UAB Hospital — Local services in Birmingham

I went to St Vincent’s ER last Friday, Sep 2024, and the Doctor told me, "There is nothing we can do for you". “It’s Friday”. With Stage IV Metastatic Breast/Bone Cancer, I had a chest tumor on my chest bone that was burning a little bit too intense, I could not sneeze, and I had trouble breathing, and I was afraid something was wrong. I left St Vincent's ER room without being seen, I left the room a few minutes after the doctor left, because no nurse came in to see me for a while, and I was in agonizing pain. The nurse later called me at 7pm, an hour later after I was seen by the Doctor, so I was going to wait there with pain for 1 hour. She wanted to know where I was, and I did not answer, she left a voicemail. I stayed home, with pain. Yesterday, Sep 23, 24, I googled and found UAB Hospital. The reviews online were not so good, but I decided to go, praying that I would get better care. I am here from Connecticut as a new AL resident, and in CT I always got great care at their ER rooms, they take Cancer seriously, and they know pain management is an important part of Stage IV, especially since my Cancer is Metastatic/Incurable, and I have Cancer in different parts of my body. They always immediately gave me pain medication, warm blankets, water, and pillows. They even gave me a nice dinner once, and my rooms always had a private bathroom. Or they offered if I wanted to go to the Cancer ward to get pain management control for a day or two. I miss CT a lot. Their hospital’s are a class act. Yesterday at UAB hospital I was taken care of by an amazing staff. Multiple doctors spoke to me, I had multiple X-Rays, of every body part. And the staff was lovely. I was there from 5am I believe until after 4pm. The only thing that happened was that the hospital got busy with different code blue, and I was left with pain for a while at the end. I am also a Diabetic with anemia, I had not eaten or drank enough water in 24 hours, and that is imperative for me to have. I can get dizzy and fall. They did not check on me enough in the middle of my stay because they got extremely busy. I wish they had more back up. Several times I pressed the button for assistance, and they pick up the phone, but I spoke and they did not hear me. So I did leave the hospital in pain. A lovely doctor in the end brought me a sandwich and some orange juice, and I was very very happy. That sandwich game me the energy that I need it to walk out of the hospital. They also got me a social worker, and they are shipping a walker for me for free. Which I so appreciate. They found a fracture in my chest bone, and one more cancer lesion on my buttock, which is why I was getting so much pain on my right leg a few days ago and I couldn’t walk straight, I need a walker or a Kane, because it could fracture. I don’t look sick on the outside, and sometimes doctors get upset when they see you, and you’re not missing a limb, they think you’re a waste of their time. This happened in a hospital in Long Island. I was misdiagnosed there, it was a horrible experience, only to be seen a few weeks later and find out that I had Stage IV Bone Cancer. I am glad I went. Sometimes you have to ask doctors a lot of questions. Not in UAB, they gave me all the answers. The only thing they did, was that they didn’t inform me how my chest bone will heal or not, they left that for the end when a doctor came in, and I asked him, and he explained. Sometimes we think doctors will tell us everything, but sometimes we have to ask in detail. I would definitely come here again, as a single mother, with Stage IV, I need the best care for myself and my family. I need an ER that has compassionate individuals working there who care about people who may not look like they are in pain, but are definitely in need of care. Pain management is important. I am sure that if they were in pain, they would like a doctor to take their pain seriously. I will bring my children here who are military dependents. And I will recommend this to individuals as well. Thank you staff,...

God Complex" Dr.Fisher " FIRED" as a patient! A popular term used amongst him and his staff when they get rid of patients they dislike. I have a chronic brain disorder with a medical device that he revised, and placed the catheter end into an artery of my heart after one of his protege Dr. Mark Harrigan (Frankenstein) “BOTCHED” my brain surgery prior to him. I filed a complaint and requested another neurosurgeon and Dr. Fisher is who i got. His PA/Girl friend Kristen Lamb called me with a very nasty, rude, and entitled attitude, because she didn't feel like filling out and submitting FMLA forms to my husband whi is a retired veterans job! These forms had been approved by Dr. Fishers office for over 5 yrs until it became his PA’s job, after nurse Amanda was fired and left the practice. This phone call did not end well for her and Kristen ran back to her boss Dr. Fisher and lied about the conversation to Dr. Fisher crying and with out even one word question or call to me his “PATIENT” I was kicked to the curb and BLACK LISTED to where no Neurosurgeon would see me or treat me for over 2 years because of how he placed the catheter of my shunt in a artery of my heart. No one would treat me after being under the care of UAB Nuero. The surgery he revised after his protege Dr. Mark Harrigan “BOTCHED” my procedure, which was a dangerous and risky procedure. He lied and said my shunt was malfunctioning just to experiment on me. Dr.Mark Harrigand decided to remove my old shunt and not replace it, after having a shunt placed for 7 years. He thought i did not need one anymore. My head started swelling massively the same day afterthe procedure and i was placed back into surgery to have his mistake fixed! He never apologized and never was held accountable for what he did to me! Dr. Fisher was assigned my case after Dr. Mark Harrigan did this to me, because i filed a complaint. His solution was to revise my shunt and place the catheter in an artery of my “heart”. There are few doctors if any that know how to do this procedure, another experiment. So you are able to drop a patient with a serious medical condition based on lies and here say from you girlfriend/PA??? Where can this unethical practice be found? Right at UAB and if you are black multiply all that x’s 40!!!! And they are all at UAB in the state of ALABAMA where racism on all levels is over looked and never addressed. My life is in limbo and jeopardy with no one to treat me and he knew this when he dropped me based on the mere lies of his PA over a phone call. This was beyond unethical, all while being fully aware that the device placed in my brain is malfunctioning. This Dr. And his staff are some hateful, heartless, and unethical individuals. There isn't a compassionate bone in their bodies. At first I just chalked it up to racism and pure EVIL!!!! But no this is a trend at UAB I do not understand how this Dr., his colleagues, as well as his PA took an oath to put the care of the patient first! Its as if this concept has gotten lost in the realm of medicine and patient care especially at UAB NUEROSURGERY AND UAB KIRKLAND CLINIC. The bottom line is all about $$$$ and the patient care is not in the equation anymore. There is no more compassion or humanity especially at UAB, UAB Kirkland Clinic, and UAB Dept.of Neurosurgery. I could not find one attorney in Birmingham that would go against them and take my case. I filed a complaint with UAB and UAB Kirkland clinic and nothing was ever done. If you are black do not go to UAB they will either “murder” you and get away with it or botch your surgery, and cover it up, and get rid of you after they have no interest in you. “GOD...

I had a surgery at UAB in February. The staff checking in were very goal oriented and all about that copay. They couldnt provide change however that early in the a.m. Any little thing like that can add to the already stressful situation of a major life changing surgery. It wouldnt hurt for those in that position to have training on helping put a patient at ease on surgery days. Possibly this part of receiving Copaycould have taken place during pre op planning day. The anesthesia group I had was phenomenal. The nurses on my floo post surgery were top notch at explaining things and trying to include you in your care. The supervision on my floor was very hands on and had a great working relationship with her staff. I especially felt in great hands when Aisha was my nurse and Tina was the supervisor. My particular surgery called for me needing a communication board. I had been told the hospital didn't provide those but the supervisor would get them for them. It is a regulation for the hospital to provide an alternate means of communication if one is indicated. I had been cautioned by my surgeon to talk And smile as little as possible to help my flap heal without issues. My at least twice a day walks on the unit, I would see some environmental services issues such as trash on the floor that was there in the morning and still there in the afternoon. I also didn't ever observe the medical staff hand sanitizing in between checking my arm dressing, drain on neck, g-tube, or face wound. I don't feel the medical staff explained some potential problems or has since sought prompt assistance or potential solutions for those issues. Iris that took me to wait on my driver was exceptional. I had great respiratory therapists. Physical therapy was kind but I think should do more training of transfer techniques for when you are in a bed at home without the controls. Discharge planning seemed to have some confusion and 1 nurse/discharge planner had stated I would have home health. I clatified that with the main d.p. I had and she said no there wasn't an order but did ask if I needed it. I explained that I had just thought I was getting it from the other nurse/discgarge planner's info. While we were on our way home on our 2 hour drive, however, a home health from a town greater than an hour distance from our home called stating they would be seeing me for home health nursing and therapy. We called back when we were not in as high traffic area situation and stated we would decline the home health because we had already got our tube feedings purchased and had made plans for help when my husband went back to work in a couple of days. We also stated that we would have preferred a choice on our home health and been able to give that business to one of the home healths in our area that had contracts with UAB. The great parts of my stay overshadowed any bad (that I was aware of at the...