UC San Diego Health Emergency Department (ER) - La Jolla — Attraction in San Diego

My wife presented w abdominal pain. After clear signs of compensated shock she developed after returning back to our ER room from an overzealous ultrasound tech-in-training dug into her stomach even though she was crying & asking him to stop (which I wasn't there for), she came back clammy, lightheaded, feeling very warm, nauseated, etc and no one checking on us or responding to the bell for 15+ minutes. After getting her to the bathroom, and back, and trying to assess her vitals, I walked to the nurses station and tried to get one of the three lazy idiots to get off their butt and take a vital sign and get a damn blood pressure reading. Im a former physician but couldnt turn on the machine or find the equipment myself bc I would have done so. "Oh is she in pain? does she need pain meds?" is all they offered, absolute morons, but refused to come. Ten minutes later a nurse finally came to our room, only to tell us they were "kicking us out" into the hall, bc they needed the room. I said, no, she might need to go to emergency surgery. 2 minutes later the ER resident comes in and chatgpt-mumbles "she has arteriovenous" and leaves before we can ask questions (which is CLOSE to words used in the radiographic read, "arterial or venous", which just means the radiologist couldn't tell tell the bleeding source; I only later was able to read the MRI, didnt have access at this point) making me think, at this point, she had an ateriovenuous malformation. 2 min later the ER attending came in and confirms she WAS bleeding internally (because of the MRI they were hesitant about doing, that I insisted on, showed two liters of internal blood, active bleeding).

Then we get an emergency surgical consult, the attending was professional and personable. The surgical resident was absolutely atrocious in the consult. She kept whisper-talking into my wife's ear, a two+ page consent form, just whisper-rambling the worst case medical scenarios into my wife's ear (like less than a foot, like on her knees by her bed) while my wife's absolutely blasted by two Dilaudid shots they gave her, and I keep asking the resident to speak up so I can hear the consent, too, while the ER attending was simultaneously showing me the MRI (which I appreciate), but was hard for me to track the consent details, even tho I have an MD and am not blasted on drugs, because of the almost demonic whisper talking, absolutely insane.

Post surgery, I finally get let into the postop area in the morning, but only after 1.5 hours after my wife had been out of the OR by a half brain dead attendant, despite me waiting outside it all night and literally watching him clock in, keeps putting me off to do nothing, then asks I go get a Visitor sticker in another area despite me having ID and my wifes info... I get in and she gets transferred to the same-day discharge area where a senior nurse, I nicknamed Nurse Kevorkian after a while, kept trying (& did twice before I caught on & told him to stop) injecting her with the maximum dose of all the prescribed narcotics in her chart, at the minimum prn, every couple hrs, causing her to keep falling asleep, but not giving her any ibuprofen or tylenol, which is what we were to be discharged with later that day. The reason this is absolutely asinine is that I'm supposed to manage her pain at home in just a couple hours; the opoids have a short half life and the other OTC drugs should be layered so when the opioids wear off, you have some coverage (literally what youll have to do once you're home and out of the hospital). But he kept rushing in with max doses. I finally told him to give her the oral opioid and like 1/4 of the iv dose short term cause she kept getting opioid blasted, and somehow they managed to finally track down an ibuprofen pill she was to be discharged on for the next week...

anyways, this happened a while ago, but Im still pissed about my wife internally bleeding in an academic ER center and not being able to get a f$##ing vital sign for 30 min. I cant imagine going through this with no medical...

My review of this hospital (and its affiliated 1-star rating) is based on all of the truly nightmarish ordeals which I'd experienced in dealing with their billing department. First off, let me just start off by saying that someone by the name of Daniel in their billing department is the rudest, most obnoxious, disrespectful, insincere, and just downright unprofessional "customer service" representative who I've ever come across..... in my entire life!! And suffice it to say, over the course of many years throughout my lifetime, I've interacted with literally hundreds of true "customer service" representatives at various companies and organizations. My experience with this 'Daniel' character at La Jolla Emergency Services' billing office however, was by far and away, the worst of them all!!! Not only does this guy rudely interrupt you left and right and never, EVER validate your frustrations, but his smug, pompous, and just downright sarcastic communication (if you would even technically call it that) style leaves you wanting to literally just throw your phone against the wal!! Lol! No, but seriously, this 'Daniel' guy was just totally rude and disrespectful, not to mention extremely unhelpful, each and every single time that I'd called into their billing office to try to effectuate resolution to a long overdue billing error (on La Jolla Emergency Services' part - not mine) which hadn't been addressed in well over a year. Each and every single time that this 'Daniel' character answered the phone, it was just more of the same: basically listening to "The Greatest Hits" of Rudeness, Disrespect, and Lack of Professionalism!!! So, for that reason alone, my overall rating of this hospital should definitely be a zero. However, after months and months (literally..... well over an entire year) of going back and forth with this hospital's billing department, my billing issue was everntually resolved, and La Jolla Emergency Services must have FINALLY realized that it had been their billing error (again, NOT mine) all along, which had been responsible for that unpaid balance - which by the way, they even had the nerve to send me to a collections agency for, even though it had never been my fault in the first place. Wow!!! Talk about feeling scapegoated by a bureaucratic hospital's own incompetence..... if ever there was a feeling. So, for whomever it is that will ultimately be furnishing the standard: "I'm sorry for any troubles you encountered here..... please call our customer service number so we can address this...... blah...... blah...... blah....." company response below my review, please, just save it!! Honestly, I really don't want to hear any of it. Instead, why don't you please kindly retrain all of your employees (especially this Daniel guy) on respect, professionalism, and at least acting like you care (even if you really don't) about a customer's concerns that they're trying to have resolved. A basic Respect & Common Courtesy 101 class might actually be something which your hospital should invest in for all of your employees...... especially for the exorbitant fees which you charge patients for? Somehow, the two (ridiculously high fees not covered by insurance AND pompousness/rudeness/blatant disrespect) just don't seem to go hand-in-hand all that well together. Thanks for reading, and I seriously hope all of the above issues are indeed addressed by this hospital's administration. For those of you considering receiving "care" from this hospital however, honestly, my best advice would probably be: just don't...

I have had the misfortune of going to this ER twice, & both times were a nightmare. My first experience was 4 days before Christmas when I was very ill & thought I may have covid. They tell me the test would take 1 hr for results & was told to sit in the hallway; ok, but you’re forced to sit on a hard plastic chair which is hard to do when you’re really sick; & no blanket (again, this is 4 days before Christmas, so extremely cold in the hallway with the entrance door right there). 1 hr passes & turns into 2 1/2 hrs. I go back to the receptionist - they had forgotten me! How do they get the results & not call you?? Then I’m put in a room waiting to see the Dr, who was pleasant, but after comes a males nurse or assistant, not sure, and he was Horrid. So I decide never to go back there again. It’s not my fault it’s 4 days before Christmas & you have to work, I have to cancel my plans to fly out for an impt family reunion 1 yr after our mon died, so I get it. But it would have Never excused me going in & being extremely rude to people (I wasn’t), who I was supposed to be helping…& getting pd to do.

Fast-forward almost one year exactly to 2 days before Christmas. I accidentally spilled a large batch of boiling caramel (kitchen napalm) on my hands, forearm & ankle. Friend calls ambulance who then have to take me to the UCSD burn unit, & due to lack of space in the burn unit ER puts me in a wheelchair and just parks me in the middle of the waiting room. The cool packs on my arm & hands had turned to nothing and they were so rude when I asked for some replacements for those given to my by the EMT’s (do they think they have to pay for supplies out of their pocket?). If they weren’t allowed to she could have said so. While waiting for the ambulance at home I had sat on my couch watching the skin literally slide off; it was excruciating, but the ER couldn’t take a minute to help?? Soon after I was then taken to the burn unit, where peo were very nice. Skin was scrubbed from my arm, hands & ankle, treated, bound, & I was sent home! I was living alone at the time & both hands, arm & ankle were wrapped, & I was told I had to scrub them daily, treat w supplies (I had to cut up) they had given me, & re-wrap: with what hands?? I go home & fall & think I’ve broken some ribs so I call ER, they transfer me to the Burn Unit & a man tells me “they’re not broken bc you’re talking & breathing!” Was I supposed to send smoke signals?? I go back to bed & the next am I go to Scripps La Jolla ER. Yep, 2 Significant rib fractures & I’m put in hospital bc I have no way to treat my burns with both hands burned & wrapped. I’m transferred to rehab for 5 weeks. While I am there I am taken to UCSD outpt burn unit for follow-up up. I recognize the voice of the man (very distinct) who is there to help the dr, it’s the guy who told me my ribs weren’t broken!! The Dr asked me what happened to my ribs & I mentioned I had called & “a man…” & told her abt the guy (didn’t mention it was him in the room with us), & the look on his face showed me I was right. While we both knew I knew it was him I don’t say anything, I told them I should have never been sent home from the burn unit. While I know Many others have it much more severe than I had, it was still severe & I was unable to care for myself, & it would have saved me from broken ribs (one which still hurts to this day). 19 mos later I still have not a single finger or thumb print. But sure, send me home… I know this is detailed but I want to explain why...