Broward Health Imperial Point — Attraction in Fort Lauderdale

Worst ER experience ever! I wonder how many have been turned away!?

I fractured/sprained my knee and am limping around in excruciating pain. Yesterday, December 4, 2020 around 6:30pm, I had someone take me to this ER at imperial point. My PPO insurance recommended this hospital as an in-network hospital. Upon hopping into the emergency lobby, the receptionist was on a personal call making a fuss about her personal package being lost and other personal stuff on the office line. She looked up and quickly returned to her call. You could tell that she was not interested in what was going on with any incoming patient.

The admitting person (not the receptionist) came over to me and almost immediately said that the ER will not be able to help me with my injury even before I was able to finish explaining my injury, the pain and my fear of it getting worse. I responded that I wanted to be seen by a doctor and she proceeded to argue with me about wanting to be seen. She seemed frustrated and annoyed that I was there. When she saw that I was not giving up, she went to the back to get an ER Nurse to get them to talk me out of seeking medical attention.

The ER nurses name is Steven. He and another male came out as if he, the other guy and the admitting lady were all 3 going to gang up on me to convince me to go away. Nurse Steven tried to reinforce what the admitting lady said to me. I once again politely requested that I be seen by a doctor. I could sense the frustration by everyone. I let them know that if they are going to refuse to admit me to the ER to please put the refusal in writing.

I hopped back over to the admitting desk. The receptionist was off of her personal call and I handed over my ID. The admitting lady rolled her eyes and took a deep breath since she saw how determined I was to get help. She tucked in her name badge into her shirt, went and got the blood pressure monitor (without changing the germy cuff) and took my blood pressure.

At the end of her checking my vitals, I reintroduced my self and gave her my name and asked what hers is. She responded "Allisa" - I made it a point to remember the name she gave and a witness also heard her. I have never felt so unwanted in my life. When I finally got to the back and inquired as to who she was, I found out that no one by the name of Allisa worked out front. I discovered that her real name is Elisabeth. I was and still am in utter shock that she would lie about her name. No wonder she tucked her badge in.

I consider hospitals to be a sacred place of trust where people go to get help in their most frightening and vulnerable moments. I do not believe that this hospital should have someone who lies about their name to the patients. I also do not believe that it is appropriate for non doctors to deter people from seeking medical attention. How many other people has she done this to?

I would NEVER recommend this ER to...

I took my boyfriend into the ER at Imperial Point two days ago because he was complaining of abdominal pain and several other symptoms. I have spent a fair amount of time in hospitals and was aware that we would be waiting for a while and that the visit would most likely be on the expensive side. What I was NOT aware of was the horrible customer service we would be receiving. The ONLY person who treated us decently and with any kind of respect was the lady at the front desk who checked us in.

Firstly, I suppose because were both look rather young, the staff saw no need to take us seriously at all. After asking for a urine sample, drawing blood, and seeing the doctor for a total of about 5 minutes, they left us in the hospital room for almost three hours. The entire time his urine sample sat on the counter and the needle they put in his arm was left there with nothing attached to it. Eventually the needle became too uncomfortable and he asked me to see if I could find someone to remove it since we had no idea what they were doing or how long we would be there.

The only person I could find was the register but my simple and polite request was met with an incredibly unwarranted attitude. She informed me that he was being discharged 'soon' anyway but could not give me any reference of time. About thirty minutes went by and she came into the room to ask for his address, insurance, and very rudely if we had any money to pay towards our bill that night. When I asked how much the bill was she said "I don't know". In which case I can't understand for the life of me why she was asking if we could pay it.

Shortly after that the nurse came to 'remove' the needle in his arm by ripping the tape, tube and needle off all at once. He asked if we had any questions and then acted EXTREMELY annoyed when it turned out that we did have questions. They said it was an infection and when we asked what kind he said "I don't know". When we asked what caused it he said "I don't know". When my boyfriend asked what the side effects of taking the prescription would be, I kid you not, the nurse said "I don't know"! The same nurse suggested we fill the prescription at a CVS down the street saying that it had a 24hr pharmacy and would be able to fill the prescription easily. Not only were they NOT able to fill the prescription, but they also were not a 24hr pharmacy and were actually closing soon after we got there. THANK GOD that CVS had competent and friendly staff who were bright enough to call the next pharmacy ahead before sending us there.

Needless to say we ended up leaving VERY unhappy at the cost of $357 plus separate doctor bills that we are still awaiting in the mail. I have tried to call the head of the ER to speak about this matter and have yet to be called back. I just don't want any other young couple, or anyone else there, being so rudely mistreated and taken...

Most unprofessional and incompetent psych ward I've ever experienced in my life. My roommate was Baker Acted and unfortunately taken to Imperial Point for 4 days. She is a Type 1 Diabetic, and one of the days the staff did not administer her insulin after she ate. My friend called her mom, complaining she felt sick and that it had been 2 hours since she ate and still no one in the staff had come to give her insulin. Her mom called the ward and got a hold of a nurse (which apparently is a big project to even find a nurse) and the nurse had the nerve to say in a very rude tone "I'm sure she's had her insulin, mam. What do you want me to do about it?" THIS IS A NURSE TALKING LIKE THIS. My friends mom asked her to please double check. After loudly sighing, she put her on hold. And lo and behold when she got back on the phone she said she was being administered the insulin now. 2 hours late. No apology. No explanation, no nothing. About 10 minutes later, my friend called back and said the nurse giving her the insulin asked her why she told her mom she didn't get her medicine. Like this is high school or something. The nurse said "maybe you'll just have to stay here a few more days then since you want to tell your mom you didn't get your meds"...so the nurse got mad that the staff didn't do their jobs and my friend asked for help?? Ok she could have had a seizure if she didn't get her insulin so sounds kind of like malpractice....and whenever we would call the ward to talk to my friend, the staff would tell us she wasn't even a patient there. We'd have to ask them to double check their "records" before they could find her in the system. And after her 3rd day, the counselor kindly called to inform us she had been admitted. Yes, we know she was admitted, we have been talking to her on the phone everyday and already visited her. I don't know if this place even keeps records of anything or if the staff is that incompetent. When we went to pick her up after being discharged, they didn't even ask me for my ID. I just walked up and said "I'm here to pick up insert name" and they were like ok we will go get her. Literally anyone could have picked her up, we could've sent the homeless guy outside to get her apparently. God forbid they release someone to an abusive family member or a stranger. And my friend didn't even sign her discharge papers because they tried to give her risperdal instead of lorazepam (which Shannon the caseworker said she would be sent home with) and they still let her go. My friend is not psychotic so I don't know who even thought to prescribe her risperdal. I could go on about how rude all the people in the psych ward are but we wre just going to report them to the board of health. It makes me sad for the patients there who truly need help, that place is a...