Great Pre-operative care, terrible post operative care!
My wife had an leg amputated below the knee last week at UPMC East. The Surgeon was one of the traveling hoard of UPMC doctors who operate at nearly all their regional hospitals. Registration, pre-op and the surgery went 100%. Her Post operative care was mediocre at best. The Anesthesiologist forgot to sign the order for the nerve block medication! My wife had the catheter around the nerves but no medicine, and no other doctor "knew anything about it" so she had to suffer excruciating pain for twenty-two hours before a representative for her Surgeon contacted them. Second, her stump dressing came off and since none of the nurses knew the correct way to re-dress it, the nurse re-used the dressing which had fallen on the floor! Third, my wife has third stage kidney disease-any other time she's been in the hospital, they pulled kidney function lab work every day- UPMC East NEVER checked her kidneys, plus they didn't keep her blood sugar levels in check either. Fourth, she was to have only 10 minutes of out of bed time per hour and no physical therapy. UPMC had her sitting in a recliner much of the day and doing PT three times per day at great risk to the incisions on her new stump. Finally, they were to put fresh dressings on the stump a minimum of twice per day. On her third day there, they never changed the dressing or even examined her stump. The staff is polite and kind however they do the least amount of critical care possible. I've never seen a hospital run this way and hope I never do again!
My son called an ambulance to take him to the hospital for detox. I don't know if my son didn't know UPMC East didn't have detox or the ambulance driver was confused on where he wanted to go but a nurse called me and said my son was discharged and asked if I was picking him up. I told her I had talked to Mercy Hospital earlier that day and they said for him to bring 3-5 day worth of clothing. She said they called Mercy Hospital but they wanted to talk to him personally. I asked her why they didn't let my son who was there talk to Mercy and she said very matter of fact - he's already discharged and waiting for you to pick him up. I had asked if they can call an ambulance and take him to Mercy and she said no, you would have to pick him up and take him there.
I called my younger son and he said he would pick him up at the Emergency Room at UPMC East in Monroeville. He went in and said they would wheel my son out. After they wheeled him out, my younger son called me and didn't know what to do. My older son was alternatively screaming and then nooding off. I immediately called Forbes Regional Hospital down the road in Monroeville and asked them if they have detox and they said they did and bring him there. The caring and compassionate voice of the Emergency Room personnel who answered the phone was in sharp contract to the cold and uncaring personnel who called me from UPMC East.
My younger son arrived at the Emergency Room at Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville and the personnel there couldn't believe that UPMC East in Monroeville would release my son in such terrible condition. I was out for several hours this afternoon and didn't even know my son called an ambulance to go to the hospital. He had told me earlier today that he was on the waiting list today for Gateway Rehab. I checked my phone messages after the nurse from UPMC East told me he was released and to pick him up. 10 minutes before that message my son had called from the same number and all I could hear was heavy breathing and he didn't say anything.
I agree with Forbes Regional Hospital in that UPMC East shouldn't have released my son in the medical condition that he was in and if they weren't equipped with handling the situation they should have called an ambulance and transferred him to a place that could. Also, why would they bother to call Mercy Hospital and then not let my son talk to them because he was already discharged they said. The time to call Mercy would obviously be the time before he was discharged so help could have been received. I read other 1 out of 5 star reviews on Google and I completely agree with the them when they said they were completely uncaring and some had terrible emergency room experiences.
UPMC East Reviews
Great Pre-operative care, terrible post operative care!
My wife had an leg amputated below the knee last week at UPMC East. The Surgeon was one of the traveling hoard of UPMC doctors who operate at nearly all their regional hospitals. Registration, pre-op and the surgery went 100%. Her Post operative care was mediocre at best. The Anesthesiologist forgot to sign the order for the nerve block medication! My wife had the catheter around the nerves but no medicine, and no other doctor "knew anything about it" so she had to suffer excruciating pain for twenty-two hours before a representative for her Surgeon contacted them. Second, her stump dressing came off and since none of the nurses knew the correct way to re-dress it, the nurse re-used the dressing which had fallen on the floor! Third, my wife has third stage kidney disease-any other time she's been in the hospital, they pulled kidney function lab work every day- UPMC East NEVER checked her kidneys, plus they didn't keep her blood sugar levels in check either. Fourth, she was to have only 10 minutes of out of bed time per hour and no physical therapy. UPMC had her sitting in a recliner much of the day and doing PT three times per day at great risk to the incisions on her new stump. Finally, they were to put fresh dressings on the stump a minimum of twice per day. On her third day there, they never changed the dressing or even examined her stump. The staff is polite and kind however they do the least amount of critical care possible. I've never seen a hospital run this way and hope I never do again!
My son called an ambulance to take him to the hospital for detox. I don't know if my son didn't know UPMC East didn't have detox or the ambulance driver was confused on where he wanted to go but a nurse called me and said my son was discharged and asked if I was picking him up. I told her I had talked to Mercy Hospital earlier that day and they said for him to bring 3-5 day worth of clothing. She said they called Mercy Hospital but they wanted to talk to him personally. I asked her why they didn't let my son who was there talk to Mercy and she said very matter of fact - he's already discharged and waiting for you to pick him up. I had asked if they can call an ambulance and take him to Mercy and she said no, you would have to pick him up and take him there.
I called my younger son and he said he would pick him up at the Emergency Room at UPMC East in Monroeville. He went in and said they would wheel my son out. After they wheeled him out, my younger son called me and didn't know what to do. My older son was alternatively screaming and then nooding off. I immediately called Forbes Regional Hospital down the road in Monroeville and asked them if they have detox and they said they did and bring him there. The caring and compassionate voice of the Emergency Room personnel who answered the phone was in sharp contract to the cold and uncaring personnel who called me from UPMC East.
My younger son arrived at the Emergency Room at Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville and the personnel there couldn't believe that UPMC East in Monroeville would release my son in such terrible condition. I was out for several hours this afternoon and didn't even know my son called an ambulance to go to the hospital. He had told me earlier today that he was on the waiting list today for Gateway Rehab. I checked my phone messages after the nurse from UPMC East told me he was released and to pick him up. 10 minutes before that message my son had called from the same number and all I could hear was heavy breathing and he didn't say anything.
I agree with Forbes Regional Hospital in that UPMC East shouldn't have released my son in the medical condition that he was in and if they weren't equipped with handling the situation they should have called an ambulance and transferred him to a place that could. Also, why would they bother to call Mercy Hospital and then not let my son talk to them because he was already discharged they said. The time to call Mercy would obviously be the time before he was discharged so help could have been received. I read other 1 out of 5 star reviews on Google and I completely agree with the them when they said they were completely uncaring and some had terrible emergency room experiences.