Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital — Local services in Cherry Hill Township

There are some serious concerns that need to  addressed in the ER. I went to the ER on 02/07 at 1pm where I sat for several hours. I went in with issues breathing and a history of blood clots in the lung. After waiting several hours and finally getting to go to the back i was immediately started on a breathing treatment, steroids and a magnesium drip to relax my lungs. They scheduled a cat scan with contrast that i had to wait an additional four hours for. By the end of the night I was advised I would be admitted because the cat scan came back inconclusive at ruling out a blood clot. In the mists of all of this the nurses and doctors were scrambling, stressed out, frustrated, and voicing their concerns openly about lack of staffing, working equipment, or equipment in general. They expressed how there were no beds available and I could even see the ambulances coming in back to back and standing in the halls with nowhere to go. The staff explained later that they made someone in upper management aware so that the proper people can make the call to divert ambulances to other near by hospitals for two hours. Needless to say I spent my entire night in the ER in a chair gurney as the nurse put it because it wasn't even a bed because your feet hung off it. The morning I was moved to a room next door from fast track where I was originally at. Still not on a actual hospital floor. Now when I was told I was being admitted I was advised I had to get what's called a VQ scan done. However, the VQ scan machine was broken. I was told it "should" be fixed by tomorrow morning and I would go down first thing in the morning. Well morning came and went. I was then moved to another "room" in the ER that was actually like a supply closet. It had two large heated fridges to keep the blankets warm that threw off so much heat I was baking the entire time in that room. I was eventually told i would be going down for my scan around or before 12pm. Well that came and went. So did several more hours. I was told it was fixed and then told again the camera was still broken. The original plan was I get the VQ scan first thing in the morning or by noon or I will be transported to stradford campus to get the scan done and then brought back. At some point this evening my nurse told me that machine was still broken and I wasn't going to get my scan today or be transferred to get it however for sure tomorrow without a fail whether it was fixed or not or if I had to be transferred I needed to get it done. Finally a tech randomly ran in and said it was fixed and they would take me. I did the scan and proceeded to wait several more hours. I requested to speak to the doctor at 7pm which is when i was informed he was gone and someone else had taken over. I was advised by my nurse she would send a chat to the doctor to request a conversation with me. she said thats the way they communicate when someone is admitted because it is off two computer systems. Needless to say for several more hours no one came. Finally I see a doctor approach my nurse across the hall of which she confirmed to me was my doctor and would be in shortly. Well the doctor never came. At this point being completely frustarted with no real answers and being in a very hot room, not in a bed, still in a packed ER since 1pm on 02/07 I advised my nurse i was leaving. She advised she just gave report for me to move to a room upstairs. Mind u hours ago she told me all she was waitng for was for housekeeping to clean the room. Hours ago. She explained i would have to go upstairs and speak with the nurses there. I refused because at this point it has all been lies. Eventually she went to a charge nurse and they gave her a form for me to sign out against medical consent. I wrote on that paper I was not signing out against consent because I wasn't even spoken to. The ER is very I'll equipt and managed and as it stands I don't know where I medically stand and was left untreated by your staff. I will be in tomorrow to speak with patient relations and forward this all the way up immediately...

PART 1

This place is not at all ideal for mental health patients. For the time I was there, (from Friday, March 4th, 2022, to Friday, March 11th, 2022) the experience was dreadful.

My first complaint is the mistreatment of a disabled man who shall remain anonymous. The hospital staff, with the exception of a select few, neglected him. They watched this man wheel himself around without lifting a finger to help him out. Who was the one wheeling him around, you ask? When it wasn't him wheeling himself around, it was me, or another patient. Yes, the patients had to resort to helping him out, as he was being neglected. I also almost got in trouble for putting something in his room at his request, as he couldn't rely on any of the staff to help him. I'll mention that later in my review.

My second complaint is the food. On day one, looking at the menu had me like "Oh, what do I choose from?" to my last days where I was thinking "which of these options would not make me sick?" I understand that there might be one kitchen in the entire hospital system (I'm going off of assumptions, there might be more than one) so food quality might be lacking as a result. The food 9 times out of 10 always came cold. Sometimes they would mess up orders, making us wait for who knows how long just to receive what we weren't given. After leaving the psych ward, my appetite was ruined for about a week.

My third complaint is the fact that we as MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS are not allowed to show emotion. We have to be robots in order for them to believe that we are mentally and emotionally stable. I made a few friends here who unfortunately were subject to having breakdowns over the hospital's conditions. What were they told? They were told that if they wanted to cry, they had to cry in their rooms out of view from everyone else. You should not have to be told to cry in private, in a PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY of all places. This is honestly disgusting, truly appalling. No mental health hub should be teaching its patients to express their emotions in private. That is straight up teaching patients that expressing their emotions in public is wrong.

My fourth, and final complaint revolves around the way some of the staff of the hospital treated us. I already mentioned the disabled man. Now, my friends. They shall also remain anonymous for their own safety. One I will call O and the other I will call P. O was ousted by the staff as a troublemaker and was accused of riling up the other patients, even though O was just tired of the conditions of the ward. O did nothing to rile up other patients. There was an instance where O was having a breakdown over the fact that they couldn't leave until Tuesday and ranting to a hospital tech named Ashley. Later, I was on the phone with my mother while Ashley was at the medicine room, complaining to the nurses about how O was such a "spoiled brat." I sat there in disbelief at what she was spewing. How could you stand there and talk down on mental health patients like that? Ashley is clearly lacking in the compassion department and does not deserve that job. There was another instance where I put something in the disabled man's room and Ashley threatened to send me to the involuntary wing of the ward for entering another person's room. I understand that there are rules against that but what was I to do? No one helped him out. So, if I was to get in trouble for helping a fellow patient who was borderline neglected, so be it. I was also yelled at by a hospital tech on visiting day for trying to set up the visiting area by moving chairs from the TV room since there weren't enough chairs. She said, "we'll take care of it" and guess what? They never did because there weren't enough chairs when visitors came. After visitors left, my friends O and P were breaking down at the phone. They were venting to this really nice hospital tech named Rita, who stood there, listened, and offered sympathy. No condescending tone, nothing. She was genuinely caring. Thank you, Rita. We need more Ritas in this...

Today I visited Jefferson ER in Cherry Hill for shortness of breath, along with a few other symptoms. I was brought in by a friend who advised me I had collapsed upon arrival due to weakness. It seemed like forever until someone bought out a wheelchair, even after making eye contact and SEEING I was in need of one. The waiting room was very crowded and the smell was absolutely horrendous. Someone apparently relived themselves in the waiting room and the cleaning staff did not clean it until another patient in the waiting room, went up to the front desk to request to have it cleaned up.

Upon intake at triage, the staff was not very friendly, and one of the techs rolled their eyes at me. After another two hours of waiting in the waiting room, I was finally brought back and seated in the hallway on a stretcher while there were two other rooms open. I understand an ER can be very busy and rooms are based on priority and need, however the way I was treated in JEFFERSON ER, I will never return, I rather drive to Virtua. Three nurses were unable to stick my veins even after I advised them that I am a hard stick and they usually use the Ultrasound to see my veins; they completely disregarded me, especially the third person that stuck me. She was nasty after she unsuccessfully did not get my vein, she stormed off( she also blew that vein btw, one of the biggest veins that I had to offer). When I told her she was fishing with the needle in my hand, she denied it even though I COULD SEE HER DOING IT!

The attending doctor hardly gave me a chance to speak, I felt rushed and overwhelmed by the fast rapid questions when I’m already in distress. While I’m trying to explain myself, I can hear him huffing and puffing - very inconsiderate and unprofessional. When I advised one of the nurses of what could be the issue, she said “uh huh”.

They also documented the WRONG height and weight. I did not give them that information that was documented, I have no clue where they obtained some of those vitals from. What if medication needed to be prescribed and you had the wrong vitals? They documented that they administered saline, they DID NOT. They did not do anything to me or for me aside from an EKG which I never received the results of. And my insurance SHOULD NOT BE BILLED FOR SERVICES NOT RENDERED!!

I felt like I did not matter. They were not able to draw my blood. They were not able to put in an IV and they expected me to just sit there while not one nurse or doctor advised me of what the next steps would be or what they were going to do since they were unable to do either task prior.

I will be following up with my own doctors( not affiliated with Jefferson) because the care that I receive that Jefferson today, I will not refer anyone to go to Jefferson ER. I will not be back to Jefferson ER. It was an absolute awful ER experience. I’m so disappointed in that treatment I received today.

Additionally, nurses shouldn’t be able to cover up their last names on their badge. If I am being treated by you, I should be able to see your full name for reference.

FYI - staff should be very mindful when making jokes or talking about patients. You never know who...