Banner Desert Medical Center — Attraction in Mesa

Yesterday, I went to the ER here. I went, because I threw my lower back out, and just wanted to get it checked out to be sure it wasn't something worse. I showed up around 4:30 pm. There was a line out the door of people waiting to check in. It moved surprisingly fast, and I got checked in pretty quickly. I also did not wait that long before getting called back, which was nice. This is where it all went downhill. After getting called back, I wasn't even placed in a room. I was placed/sat in a hallway used to store extra medical supplies, even though there were plenty of open rooms that I was walked past. The nurse was friendly enough and seemed to listen to what I said, or so I thought. After listening to why I was there, he left and came back a few minutes later with some pills for me to take. Not just two or three, more like 10. At least that's when I stopped counting. I'm sure one: that's not how many I was supposed to be given and two: he just dumped in whatever he grabbed off the shelf. It was a cocktail of steroids, pain killers, muscle relaxers and one other I honestly can't remember. Of course I did not take them because I value my liver to much, so I tossed them in the trash after I was left alone. Maybe I shouldn't have done that, but really? One or two pills would have been fine, but 10++ pills? No thanks. My back may have been in pain, but I didn't go there to get drugged to the point of passing out due to liver or kidney failure. They also ordered a urine sample. I gave them that, they came in, took samples from the cup, and left it sitting on the tiny, makeshift used plywood counter in the storage hallway I was still in. They did not dispose of what was left. Eww. Made me wonder how sanitary things there really are if there leaving urine samples out and about. At this point, I had an x ray done and was brought back. The girl who brought me there and back, said it would take a little less then an hour for the dr to review my x rays and get back to me. Ok cool, no problem. I sit down, start waiting and the first nurse comes back. He says we have a new room for you to wait in. Awesome! I actually get a room and not a storage unit. Oh wait, nevermind.. it's a giant room with chairs separated by flimsy, dirty falling down curtains. No privacy whatsoever. I've seen this mentioned in other reviews and yep, HIPPA does not exist in there. Anytime any of the patients had an update and the Dr would come in to say it, they would say it for everyone to hear. Not ok. Why not just get on the PA system and announce it for the whole hospital to hear? I WAITED 6 HOURS. NOT A LITTLE LESS THEN AN HOUR. And was completely ignored the entire time. There were other patients in this room of unwanted hand me down furniture and the nurses checked on them nonstop. Me? NOT ONCE. I sure got plenty of eye rolls from them though. The entire time, I held my tongue and didn't say a word and just kept to myself and my phone. I should have spoken up and said something after waiting two hours. But stupidly, I kept thinking I'd get the results and get out of there, considering the x ray girl said it would take less then an hour. But nope.. 6 HOURS. Oh sure, the nurses spent most of that time right outside the door at there station in view of me and everyone in that room laughing, joking and talking about anything and everything but work. And yes, rolling there eyes and shaking there heads in our direction. I'm so glad I have a job I enjoy. A job where I don't have to mock people and roll my eyes just to feel good about myself like these clowns do lol. Banner desert do better! You can afford that addition to the hospital, but you can't afford to give your patients the privacy they deserve! Let alone decent furniture for them to be comfortable in. You clearly can't afford to pay your staff enough to care or do there jobs in a timely, efficient and friendly manner. But again, you can afford that addition to the hospital. Let all the one star reviews speak for themselves. Find an ER that cares about you and your healthcare. This...

This is for Dr. ANIL GAJARE and Ped nurse BOB, an older gentleman with white hair in the pediatric unit. By the time we moved up to the room we would be staying in, my son had already had 4 IVs put in him. The IVs weren't staying in. And each time we had to hold him down while he screamed and fought us. It was very traumatic for him. 2 IVs came out and were pumping the stuff into his hand and arm and he was screaming. So by that time we were pretty over having him get poked with another needle. We had Tammy first, as our nurse and she's amazing!! Then shift change happened and we got Bob. Then US tech Karrie came in to help assist in the the last IV he got. Then that IV came out and my son was screaming. A nurse came to help and check it and said "oh that's bad, they need to take that out, Do not let them keep this IV in." Then Bob comes in and I go "the nurse said this IV is bad and to take it out." And with attitude he goes "well I haven't been able to look at it." Then I said, "oh well she said it's bad." And he goes, again with attitude, "so she took all that off and looked at it?" I was like..."uhm she looked at the IV and said it's bad and we need to take it out?" THEN HE SAYS, "well then SHE can take it out." And he walks away. He comes back later because he went to go get another nurse to help him I guess. The tube for the IV ended up getting clogged so they had to change the tube (Which Bob did not do, he went and got someone else to change the tube...) After that the IV came out of my sons vein and Bob tried flushing it and said "it's hard to flush" meaning it's not in his vein so it's not working and we were gonna have to do another IV. So then our doctor comes in, this is the second time seeing him. Dr Anil Gajare. (The first interaction we had, was under 2 minutes btw) I tell him that my sons swelling had gotten better. He says with attitude, "it looks the same to me" Then he tries to convince us to put another IV in my son. We say no, because we're not gonna hold him down again. We need to come up with another plan. The Dr says, "the IV lasts for 5 days." I said, "but it hasn't last for 5 days?? It hasn't even last a couple hours." He then contradicts himself and goes, "well sometimes kids pull it out, no one likes to be poked" YEAH WE KNOW HE'S HAD 5 IVS. Then with attitude he goes "well your gonna be here for 48 hours, and you haven't even given it 24." I'm like yes we have? We've definitely been here 24 hours. So we ask if we can do oral antibiotics so we can go home. He says rudely "no you can't go home" Then, the nurse asked if we could do IM and give my son a shot instead. You could tell the Dr was so irritated. So they said we could do a shot, and his next dose would be at 3am. You would think Bob would take the IV out of my sons arm since there was no purpose for it? Nope. It was left it all night until about 7ish in the morning. I wake up a 345 and I'm confused because no one came in to do the shot. So 6-7ish rolls around Bob comes back and says well they wanna do blood work and I didn't come in & do the shot because I thought I'd I'm gonna Stick him again (implying, we should do another IV) AGAIN we said no, and he says, "well then I'll leave it up to the day doctor and nurse to come up with a game plan." Right then these 2 lady nurses come and they take the blood, not Bob. The one nurse says "we can't use this IV?" Bob's like, "well I couldn't use it." So she's like well then let's take it out. Then Bob leaves and never comes back. We never see him again. Even the nurses were like, "where did Bob go?" Bob also, stopped weighing my sons diapers which I thought they were supposed to make sure they are drinking but I don't know... So the 2 nurses then give my son the 2 shots. I wish we had scott as our night nurse.Dr Weiss whos awesome, examined him and could tell it looked better. He let us go home with oral antibiotics. My review was MUCH longer but I had to cut a lot out. Thank you Tammy the ped nurse, Dr Weiss, Scott our last nurse in Peds, The nurses on the first...

Banner Mesa Desert Hospital / Cardio Vascular Post OP ICU.

I want to share my recovery experience after having aortic heart valve and root replacement surgery at Banner Mesa Desert Hospital in Post OP Cardio Vascular ICU on October 9, 2023. I want to acknowledge the nursing staff, do the best job overall under current conditions. However, it is important to address some issues encountered during my time in the CV ICU that greatly effect the patients stay.

Let me explain the CV ICU layout. As you enter, the nurses' station is on the right, patient stations are on the left, and then start again on the right after the nurses' station. The separation {hall} between the left and right areas is approximately six feet, and the patient enclosures are separated from the hallway by curtains similar to an ER. The entire length of this area is around sixty to seventy feet.

The hospital claims to have a one nurse per patient ratio in the CV ICU, but that was not always the case for me. There were many instances where two to three nurses were needed for certain procedures or conditions on other patients, and as a result, there were times when I needed a nurse and none were available. This was clearly noticed by my daughter and sever times she had to personally look for a nurse for me. The exception to this was my first day.

The facilities in the CV ICU are extremely outdated and not suitable extended periods of time past two days. This fact was acknowledged by upper management to me.

Now, let's address the most prevalent issues that I faced: ISSUE ONE: LACK OF RESTROOMS. It is somewhat acceptable not have restrooms within the ICU for the FIRST day, but should not be the case beyond that. Unfortunately, at times during my five-day stay, I had to walk through the main waiting room for the CV ICU, practically half-naked, with numerous people waiting, just to get to a restroom. This was undignified, but the only option available, not just for me, but also for all others. It felt humiliating and inhumane.

ISSUE TWO: LACK OF PRIVACY. I believe this issue speaks for itself. It was clear that there was NO privacy in the CV ICU, which only added to the already challenging situation.

ISSUE THREE: NOISE LEVELS. Throughout the day and night, there was a constant high level of noise from certain patients, beeping monitors, loud televisions, and more. The patient across from me frequently suffered from night terrors and would scream every few minutes at times. As you can imagine, this made my stay even more difficult and unbearable putting extreme pressure on my well-being. Despite repeatedly asking when I could be moved to a regular room, I was always told that none were available, even though I was told that I was a priority. The nurses Even promised my daughter on the evening of October 12 that I would have a room, which did not happen. Even my doctor expressed confusion as to why I was still in the ICU when he visited on a Friday morning, stating " why the hell is he still here." It was the lowest point of my life, and is not an experience anyone should have to endure.

This was not just my experience. On Wednesday another patient adamantly demanded to be removed from this agonizing situation and was taken to a new room at 1am Thursday morning.

After being discharged on Friday October 13th, 2023 I had to go to the ER on Monday the 16, with extreme abdominal pain. My bladder was found to be markedly distended. This was a result of not doing a bladder scan before being released on Friday October 13th 2023. This caused me extreme pain from my release on Friday all the way until Monday. Again unnecessary pain and agony resulting from the CV ICU.

I feel compelled to write this to warn others about potentially having a similar undignified experience and shed light on the reality of what is happening in the CV ICU. This was an incredibly inhumane and...