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St Mary's Medical Center
Rating Details »
Categories: Hospitals, Medical Centers, Doctors [Edit]
Neighborhood: Western Addition/NOPA450 Stanyan St
(at Fulton St)
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 668-1000
- By Appointment Only:
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47 reviews for St Mary's Medical Center
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
2/11/2008
9/20/2009
10/30/2009
7/3/2009
11/25/2008
7/7/2008
3/18/2008
7/15/2008
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3/15/2007
6/28/2005
One of St Mary's Medical Center's Favorite Reviews What's This?
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.
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I would rate this hospital 3.5 stars. My dad was in here earlier this month. He was on the eighth floor.
First of all, I give the nurses four stars. They were helpful when I needed someone to tell me if there was a self-serve kitchenette so I could get my father some ice water. I was greeted with big, genuine smiles.
The doctors I'm iffy about. Several were chatting to one another or on a computer. NOBODY gave me the time of day. Have you ever kind of stood somewhere not sure who to ask and whether to interrupt a conversation? Well, that's what I did, holding the hospital pitcher. It was obvious I needed something. One woman doctor glanced my way but didn't stop to ask if I was okay or needed something. Where were the nurses at this time you may wonder? All were busy chcking on patients which I understood.
I asked one female doctor through this one pane, window wall that wasn't enclosing at all about whether there was a kitchenette; she glanced up from her computer w/an annoyed look. I was pissed. I was told later that her English wasn't very good and perhaps she didn't understand me well. My friend, whose husband is a doctor in the east bay, thought maybe she was a hired, foreign doctor. It doesn't matter. If she couldn't help me then she could have gotten someone to help me. If this doctor went to medical school here then how can one with limited English survive such an intense program of 4+ years and not understand a basic question when in such a program, she has to answer medical questions?
I was totally irked and didn't want to make a scene so my parents wouldn't be embarrassed. So I made a complaint on the website and am waiting to see if I hear back.
My dad did see and talk to a good internist named Dr. Tsoi. However, it would be nice if the doctors got together more often to discuss a patient as it was frustrating for my dad to hear different opinions about his situation every day.
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This is for Mercy Imaging Center, part of the hospital.
I had a really bad experience. Aside from listening to the staff complain endlessly about other people's stupidity and other things I don't care to hear about everything else was horrendous too. I arrived for a scheduled appt. and was told the doctor's office had not faxed over the work orders. The doctor's office says they did and the loss of a fax there is not the first time. Then while I waited for the fax to be sent again I find out b/c of how late the office was in faxing it, I would have to wait 40 mins., b/c the next appt. had already arrived. I left and rescheduled. When I arrived a second time, this time work order in hand, I ended up waiting 45 mins. before being taken in as the 2nd appt., only to sit another 15 mins. in the examination room. After everything is done I am asked to wait another 15 mins.
If that wasn't bad enough, I called the doctor's office today and the results have been sent yet.
Is it possible to take away stars???
So here's the deal. I've started to have chest pain and coughing for about a day so my primary care physician told me to go to the closest ER. Sure, closest ER, St. Marys. I walk in at 10:30 and was triaged in a matter of 15 minutes. They put in a room by 11 and told me to change into a gown.
1 hour later, I'm sitting in a windowless room shivering in cold from wearing a gown for a PA to come in. He took the worst history ever and ignored my chest pain and was so determined that I have the flu, he did a nasal culture. He walks away.
1 hour later, my boyfriend finally comes in and I told him that I need some water. He flags down a nurse and they had me a HUGE cup with a SIP of water. I kid you not. The nurse told me to take my time with the water. Are you kidding me??? Are we that bad in a drought that you can't give me at least a quarter of a cup?
1 hour later (keep in mind its been 3 hours) a nurse finally come in and hook me up to an IV and draw blood. She was complaining that I was extremely dehydrated and had to poke me not once, not twice or even three times. She poked me FOUR times. It hurt like hell. Perhaps if you didn't deprive me of water that I would actually make it easier for you.
I continue to wait. EKG was done and so was a chest x-ray. Finally at 6:30pm they realized that the ER had lost my culture that was done 7 hours prior. They decided to do another one. They said I don't have the flu and decided to let me go home. They said the chest x-ray, labs and EKG look good. They gave me this stupid diagnosis of "viral infection."
Here's the kicker. I found out the next day from my primary care that I actually had pneumonia. I asked her how she know and she told me that she just looked at the my chest x-ray from the ER. Are you kidding me??? They let me go knowing that I had pneumonia???
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- Useful (1)
Had to take a friend to the emergency room today - she's fine now, and I've got the excellent staff here to thank. Everyone was super polite and made sure we were taken care of and well informed. The Doctor on duty(Dr. Cady) was very nice and really took the time to make sure he knew exactly what was ailing my poor friend. Very knowledgable. Our RN kept everything light-hearted and helped explain everything that was going on.
All in all, a great ER experience! I would say at this point in other reviews, "I will be coming back!", but uhhh I hope I don't have to go to the ER again...
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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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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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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...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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I've been here twice for a cumulative total of less than an hour, which has been quite the relief following my experiences at the General. I've worked with the PROS Center to figure out why I couldn't bend my knee anymore, and found everyone I encountered to be alert, pleasant, and encouraging - and my appointments were both before 9 in the morning.
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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 $2800.00 usd WTF? All they did is give me a pain pill ,ice,and x-ray. I`m in the wrong business. But I have to say they took me when I walked in . Thanks!
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If negative stars were possible this Hell hole would get -5!!!
DO NOT GET MAJOR SURGERY HERE if you value your well being OR unless you have a loved one that knows something about care and can be by your side from ICU until you are released to go home.
Here's the short version - mom got back fusion, she's 75.
1) They did not control her pain (bad pain management/terrible nurses that don't give medication on schedule) RESULT: I witnessed this and she has BLACK bruises the length of BOTH forearms from gripping the bed rails in agony!
2) Just out of the O.R. gave her a PCA pump but she was too out of it to hit the button to self administer medication. Nurse so angry that she wasn't using her PCA pump I found my mom with the PCA button tapped into her palm - the tape was wrapped around her hand three times, so tight it made her fingers white and at an angle it was physically impossible for her to press the button to give herself pain medication - it looked like the nurse was furious when she crammed it into her hand and tapped it in place.
This same nurse said "I don't want to hear it!" when she was told my mother needed more pain medication - but I sure heard her nasty comment. THIS IS AN ICU NURSE! What the F@$#?!
3) Nurse gave her sedatives AFTER instructed NOT to - RESULT: Day longer ICU stay. Patient was irritating, kept crying & asking for pain meds so instead of calming patient and providing pain medication, doped her up to state of unconsciousness to keep her quite
4) Nurses didn't respond to patient discomfort, assumed all pain from surgery. RESULT: Patient has 7" bruise on back thigh from drain tube left pressing into her flesh
5) Mysterious scratch that is 8" long across the front of her thigh
6) Mysterious 12 inch long trail of blisters on her back, two blisters broke open leaving inch sized raw wounds - nurses didn't notice, I asked for topical antigerm cream- denied, I put on a bandaid, two day's later I asked the nurse to do something about the sores and she put tegraderm on the two biggest ones, liquid bandage on the rest - but no explanation for these sores.
7) 5 days post op nurses left her sitting on the toilet causing terrible leg pain
All of these things happened to my mom DESPITE the fact that I was with her from 9 to 15 hours a day, by her side, giving her ice chips (ICU ice machine was broken so I went to cafeteria to get them for her); telling the nurses she needed pain medicine/reminding them they were late with her medicine; demanding they give her medicine to keep her from vomiting (surgeon said she couldn't, would rip up her surgery site); I was providing all the care I've always seen nurses provide, that is until St. Mary's. Oh My God! I will NEVER use this hospital - my mother would probably still be in ICU if I hadn't been there to be her advocate and catch the mistakes/problems.
I heard BOTH ICU staff and floor nurses complain about being short staffed. Surgery was 9/18/08
Before you have surgery here, take a tour, walk the floors, watch the nurses - they're over worked, stressed & spend all their time at computer screens- NOT what you need when you are at your most vulnerable!
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You know those silly little signs that say "seen in 30 minutes or less"? This was true for me. it might have been due to the anaphylactic reaction I was having, but they were still quick on their feet. I even commented on how incredibly quick they were to see me in the middle of gasping breaths. The doctor smiled at me and said, "we usually do that for people who are about to stop breathing". They loaded me up with Epi and Benadryl and I was on my way. I wish they had some kind of miracle edema lifter, because I looked like I had fat deposits on my eyelids for a couple of days after that.
Thank you for saving my life!
I would normally go to CPMC but I went to St. Mary's emergency room because of their claim to take care of me in under an hour. I had two impatient kids in tow and a husband that was out of town. I had an extremely sore throat for over a week. I thought I could ride it out but it wasn't going away. I made a last minute decision to pick up my kids and just go to an emergency room. I looked up on Yelp what my options were. I know that any hospital is hit or miss but most of the reviews were positive. One negative review stuck in my mind though. It was from Heather H. from Oakland on 2/22/2007. She got a Dr. Patrick Hand ... well, guess who I got? You guessed it! Heather, you were right! What a jerk this guy was and I think he WAS stoned!
I'll give them the one star (since I have no choice) for seeing me within 45 minutes but the rest of my experience there was terrible! First, my blood pressure was taken by a really incompetent nurse. According to her readings it was ridiculously high. I was so stressed that I was developing high blood pressure too. (My regular nurse practitioner took my blood pressure a week later and it was normal. She explained that the nurse at St. Mary's probably used a cuff that was too small for me.) My kids and I were then placed in an examination room and shortly thereafter Dr. Patrick Hand entered the room. I told him that I might have strep throat. He took a tongue depressor and looked at the back of my throat. He immediately told me that it was viral, it wasn't strep throat and there was nothing he could do for me except prescribe pain medication. I said, "That's it?" Since I have kids, I know there is a quick diagnostic kit available for strep where they swab the back of your throat with a long Q-tip type thing and put the sample in a contraption that will detect the bacteria in five minutes. This is what I was expecting Dr. Hand to do. Instead he proceeded to ask me when my last menstrual period was. Huh? What the hell kind of question is that! I'm here for a sore throat! He's either really incompetent or just a f***ing prick or both! I'm not even going to guess where that question came from. I left feeling disrespected and highly disappointed. I found out more than a week later from my nurse practitioner that I DID have strep throat! I will never go back there, I don't care if I have to wait 12 hours somewhere else.
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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 simply cares for you the best way 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 the Golden Gate district after a night at the club. They were surrounded by a group of car jackers trying to get their car. One assailant pulled out a gun against the people in the car for them to give up all their belongs and get out of the car. As they did, the gun holder fired a shot at one of the passengers in the car.
As everyone fled the scene, the individual shot began to bleed profusely from his leg. Scared shitless one passenger knew that the nearest Hospitals was St. Mary's. The victim had no health insurance so was seriously nervous that he would not get any medical attention. St. Mary's has a reputation the passenger said to take in victims in their emergency room with or without insurance. Soon enough they were on their way.
As he was getting patched up. He was sent to the OCU for further treatment. The victim told my mother of the story and she soon quickly helped him out with his situation and he soon discovered that because of his insurance situation, St. Mary's not only treated him without insurance, but helped with the billing problem.
I personally don't know what my mother did, she wont tell me. But we get letters from this guy all the time of thanks... Damn my moms cool!
(Please note: The original quote from the top is not true, but they do say thank you.)
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This has got to be THE WORST hospital in SF. When I was visiting one of my relatives there, I realized:
-The nurses do not check the patients if they need help, unless someone (like a family member) should ask.
-On the weekends, there are no doctors, so the nurse is supposed to help, right? No. I had to wait for an hour for someone just to tell me what was going on with my relative, is he doing ok, medically, physically, etc.
-The people who are supposed to be helping the patients recover there are just utterly mean. My relative needed help to sit up, and we had to "flag" a nurse down in order to do this. And how would you like to be greeted like this by a big, heavy-set lady saying, "Excuse me! I need to get behind you." in a stern, belligerent tone.
-That's another thing. I didn't even know who I was talking to when I asked for someone to tell me what the doctors did. It was if some random lady just started talking to me, my thoughts:
"And you are???"
ST. MMC is either understaffed, or run very very poorly.
My mistake.
ST. MMC IS understaffed AND run very very poorly.
I hope all of you who read this save yourself if you need medical help and go to a different hospital.
One good thing, though: it's convenient from bus stops, or walking distance (sort of). Accounts for the one star.
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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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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.
This review is for same day surgery and the outpatient physical therapy unit. I had outpatient shoulder surgery at St. Mary's in April, and I had a good experience with the staff. First, my intake nurse, Siobhan, is the first nurse to insert an IV into my hand that left me bruise-free! I've had my fair share of surgeries, and usually, I end up with a hand that looks like it got bashed with a brick, but Siobhan was quick, expert, and you couldn't even tell I had an IV the next day. She was also very sweet, heaping me with warm blankets while we were doing the intake paperwork to help me relax. My surgery happened right on schedule. When I had surgery at CPMC a few years ago, there was a three-hour delay in my surgery, and I ended up having to stay overnight b/c of it. The anesthesiologist listened to my concerns about post-surgery nausea carefully, and whatever she did worked, because I didn't have any nausea at all during recovery. All of the nurses who cared for me in recovery were cheerful, kind, and attentive to my pain issues.
I've been seeing Ashley Scott at St. Mary's outpatient physical therapy center for my post-surgery physical therapy, and I couldn't be happier. Labral tear surgery is a rough recovery involving months of PT, and I feel like Ashley is doing everything she can to make the experience as comfortable and effective as she can for me. If something isn't working or causes too much pain, she's very good at coming up with creative alternatives that work for my body and help me progress.
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 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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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.
The place feels creepy I went in to see a doc but left weirded out.
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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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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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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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Want to add my support for this great staff. Any group that can make a colonoscopy bearable deserves accolades!
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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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Best emergency room experience ever. I had the worst flu of my life (choking on my own phlegm, felt like a rib was going to break) on a Sunday. They saw me immediately and were incredibly sensitive and professional. Makes me cringe to think of the 3+ hours I spent at that hospital in Pacific Heights when my finger got whacked in a juicer, vomiting and passing out from the pain. Why can't every experience with doctors be like the one I had at St. Mary's?
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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.
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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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 had surgery at St. Mary's a few wks ago. This review is purely about the hospital - not the surgeon who performed the operation. I won't even mention him, because he is incredible and did an amazing job. The hospital itself and the nursing staff is mostly what this review is about. The nursing staff at St. Mary's is subpar - inattentive, disorganized, slow, rude, difficult. My stay at St. Mary's was only 2 days, but it was really miserable. Luckily my mother was there to help me - if you do end up there, bring someone to be your advocate.
Where do I begin? Before my surgery even began, the nurse who was assigned to wheel me to OR had an argument with my surgeon (in front of me and my mother) because he thought I was having one procedure when in fact I was having something different. He actually had the gall to argue with the surgeon! Inappropriate on so many levels, esp because he was wrong. The surgeon was very diplomatic, but it was a bit unnerving to have a pissed-off nurse wheel me to the OR.
Post surgery - I had a broken IV pump that beeped incessantly for 24 hours. The nurse on duty for most of my stay was a colossal bitch - not a bitch as in tough love, but a bitch in that she was incompetent, disorganized and rude. She could not get me a replacement pump; however, when the next set of staff came on duty, they miraculously found me a pump in less than 10 minutes. The bitchy nurse was slow in getting me through required post-surgical tests as well as relaying the results of the tests which were necessary for subsequent tests. Additionally, I was supposed to be walking as soon as possible, and I could not get anyone to help me out of bed and help me to walk. They finally sent a male orderly who did not speak English, stunk of cologne, and made me uncomfortable. I requested a female - I mean, come on, I was half naked in a crappy gown, and I didn't want some strange man touching me and/or seeing my private bits. The bitchy nurse argued with me about it and told me that if I had to have a female, she'd have to redo her whole setup. BS! She gave me grief for 5 minutes until I finally (in a morphine-induced haze) screamed at her and told her that in the time she was arguing with me, she could have gotten one of the female orderlies/nurses to help me walk for 5 minutes.
Then, another nurse gave me a pain pill that I wasn't supposed to have - I was on a morphine drip! And, finally, due to the broken IV pump, I developed a blood clot in my hand that another nurse had to manually pump out for me.
And, to top it off, I was on the 7th floor with a lot of sick and elderly patients that made for a very depressing stay. I tried to be a cooperative patient, but it wasn't easy. Their timing was always off - coming to help me walk at the same time as the nurse came to take blood, etc.
The last straw was when the hospital chaplain came by to see if I needed anything. I kind of freaked out, because the presence of someone in a collar really scares me, esp in a hospital. It's like a symbol of death or something. I was also in a lot of pain and generally miserable. I think I was rude to the guy, and I told him I didn't need any "religious support", and he promptly left. I mean, I highly doubt that any kind of prayer was going to fix all the mistakes the nursing staff had made. I also think a hospital should check with a patient ahead of time if they want any kind of religious presence during their stay rather than just sending the person in.
So, that's my tirade about St. Mary's. The outcome of my surgery was perfect, but this was purely due to the skill and attention of the surgeon. The nursing and support staff need some serious training in efficiency, organization and general patient relations.
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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.
Excellent help for the worst night of my life. The St. Mary's emergency room was "no waiting" at 1:30am on a Tuesday. I was seen immediately, for a kidney stone, and brought back to health by a doctor on staff and Nurse Betty (seriously). Props to St. Marys!
