Jackson Memorial Hospital Emergency Room — Attraction in Miami

I arrived at the ER in an ambulance at approx 8pm on a Saturday night. I immediately noticed the cold indifference of most staff towards the patients. At one point I was crying from pain and staff would saunter past me as though I wasn't there. One Nurse, a white woman in her 50s named Kathy, gave me the chills her interaction with me was so devoid of any kindness or concern. I was still in tears when I did my intake with her and she actually told me, her face hard and mean, that tears won't help me and they see people cry all the time and it won't make any difference. Wow. I stared at her and said "You can't tell the difference between real tears and fake ones by now?" She decided I wouldn't be allowed any water while I was in the ER, which is policy with certain medical issues. I understand that however the rule was not meant for ERs that keep people needlessly waiting for so long. Forcing a patient to go without water for 12 hours should NOT be allowed. There were staff who circled the floor all night and displayed condescending arrogance to the patients. I was finally admitted to treatment after 12 hours and placed on a gurney where it was just the same drill of waiting and being ignored. By that time it was 8am and I noticed that staff arriving for their shift just ignored me, not making eye contact. Instead I got to listen to all of them laughing and joking around and having a grand old time. I felt completely invisible. The only treatment I received was some X rays. Other treatment had been ordered by the doctor however I just sat and sat. No nurse picked up the order and came to meet with me. I realized if I waited for the other treatment I could very possibly be stuck there for another 5 hours. I was desperate to leave and I checked out, which the doctor assigned to me seemed to think was very odd. I requested that someone please call me with the X ray exam adults and she said they were too busy. Now I am having to deal with the adminstrative staff to get these records. One of the admins told me that her department gets complaints all the time about the ER. One thing I thought was weird is that some of the patients in the waiting room didn't look sick. I sat next to a couple who were chatting and a woman on her cell phone talking about work. You could tell the people who legit were suffering but there was no allowance given for this. You just had to wait with everybody else. The staff doesn't like or care about the patients - you could just FEEL it. I will never ever go to...

Please do NOT come to this emergency room for immediate care. Go somewhere else, especially if you are going to be treated by their attending physician DR. DAVID TAN! My mother, who has debilitating pain due to her condition, decided to painstakingly drive herself to Jackson Memorial ER due to the fact that her primary physician works out of Jackson so it makes sense to go to the facility that holds her long list of medications and health history. My mother was very vulnerable at the time, since she was not only feeling unbearable pain, but also speaks Spanish has her primary language so information can get lost in translation (not making excuses---just providing perspective).

Normally, a family member would be with her but due to COVID, patients have to go into the ER alone which is understood. What I don't understand is the treatment she received after waiting for 13 hours in pain. She went in at 1:00 PM and was seen at 3:00 AM. DR. DAVID TAN had horrible bedside manners, was completely rude and unprofessional, and did not listen to my mother as she was trying to tell him her level of pain!! This is completely unacceptable for a hospital such as Jackson Memorial who pride themselves on high standard of quality care for the residents of Miami-Dade County. This is BS with doctors such as DAVID TAN! She left without the proper treatment, medication, and without any relief for her pain! I have already submitted a formal complaint and hope to get some type of investigation and resolve on the matter. If I were the administration staff at Jackson, I would look into this Doctor very closely and take corrective action so this does not happen to...

I understand we’re living in times of COVID but wow- it was like I stepped into another dimension at this E.R.

The wait was 5 hours long from coming in to being brought to the back to be seen. Understandable with Covid but I was told they were looking for me after 3 hours- but that one system didn’t communicate with another to get me seen. Oh well, I’ve heard others waited 15 and my total time ended up being 7 hours.

While waiting the 5 hours in the main waiting room there were many wonders to be had to pass the time. For example, finding a jug of urine next to one of the chairs. Or some blood on the chair next to you.

If “find disturbing liquids” isn’t one of your favorite pass times- you could listen to the soap opera of the employees who were shouting. The episode tonight was who deserved overtime and who was cheating the system. The accused yelled he clarified his times with Stacy. Stacy- apparently some time sheets need to be looked at.

If neither of those activities sound fun- you could then set your concentration on not freezing. Being put in a gown, sat in the middle of the waiting area with several other people and trying to figure out why the thermostat was set to 65 degrees F was a neat way to pass the time.

On a positive note: the nurses, doctors, and radiologist were all phenomenal and wonderful people to me. I imagine the issues that are stemming here come from the management of the hospital.

I realize COVID has changed things and hospitals are trying to keep up but a lack of sanitation, professionalism, or courtesy made this an experience that was more awful than it...