UCHealth Broomfield Hospital — Local services in Broomfield

After a one-star rating in 2022 (only because they didn't have zero Stars ) I decided to give this location another try. After reading some of the other reviews as recent as two weeks ago I don't feel that bad. This location now has a 2.9 total rating. The reason I gave a three-star rating instead of a one this time was My physician Ashley Pickerling was fantastic and everyone was pleasant enough. I am going to share a few things that shouldn't have happened especially for the money we are charged. Even though I will probably get the same generic response from the owner and nothing will be done I'm putting it out there for others to see. First this hospital ER doesn't have a pharmacy. They give you one dose of medication and send off the prescriptions to your pharmacy. I was told my prescription was 3x a day by my nurse Tiana. When you go into an ER in the evening you have to wait until the next day for the pharmacy to open and hope that they even have the drug on hand. The doctor that called me the following day to check on me verified my script and said it was 3x a day told me they weren't legally able to give any medications to take home so now I know. By the time my pharmacy opened and they got the prescription ready I was 5.5 hrs past my needed dose. The funny thing is when I got the prescription it said 2x a day 1 every 12 hours hmmm, what to believe and the fact is I would have still been a couple hours past my needed dose? The next thing that happened was my nurse Tiana hooked me up to IV drip and told me to hit the call button when I had to use the restroom. I did exactly that and the voice at the other end said they would send somebody in. 10 minutes later minutes from soaking the bed (darn I should have) I unhooked my O2 sensor, my blood pressure monitor and my IV bag and hustled to the nearest restroom. Earlier when I told my physician it burned to pee she said she would order a urine test. As I was scurrying not to wet myself I remembered this and quickly looked for a urine sample container there were none but luckily I opened some drawers and found one and got a little bit of a sample because I couldn't hold the rest of it. Now mind you nobody brought me a bottle and told me they needed a urine sample. When I came out I set the urine on the table in my room and the young man was there to take me to my CT. After that I waited for somebody to come in and hook me back up since everything was making noise. Well that didn't happen ever. I could have put everything back on myself but I'm not getting paid to do that. I did not see Tiana again until I was ready to check out after the doctor had given me my diagnosis including the results of my urine samples hmmm?. Last but not least when I reviewed my discharge papers I noticed they put down some pain medication that they had supposedly given me. That never happened either because I refused it yet it was noted that I took it at a certain time. These may all seem like small things but I worked in many Colorado hospitals through the years even at UCH and never saw any of these things going on even in the ER as busy as they could be. Granted it was a long time ago. Some of these young nurses and staff might want to be aware of some of these little old ladies. If you live in North Denver you may consider the four-star ER on 120th in Thornton I believe it's lntermountain Health. Their reviews were...

Visited the UCHealth ER due to severe upper back, neck, and jaw pain that made it difficult to breathe or tolerate touch. The pain was the result of a severe muscle strain caused by underlying inflammation. Despite the severity of the pain and the lack of previous episodes, the ER staff diagnosed me with “upper crossed syndrome” and attributed the issue to poor posture. No blood work was done, and I was discharged with generic posture advice. The X-rays were clear, but no effort was made to investigate inflammatory or systemic causes, even though the pain had an abrupt onset and was highly localized and debilitating.

The symptoms were later identified by my primary doctor as inflammation related to MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome) which I was formally diagnosed with in addition to DAO (diamine oxidase) deficiency (an enzyme involved in histamine breakdown). Each subsequent flare worsened until, not long after the ER visit, I experienced another episode that included widespread, migrating itchy hives (a classic reaction to elevated histamine that can resemble Lyme rashes or ringworm, I've attached one photo of a small portion of it) confirming that the inflammation and muscle strain were part of a broader, undiagnosed issue related to MCAS and DAO deficiency. Both are now well-managed with appropriate treatment, which also resolved severe chronic migraines that had previously led to private disability status and a federal disability filing. Since migraines and my other recurring symptoms were triggered or worsened by systemic inflammation, addressing the root cause significantly improved my condition. At the time of the ER visit, neither diagnosis had been made and they did not mention or suggest any potential inflammation issues and also did not ask about any of my medical history that could have shed some light on the issue. MCAS is not a well-known condition and is difficult to diagnose, but the blatant dismissiveness of the employees at this ER was rude at best, negligent at worst.

I have not had another muscle strain, migraine, etc. since receiving appropriate medical care for the underlying cause. The MCAS/DAO deficiency treatment also resolved my tachycardia. I typically had a resting heart rate between 120-170 and this dropped to 60-70 with the treatment from my primary care doctor. I would not return to this emergency facility, as the evaluation felt superficial and incomplete given the intensity of the symptoms, along with the dismissive attitude of some of the clinical staff. They don't care if you're in pain (ESPECIALLY if you're allergic to NSAID's such as ibuprofen like me because I have NSAID-exacerbated respiratory disease that will cause anaphylaxis) and if it's not an easy fix, you're treated like a nuisance that decided to come to the ER for no reason. They aren't worth what my insurance paid them. I go to Advent now and they are leagues above UCHealth in...

Today, 3/7/22, at around 3pm. I went to Broomfield ER to get additional X-rays from an injury sustained two weeks ago. I communicated with the Arvada location about my request for additional X-rays and I was told I could go to either location for this visit. When k arrived I waited while one rep was helping someone on the phone. After about 5 mins, Catalina began assisting me. I told her I was there for additional X-rays but her response was there was no order. I told her I spoke with the Arvada Urgent Care location just 30 mins prior. She said she could not help because there was no order. I requested that she call the Arvada location and she said no. Without an apparent reason to not help me, I got upset. I was told by the ER front desk to call another location to confirm I was supposed to be there. There was no one waiting in the waiting room. I called the Arvada location and security was notified. There was another staff member and there were 3 security guards seated behind the front desk. One security checked his stun gun several times in front of me to show intimidation. No one cared to treat me as the person I am. It took nearly 2 hours for X-rays and no one was in the ER. I noticed this because I could hear your staff talking about me outside the door. No one apologized. No one rushed to ensure my visit was as enjoyable as possible. I was given a brace that is potentially making my injury worse. A staff member said he didn't even know what chiropractors do. No one even knew my providers or simple info in my chart. I'm not sure how you can be proud of the service you provide to your communities. Can you say that Black Lives Matter if you are willing to attack someone is pain in an ER? University of Colorado pledges to change theirs systems to reflect that everyone matters but when? Should I suffer another experience like this before you change? Well I'm demanding that you do. This is hardly one staff members fault. This is a fail of a system that needs immediate repair. How do you respond?

As an update: I received a call from Broomfield ER this morning from Kristen. She stated she wanted to call regarding "my scene yesterday." I saved the recording :) I will be hiring a lawyer. Thanks for your time. By the way, I was nearly attacked because Catalina refused to call the Arvada location to help me get checked in and told me I had to call. I called and was nearly attacked. I didn't raise my voice, yell, curse, or touch anyone. So their fear is their racism. Your racism is...