Froedtert & Medical College-Wi — Attraction in Wauwatosa

I have the utmost respect and praise for the medical teams (doctors, specialists, NPs, PAs) at Froedtert and MCW, as well as the caring nurses, the schedulers, friendly check-in staff, and those dedicated individuals who keep the facilities clean & in good working order. I am thankful for the care I & my family have received over the years.

However, I must also be honest about one pervasive problem in the emergency department: Policies must change for adult children accompanying elderly parents that suffer from dementia, senility, and other aging declines, such as advanced hearing loss.

On several occasions at F&MCW ER, deputies, security personnel, and emergency medical staff have rudely and without warrant kept me or other family caregivers from being present to assist with symptoms, diagnosis, medical history, and explanations of treatment for a geriatric parent.

As is common with many elderly people, as my mother aged, she was unable to convey accurate medical history and current symptom information that was crucial to her treatment and care plan, sometimes leading to delays and incorrect diagnosis of the urgent issue at hand. This is a potentially dangerous precedent and policy!

You wouldn't expect to treat a very young child without a parent being present to facilitate the expeditious and accurate care in an emergency situation. Why would you assume that a patient of an advanced age is lucid enough to provide important lifesaving information? Do you even know if that elderly person can hear what you're saying & asking? Is it acceptable to not know if the patient understands, especially if a caregiver is available to assist?

This policy is potentially life-threatening! I urge you to retrain staff and convey the information that, in many cases, having adult children of elderly patients involved can be as essential as bringing in a parent to assist with their young child during...

I've been seeing doctors at Froedtert for 40+ years, but the level of care has really gone downhill. First, you can't get in to actually see a specialist doctor anymore....you have to see a Physician Assistant. Dr. Stein (Gastro) is booked out for a year; Dr. Schloemer (Neurology) is booked out for 8 months (when I finally saw her she booked a followup appointment with me - get this - the following week! So she DOES having openings...she should be seeing 40-60 patients/week!!!); Dr. Shaker (Endocrinology) doesn't see established patients...you MUST talk to PA. The lady booking appointments told me last week that Dermatology is booked out a year. So if you want medical treatment, you have to talk to a Physical Assistant. I've found that their medical advice is subpar.

I saw an ophthalmologist who actually told me that seeing double when I look up is normal....which I knew was nonsense and which another eye doctor confirmed. The physical therapists are horrid....I had knee injury and every time I came in I was booked with a different PT...one of them actually asked me, "What are you here for?" Like she didn't even do prep before appointments!!?? The PTs repeatedly were too aggressive with the exercises and made me worse. I canceled the remaining appointments and am now trying to heal myself.

Somethings broken....can't Froedtert hire specialist doctors/quality medical staff? Does no one who is truly stellar in their field want to work there? It's sad.

I'm finding myself slowing finding better doctors with schedules that actually allow you to see the doctors (not a Phys Asst) in a reasonable...

I abhor this facility. Over the summer my daughter (from out of state) was training at a nearby facility under the medical watch of Froedert Clinic. After a week of their staff not taking her pain seriously, I demanded an MRI. She was taken to the clinic and diagnosed with a stress fracture. She was advised to wear a boot and would be evaluated after 10 days. Dr Young cleared her and advised she could proceed with progressive activities. No other consultation was advised other than if there was pain to stop. Upon returning to Arizona 4-weeks later, I took her in for a second opinion purely on a hunch to discover her original MRI indicated she had a GRADE 4 stress fracture and should have been in a boot for a minimum of 6-weeks!Never never should she have been out of the boot. Her new doctor was furious! This set her very critical training back weeks!!! Seven months later she is STILL trying to regain that precious time. I then received a nice fat bill. Fine, whatever. I was trying to work with her dad's secondary insurance when they eventually sent it to collections. No phone call no warning nothing. They claim they sent a final notice but I have absolutely no such documentation of that. A phone call could avoided that. Thanks Froedert you continue...