Saint Clare’s Denville Hospital — Attraction in Denville

The survey only offered a thumbs up or down response on overall experience, so no way to offer feedback other than this very public way… this will be lengthy.

I may or may not recommend Saint Clare’s hospital in Denville. I believe my mother was cared for adequately, but not great. They definitely take care for cleanliness - no doubt. Kudos for that!

They do not use (or have) diapers for patients, even when incontinent. I went to visit with Mom every evening until visiting hours ended. More than half the time, I had to alert the nurses that she was wet and was shivering cold. Granted, cold is her default, but there are ways to bundle her up to provide more comfort. There are also no blankets, just lots of sheets. She finally got pillows on the last day (folded sheets were used previously). One great thing is when I alerted them, they did come within minutes to clean and change, with care. So it would appear nurse and aide staffing is sufficient here, which is a big issue everywhere.

I was not able to get access to her medical records through the patient portal until the evening of her discharge, even after several attempts to find someone who could help me. I had to call customer service of the app from her bedside so she could spell her name. So many unnecessary hoops to jump through.

On every day it was noted that someone called to update me, but the phone went to voice mail. NOT ONCE did anyone ever leave a message about these updates. NOT ONE SINGLE VOICEMAIL of who they were and who I could call to find out info on my mom. NOT ONE! Totally unacceptable, particularly when they also noted they had questions about her.

SUGGESTION: if you get a voicemail, leave a message! You don’t have to leave personal info, but direction on who the caregiver can contact for info would have been helpful. OR “We have a few questions about your mom. Please call XYZ as soon as you get a chance.” OR leave a paper printout of the day’s notes and summary on the bedside table OR leave a colored postit note saying you have questions, please call XYZ. Having NO communication with the family caregiver is unacceptable!!!!

I did try asking the floor nurses, but they could not offer up much info other than she’s resting comfortably or she wasn’t interested in eating. That’s it. I never even knew why she was admitted to the hospital.

By the way, dementia patients will sometimes not want to eat. Wait a few minutes and ask if they will try just two bites. Then wait a few minutes and ask if they will eat just two bites. It can be tiring, but nutrition is important, particularly when they are frail. I also mentioned that I supplement meals with the “plus” version of the nutrition shakes (higher calories). Apparently if you do not eat during the timeframes that they have trays of food delivered, you’re out of luck. They do not use these shakes (Ensure, Boost, Equate, etc). I brought in a couple from home so she could have something.

The reason for calling an ambulance to begin with was nowhere in her medical record at all. She was crying/screaming out in pain from leg cramps. They found other things to treat, but not that. Apparently the pain subsided the night she arrived at the ER so no matter how many people I asked about this extreme pain, no one would address it because it was not noted in the file.

She also had a UTI and dehydration, which are not uncommon for frail seniors with dementia. Obviously that was great to get treated and some of that treatment may have addressed this pain indirectly. I did not have any interaction with any doctors whatsoever. I don’t even know if they are present on the floor. There were only nurses, aides, cleaning staff and security.

The case managers who work on the details of the discharge plan actually did leave voice mails and we often communicated by exchanging detailed voice mails. That was very helpful. We connected to speak live as well. These people were excellent with communication and handled all the details with moving Mom to a rehab...

My husband and I want to express our gratitude for everything you did and of course how much of a big help you were to us during our time in your hospital welcoming Knightus. From the moment we walked thru the doors until the moment we left we were amazed how wonderful this experience was at the St. Claire’s Denville Labor and Delivery/Maternity. The staff were so supportive and welcoming. They made us feel so comfortable the whole time and we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. We had previously had a traumatic experience with our other son but due to these staff that were there our experience with our son was so relieving. As many parents know when you have a bad experience your nerves are on full blast when you have another baby after that. Well me and my husband are still so very thankful that the staff we had changed that and made sure to get us thru this birth with an amazing experience! As we know words could never describe how thankful we are! We would like to just say, THANK YOU, for being so supportive when we were going through the most exciting yet terrifying experience. We’re both so thankful that you were there to help safely welcome our little bundle of joy into the world. We can’t even begin to explain how much it means to have had such good support by our side during this process. we can’t even imagine having gotten through giving birth without your constant encouragement and support, you truly are the best at what you do! Thanks for doing anything you could do to make sure I was as comfortable as possible. Thank you for letting me lean on you while I got my epidural. As I leaned my body towards yours, I was so nervous—but you made me feel relaxed enough to sit still and calm. The way you spoke, reacted and moved around the room kept things this way. I can’t imagine if you weren’t as sympathetic —I don’t know what I would have done. I needed your warmth, your careful concern, your attention to my needs and your compassion. I don’t think everyone gets that and boy, am I glad I did. Thank you for helping me breathe and stay calm as I pushed my baby out. You were gentle and so encouraging during this final stage. You gave me the strength to get through to the end and meet my baby. Thank you for being part of my birth experience. This was birth number four for me, and while I’ve had previous horrifying experiences- this birth was different, and I wanted it to be that way. You helped me achieve the exact experience I wanted. That’s invaluable to me. Thank you for the conversations and listening to the stories we shared with you. The way you guys kept my pain tolerance to a minimum and how you answered every question and taught us things we wanted to know about. You guys definitely will never ever be forgotten by us! We will always be having our children and also recommending others to have their children at St Claire’s Denville. You guys will be spoke highly about forever by my husband and I. Thanks for sharing in our excitement and being part of this incredible moment with us. We truly could not have asked for a more perfect and special experience! We will definitely be sharing the experience with everyone we can! We may not have written everyone’s name but everyone from the time we walked in until the time we left are unforgettable. Dr. Lewis definitely has an amazing team to be by her side thru these experiences. And most of all, we will be back to have “Rosey.” Our Nursing team was the best anyone could have, between both labor and delivery and the maternity units. Roselita, Kristin, Mia, Lauren, Valeria, Ashley, etc. the residents that assisted thru my delivery, the wonderful nurses who delivered with me, the pediatric doctor, everyone we can’t thank you all enough for loving your job and showing it every moment. From the start of my visit until we left to go home every single person who walked into our room was a true blessing and had amazing advice and confidence with conversation. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! 💕 Sincerely, The...

The absolute worst. My father was admitted for a GI bleed again after being discharged from a 3 day stay for same thing 3 days prior. He is 80 years old, has dementia and metastatic cancer.CCU care was good but Urban 2 was horrible. Too much to write but a few highlights of my father's 11 day stay. Was told he could not eat because he was having a test done. Nothing to eat or drink all day. Around 6pm a nurse overheard me complaining and said she'd make calls to see what was going on because she did not know. Come to find out, the equipment to perform this test was down and he would have to go to Dover for test. Was told he had to wait till morning. Then come to find out they took him at 2am. So you mean to tell me that they didn't know that morning when they said he was having this test that their equipment was down? Never saw a doctor, an APN would come in the morning but not very informative, barely saw his RNs. Saw cleaning woman more. LPNs and CNAs were the most helpful. He had edema from all the IV fluids. (Which the dr said he was discontinuing but didn't) He was complaining of pain in his arm. I told every nurse, aide and even phlembotomist that came into his room he was complaining about his arm hurting. They would wipe it where it was leaking and one even wrapped a towel around it and said it was ok. But that was it. He was also short of breath. It was my sister who felt it and said it was hot to the touch. She asked nurse to call dr. Dr never called back. My sister then had to demand they page someone to check it. Turns out he developed cellulitis and not one nurse caught that. Dr notes repeatedly stated no edema. Notes also stated he was tolerating regular diet but he was getting clear liquid diet for days. When I questioned it, they switched him to a regular diet next morning. In my opinion he should have been on regular diet and no one told the nurses or his chart was never updated.. Fast forward to day 11, which totally tops the other 10 days of the nightmare. My 80 yo mother got to hospital around 10:30am. She found him dressed, sitting at the end of the empty bed in his room with his stuff packed up and his bed stripped down. No one was in the room with him. No one called us to even tell us he was being discharged. So they left a very weak and confused 80 year old who could barely walk or keep his eyes open ALONE SITTING ON THE END OF A BED. And we have no idea how long he was left like that. Totally unbelievable and just heartbreaking. He was sent home and could barely walk. Laid in bed for 11 days and had PT for maybe 2 days for probably 20 minutes. First night home he fell out of bed trying to get up to use bathroom and couldn't get up. So an unsafe discharge on their part. We will be making formal complaints not only to whoever is in charge of this hospital and Urban 2 but also...