Banner - University Medical Center Phoenix Emergency Room | Phoenix, AZ | McDowell Rd. — Attraction in Phoenix

I visited this emergency room last night after attempting to get similar testing at different emergency room the night before. I wasn't served by that room because they didn't believe it was urgent enough. But two urgent care facilities over the weekend couldn't perform the test, so I found myself checking into another ER, hoping this time, things would go better.

For a non-emergency or urgent care need, Banner may not be the quickest, but if you're patient, the waiting room is spacious and comfortable. There's free wifi, and if you find yourself starving during the wait, the staff is ready with recommendations of nearby eateries.

I would recommend anyone go to Banner. I think the staff are professional and willing, and capable of asking thoughtful questions.

Banner got a lot of things right yesterday. Still, I know ERs talk to each other. I suspect the only quibble I have with my experience is because of that communication.

I work in a field that often feel at odds with the people we serve. While other levels of carers at Banner gave no judgment or negativity, I did sense it from the doctor who saw me. I won't hold it against her (5-star review), because I understand solidarity among professionals.

But since I think this review may have a chance of getting shared, I would like to provide feedback of how Banner and other medical facilities might consider fostering a more supportive culture for patients.

I am not speaking as any kind of medical professional. My education is in political systems, and I have made ethics a huge focus of my life.

Doctors take an oath to "do no harm" to their patients. From this pillar of medical practice, I would like to offer the following thoughts...

1. I would like doctors to consider they are morally obligated to ensure care when appropriate to both prevent disability and maintain a patient's employment. I might suggest simply "making sure a patient doesn't die" is a very low standard of care -- at the very least from a moral perspective.

2. In addition to #1, perhaps when patients share these worries, mocking or scoffing is not appropriate. It fails show empathy and refuses to take responsibility in relating with patients. It exemplifies a bullying mindset, which is "doing harm" by definition.

3. Maybe doctors shouldn't consider a patient coming to an ER "for insufficiently urgent reasons" a moral ground to deny care or shame a patient for coming in.

4. Maybe when a patient has a long-term concern difficult to pin down with multiple providers, doctors might consider that a potentially emergency-related issue. Many potential life-threatening problems need to be diagnosed early to prevent disability or death.

An ER doctor is functionally a highly-skilled PCP who is able to review the whole body with hospital-level resources to examine, assess, and identify serious illness. This service is compensated at a much higher level than a PCP doctor, specialty provider, or urgent care clinic can obtain.

It's difficult for me to see when a patient presents themselves willing to pay this markup for care, after trying to resolve this issue with a dozen providers, how an ER doctor justifies that patient is not their problem.

Because of my experience with both ER doctors, I did not inquire about an MRI that had been ordered by an ENT that I had seen. The MRI could have identified a serious condition a specialist had expressed concern about. It was also related to what I had requested care for. I believe that a best practice in a circumstance like this, is for the ER doc to do the MRI.

This isn't a license for patients to knock the door down just to do MRIs. The patient is already in a place where an MRI can be performed, the facility makes money, and it contributes to preventing harm. It also reduces the patient's travel to a separate facility.

I would encourage administrators and medical professionals to consider modifying their...

First off, I will state that I am a current healthcare employee of a hospital who has a Doctorate and has completed a Residency. With that being said (with pre-existing advanced healthcare knowledge + sister who is an Urgent Care PA + a brother who is a hospitalist), this ER experience with Dr. D. P. was severely disappointing and made me feel embarrassed to be associated with this hospital. I came in to the ER after experiencing abdominal pain, fever and chills the night before. Dr. P. came in and did not perform an appropriate abdominal palpation exam to check for classic signs such as rebound tenderness, etc. He also did not listen to my heart or bowels. He decided to do a blood test to follow up w/ by s/s of rectal bleeding. He however did not bother to do a CBC or differential to check for important things, such as an infection. He only ran a blood test for kidney function, hemoglobin + hematocrit. He did not listen or acknowledge my secondary complains of fever + rigors. When I asked him about my possible source of my fever + rigors, he stated it was due to upper respiratory virus I was getting over from last week. I as a healthcare professional know it is the number one rule to always listen to your patient. I made no mention of ever having an upper respiratory infection. Nor did I ever say I had issues with cough and/or congestion. That was an highly baseless and uneducated response. Orthostatics were also taken incorrectly by the medical technician. You must wait 3-5 min after a positional change to recheck all basic vitals. My orthostatics from seated to standing were taken immediately. Due to it being taken incorrectly, my HR showed a jump in 20 beats from seated to standing which would categorize me as orthostatic. Despite my HR being "orthostatic," Dr. P. was willing to d/c me home and stated I should drink more fluids at home. He even acknowledged I was on the border of being orthostatic. Number one rule of patient care, never d/c a patient who is symptomatic. That is a high liability factor. Despite me verbalizing to the doctor that I drink a glass of water every hour, he continued to offer a rebuttal and stated he can see that I do not by a rectal exam that was performed. He then proceeded to go ahead with the d/c without verbalizing to the patient any of the blood test results. I had to ask the RN who was giving me my d/c paperwork, what the blood test results were because nothing was verbalized to me. I consulted with my brother and sister after discharge and they were both appalled by the level of care provided and they both stated that the amount of blood work he did and testing was inadequate and sub-par. I then proceeded to go straight to Mayo Clinic ER where the level of care I received there was OUTSTANDING and PHENOMENAL. There is a big reason why Mayo is ranked one of the best hospitals in the nation for years. Mayo is very picky with the type of healthcare professionals they hire, since they go for quality. The ED doc was thorough and had excellent patient care skills. She completed all appropriate exams + tests to find out the root cause of my s/s. The medical technicians also completed my orthostatics correctly. Overall, I am very shocked with the poor quality of care I got being on the side of the patient for once at Banner University ER. I would...

Four hours waiting in an empty ER waiting room and entering a half or more empty ER.  Very rude charge nurse and aides in my section. I have no idea what the issue was/is.  Went in presenting the same symptoms as my wife, at the same time.  I honestly did not care about my symptoms, nor myself.  The nurses would not even tell me if she was alive or stable, nothing (had to call the hospital main line because she had no service), even though I have been listed as next of kin with decision making power in the Banner system for years.  The nurse basically took away my iced tea, and did not provide water;  she told me I needed to wait for a doctor's approval to drink.  I laid in the bed over two hours.  When I simply stated I was unsure if was receiving proper care, one of the males literally rushed me and put his face a foot or so from mine and sarcastically said 'Really?', in a very rude, acerbic, and hateful way!  It seemed as though this psychotic individual was trying to lead me to confront him, so the police would try to exacerbate any situation.  When I asked if I needed to do anything to be discharged because I felt UTTERLY UNSAFE in the situation and decided my wife's safety and care was more important than me being able to walk, the charge nurse said I could leave whenever, it did not matter.  As I was disconnecting the monitors from myself, she said 'Good'.  As I was walking away to my wife's room, I heard her state she had never even submitted my information for a doctor call.  At this point, I was ONLY INTERESTED IN ENSURING THE LIFE AND SAFETY OF MY WIFE!  It was then shift change... the horribly sad, horribly unprofessional and unsafe individuals with nursing licenses disappeared quite quickly, as they do in situations like this...  And, THIS HAS NOT EVEN BEEN THE FULL DETAILS OF THE STORY!!  In the mean time, my wife had received a CT, full CBC and extra, IV fluids, and a steroid injection.  She also received referrals to both a neurologist and toxicologist, as well as orders for specialty blood work including heavy metals, etc.  Whoever the head nurse in charge of the area including B52 at 05:00 06/24/23 was, as well as the older of the two males; I did NOT feel I was being treated properly, nor safely, actually the UTTER OPPOSITE... WHAT NURSE INTERJECTS TOWARD ONE IN AN AGGRESSIVE MANNER?  How does that even exist as an idea? ...  My wife received an elevated level of care. Banner, you did NOT provide anything approaching your promise of care in my case!  In full disclosure, I have loved the nursing and service of the maternity ward here.  And, we're going to see how the cardiac care unit responds, after the ER COMPLETELY MISSED AN 80 YEAR OLD'S DIAGNOSES OF CARDIAC FAILURE!   Beware of your own safety and health, as others may not!  Banner, I need to file a complaint, as this situation was utterly beyond acceptable; I do not know, nor understand the reasoning for a nurse to decide whether a patient should receive care, I thought that was a doctor's decision!   The saddest thing is that these three will likely support their own lies to maintain their positions.  Please contact me at this email.  As I stated, she received great service... I most definitely did not.

Edit: Intake & Marisol of Triage were wonderful. And,...