University of Washington Medical Center

Elite '08

493

132

Brady K.

San Francisco, CA

A dear friend is in the intensive care unit at the UW Medical Center. The level of skill, professionalism and genuine sense of caring from doctors to nurses has been phenomenal. I can't express my gratitude enough to the big hearted team that inspires hope and tries their hardest to improve and save lives.

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30

23

Aunt B.

WA

This first part is in reference to the UWMC Women's Health Care Center, which put a very bad taste in my mouth before I was even able to make an appointment. Tthey don't call you back. When you finally get someone on the phone (after being on hold and then - if you're lucky -  transferred to about 5 different depts) they are a bunch of snotty bitches. They won't tell you the doctors names so you can check with your insurance. You can't even get an appointment, yet they don't have a waiting list. They act like the doctors are some sort of uber-celebrities. Just trying to get some simple shit done here, people. No thanks. Goin somewhere else.

Also would like to mention - when a close family member was at the UW Medical Center itself for a procedure, and had to have a catheter put in, the nurses actually stood around going, "Eww....I don't want to do that!" in front of us. They were behind a curtain, but curtains obviously are not sound proof. It's not like anyone WANTS a friggen catheter - but to be made to feel even *more* uncomfortable about it by medical staff? You've gotta be kidding me.

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Elite '08

61

61

Jocelyn E.

Seattle, WA

Disclaimer: My entire experience is based on my visit to the ER.  I've never been to any other part of the hospital outside of the ER and parking lot...  Does the parking lot even really count??

I turned in my sleep and woke up to pain shooting up my back yesterday morning.  It was the worst back pain of my entire life.  It hurt so much, I cried out loud at the time.  I tried to sleep it off before heading out to work (I am almost out of sick time unfortunately, so if I can suck it up there days and sit at my desk for the 8 hours, I will.).  Part way past Boeing Field I couldn't handle it anymore.  The back pain was being supplemented by the jabbing side pain on both of my side muscles.  My legs started cramping.  I was really crying.  And I'm talking about the big alligator kind of tears.

We turned around and went to the UW Medical Center since it was closest to home, figuring that if not anything else, the ride home would be quick.  We checked in just shortly before noon.  I was told that the nurses would get to me ASAP, since I couldn't sit, and I couldn't stand and I was clearly in a lot of pain.

ASAP?  I'm surprised that when I read articles about people dying in the waiting room of an ER there aren't more deaths.  Eventually, some people who worked there and an EMT took pity on me and found me a gurney to lie on - in the waiting room.  When the triage nurse finally took me inside over an hour later, she took my vitals and told me that I was just going to have to wait for a bed to open up, and wheeled me into a tiny little hallway to wait (apparently they didn't like having gurneys in the waiting room, go figure).  Every 15 minutes or so, someone would come by and tell us that a bed was opening up shortly.  Liars.  

Almost 3 hours later, I was finally blessed with a room.  The nurse was nice, but let me tell you, there is no comfort when the person poking a needle into your arm to start an IV is talking to the needle (or herself), saying "come on, you can do it."  I was finally graced by the presence of a doctor, who gave me some fluids and a small shot of nothing that did, well, nothing.  Two hours after that, the attending physician came in, did a few tests, and told me that all was well, I just hurt my back, and I had some serious back spasms.  We showed her the little bottle of muscle relaxants that I had gotten from Canada (OTC, Canada is a beautiful country.).  She then said that she'd talk to the resident about prescribing me more relaxants without the ibuprofen so it wouldn't be so harsh on my stomach (I am the queen of stomach problems.).  

The nurse comes back 30 minutes later, with a prescription for the weakest possible Vicoden, a little bit of muscle relaxants, and more ibuprofen than I have ever taken in my whole life.  I had to ask them to bring me something that I could take that would get me home since my back was still killing me.  

Never again will I go back there.  I wasted my whole day to have someone tell me that it's just some back pain that I'm going to have to live through, and to just take some pain killers and muscle relaxants that were actually lower dosages than what I have at home.  I could've called my female doc, explained that I was in horrible cramping pain, and he would've just called in the same stuff to my pharmacy without a trip to the ER!

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Elite '08

313

852

Joolie T.

New York, NY

my hand is bleeding.
i lived 2 blocks away.
it is 2pm.
i walk into the ER- fill out paperwork, show 'em my insurance card.
my hand is bleeding.
bleeding through a BATH towel.
i wait for one hour.
my hand is still bleeding.
i read magazines.
i think i'm loosing a lot of blood.
my face is turning purple.
i wait for two hours.
the Triage peoples call me in.
i wait for 45 mins.
i can see the inside of my hand.
i walk out of the ER at 7pm.

WHAT

THE

HELL!?!?!?!?!

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33

59

Stephen W.

Seattle, WA

I had surgery here yesterday, and the surgery was performed by a smart, gifted surgeon six years my junior who wears bow-ties.

Surgical finesse I expected.  What I did not expect was the astonishing level of quality on the nursing staff.  The nurses really made the experience.

Prior to my surgery, every single nurse who interacted with me confirmed my identity and verified the procedure that would be performed.  This is a really reassuring way of letting patients know that someone is going to make sure that the right procedure is performed.

After I awoke, the nurse tasked with taking care of me was similarly conscientious.  When I told her my neck muscles felt weak, she called anesthesia to verify that the paralysis that was induced for purposes of the operation had been properly reversed.  It had been, and the condition passed within minutes, but I was glad to have a really smart nurse who was willing to poke around and ask questions.

Then, you have the soft skills.  Without a pleasant environment, many hard-headed men like me simply won't properly manage their medical care.  The nurses here are friendly, engaging, committed, and reassuring people.   I believe I am more likely to manage my health conscientiously because of the positive environment these people have created.

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Elite '08

243

195

Janeane S.

Seattle, WA

The new Surgery Pavilion is gorgeous!!  They even have on-site parking for it so you don't have to walk 80 miles from the main UWMC parking lot (I HATE walking!).  Besides the beautifully appointed interior and state-of-the-art equipment, the staff was super friendly and comforting.  Plus, I never had to WAIT for anything or anyone.   Everything occurred on schedule, which is, like, a miracle in the hospital industry, is it not?  Oh and I should mention that the doctor was hot.

After changing into my hospital gown, they gave me blankets that were heated in a special warmer oven thingy.  Awesome.  The IV wasn't too painful and I really appreciated the painkillers they gave me (Fentanyl rocks!  It's 80 times more potent than morphine.).  After the procedure, all I could remember was feeling giddy and giggling.  After that, I got nothing.  They gave me apple juice after I woke up and overall, I felt very taken care of by the staff.

Minus one star because, well, they stuck a needle in me!  Wah.

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0

10

Jeff C.

Bellevue, WA

ER review only as I adore my GYN doctor at UW Rosevelt.

Recently I fainted during a meeting (they can be boring but this was a drop dead break your glasses faint in front of the team, bonk your head and fall out of your chair faint) and to avoid having the medics called agreed to go to the ER to be checked out.

I arrived at 4:30 and after waiting 15 minutes to even talk to the person to check in, I then waited for another 20 to be triaged by the nurse. People around me had been there for over 3 hours so it didn't look good. I have private insurance and a UW doc and card so the sign in process was pretty quick but didn't meet the standard of care for triage. After waiting until 6:30 I decied to call Overlakes urgent care in Issaquah and go there as they only had a 20 minute wait. I told the front desk and poof suddenly I had to have an EKG done. I agreed and asked to talk to the doc but he/she was not available.

I waited another hour and again I felt much better and this time I told them that since the EKG seemed fine I was going to call my doc, go home and deal with it in the morning. I left and an hour later someone called me and said that my EKG was abnormal and to rush back in. I did and again had to be admitted and triaged again. This time I told them I wanted to talk to the doc before any tests were done but he wasn't available. So I was sent to get a chest x-ray then sent to a room and had blood drawn, o2 suddenly started (after four hours of waiting?) monitors connected and an automatic blood pressure cuff slapped on my arm and then left in the room for 2 hours!

Finally a resident came to see me..  I again asked what the problem was that they were evaluating and what the tests were for. He talked to me like a child despite the fact that I work installing computer systems in hospitals. After another hour an Intern appeared and told me I could leave. The nurse was present and he expressed surprise as they had already started the admission process. I basically leaped out of the bed and got dressed and asked the nurse to remove the IV but he said i wasn't going to be discharged. At that point an x-ray tech appeard to have my "wrist" taken again. I assured her that there was nothign wrong with my wrist so she stopped the nurse who said, "oh she is a patient, she doesn't know that her doctor ordered it yet."

I refused the writs x-ray and finally the original nurse returned with my discharge orders (it was not 11 pm so almost 7 hours from when I first arrived). One of the tests listed was pulmonary functiong testing and when I pointed out that hadn't been done he said, oops that isn't your discharge orders we made a mistake..

Not only didn't they meet the minimum standard of care, they over tested me and made mistakes at almost every point in the process (and they have an electronic medical record system). I totally lost trust in the UW system as a result and would not only not have a family member treated in their ER but would suggest that it be closed down for providing substandard and dangerous care.  The nurse was kind but it should never take 6 hours to see a doctor for a problem that seemed to require so much testing. This was the antithesis of patient centered care and felt like I had been assaulted.

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Elite '08

199

285

Nina N.

Seattle, WA

of course as a seattlelite.. I love love love uw medical center...

if you must know a little info about me, I get sick pretty easily.. maybe that's why I love life so much.. anyhow, I remember when I lived in wallingford and had one of my many episodes and needed to be rushed to the e.r. me being bias because one of my friends was doing her residency in the e.r. made it all the better for my pain... so as I waited for the doctor to see me, it was comfortable, I didn't to wait so long, and the employees here really love their job.....

my random plug.. so my best friend is a comp. engineer at the u.w. med. and his group just launched their online translator program.. awesome! so now you don't have to order a translator to go to the room to translate.. it can be done via satellite now!! Go Jeremy, and uw med. team!!!! :) btw.. this is really a big deal for me because my mom isn't that great in english, and her accent is french,asian with a little bit of a mumble so it is hard for people to understand and for me to always take her to go to the doctors and translate is very time consuming.....so having it being readily available is awesome!!!!

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1

12

Meghan E.

Seattle, WA

This is the place to go if something is seriously wrong.  

They are a Magnet hospital, which designates hospitals with excellent nursing care.  Nursing care is what you go to a hospital for.  You want one that treats its nurses well.

It's enormous, it's complicated and there are more residents than you can shake a stick at.  But when I needed a perinatologist for a rare pregnancy complication, Darcy Carr in the MICC was excellent.  I also firmly believe that their med protocol kept me from a return visit by the Pre-Eclampsia Fairy.

Again, when bad sh** goes down, this is where you want to be.  Unless it was a car accident or a gunshot wound, in which case beg to go to Harborview . They do trauma like nobody's business.

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Elite '08

38

106

Geoff N.

Seattle, WA

The best thing about the UWMC is that, because it is an academic hospital, the doctors are all very eager to help you understand whatever medical problems you are having and the reasons for their choice of treatment. Both my neurologist and hepatologist are located at UWMC and they have been very helpful in helping me to better understand the details of Wilson's disease. Because they are teachers as well as doctors, I don't feel as though I am being talked down to when they explain things to me. I believe that they truly want to help me understand what is going on.

The downside of going to a teaching hospital is that you frequently have to deal with medical students who are less than experts at their craft. Last week, I went in to have blood work done and got stuck with the trainee who couldn't find my vein. Despite the fact that I have some of the most visible, obvious veins in any arm in armville, she had to twist and turn the needle for about two minutes before finally hitting red gold. Fortunately, I have had so much blood drawn at this point that I only experienced mild discomfort. If I had been at the beginning of my treatment, I probably would have freaked.

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7

63

Brndn N.

Skagway, AK

I used to work here with my mom in the inpatient pharmacy. It's a dedicated academic hospital - but the thing I am most excited about is the brand spankin' new surgery wing they just finished contructing a year or two ago. It is so beautiful and inviting - much different than the older building which has that cold "hospital" feeling that so many people abhor. There's also a "tea room" that sells (albeit overpriced) lots of healthy cafe-type products and is run by a handful of super friendly ladies. Whether you need that bullet removed from your calf, or need your spine fixed from that near-fatal car accident, or if you simply need your morphine fix*, this is the place to do it!

*nb: Yelp.com does not condone the use of any narcotic in a recreational manner

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1

8

veronica a.

Seattle, WA

I moved to Seattle a week before I started to hemorrhage during the 19th week of my pregnancy. I have a preference for educational facilities and I was not let down. Luckily, the bleeding stopped and I was sent home the following day. I also had a longer stay there as well with the same pregnancy. The rooms are beautiful and they have great facilities. They have an arrangement with some other facilities, so they have massages, hair styling, movies and laptops available on the maternity ward. I spent the rest of my pregnancy with the High Risk Preterm Clinic, under the care of Dr. Easterling. He is one of the leading Perinatologist in the country and it is a well deserved reputation. I felt very secure under his care. He decreased my concerns about the health of my baby. This facility was the only place I could go to in Seattle because of my four months of bed rest and it was always refreshing to go there. She arrived a little early but in great shape. The only issue I would have is with one of the ladies in the billing dept. She was less than nice when I was having issues with our insurance.

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