St. Luke's University Hospital - Bethlehem Campus — Local services in Fountain Hill

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the quality of care and overall experience during our recent visit to your pediatric emergency department. The level of miscommunication and lack of professionalism throughout the course of our visit was extremely troubling and fell far short of the standards we expected from your institution.

Throughout our time in the emergency department, nearly every staff member we encountered seemed to either misinterpret the details of the incident that led to our daughter’s injury or conveyed the situation in an exaggerated and inaccurate manner. This misrepresentation significantly impacted the tone and direction of her care.

Of particular concern was the conduct of the emergency room physician who initially received us. His demeanor was aggressive and dismissive, and his physical approach in assessing our daughter—forcefully grabbing her head while she screamed and resisted—was deeply inappropriate. As a former EMT, I found his methods to be not only unnecessarily forceful but wholly unacceptable for a five-month-old infant in a pediatric setting during the performance of basic vitals. Additionally, his reaction to a soiled diaper—understandable given the timing of our ambulance transfer—was unprofessional and judgmental.

Further issues arose with the nursing and support staff. A pulse oximeter was applied so tightly to our daughter’s toe that when I removed it, her toe was red and swollen, indicating impaired circulation. This should never occur in a pediatric unit where gentleness and precision are essential.

The radiology experience was similarly concerning. The team appeared inexperienced and conducted multiple x-rays due to dissatisfaction with “lighting,” unnecessarily increasing our daughter’s exposure to radiation. I was not properly informed about the use—or omission—of lead shielding for her, nor were the associated risks explained. Moreover, staff behavior was intrusive and inattentive to parental boundaries; one staff member picked up and moved my child without my request or permission, despite my standing nearby.

I was also taken aback by the behavior of one nurse who addressed my daughter in an inappropriate and condescending tone during medication administration. When I raised concern about the positioning of her splint, the nurse became defensive and made a sarcastic comment about her lack of expertise in orthopedics. This led to a miscommunication when the orthopedic surgeon later arrived under the impression that I had requested a consult, which I had not—the nurse had requested it to verify her own work.

Additionally, there was a consistent lack of regard for my daughter’s nursing and sleep schedule. Environmental noise from cleaning staff and shift changes was disruptive, with staff entering and speaking loudly during critical moments of rest and feeding.

Despite these concerns, I want to acknowledge the professionalism and empathy shown by the orthopedic surgeons and the overnight nursing staff. The surgeons communicated clearly and respectfully regarding our daughter’s treatment plan, and the night nurse went out of her way to assist us after our late arrival, for which we are genuinely grateful. They are the only reason this review is two instead of one star.

Given the gravity of these concerns, I will be submitting a formal complaint regarding the physician's conduct and the overall handling of our daughter's care. I hope these issues are taken seriously to ensure no other family endures a similarly...

It has been 3 years now, but I wanted to let everyone here know our story, as I see a few other folks here have had similar, abysmal experiences.

In August 2019 this hospital’s ICU staff clearly accelerated the onset of my mother’s death after she had a stroke by their medical malpractice. The ICU team decided to do an angiogram on her to get a nuclear dyed map of her brain vessels, but this caused her to have three massive strokes back-to-back immediately following the procedure, and then she could not see, move, or speak; they had caused her severe irreversible brain damage. We were told that she had a very little chance anymore that she could recover from that… but they were the ones who had just caused it so it was very bizarre, infuriating and revolting to watch them discuss the results of having just annihilated our mother’s mind and made her a vegetable.

They then put her through a brutal experimental blood transfusion, which failed. Then they denied her hospice care and instead sent her to a regular hospital bed on one of the main floors, which was totally inappropriate as her time in that hospital bed was terrible to witness…

My siblings and I cared for her every day, feeding her, cleaning her sheets, brushing her teeth, and so on, only because her nurses rarely showed up to care for her, especially when she would groan sounds of pain and had no way to call for help to get a pain killer injection… I had to ring her bell over and over and over again in the ICU, but not as much in the regular bed.

She then stopped eating food, so the hospital readmitted her to the ICU by which point the damage had already been done… why did the hospital leadership kick the can down the road like that? It was of course painful and extremely disappointing to then watch her start to fade away.

There were a few good nurses who actually cared for and treated her like a human being, but the vast majority of the leadership in the ICU had a condescending, cold undertone with a hint of shadiness. To ensure our mother was shown love and care during her painful demise, one of her children stayed the night with her every night and we took turns doing that all the way until she passed in the ICU, still never “qualifying for hospice care”.

My mother, and other loved ones in St. Luke Bethlehem Campus’ ICU, deserve much much better than the hell my mother was put through. If you love your family member and need to deal with a stroke, I highly recommend seeking out another venue which specializes in strokes and has a thoughtful, caring staff.

I saw St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus was sued a few times for medical malpractice in mid and late 2019 around the same time this all transpired… so perhaps our story is not as rare as we thought, but if we could do it over again, we would never have brought her...

Dr. H. had two interns with him during visits, while I was a patient in St Luke's, ED.

I was extremely uncomfortable with the female intern, whom I found immature, unsettling and a very poor listener. We butted heads several times. At one point, I yelled at her to stop REPEATEDLY asking if I was "sure" I had no one at home to help.

When it was time for the Thoracentesis, I asked who was performing the procedure and the female intern stated, "I am." I clearly stated, "NO, YOU ARE NOT!" I told her directly to her face, I was not comfortable with her and would NOT allow her to do procedure. I did not feel safe with her. Male intern backed me up by stating it is my right to refuse service from an intern.

Dr. H. then proceeded with the Thoracentesis. Toward the end of the procedure, he turned the drainage over to the female intern, whom I CLEARLY MADE KNOWN to all present, I did NOT want the female intern working on me.

He REPEATEDLY cautioned the female intern to, "Slow down, let gravity do the work," since she was draining too fast.

It was at this point; I could not inhale or exhale, became lightheaded and felt like I would pass out. I started banging hard on the table I was leaning over to get their attention to stop. I could not speak and was in great distress. All I heard was, "Breathe deeply". No one moved toward me and I had no idea what was going on behind me.

Dr. H. blatantly ignored my right to refuse to have the female intern work on me and in the process put me in a compromised situation that could have deteriorated quickly.

There is absolutely nothing in Dr. H's "Results" statement documenting the above stated distress. It was ignored by all parties concerned.

After posting this review, Eric R. Eustice, DO, Chief of Emergency Medicine, (whom I was told to report the incident to, since my patient rights were violated by allowing an Intern to work on me whom I vehemently opposed and made no secret of it to all in the room), called to not only apologize, but to let me know, Dr. H, who the complaint concerned, is not under Dr. Eustice.s department, but in Pulmonology. Dr. Eustice referred the problem to Pulmonology for follow up. Sincerely appreciated the call and correction provided.

UPDATE: November 24, 2024 Asked Nicole G. Yoder, DO, (supposedly Chair of Critical Care) SEVERAL times, beginning with our phone call and again on Sept 11, 2024 via physical letter mailed to her office and another letter mailed on Nov 20, 2024, for the name of the female intern/resident who was allowed to physically participate in the second Thoracentesis, after I specifically stated she was NOT to work on me, but have yet to receive a response. The next letter will be from my attorney, with whom have already discussed this case. Absolutely disgusted with St. Luke's at...