Charlton Memorial Hospital — Local services in Fall River

I rarely write reviews, so I want to preface this with a few things.

First, I am writing this review because I feel the pendulum of internet use has swung unreasonably to the point where the balance of power is considerably less fair and impartial to a business or provider. I am not saying this as a general rule but I feel the anonymity, ease of accessibility, lack of accountability on a reviewer and the general self centered nature of society have made it too easy to express one sided gripes with very little context or recourse from the intended target. I dare say if an entity were able to write reviews on individual patrons in any context using specific names and incidences, the online world of reviews may be a little different. Until that day comes, we will have to continue to sift through piles of reviews that may not honestly take into account one's own behavior and projection to the world in regards to what is being received from others.

Second, I have no affiliation, or stake in this hospital whatsoever. In fact, a few years ago had you asked me, I’m not even sure I had ever heard of it. I am a school teacher from Rhode Island, with no exceptional standing in this world and no qualifications that would afford me any special considerations while being cared for at this hospital.

My cardiologist, Dr. Giedrimas, is part of South Coast Healthcare and is affiliated with Charlton Memorial Hospital. Up until two years ago I have had reasonable luck with my health and never had the need to see a cardiologist. I am however nearing my late 40’s and have had some experience with hospitals from Maine to Washington DC over the course of my life. I have had a few minor issues but nothing like recent years.

Unfortunately a few health concerns have come about forcing me to spend a fair amount of time at Charlton Memorial Hospital. I have been overnight (multiple nights) on two separate occasions, admitted to the ER and have gone through two minor outpatient procedures. I have also experienced dozens of office visits, pre op and related visits because of my health issues. I have encountered hundreds of staff, office personnel, doctors, nurses, surgeons and everyone in between. So, I feel as if I have a pretty good handle on the general environment of the hospital.

I have also spent enough time observing in that hospital to witness deplorable, embarrassing and unreasonable human behavior from patients and families, only to see the impacted staff, nurses and doctors respond with a smile and compassion. If any of these people have ever written reviews I'm guessing they conveniently omit their own behavior when doing so. You get what you give.

Getting to my point… I cannot overstate how incredible my experience has been at Charlton Memorial Hospital. I would say nothing at all if it were less than exceptional. Every single visit has been exactly that-exceptional. I cannot thank the caring staff enough for making my experience extremely positive. I have had a wonderful interaction with every person I have encountered. I couldn't ask for better care considering I am not the only patient to deal with-truly remarkable. I was approaching the front entrance two days ago for a second ablation and I actually thought to myself how grateful I am to be going to Charlton versus any other place. My anxiety level was nearly zero. The entire procedure and environment was truly amazing. This is probably an understatement. In this day and age where I feel people all too often review and focus on the negative, I feel inclined to state otherwise.

For anyone hesitant about going here based on negative reviews only, please understand the place is filled with kind, competent and compassionate staff. I cannot say I have had this sort of experience at all other hospitals over the years. Assuming I have a choice, I would not go to another hospital besides Charlton.

Thank you to all who helped me over the last few years. I am forever grateful for...

This is not a good hospital for anyone elderly with symptoms of dementia. My 87year old mother broke her hip and went there by ambulance. They immediately gave her painkillers which were necessary for pain, but with the shock and drugs she went into what's called hospital delirium. She didn't know where she was and was having a difficult time. She was in there from 4am to 3pm without food or water because they thought she would be having surgery. Luckily she was not alone. When we found out they surgery was going to be the next day we asked if she could have something to eat or drink and were told to wait until they served dinner! Not even a snack was given to her. They moved her room daily, sometimes multiple times a day which was very disorienting. She would look out the window or door and always be looking at something new so she couldn't get her bearings. They always left all her belongings behind when they moved her depending on an orderly to gather and deliver them. After a move to a different floor they never returned anything to her. Prescription eyeglasses, new pajamas with tags still on, beloved stuffed animal, handmade cards from the great grandchildren all discarded. They told me to send them a list of what was thrown away and how much they cost so I did. Now they say they can't reimburse without receipts which cannot be found. Disgusting! They won't pay $15 for a stuffed animal, $35 for new pajamas, and $250 for eyeglasses. You might think we were charging for designer quality.

They also gave her drugs to calm her down when she was disoriented and combative which are not recommended for patients that show signs of dementia (ZYPREXA). The rehab nursing home said they aren't allowed to give that drug to their patients. Beware that Charlton does! My mother was prescribed by the hospitalist a drug to be given when she showed the first signs of distress to calm her down in the evening. The nurses never administered it even though she was getting agitated as early as 7pm. They waited until 10pm when she was clearly distraught to call the Doctor on at that time, who had to give her a shot to calm her down. He chose to give her this drug that the mfg clearly states is dangerous for elderly people with symptoms of dementia. The warning states it can cause death and strokes! This was not under symptoms, but instead right at the top as a warning. He gave it to her at 10pm and again at 1am. By 3am she was choking on her own vomit and had garbled speech. At 7am she still had garbled speech and the doctor on duty thought she'd had a stroke. Her heart was racing so they sent her to the cardio unit where they got it under control. That's good right? Well, when you race there to see her, and the doctor follows up making it sound as though he is on top of it and is telling you everything, but leaves out the part about the drug interaction, or that she inhaled her vomit, and that they sent her for Xrays, and were now giving her antibiotics for pneumonia, and you find all of this out because a nurse had a computer near you and was looking up info to answer a question, and YOU read this NEW information for the first time, you get angry. They clearly tried to hide the entire incident from me. She did not have a stroke, but what we went through over the following two days, and the Doctor's choice NOT to inform me of the whole incident is very suspect.

There are a number of other problems we experienced at Charlton, but I think you get the idea. They did investigations into all the incidents and sent me a typical corporate letter stating they would correct the deficiencies. The letter probably went into a wastebasket there. Good luck,...

I went to Charlton Memorial ER, was told to go there when experiencing any heart related issues, was told they're world class and would give the best care. I went due to a painful injury and also mentioned how sick I was feeling. The waiting area was so packed there were no available seats and patients were sitting in wheelchairs in hall outside automatic doors. Several people waiting decided to leave and one couple became loud, aggressive and threw something before walking out, however security did nothing. When my vitals were finally taken the girl said she had to do it over because she didn't believe the BP could be that high, she rechecked it three times and said it kept coming back basically the same, my own monitor also confirmed their readings, which was stage 3 hypertension, the top number being around 200 hundred and bottom number was 120. I was told to go back into waiting room. I had x-rays done and was told to go back into waiting area. For several more hours I continued to sit there feeling more ill and my heart was beating too fast and irregular, I was burning up&sweating, my hand had gone completely numb with only pins&needle sensation, I was experiencing pain inside neck under left jaw, in chest&upper left back in shoulder area. I went to desk and explained how I was feeling and also asked if it would be possible for someone to get me a blood pressure pill since it was so high and I'd already been waiting that long, she claimed she would let someone know and would ask, but I noticed she never did, and for several more hours no one spoke with me or checked in on me whatsoever. I also found it puzzling & ridiculous that on various places on the wall was a sign which reminded people to distance themselves six feet from others, huh, how is that possible when all the chairs are set up squooshed next to the other and people are arm&arm next to each other and told to find a seat. When I eventually was brought into a small room and nurse practitioner came in I discussed the issue of my BP being so elevated for so long and how unwell I was feeling, he said he wanted to check the information himself as he couldn't believe a person could be walking around with readings that high, he returned and said the information given was accurate and he then wanted to manually recheck it himself, he did and stated it was still very high and still stage 3 hypertension. In around six hours not one thing was done to bring it down and to slow down my heart rate, not even as much as a drink was offered,even though I also explained I have diabetes, I left feeling extremely sick. In my opinion the staff in ER was not only totally without empathy and regard for a person in medical need and crisis but also very negligent and dangerous. This is a hospital and ER where a person would expect to feel safe and to receive needed assistance and help, but the sad, frightening reality is that a person in my condition could suffer a stroke, heart attack and/or organ damage right in their waiting area and the staff there couldn't seem to care less. But on a positive note, at least the last thing I would have seen before passing on were the female staff employees being able to walk right past me sipping on their frappechinos....