girls: U---T----I. Mhmm. You know what I'm talkin about. Not just your run of the mill chug cranberry pills kind, but the screaming and crying in the morning doubled over with pain clawing the carpet just kill me god kind. My roommate, panicked, yells at me, "What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do?"
Between heaves and screams, take me to the emergency room...pllllleeeeeeaaaaasssssssseeee.
My friends suggest I go to St. Mary's, since they claim it will be less crowded than all the others. The ride there is a blur. We arrive -- it is less crowded thank god. I look up at the nurse with my big brown eyes framed with puddles of red goo in the corners, knowing i look more pathetic than a premature baby. I rock back and forth. Take me, take me, now. Make. The. Pain. Stop. Please.
The mousy nurse looks over at me, clearly unimpressed. "Please take a seat Miss. The doctor will be with you after he's seen the more urgent cases."
The more urgent cases?? What do I look like? How pathetic am I? Who could possibly be more urgent? So I sit. And rock. And pray. and rock. And cry shamelessly, while 93-year-old women stare at me with their mouths open.
FINALLY they cart me into a room. Except it doesn't appear to be a real room...there are brooms in it...and no bed...huh?
"Wait here," the orderly instructs.
I wait. And cry some more. AUDIBLY. With little short intakes of breath and everything. I wait, probably an hour. Finally, unable to take it anymore, I burst through the door into the hallway, stringy hair matted over my face, and yell to the first person I see:
"CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME SOMETHING FOR THE Paaayyyy-ayyyy-ayyyyynnnnnnn???"
The male nurse, dressed in his blue paper outfit, turns around, purses his lips, puts his hands on his hips, and responds in a sing-song, sarcastic voice, "Actually, I can't. Because I'm helping a woman who can't breathe." Turns around, walks into the next room.
I continue to grip the door, stunned. Wow. I have never, in my life, been made to feel so utterly selfish and ungrateful. His voice. His look. As though I just waltzed into a third-world country in a rolls royce and demanded that the poorest man fetch me some champaigne from his personal stash. THAT'S how I felt.
Then I waited for another hour. Finally, a doctor came in and gave me a vicodin and some antibiotics (which didn't work) and told me to go home. The pain was still there, but I was humbled into submission and hobbled out.
NEVER go to this ER. Ever. I don't care if your brain is disconnected from your neck which is attached to your toe. It's just not worth it.
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this place is weak and totally lame. at least the ER is. i was lured by their "ER care in under 30 minutes" signs and that was fine for a minor problem a few months back. however, when i had to be rushed there by ambulance recently, it was like something out of a dark comedy. i was crying from the intense pain i was in and they treated me like a drug-seeker. seriously: the doctor said she'd be right back with pain meds and discharge papers and then disappeared for over an hour. when i staggered out into the hallway and found the nurses surfing the internet, they said, very snotty-like: "the doctor is with a VERY sick patient right now (there was only one doctor.) so you're just going to have to wait." I was like, well can I just leave? I have pain meds at home. they were all, whatever, we don't care. so i pulled out my IV, spurted blood everywhere and then laid down and cried for another 1/2 hour or so til the doctor finally came. so what's wrong with me, anyway? i asked. i don't know she said, we just rule out the important stuff. you didn't have a stroke or an MI. fine. finally went home and came back next day for an MRI. sent me back to the ER after results were abnormal and SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. my pain meds wore off, doctor told me "i'll be right back with pain meds and then we'll send you right off to radiology for the CT" and then he disappeared for an hour. came back and said "oh, you don't need further tests, the radiologist looked at your films again and it turns out you had a stroke." wha???? then he was like, "oh gotta go someone else needs me" and walked away. what a nightmare.
I spent a lot of time at St. Mary's this summer, first at the Sister Mary Philippa Clinic and finally as a patient in the surgical ward. The staff was invariably helpful, and the doctors and nurses I saw were all friendly, patient, and took the time to explain every medical procedure and test result. Best of all, I never felt like a "charity case," despite the fact that I (just out of grad school and uninsured) fell on the lower end of the sliding scale the clinic charges. In short, St. Mary's rocks.
And I saw nuns! With the headgear and everything.
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I had a decent experience here with my massively sprained ankle. As promised, they saw me very quickly. The x-ray tech, while causing me immense pain by twisting my ankle in ways it was not able to go apologized profusely each time and warned me when he was about to torture me. Most techs (and I've had a lot of xrays!) just contort you and let you scream. The nurse was wonderful and the doctor knowlegeable. And picking up my xrays months later was a breeze.
I had to pick up my friend the other day from St. Mary's after out patient surgery. Wow, the place was dead. I guess nobody goes to St. Mary's for anything. However, my friend's nurse was so super duper nice that I felt the need to hand out 5 stars to Nurse Quentin for his patience.
My friend didn't feel so hot after waking up from surgery, but Quentin took very good care of him. He gave him all the right drugs, answered all of his questions and make sure everything was good to go before releasing him into my irresponsible posession.
I almost subtracted one star for the lamey mclamerson nurse who wouldn't help me when my friend was about to yack. I mean really, all I wanted was one of those little plastic tubs for him to throw up in, but she wouldn't even give me the time of day. Did I stutter? He's about to yack all over the bed and you can't give me a throw up thingy? Whatevs, lady.
But then I remembered that Nurse Quentin put up with my buddy's quirkiness all day long (he smiled politely at the introduction of, "Quentin, this is Karla. I've made out with her.") and knew that he deserved all 5 stars.
My mother works as a nurse at the OCU department. F YOU if you think this place sucks. She has taken care of everyone ranging from the Bay Area athletes like the Niners and Giants when they use to go here to Politicians. She holds no special treatment whoever you are. She simple cares for you the best that she can. She CAN be a PILL to take, but she keeps shit real.
In the end, ALL her patients always say, "thanks, I really enjoyed and appreciated all the help you gave me."
True Story: A guy was driving with some friends around