Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital — Local services in East Norriton Township

Went in for a "sprained ankle" on Friday 6/7/2019. It is the newest, closest hospital to me in the area so I figured it was great to have somewhere 'state of the art' to go to for a serious emergency. Not the case whatsoever. I will NEVER go back here if another emergency ever occurs. I would rather go to Mercy Suburban which gets a bad rep now that Einstein is open. It HAS to be better then Einstein. Did have some positives, but an all around bad experience.

I was greeted by the nicest male nurse ever - did not get his name. He was tall, thin, and had light brown hair. He got my information and made me feel comfortable. Great sense of humor and an absolute pleasure to deal with. He should be recognized for his hard work and attention to detail. Hopefully the facility treats him with the respect he deserves.

The blondish/red head in triage was a complete nightmare. She is rude and could care less about customer service. Everyone waiting in the ER agreed - I heard nothing but negative feedback. She made the initial experience completely uncomfortable and made me feel like I was a bother for being there. She was awful - I feel bad for the nice male nurse who has to deal with her.

Got brought back fairly quickly, about 35-45 minutes wait time. The older nurse with white hair in the ER rooms was incredible. Great customer service and an amazing sense of humor. She made me feel better and made sure I was comfortable during my wait to see the NP. She was interactive and engaged with each and every patient that was in the ER. She was a rock star and deserves positive recognition.

No pain meds or ice offered by anyone. My ankle was huge and I was extremely uncomfortable/scared. Although I was asked if I needed water or anything. I needed something for the pain and anxiety of thinking I broke my ankle, not water.

The NP was okay. She was nice but not overly nice like the nurse was (this is understandable). She seemed to write off the fact that I was in pain but had me get x-rays. The young x-ray technician with glasses and brown hair was very nice. He was quick and efficient and made me feel comfortable during the x-ray. Once the x-rays came back - the NP told me there were no broken bones. She offered me an Ace Bandage since there isn't much that can be done for a "sprain". I had to ASK for an air cast and they expected me to walk out of there with no crutches/wheelchair. It was a JOKE and a little infuriating considering that I was written off as if I was there for no reason.

Its now 3 days later and I still can not walk. I now have to take time off of work to see an orthopedic (which was expected, but still I would have liked some additional help/guidance). My co-worker "sprained" her ankle 2 weeks ago and went to Einstein who did the same to her. After seeing an orthopedic - her ankle is BROKEN. No care or concern for being thorough. They are more concerned about getting people out. I did not get any information as to what I needed to do to care for my injury or how long I would be down for. I left feeling hopeless and irritated. Never again will I go here for...

Being that I live close to this hospital it has always been my go to. To be honest I have had terrible experiences with some of the specialists, and have always switched to Penn medicine for certain issues. However the one saving grace for this place WAS the staff. They were always friendly and caring, and communicated very clearly. I was admitted in 2020, and my nursing staff was INCREDIBLE! However this is a thing of the past now that Jefferson has taken over. My mother has been admitted twice, and everytime I would visit, the nurses look bored, unapproachable, and overall miserable. Numerous times I witnessed nurses, sprawled out in chairs simply scrolling on their phones. During the last admission, we had ONE nurse who was competent and caring. Now fast forward to my personal experience. I came into the ER with severe pain. I was crying and so upset when I came in due to the pain level. After triage, I was wheeled out to the waiting room, where I stayed till almost 1 am, until I tried to wheel myself over the counter to speak to someone. At least two staff members saw me struggling to get upfront and never offered to help get me to the desk. I finally get up front and I'm once again in tears because of the pain; the nurses response: she put her head in her hands and shook her head and said "I need a break". I continued to cry for another 5 mins, then she finally checked my status; they need a urine sample, ok no one told me. My mother called the emergency department and they said I could ask for Motrin or some other over the counter pain medication. I flagged the nurse down and relayed this information to her; she said oh that's not me. To make matters worse, the entire time I was in the waiting room, I had the sweetest woman next to me who was 95, fell at a nursing home, and was bleeding profusely. WE, THE PEOPLE IN THE WAITING ROOM, had to go upfront to get her care, not once but twice!!!! Finally at 2 am they took her back. I'm still waiting here. I would never presume to know the needs of a hospital since it's not my background, but please, either get more staff, support your staff better, teach them how to be empathetic, and communicate with patients. Change comes from the top up, so if I'm seeing a majority of staff members looking miserable and stressed, it's obvious that they do not have the support they need. I guess anytime I have an emergency, I'll take a $65 Uber to Penn.

UPDATE After waiting for SIX hours I gave up and called an Uber to Mercy suburaban. I wheeled past four nurses, and two security guards, NONE of which asked me if I needed assistance. While waiting outside, a nurse said they "needed me inside". Not, we can see you now or are you ok?. Only we need you inside. I declined to come in. I got to Mercy Suburban, and was back in a room in ten minutes, saw a doctor in another ten minutes, was given meds for pain, and was back in radiology within 30 mins of arriving. Thank god for the doctor I saw that recognized my pain was real (turns out I had a herniated disc), and that I needed assistance. I was so incredibly grateful. Shame...

My credentials? NIH PhD scientist in the medical field including study of health care delivery.

This is not a criticism of individual health care providers but it is an indictment of the quality of care in the ER. A complete system failure. Zero communication. They are cutting so many corners, seemingly due to overwhelming volume, that someone is going to get badly hurt or killed. I get it - triage requires taking the most ill first. However, waiting times for the two true emergencies I had were unacceptable according to standard practices but clearly i lived thru them (well I left AMA the second time and they called me only because they wanted their iv line back, lol) and i pity the poor folk using the ER because they have no other place to go (overheard conversations in the waitroom).

Other ERs are also struggling but if you do go to this ER, be aware that there are NO emergency bay beds and they do not assess pain needs or even consider anything to keep you comfortable during your many hours of wait. Everyone must wait in the freezing cold waiting room in one of the chairs - if you can find one. I asked for a place to lay down because that was the only comfortable position for my pain and was told to go back and sit in the waiting room. And even if at triage, the nurse and PA tell you to let them know if your condition worsens or if you have finished your prep for a CT, you can't get to them and the tech at the intake desk will not relay your message. I recommend asking a lot of questions to avoid surprises like mine where they expected me to sit in my voluminous leaking stool in the waiting room without a sanitary pad or diaper and for an indeterminant period of time. I locked myself in the bathroom for almost an hour and a half to stay on the toilet while leaking. I thought leaking in the waiting room was an inappropriate infection hazard, not to mention, upsetting to patients. Lastly, i recommend you do not sign blanket consent for treatment because they will just do stuff without explanation. Request to consent to each procedure as needed.

Because I still needed care the next day, I called the very friendly and faky faky empathetic Patient Advocate to ask her to intervene on my behalf with ER staff so that if I returned I could lay down or take the prep home and get called to come in when the CT was available. She talked to the ER manager and told me I could come back - but no assurances of doing anything different.

And the humorous part was getting a call from them after I left AMA expressing "concern" over mildly and clinically insignificant labs suggesting a completely different condition unrelated to my symptoms which they wanted to test me for. When i pointed out the mildly elevated liver enzymes were likely due to all the tylenol they gave me after my recent surgery there, the caller got hostile and accused me of abusing Tylenol. Lol. I love it. Turn down the opioids for pain control but then still get accused of being a druggie....