University of Michigan Hospital Emergency Room — Local services in Ann Arbor

This will be a long one but I feel like my experience is important to share.

I recently spent a short stay at the UofM ER and MSSU-blue short stay wing.

I have never been a patient of UM but I now know why they are recognized as one of the greatest hospitals in the country.

When I first arrived the ER was very busy, so I entered with a prepared amount of patience. I had been having trouble breathing and eating and I had been discharged from another hospital with no answers or medications to help me with my symptoms. So I came to UofM for a second opinion and help.

The intake team was very kind to me and got me registered quickly. I did have to wait a while but eventually I did start to receive care- and when I did it was EXCELLENT.

In the ER waiting room a very kind young man came to draw my blood for my initial triage. I let him know that due to a bad experience with IVs in the past; I wasn’t the best at sitting for the stick. He didn’t treat me like an annoyance (something he could have easily done with how overwhelmed and busy they were) and instead assured me he would be as quick and painless as possible. He was exactly that, and made short conversation with me to help the process along.

When I was finally admitted my transport team was SO SO nice. They brought me to my room and from there I had the best experience I could have possibly had. My entire team was completely flawless.

I wish I could remember all of their names. I wish I could nominate every tech, nurse, PA, and doctor for an award in care.

I was treated with the utmost respect, patience, and compassion. I’m not used to this with how overwhelmed and understaffed hospitals have been these past couple years.

And I mean EVERYONE. EVERY SINGLE ONE of the people involved in my care from transport to room service to the teams of doctors I saw was absolutely the kindest and most patient they could have been for a terrified patient like me.

A super nice young man took me to CT and kept me calm by making small talk. He assured me I was in good hands and I believed him. The two young ladies who did my CT were super sweet and helped me with my first CT, and paid close attention to my pain when I told them my IV port was tender (they slowed the drip so it wasn’t as painful) and were very supportive the entire time.

The nurses, techs, and PAs who were involved in my care were also total angels. I was not always the best patient; tearful and reactive and constantly paging. They never once treated me poorly. Never once made me feel like I was an annoyance or burden for them. It was just nonstop compassionate care- and I have never had that before: I wish I could nominate them all for a DAISY award.

In the current state of our American healthcare system; overwhelmed with sick people and often understaffed- it would have been very easy for them to be stressed and annoyed with me- it would have been understandable. I know I was not their only patient and yet I felt like their only patient. Everyone involved treated me like a life that mattered and I cannot describe how much that meant to me.

I am so sorry to all of you that I cannot name. If you remember me; I was the perpetually anxious patient with a GI issue that was resolved there. I was in room 39 MSSU Blue short stay from 6/21-6/23. Thank you; all of you. All of you.

Thank you so so much for all of your effort and infinite kindness. You made me trust...

Ive never been to this ER previously and had extremely high hopes for it from what I’ve heard about the hospital. However, I can - as the daughter of a nurse who grew up at the hospital - say that the treatment there is subpar. I went at the recommendation of an ophthalmologist.

I entered the ER around 6am and didn’t leave until after 7pm. At intake my blood pressure was taken incorrectly. The cuff was placed entirely wrong but I didn’t want to correct the guy at the desk because he wasn’t exactly friendly. Hence why they got an extremely high reading (my actual BP) on the left and extremely low on the right. That should’ve been the first red flag.

In the 13+ hours I was there I had 3 doctors. The first came in for 3 minutes at the end of his shift and did basic neuro exam (touch your nose). The second came in 5 minutes until the end of her shift. I never met the 3rd. No one ever actually did a physical exam.

Ophthalmology was awesome! 6 STARS! They came in with a crew and before 9am even rolled around. They did a FULL ophthalmic exam and discussed their thoughts and a plan. She wrote up detailed discharge instructions which I can view online.

The nurses were always nice and personable. I had multiple throughout the day. I will say that at one point I went over 2 hours behind a curtain and not one person came in the “room.” I wasn’t hooked to monitors even though I had extremely high blood pressure and was being given medications. Numerous medical professionals would walk past and not one ever even glanced my direction. I could’ve stroked out and died and no one would have known for hours. I know people are busy and I know it’s a tough job…but if it were my patient (or anyone of my coworker’s) I’d at least look at them walking by. Observation.

The MRI techs were also very nice for the short time I was there.

My MRI was ordered at 6:36am. I didn’t get taken to it until after 3pm. I was told by both radiology and ER staff that results would be within the hour. They didn’t get posted until 6:30 (3+ hours later) at which point I read them myself online and knew there were no significant findings (vet tech at neuro). No one actually ever discussed the results with me.

I had to ask the nurse to remove my IV or advised I’d do it myself. The resident came in around 7:30 and told me my MRI came back - I told him I read it an hour ago - he told me my discharge instructions were ready - I told him I read them at 10am when Ophtho put them in. He said I needed to take my meds the next afternoon around 4pm He told me the nurse had a copy. I waited another 10 minutes and got up and started walking out at which point the nurse handed me a paper and I finally left to get back to my kids.

The next morning (yesterday) I called the pharmacy to get my prescription but they said they left UofM a message because there was an issue with it and they were waiting to hear back. At 4pm I called again and she said they still hadn’t been contacted and she would attempt to call them. 48 hours later - still no prescription.

I’m not sure what all the hype is about when it comes to this hospital - because I sure didn’t experience anything to brag about. We treat animals better in...

Ok. It is RARE that I feel heard and cared for in a medical setting. And I know the woman next to me being seen by the male doctor she had did NOT feel that about him, though she did feel the way I do about our nurses.

I am so bad with names I’m so sorry 😭😭😭 I think her name was Charissa? Or Chrissa? Close to that I think. She was blonde and just the most comforting, kind, wonderful human being on the planet. I was all alone there. I’ve been terrified with symptoms for weeks, and urgent care made things worse. I had no family, no friends with me, and am going through so much crap. And I really needed help. She saw that, she heard everything I had to say, she didn’t make me feel gaslit or like a hypochondriac. And I finally got help.

She was also just so kind, beyond doing her job incredibly well. Like, incredibly. I wish all people in the medical field did their job as fantastically as her. Thorough, succinct, a freaking whirlwind while still remaining warm and humane.

She deserves the biggest raise in the universe. I mean all nurses do but she really is an incredible employee, which is so so rare and deserves to be celebrated. She is a wonderful human being, wonderful at the work (which I’m unfortunately familiar with 😭), and balanced those really well. Color me impressed

Actually every single woman I interacted with was really awesome. I hate that I suck at names. I was there on Monday 10/7/24 for kidney stones pretty much all day, morning to night. Should raises be discussed ❤️

My doctor was as awesome as my nurses. It was obvious the whole place was EXTRA slammed. There wasn’t even a room available for me (I totally understand!!), but I still felt well-cared for.

Oh and even the woman who did my ultrasound was awesome 😭😭😭 I really cannot express how afraid I was. Both of what was wrong with me and of medical gaslighting. I’ve been through a lot of that. I was also so so so alone. But even the woman who did my ultrasound helped calm me down and made me feel safe and cared for and like we’d figure me out

I started feeling sick on September 20th. I should have gone to the ER right away, but I didn’t. Instead, I sat at home for almost three weeks afraid I was about to die and no one would figure out why. I had so many tests, scans, seen so many doctors, and nothing was helping.

I still am not all the way better, but I cannot tell you how much better I feel. I FINALLY have an idea what’s going wrong with me. I feel so much less afraid.

Seriously best ER experience I’ve ever had. Ever. And I’ve been a few times 😅 I literally got SENT HOME with appendicitis to “see if I can sleep off the pain” when I was 15.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who helped me on Monday!!!!!!! I’ve got my urologist appointment set, the meds you prescribed are helping a lot, and I just feel HEARD. When you go so long afraid to speak because you haven’t been heard before, and you really needed to be, that’s the most amazing feeling

Still haven’t passed my stones but I am making art with all my scans 🤙 and I’m hungry for the first time in weeks!!!! so...