Lancaster General Hospital Emergency Room — Attraction in Lancaster

Update 9/6/25: this is 4th time in less that 2 wks that my son was at LGH ER for help, twice voluntary and twice 302d. He has severe PTSD, is in drug withdrawal psychosis, he has told the staff at ER that he doesn’t want to live anymore, he’s so exhausted from living on streets.. Apparently, the only thing they will give is tranquilizers/chem restraints that cause brain damage. They don’t try to get them to a place to sleep, or therapy, or rehab. His feet are blistered from walking in just socks, and head very razor burned and partially shaved. He’s the kindest most tender hearted person, But they don’t see that, they only see how psychosis is impacting him and it’s like they’re holding it against him. I waited for two hours in the waiting room and they discharged him without telling me, and without telling him that I was there, knowing that I’m trying to establish contact with him to try to help him get into a therapeutic rehab.. I’ve heard the Penn medicine ER is much kinder to those in withdrawal or psychosis. Update 8/25: A loved one went there bc of withdrawal from marijuana and having mental health instability; this hospital won’t help them, they just send them out on the streets. The nurses in triage for substance use/mental health are not trauma informed, were very rude, condescending, and triangulating/undermining to erode trust between the patient and their family and vice versa. Pointless to try to get help for a loved one in need of rehab here. 2/25- Make sure you do not bring any belongings because you won’t get them back. I brought in 5 bags of clothes and toiletries for my son who was being transferred and they went missing. Even though the security sergeant confirmed watching the video footage and seeing me bring them to him and hand them over the desk to the nurses, who confirmed they would inventory his things, there is no paper trail of these belongings. Now he does not have these 5 bags of clothes and toiletries because the nurses failed to inventory them. The hospital is not making any sort of amends, no one, not even the patient advocate, has called back to address this. It was his nicest clothes and three bags of brand new toiletries, socks, etc. All I have is the security sergeants confirmation of video footages showing that I brought the items in, but without a paper trail, there is no way to prove I brought them in and therefore no one is being held accountable for the theft of my sons belongings. Very sad that this is just going to be dismissed even though there’s proof because the sergeant confirmed watching the video footage. I would also complain about how rude, belittling, and un-trauma informed the nurses were but, I already know advocating falls on deaf ears because of advocating for a patient in the past and...

I gave this ER five stars but i do want to say this about one particular Dr. i didn’t want to give less stars based on one Dr because overall the hospital is amazing and almost all the nurses that work there are angels.

But i do need to leave a review about a Dr that has literally no empathy for folks.

Dr Katz in the emergency department said something to me when i was there for the beginning of alcohol detox that absolutely astonished me. He told me, and I’m quoting him here when i say this…. He said “You being here is a waste of hospital resources” and kept insisting that i detoxed in a rehab. I’ve had a seizure before in the past from alcohol detox and i felt the hospital would have been the better choice for me. After a few minutes of standing up for myself with him and being direct with him as i know my rights and letting him know he wasn’t going to bully me into going somewhere that i don’t feel comfortable at, he did give me a dose of a medication for the detox process. Than i laid on a bed for 7 hours than got sent home with a 3 day supply of meds for DT’s.

I had to stand up for myself and be direct with him for the bare minimum of treatments. I suspect he only gave me a dose in the hospital and sent me with a script so I can’t say that he didn’t do anything at all because he knows what he told me about “being a waste of hospital resources” was absolutely wrong and he said this in front of other people in the room.

I followed through in the morning and spoke to multiple people on day shift about his words with me and they agreed with me and apologized multiple times to me. Again this hospital is great and i know it isn’t the entire hospital but Dr Katz you need to learn to show some empathy for folks that are sick and stop being judgmental.

That MD title you have doesn’t give you carte blanche to treat people however you please. You are still a human being and need to maybe learn empathy. I can’t imagine how many other patients you have made feel uncomfortable in your time there with...

Went in on a Wednesday morning, was greeted and was sent to the triage as soon as possible so that was the best part of it all. But they get you sent to the bag to just have you sit and wait and think someone would be attending yo your needs soon. " NO" that's not how LGH function. I was left their waiting for hours for hours. I then proceeded to the nurses station to see if someone could talk to me to see what's going on or send me to the person I should be asking questions to. Both employees responded "saying they can't help me". I asked them again if they can direct me to the person that can "help me" they started at each other and no one got up or said anything to me. So I calmly walked out to the front desk and asked the greeters if their was a supervisor or someone I could talk to. Because I need to know what's going on why leave someon in a room and not say a word to them. The people their are very friendly and I do understand that it is an emergency room. And I accepted the fact that some emergencies are urgent then others. But I feel as though their should be some type of communication. We as patient or entitled to at least send someone to let us k ow the other physicians or nurses are extremely buzy right now can you give us a moment. Communication is the key especially when your dealing with people. The facility is great the people once again or wounderful. I just didn't appreciate not receiving answers. Nor did I like the fact then no one could help me out or at least tell me to wait they will get the nurse...