Banner Gateway Medical Center | Gilbert, AZ | Higley Rd. — Local services in Gilbert

I have been going back and forth deciding if I should relate this experience or not. However, I DO NOT want anyone else to EVER go through this so I am posting. The ONLY thing that saved this review from being no stars at all was the WONDERFUL nursing care that the nurses provided under very difficult conditions put upon them by this hospital. My experience at this place was a nightmare from beginning to end. My surgery was scheduled on a Friday afternoon so we were told check in at 12 noon, surgery at 2pm. So after being on a very reduced intake 2 weeks prior to the procedure and nothing in my stomach from 10pm Thursday night prior, we came early and were in the surgery waiting area at noon, already checked in, waiting to be called back to be prepped by the OR team, anesthesia, etc, for my procedure. 12:30 comes along, 1pm, 1:15pm, 1:30pm, still no call to be taken back after people who there after me were already called back. At 1:45pm I went to the desk, spoke to the woman there, explained the situation and asked what was going on. I was told: "We are busy today." Really. I sat back down, became very angry at this and went back to her. I again related the situation and the time frame I was given. She curtly responded "What can I do to help you." I responded with a request to go back and find out exactly what is going on that there was this much of a delay. Found out there was a problem with the case before mine and was told that case had to have their procedure done in the OR before mine could be done. This meant my case would probably not even begin before 4pm. So I requested that the surgery be rescheduled. My nerves and anxiety at this point were at a breaking point. It is amazing how once the thought of lost revenue hit the OR administration staff, things began to move. It is also amazing that a hospital this size does not have a back-up area or at least a plan in case problems like this arise. All the sudden I was called back to be prepped. This was only the beginning. Keep in mind the preregistration phone call person states to the prospective patient that all rooms are private rooms. Upon waking up I found myself in a 4 BED WARD in an overflow area of a dialysis floor which had absolutely NOTHING remotely close to do with the procedure I had done. AND, the bathroom for the patients was SHARED by the 4 people-with me being a fresh post-op case. Early Saturday morning, a man, yes, I said man sharing a 4 bed ward with women, was admitted next to me. God bless the nurses there that night and during the day on Saturday for keeping my pain in check and doing the best they could under not good conditions and a patient who was very difficult to them on the other side of me. The nurses were amazing. The bed I was put in was, hands down, the most uncomfortable bed I have ever experienced. As it was an air mattress, there was absolutely no support so no position I could assume could keep me from slipping down to the bottom with feet always hitting the footboard. You know how sometimes when you are at a hospital for some kind of test and they have you go to the basement to go between buildings and you see extra beds in the hallways, well this obviously was one of those beds. I was told that the only sheet that could be used with this was a flat sheet that could not be tucked in. I requested to at least have a fitted sheet to prevent it from being constantly bunched up underneath me and was told that only a flat sheet could be used on the mattress. This same flat sheet that was bunched up underneath me from my wake up very late on Friday remained there until discharge Sunday morning. Same goes for the gown I was wearing upon awaking Friday night that I had until Sunday morning. Due to character limit on this post, I cannot share the bathroom conditions. Final words, STEER CLEAR OF THIS FACILITY. Cannot stress this enough. If you must, MAKE SURE you have an advocate there to stand up for you. Bad Admin policies allowed this in the name of revenue for them. NO REGARD FOR...

Review #1 of the Emergency Department: Daniel, the RN, is PHENOMENAL, he deserves a Daisy award for sure (Banner, your Daisy award submission form is down, btw).

I ended up in the ER twice around the New Year with gallbladder issues and ended up having to have my gallbladder removed. He was my RN both times. He was so on top of things, exemplified excellent patient care, and took fantastic care of me.

He addressed my pain, took me seriously, and I just cannot even express how grateful I am that he was there.

10/10.

Review #2: I was in the ER with terrible pain and GI symptoms after having my gallbladder removed, and was put into the care of Dr. Andes.

If I could rate less than 1 star I would. I ended up having to go to Dignity for care after being discharged against my will and I left Gateway in TEARS. My RN, Michelle, was great and attentive, but the Dr. himself was not.

He kept coming in and telling me that a GI bug was “going around in the community,” “I’ve seen 3 more patients with this GI bug since I spoke with you last,” I swear, if I had to hear GI bug one more time I’d lose it.

He ordered a CT, and one round of pain medication. I received the pain medication via IV before going to CT, and had to drink contrast for my CT as part of bariatric protocol. The contrast made me even sicker, and really made my pain even worse. I had to page the nurses FOUR times before he eventually came in and said it was a “GI bug going around the community,” that there was nothing else he could do, and that was that. He didn’t even inform me that I’d be getting discharged, the RN told me when she brought in discharge papers.

So I came into the ER with 7/10 pain, left in 10/10 pain. And my concern with his wording over what was going around in the community is this: when a patient comes in experiencing pain, the last thing they want the doctor to do is minimize the importance of their symptoms. If I’m in 7/10 pain, I could care less about what other patients are experiencing— I know my body, I just had my gallbladder removed, and something was wrong. If it was something going around in the community and I was just experiencing a GI bug, that’s great, he could have told me after addressing my symptoms and giving me a work up without even mentioning it, and then nicely explain it after the results come back. But to have that in my face when I’m in distress? Not a fan.

I can’t express how devastated and let down I felt leaving the emergency department that day. I’m not a “frequent flyer,” I don’t have “pain seeking” history, he had no reason to treat me the way he did. And to come in when my pain was worse and not even tell me he was just letting me go without addressing my symptoms? Not cool.

Then, to make matters worse, he sent the medications he prescribed me in to the wrong pharmacy. Since I was there at 1am and didn’t get to sleep, I ended up going home after Dignity and just passing out until about 2pm. When I called to let them know that he had sent them somewhere my insurance didn’t want me to go, the RN said that he didn’t work that day, and a Dr. that was working that day would have to send them in to the correct pharmacy. BUT I WOULD HAVE TO COME BACK AND GET SEEN AGAIN. I just spent the night/day at TWO ERs, that was absolutely the last thing I wanted to do, and definitely the last straw.

May I never be put under his “care” again. Big thumbs down.

So, in summary, Daniel the RN? Exceptionally phenomenal. Dr. Andres the ER Physician? Exceptionally careless, no regard for the patient, and frankly shouldn’t see another patient until he can learn to...

Extremally disappointed in the service, staff, customer equality of this location. I understand they are under construction and are limited on service area, but they need to point people to another hospital if they can handle the quantity of people coming in. I took my mother in because she was having trouble breathing, She has a collapsed lung and is on a air tank and was still having trouble breathing. Her blood oxygen level at home was 84 (needs to be 94 or higher to be safe) and her blood sugar levels were all over the place. From 1040 pm top 6am she sat in the waiting room, struggling to get a breath of air, they did one chest x-ray and gave her one tank of air when our tank ran out of oxygen, but even that took forever to get them to bring to her. Staff standing around talking about personal things, acting like there is not a very small waiting room filled of people. So many were crammed together. They were bringing people on stretchers to the waiting room. If you came in with a wound you were sure to leave with something else you got from someone that was right next to you, people regurgitating in the waiting room, it was a all around bad situation and I feel horrible for the people that left before being seen by a doctor due to the conditions of this emergency room. This was the worst emergency room I have seen in 40 years. The nursing staff, did say there was a long wait, but said that mom needed to see a doctor regarding her condition, but no doctor ever came to see her or check on her. At 6am, my mother had an appointment at another part of the hospital to have a catheter put in her one good lung so that we could drain her liquid from her lung, She said out of all medial procedures she has had over 70 years, this one was the worst. They barely gave her a very light sedative and it didn't do anything for her. She felt every cut they made, the tubs that they had to use for the surgery to get the catheter to the correct location, every thing they did she felt. She cried in pain and nothing was done to help her with the pain. It was horrifying, the lack of compassion & sympathy they have for their patents. One of my mother health care providers, my sister who they knew about received no information on the procedure, care of the wound and cleaning of the area. My mother who was not all there after the procedure was given a piece of paper and sent on her way. This is NOT the Banner heath care we know. This location needs so much improvement to even come near the Banner quality of care. I cant believe that this location is a banner hospital. I warn anyone that is going to this location that they need to find a different Banner in Gilbert AZ. Banner Hospital off of the 60 fwy is not a good hospital to go to when you need to have a procedure or an emergency. Management and the cooperate heads need to randomly visit this location to see the level of bad treatment, horrifying conditions, and staff care provided. This one location, had tarnished my view of Banner hospitals. They thrive to be the best, but when visiting this location, its the worst! I do NOT recommend anyone to go to this location, find another banner hospital in Gilbert and hopefully you will be treated like a person in need of care,...