poll: best and worst nyc hospital ratings

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Anonymous's picture
Anonymous

Continuing from another thread... if you have been in the ER
in any area hospitals, can you briefly describe your experience,
good or bad, and provide a rating, 1-10,
1 = worst
10 = best

This might save others from poor treatment after an injury,
accident or other condition.

Anonymous's picture
Matt P. (not verified)

"good question. st. vincent's er = horrible. made the mistake of getting hit by a car on a friday night. large lump on shoulder and road rash. i walked in, saw 25 people in the waiting room, walked out. i saw an fdny emt waiting outside and asked him to look at my shoulder.

he took one look and said, ""oh s#""t."" he took me in through the ambulance bay to a nurse. ""great!"" i thought. she sat me down and i waited four hours for an x-ray, then another 90 minutes to see a doctor.

during my wait, they sat me next to a man whose wife had just died (no grief counseling at st. vincent's?) and multiple psych patients who were off their meds. st. v's seemed to prioritize the psych patients over the pyhsical injuries.

i walked out with an rx for pain pills and a cheap sling."

Anonymous's picture
<a href="http://www.OhReallyOreilly.com">Peter O'Reilly</a> (not verified)
St. Vincent's is in bankruptcy proceedings (nm)
Anonymous's picture
Steve (not verified)

St. Vincents after a bike crash. 6-10
Saturday night, 5 hour in total but most of that was waiting to be seen by next person in the chain. Examinations were brief but thorough. Orthopedic specilaist referred me to a very good orthopeadic hand doctor, Dr. Steven Lee at Mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai for my thumb surgery. 8-10
Fairly quick admitting process. During the surgery prep consultation, I got asked the same questions by the sveral doctors and interns involved in the surgical procedure. Surgery and follow-up went as planned. My thumb has healed very well.

Anonymous's picture
lefty (not verified)
beth israel er

bike crash. today, a saturday afternoon. took about 4 hours total, from walking in to signing out with a broken hand.

bike crash. 1 year ago, a tuesday at 9am. took 2-3 hours in the ER. broken arm at elbow. used their orthopedist, doctor arsht, for follow-up and have healed well. (post-op treatment in the hospital left something to be desired, i think, but i was semi-conscious and grumpy).

most everyone i've dealt with there has been amazingly caring. ok, yes, today they mixed up my xrays and at first told me my hand wasn't broken, but they caught the error and were mortified and apologetic.

i'm not sure i'd go there for a life-threatening case as i didn't see any such cases being treated there, but maybe that makes it a good place to go for a reasonably quick treatment of a break and bump?

Anonymous's picture
gabski (not verified)
i like beth israel on 1st and 16th...

i believe thats where it is. i went there on a sunday afternoon and was in and out pretty quick after getting some stitches in my elbow. i went back to get them taken out at about 8am and was taken right away.

Anonymous's picture
Chris T. (not verified)
New York Presbyterian

ER - 8 out of 10 spokes

Treated for an asthma attack. That's at the top of the Triage list, so no waiting.
Still breathing today, so all is well.

Anonymous's picture
fleffel (not verified)
St Vincent's

Was taken there by amulance last year after a cycling crash. Was seen quickly, and fortunately nothing broken, just a lot of road rash. But ...
1. Emergency doc saw but failed to deal with the fact that 3 of my teeth had been knocked out of their sockets. Found out the next day I should have been seen immediately by an oral surgeon. Delay definitely resulted in lots of extra expense to me and maybe extra problems long term for the choppers.
2. After 13 months, still getting the same bill over and over from St Vincents, even though treatment was 100% covered by health insurance and health insurer paid the claim to them in full long ago. (St Vincent's can't find the check!)

Anonymous's picture
Brad Ensminger (not verified)
Two Different Hospitals

St. Vincents
5 out of 10

After a bike accident I was brought to St. Vincents ER. They took 5 hours to deal with my broken arm and release me. Their diagnosis and treatment suggestions were exactly the same as my own orthopaedist at NYU. So the results were good. (Note: my NYU doctor also recommends the Hospital for Joint Diseases if this ever happens in the future.)

On the bad side the process was very slow and tedious and at times laughable-- although not unprofessional. The ER was overwhelmed when I was there with a vomiting junkie who couldn*t hit a nearby bucket-- and the nurse with an Irish accent yelling at them. Very New Yorky.


Lenox Hill
9 out of 10

During a gall bladder attack I went to Lenox Hill ER. The only weird thing was filling-out forms for insurance etc. while in obvious pain. It was hard to concentrate.

Once they diagnosed me and shot me with morphine things got better. I stayed for about a week because it was not an average gall bladder situation.

The room I had was light filled and the food was tasty. They even apologized for not having china plates and silverware like they normally do. The doctor was friendly and I found out later he was an early pioneer of the surgery he did on me-- in other words very experienced.

I highly recommend this hospital.

Anonymous's picture
Jonathan (not verified)
Hospitals

I haven't yet had a bike accident, but I had to rush my son to St V's at midnight. They were ok but S L O W and I am still dealing with the billing irregularities 9 months later! I would avoid the place: didn't seem clean nor very orderly.

I agree about Lenox Hill. I have had to go there frequently over the years and cannot report a bad experience.

Anonymous's picture
Roscoe Geo (not verified)
ER Poll

St Vincent's - two experiences - the pits - long wait - then had to inform the intern how to do the stitching -

Beth Israel - two experiences - excellent - prompt, efficient, caring care

Anonymous's picture
Ed (not verified)
ER service

TRIAGE – yes, that’s the word! ER’s simply evaluate ALL patients with regard to who should be admitted$$$ (or treated for a life threatening emergency – profuse bleeding). Lost teeth, broken arms, road rash, etc., step to the back. Psych patients – pains in the ass! quick medical screen, then ship them to the psych ER, a separate dept. Count yourself lucky if it’s a slow night and you’re seen relatively quickly.

Anonymous's picture
banky (not verified)

"NYU- 9/10. I have been there for a few surgeries from spinal to gall bladder. Skilled surgeons. Great GP's.

Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat - 6/10. Creepy feeling in that place! Good surgeon.

St. Johns', Queens- 1/10. Chop shop! Had appendectomy. Waited in the emergency room for 4 hours before being examined. Waited another 3 hours for ""exploratory"" surgery because the long wait prevented them from making an accurate diagnosis. Was in the hospital for 10 days with a fever. Surgeon released me with fever. Turned out that I had a secondary infection that the surgeon could not diagnose. Had to have a procedure at an other hospital to drain an abscess on my intestines."

Anonymous's picture
Ed (not verified)
Nurse Ratchett

Appendicitis – Mount Sinai - My brother showed at the ER with acute pain in his abdomen. On a scale of 1 to 10, his pain was an 11. He was told to sit in the waiting room and wait his turn. After an hour, he fell to the floor writhing in pain, unable to get up. A nurse arrived and said, “SIR! If you don’t sit in the chair, we cannot serve you! Now please, take a seat!” (Nurse Ratchett). My brother thought he was going to die. Finally, they took him and kept asking questions, trying to figure if he had an appendicitis. Ultimately he passed a kidney stone, commonly known as the worst pain on earth. When I recounted this story to a Mt. Sinai doctor, he blithely said that ER staff thought that he was a drug addicted looking for a fix, that’s why they didn’t take him in. He was serious! My brother is an Ivy League PhD software engineer (for medical research). Ironic.

Anonymous's picture
Carol (not verified)
2 More

South Central Bronx Hospital 5/10. Was taken there after my crash on the Grand Concourse. Was seen very quickly, but the ER interns didn't seem to know much about treating facial wounds - consequently there's more scarring than there needed to be. Other aspects of the visit were either typical NY (the guy strapped to a gurney, screaming obsenities about everyone and everything) or sadistically amusing (having a lunch tray plopped on my lap when it was obvious my mouth was cut, swollen and incapable of handling food - and then to discover that the milk, which I might have sipped through a straw, was frozen solid!).

St. Luke's Roosevelt 9/10. 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. I was treated immediately by very competent doctors and nurses who also had good bedside manner. I was admitted for a couple of days and the staff were terrific.

Anonymous's picture
Bob (not verified)
ER's

"NYU - 4 out of 10. Took a fall on my bike and put my hand down to break my fall. Pain in wrist and upper arm near elbow and road rash on legs and elbow. Was seen in about an hour by a nurse who gave me a tetnus shot. An hour later ER doc examined me and said elbow seems fine but let's X-Ray the wrist. Waited another hour to be taken to X-Ray dept. Surprisingly, I was the only one there. Still had to wait and after 45 minutes I asked the receptionist at the desk ""how much longer""? She said ""oh you can come in now"". I went into the back and 4 tech's were chatting about what to order for dinner. Not another patient around. Tech said it didnt look like anything was wrong with my wrist and was told to wait for doc to read the x-ray. After yet another hour or so...I left. Next day, went to Hospital for Joint Diseases (9 out of 10...very organized) and doc said ""you broke your arm. They found a break at the radial head. I am convinced that NYU stands for Notify Your Undertaker."

Anonymous's picture
Ron Torok (not verified)

St. Vincents - early Thur morning during commute hours. ER was not busy. Came in by ambulance (makes all the difference every time). Efficient and quick, but I can see how that place can get out of control very quickly.


St. Lukes -- long wait, but generally professional

New York Hospital -- long wait, but generally professional

Anonymous's picture
Tom Laskey (not verified)
NY Presbyterian

Crashed near Rockland Lake went to NY Presbyterian ER (long story)

Admitted quickly, longish wait to see intern but could've been worse. Staff seemed competent and friendly, got some really strong pain killers.

I'll give it a rating of 8 out of 10 spokes.

Anonymous's picture
soho_art (not verified)

"""8 out of 10 spokes,"" I like that.

My doctor recommended Beth Israel ER, and I have also heard good things about Hosp. for Joint Diseases.

Columbia Presbyterian is one of the best hospitals in the entire country, but might be far away for some people. ...Let's hope no one has to use any hospitals!"

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