Williamson Medical Center — Local services in Franklin

Posting Monday 8/18: Absolutely terrible administration. My 87-year-old mother was admitted Friday night after a fall where it was determined she had a broken T12 thoracic vertebrae. The ER physician prescribed a brace and rehab and said she would stay until Monday morning at which time she would go to a rehab facility for one to two weeks for recovery. He stressed that wearing a brace and doing rehab was critical to her recovery as otherwise she was at risk for paralysis. The two doctors who saw her on Saturday affirmed the same. When family arrived to visit with our mother on Sunday they were told upon arrival that she was being discharged. At this point she could not stand alone but was able to use a walker to take about 20 steps at a time before the pain increased and she needed to get back in the hospital bed. She cannot use the restroom and was told by the physical therapist she should not bend over. At the hospital they were wicking her urine. My sister was in tears over the insistence that my mother leave the hospital and stressed even if she were capable of caring for our mother without risk of further injury she needed until Monday to make arrangements at home so there was a place for her to come to. The hospital refused any additional time. The attitide of the physical therapist and the physician was very clearly that we were somehow neglectful because she fell while alone in her apartment, and that since there were several family members we needed to 'figure it out'. Utterly uncaring of my mother's recovery needs or the fact that she was clearly in no position to be safely discharged. It was shocking how night-and-day different the care and attitude was from Saturday to Sunday and we couldn't figure out what, but something had clearly changed.

The discharge order for her broken vertebrae was 'follow up with primary care physician' so my sister was able to get her in to see that doctor this morning, where it was explained that the 'change' we couldn't figure out was the fact that had my mother stayed more than 48 hours at the hospital, medicare would have paid for her week in a rehab facility to safely begin healing from the break - but because they discharged her before the 48 hour mark there's now no way to get medicare to cover any costs. So the doctors were more interested in throwing our mother out of their facility, thereby helping medicare avoid the costs associated with her recovery, than they were of seeing that she had appropriate care for her injury. It's still unbelievable to me as I type this. The order for rehab would not have been reviewed until today (Monday morning) at which point it would have been approved or denied on the merits of the injury and appropriate care, but the doctors ensured the order would not be reviewed as their care would stop before it got to that point. This was not insurance refusing the costs, this was the physicians and the hospital choosing the financial interests of the insurer over the needs of the patient.

Additionally, they made us take our mother's blood pressure medication home on Friday as they would only administer their own meds while she was in the hospital. My sister asked if they would please prescribe enough for that evening and the next morning since she wasn't able to go back home and it would be Monday morning before we could get her meds from home, and they refused to provide or prescribe 2 blood pressure pills.

My takeaways: Avoid at all costs as the priority of this organization is clearly not advocating for the needs of their patients. And know about that 48-hour timeline if you find yourself in a facility that tries to shove you out the door sooner and in a way that is detrimental to your care.

UPDATE TUESDAY 8/19: We connected with Home Health / PT today and the only order they had for follow up on our mom was what they received from her PC visit yesterday. When the hospital rescinded the Rehab order they didn't replace it with any at home Physical Therapy order which is crucial to...

It has taken me a long time to feel brave enough to write this review. I want to start this out by saying - if you are in a mental health crisis, or if you have attempted suicide, DO NOT go to this hospital.

I have been treated at WMC many times, transported by EMS all because of mental health emergencies or suicide attempts. Each time I was treated like less than human, however the day I want to talk about is October 19th, 2023.

Right before I lost consciousness in the ambulance, I begged the paramedics to take me to Vanderbilt because I knew how badly WMC would treat me. They unfortunately were not able to because I was so critical and WMC was the closest hospital.

I do want to give a very positive shout out to Megan, the tech, pretty much the only person who showed me kindness on that day.

First - WMC needs to understand that psych patients are human beings and not criminals. I was dying on this day, and my mom was only allowed to see me for five minutes since I was a psych patient. I was dying and they were only going to allow my mom five minutes with me?

Once I was transferred up to the ICU, my experience became ten times worse. The sitters were awful, and there was one nurse in particular who treated me so bad I was hysterical. Mind you, this was the worst day of my life. This nurse informed me that I was being sent two hours away to a terrible psychiatric hospital in Chattanooga. I asked her why I couldn’t stay in Nashville and she very rudely said “BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEEN TO ALL OF THE PSYCH HOSPITALS HERE!” Which is not true. Did anyone even try referring me to psych hospitals in the area? I doubt it. I was traumatized beyond belief at the hospital in Chattanooga.

This same day, I was hysterical and this same nurse physically assaulted me and threatened to call security if I didn’t quit crying. She then SLAMMED the door in my face. How could anyone do this to a patient on the worst day of their life when they have just survived a near fatal suicide attempt?? Also in the ICU, I was denied any phone calls due to being a psych patient. I was scared and I felt so alone. I begged for them to let me call anyone. My mom, a friend, anyone. They continued to deny me. Again, psych patients are HUMAN BEINGS!! By the end of this experience, I was disappointed I survived because I was treated like absolute garbage which broke me even more.

Lastly, as the EMTs arrived to transfer me to Chattanooga, this same nurse talked terribly of me, seeming to make fun of my mental health issues, to the EMT.

Overall, WMC needs updated training on how to treat psych patients. I never want anyone being hurt the way I was there.

If you’re in need of care, go to Vanderbilt. They’ll treat you like a...

I initially wrote a great review for Dr. Cumberledge in the family medicine practice inside of Williamson.

Unfortunately I am having to rewrite this review about the ER and hospital itself. My father was hospitalized on Monday due to Covid and the effects it can have on patients with Parkinson’s. He was unable to stand, eat, drink, care for himself, etc. initially the doctor wanted to send him home and my mother had to fight for him to stay as she is not able to lift him if he were to fall again due to weakness. On the second night of hospitalization my mom was called to return to the hospital because my dad was agitated (a symptom of Parkinson’s, ESPECIALLY when they are ill). She came to find out that he had not received his Parkinson’s medications. This can also cause agitation as it is imperative that these medications are given on time, every single day. When questioned why he had not received his medications. Their response was “we are short staffed”. That is the most unacceptable answer to me. If you are so severely short staffed that you cannot properly care for your hospitalized patients (your WHOLE job) then you need to go into diversion or you need to seriously consider limiting your patient load until you are better staffed.

Also while I was waiting with my mom and dad in the ER room, who I assume the charge nurse or unit nurse was making terrible remarks about all the patients they had coming in. Some being suicidal or extremely ill. This made me very uneasy to hear an employee speak in this manner about patients that were coming into the ER at Williamson Medical Center. This particular employee could use some sensitivity training and some de-escalation training. She chose healthcare for a reason and perhaps it is time for her to get out of the profession.

I am so disappointed by our last visit here and I am so scared that something will happen again to my father and we will be forced to come here again. I use to believe this place was great and everyone was always professional and kind. That isn’t the case anymore. I don’t know what happened but something needs to change. I don’t want to be scared to take a loved one to a hospital for fear of inadequate care or just employees being downright mean. Please do better Williamson...