St. David's South Austin Medical Center — Local services in Austin

this was one of the luckiest hospital visits I have ever had. I came in on a stretcher, and even from the start I could see what a busy hospital really looks like. There were patients in pain, elderly people crying out, and staff rushing from one room to another. It is overwhelming, and it is not because the nurses and doctors do not care. It is because they have so much on their plate at once. There are only so many of them, and they are doing everything they can to keep up. Even with all that going on, the care I received at South Austin / St. David’s Medical Center stood out as something special.

From the time I arrived until the moment I left, I was cared for wholeheartedly. I may not remember every name because the medication had me foggy, but I remember the faces, the energy, and the kindness. That stays with me.

To the day nurses and afternoon staff, thank you for checking on me, keeping me comfortable, and making those long hours easier.

To the night nurses, thank you for being there when the pain hit hardest. Even when things were hectic, you showed up for me.

To the person who brought me a blanket when I needed it, thank you. It might seem small, but in that moment it meant everything.

To the nurse who is pregnant right now and still showing up with so much patience and care, you are an inspiration. You are already an incredible nurse, and I know you will be an amazing mother.

To Joseph, who helped me in the morning by removing all the monitors from my chest, thank you for your professionalism and calmness. You made me feel human again.

To Solana, my morning nurse, thank you for helping me get up, for encouraging me to walk, and for making sure I was brought safely to my discharge. Your patience, support, and kindness stood out. You made the hardest part of leaving feel like a relief instead of a stress.

To the person at the discharge desk with the beautiful hair and beautiful family, I appreciate your time and effort in helping me check out. Good luck in school — I will be looking out for you, and I know you are going to do great things.

To the person who wheeled me out at the very end, thank you for treating me with care all the way until I left. That last step of the process may seem small, but it gave me peace and dignity in walking out of a hard experience.

To the person who prayed for me, thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you. That prayer gave me peace in a moment when I needed it most.

Even though I do not remember every name, I remember how you all made me feel. Respected, cared for, and safe. That matters more than anything.

I also want to acknowledge how hard your jobs really are. I know you are running from room to room, covering dozens of patients with little rest. It is tiring, it is demanding, and it is often thankless. But I see it, and I want to say thank you. I hope every one of you gets the recognition, the support, and the raises you deserve, because you earn it every single day.

So from me, as a very grateful patient, thank you to the entire staff. You made one of the hardest experiences easier to bear. You did not just treat my pain, you reminded me that there are people who care even when they are exhausted themselves.

And to anyone reading this who may be coming to the hospital, please understand that your experience might be different. Hospitals are intense and unpredictable places. The staff here are human, stretched thin, and doing the best they can. Be patient, be real with yourself, and be kind to them. They will get to you as soon as they can, not because they do not want to, but because they are balancing so...

BEWARE of their scheduling Department. They are absolutely deplorable. We got a voice mail at 3:48pm the day before we were scheduled for a morning procedure telling us they didn’t have paperwork they needed for a procedure that we’ve had every year for 10 years there. Mind you this apt was scheduled months ago and the orders were on file with them when it was scheduled or they wouldn’t have even been able to schedule it to begin with. When I called back and finally reached a human in scheduling they said they had changed their policy and now required an office note dated within 30 days of a procedure. I asked why if they had our orders and doctors note and their policy changed regarding time frame did they call us at 3:48 the day before a morning procedure and how did they expect us to be able to get a current office visit in before our morning apt and why didn’t they reach out to our doctor as well regarding this. I was given no answer to this. Meanwhile we were being spammed several times a day for the past few days from them with texts and emails with the QR code for the apt and with emails to pay for the procedure. I fortunately was able to reach my doctors nurse and she emailed over what they wanted and a note from another doctor we had a visit with within 30 days. I called this morning to make sure all was good and was told they cancelled our apt bc they got the information to late. I stated you left me a voice mail at 3:48 yesterday, I called and spoke with a scheduling agent named Lauren (who by the way was the only positive in this experience) for quite a while trying to sort this out and I then spend the next 2 hours jumping through hoops to get what was needed and called you first thing when you opened this morning at 8 am bc you close at 5pm to insure you received what you needed and we were good to go. And I was told you cancelled us. I asked why if there was a policy change as I had been told yesterday were we or the doctors office not notified so we could take care of this. The agent from this am said “there was no policy change”. I said thats what they told me yesterday and clearly it is the case as we’ve being coming here for 10 years for this same procedure. On a side note I had even called last week to confirm this procedure and ask why there was no invoice for the charges of the procedure they kept spamming me with attached to the bill. I told them I never pay a bill that I don’t see an invoice for with itemized charges. I was then told we don’t generate an invoice until its done. I said then I will pay the invoice at that time. There are plenty of other places to have this done and we will be using somewhere else for all our future needs in this area. I am so disappointed and mad at this experience. We had taken off work for this and now there is a ripple effect of all the follow up apts we have that have to be rescheduled as well as the procedure bc of Saint Davids incompetence. Find anywhere else but here to have your health care needs met. There are many choices out there and it is inexcusable to have a service level this low and to treat patients like their time and health issue...

I LITERALLY took out my own IV and walked out of this hospital WITH appendicitis after being abandoned for over 8 hours, aside from being unhooked from everything and just stuck in a run off room, and after numerous calls to nurses who never came, and after a narcissistic “Dr” Sudeep Burman attempted to gaslight me and hatefully tell me there was nothing wrong with me, when my sisters came to find me crying in the room alone because I was in pain and no one would come, and they demanded to speak to a dr. Where he said all he did, although I ABSOLUTELY had very clear appendicitis. THANKFULLY, after 2 hours of calling nurses and asking to be discharged, I had enough and grabbed a paper towel and pulled out my IV and went to Baylor Scott and White, where surgery was done that same day. We are currently filing a complaint with the medical board against “Dr” Burman for such awful treatment and for setting me up to have a ruptured appendix due to his negligence. The man literally came into my room, arms crossed clearly annoyed, after I had been left alone for over 8 hours and my nurse sister called and demanded a dr, and said “there is nothing wrong with you. There is no inflammation on your CT, you don’t have appendicitis, there is nothing wrong.” Shocked, I asked why then had my PCP, the radiologist, the nurses, and the ER dr all said I did. And he told us “I don’t know why that said that or kept you, they called me last night because I don’t come up here in the middle of the night for nothing, and I TOLD them there was nothing wrong with you, so I don’t know why they said there was. I’ll tell them to discharge you.” He left and I cried more because I didn’t understand why I was hurting and nothing was wrong but so many others said there was. We tried for another hour and half to get a nurse to discharge me, even TOLD them I was pulling out my own IV and leaving, and ultimately did just that when no one came. I wanted to just go home since I was told it was all in my head but my family was adamant I get a “second” (albeit a 5th opinion since 4 said I had it and 1 said I didn’t) opinion. So THANKFULLY they forced me to Baylor Scott and White where they were WONDERFUL. We arrived by 12, they looked at my CT notes where it STATED it was appendicitis, did another CT and said it was ABSOLUTELY CLEARLY appendicitis, now with inflammation in my “upper quadrant” as well, and by 5pm I had an appendectomy, where the wonderful surgeon stated before and after surgery I absolutely had an infected appendix. If not for my family pushing me to go to another hospital, I would have gone home and had it rupture because of the lack of care here and the complete laziness and narcissism of “Dr” Burman, who I don’t think even looked at any scans or took a moment to know who I was. And I honestly don’t think they even know I left 🙄 never heard another word from St David’s after taking my own iv out and leaving. I’m disgusted, and beyond angry. They are lucky my family kept me from being in a much worse position due to...