HMH Ocean University Medical Center — Attraction in Brick Township

Where do I start! I’ve have gone to this hospital multiple times and I’ve had here and there good and bad experiences but yesterday was the LAST straw! I understand hospitals are busy and they are always short staffed, and I will say there are a lot of employees at the hospital who are genuinely concerned and take their job seriously… when I went there last night with my boyfriend it was the worst experience I have ever had, from the moment you walk in and have security guards scan you and look through your belongings which I have never had prior and the hospital never did, to employee staff at the front not documenting correct information regarding the reasoning for why we are there! I understand priorities and waiting I understand that other patients coming in might have a serious medical problem and they are seen prior to everyone else, completely get it, I don’t understand why they would take us back to a clinical area after waiting 2 hours just to be brought back into a hot mess, I get the rooms are occupied and the hospital has to make shift areas for non urgent patients but the small dividers I can openly see other patients not to mention the chairs they make you sit on were not clean, there was a blood and bodily fluid bed pan next to my partners chair and I mean there was a lot of blood in it had my boyfriend had an open wounds or accidental touched it he would have been exposed to someone else’s blood, my chair had small amounts of blood on it and a used IV! Dr Adil Roomi saw my boyfriend briefly, the nurse gave my boyfriend a cup to receive his urine and when my boyfriend was done there was no set of instructions on what he was suppose to do with the cup, he had to ask the same nurse what to do with it! My boyfriend eventually was evaluated, but since there were no rooms available the doctor brought him back to a room where another staff member was eating and asked by the doctor to leave my boyfriend felt so uncomfortable being there! That’s ridiculous! My boyfriend waited for me after he received his discharge papers and while I was in another room they brought me to, my boyfriend could see a man clearly in pain, I think he sawed his fingers anyway the doctor who went in to treat that man never bothered to close the door before going over this man’s health history and consent for treatment which my boyfriend could hear and see the whole event taking place, eventually they did close the door but it made my boyfriend super uncomfortable and sick, he had to go outside and get some air…. How sad is that, that a hospital can make you feel sick when they are the reason you go when you feel sick….. had a great doctor which is the only nice thing I can say (despite the fact the doctor couldn’t find me because I was with my boyfriend speaking to him about his issues. Eventually we did clear that up, that was my fault no blame there to the hospital but the doctor was truly kind to his patients and throughly did his exam on me, but when he left the room no one told me what to do next go back to the room I was originally in or just leave…. Prior to that there was a male nurse or technician cursing and swearing dropping the f bomb to another nurse complaining about either a doctor or another nurse there, and when I say swearing you could hear that down the fall and he did it in front of a child! Not only will I not go back to that hospital and I’ll make the long drive to go to Neptune Hospital at least care exist but I will NEVER recommend this hospital to anyone I know, I literally would phrase this hospital before, I am not the best patient and I will admit it, I’m highly afraid of needles and I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to hospital settings, ocean medical use to be a very professional and clean hospital but now I’m not sure!...

I feel compelled to write this review, and I want to make it clear that I'm not someone who is judgmental or one to give negative feedback. However, our recent experience at HMH Ocean University Medical Center was so profoundly distressing that I believe it's crucial to share our story.

Let me start by saying that it's not just about the time it took for the diagnosis – although that was certainly a significant frustration.

Despite my wife's clear medical history and my conveying her medical history and the likely issue she was facing to them, the ER staff seemed to be searching in all the wrong places. It took a whopping nine hours before they finally decided to run the necessary tests. This delay in diagnosis was certainly less than ideal for any patient.

During this time in the ER, the attending physician wasn't able to figure out the issue and suggested sending my wife home with some pain medication, implying that her severe pain might be psychosomatic, as nothing had shown up on their initial assessments. This recommendation was not only deeply concerning but also dismissive of her very real suffering.

However, what truly shook me to my core, and the reason I am taking the time to write this review, was the excruciating pain my wife had to endure during her time at the hospital and the fact that the medical staff refused to adequately manage her pain.

My wife was in tears, her cries for help echoing through the sterile halls, doubled over in excruciating agony, her body wracked by relentless tremors. The hospital staff was reluctant to provide her with the stronger pain medication that was readily available.

At one point, they even offered her a measly heat pad for her stomach. It's important to note that my wife has an exceptionally high pain tolerance, so for her to be in this much pain was a clear indication that something was seriously amiss.

I understand that HMH Ocean University Medical Center is not at the forefront of medical innovation, but that doesn't excuse allowing a patient to suffer needlessly for days.

It was only after a couple of days when one compassionate doctor intervened, prescribing higher doses of pain medication and more frequent administration, that my wife found some relief. I overheard this doctor expressing his dismay to our nurse about the inadequate pain management my wife had endured.

What added insult to injury was the dismissive attitude we encountered from the hospital staff the first night. I was pleading for help, yet I was met with annoyance, and at one point, they even threatened to ask me to leave the hospital. One nurse even told me I am not allowed to leave my wife's room due to HIPAA (?).

It was an unimaginable nightmare, and I genuinely feared for my wife's life.

In times of crisis, we rely on medical professionals and institutions to provide compassionate care and effective pain management. Unfortunately, our experience at HMH Ocean University Medical Center fell FAR short of these expectations, causing immense suffering to my wife during her stay.

I implore the hospital's administration to undergo a profound review of their approach to patient care, especially when it comes to pain management.

The unnecessary suffering my wife endured during her stay at this facility was nothing short of a nightmare, and it's imperative that no one else experiences such horrors.

Lives are at stake here, and it is my fervent hope that this review serves as an urgent wake-up call, compelling them to instigate a radical overhaul of their patient care protocols.

Our harrowing experience should have never happened, and should never...

My mother was in this hospital and it was definitely not the place I wanted her to go to. Unfortunately she made the wrong decision. She is 78 years old and was very scared and nervous. She was not able to have family members with her due to Covid. However I am sure with all of the money the Administration and CEO’s make they could have come up with a plan to help that. My mother was having panic attacks constantly. She wasn't getting any answers to her questions. I would call and be told that someone would get back to me and that never happened. I cant imagine what my mother must have been dealing with. She had no loved ones there to advocate for her. Her room would go uncleaned, when she hit the call buzzer it would take 20-30 minutes to get a nurse in there. They wouldn’t take her out of her room to go for walks so she didn't feel claustrophobic in her room. The social/case workers must either be absent minded or just way overworked because of shortage of employees. We couldn't get any updates unless you made a big scene and then someone would get on the phone. They kept telling her she would be discharged to a rehab just to be told 2 hours later it would be tomorrow.This went on for a week. After all the nightmares she dealt with they send her to the rehab connected to the hospital. Hackensack Meridan Rehabilitation on Jack Martin Blvd. My heart would break everyday she had to stay there. Again because of Covid we were not able to visit her however we could visit my mother like prisoners get visitation. Through her window talking on cellphones. The sadness and depression I had to see was heartbreaking. It was like she was sent there to die. Thank God she is a trooper and made it out. The 3 weeks she had to endure was heartbreaking. I could have done a better job at my own home. Her call buttons took 15-20 minutes, She never seen a doctor only nurse practitioners. I am curious to see the bills to see if they billed for a doctor. The nurse was left numerous messages to call us and it never happened. We asked to speak to the therapist and that never happened. She wasn't even able to see her primary doctors. They didn't even contact her doctors.They changed her medications not knowing if her doctors had her on those meds for a reason. Kind of confusing for a 78 year old. We had asked that we be given ample time before she discharged so we could prepare everything for her to come home. We were called on a Monday and told they received a fax on friday from the insurance company that she was suppose to be discharged the Saturday that passed. They said they aren't open Fri 5pm to Monday 9am so they didn’t receive the fax. They tried telling us we would be responsible to pay Saturday to Monday because she was suppose to be out on Saturday.Yet on Monday they gave her numerous test knowing the insurance wasn't covering it.So needless to say we had to scramble to get our mother out by 8pm. We get a call the next day telling us they will do everything to take care of the financial responsibility for the 3 days.We finally get her home and realized they didn't call in one of her new medications. We called there and was told they couldn't help us they couldn't call in the medication. They said this specific medication needed a written script. A blatant lie. I called the on call physician for this facility and he gladly called in the medication. I apologize for being long winded but I just never want to see someone’s loved go through what my mother...