UPMC Harrisburg — Local services in Harrisburg

I took my wife to the emergency room on a Thursday. ER's can usually be expected to be slow with service most days, but I was fortunate in that there were very few others needing emergency care this day. That is a good thing as the reception desk is so close to the front door I can see a big buildup of patients waiting to be seen probably make entrance very difficult. Only 3 in front of us and we were in the vestibule. The only suggestion I could make for you is to move the guard desk further inside and have two reception/admitting desks as your entrance is overly small. I am sure with as large an ER as you have in this facility you could open this area up for greater customer service. Little things like having the triage news standing and greeting the folks coming in the door and possibly pulling the urgent need people out of line and directing them toward another desk or room-but of course someone has thought of this. To be greeted by someone who is obviously a nurse would be impressive. That being said, once we signed in and sat down we were called into the triage room in minutes, highly unexpected for an ER. Very friendly and experienced nurse obtained all the needed information and I knew the hospital would want a list of all the prescriptions my wife was taking so we had those entered into the system, only to find later that someone came from the pharmacy to ask for that same information again. I may have been rude when I asked is she had looked at her chart as this information was already there-but in all fairness she had to make sure the information was complete and accurate. Of course every person asked the same questions about the symptoms and pain level, some what annoying, but again in fairness with each question new information forgotten before could be received that is per-tenant. At every stage everyone was friendly and attentive. Even though before the first treatment/examination started it was quite apparent things were moving quickly enough. Tests taken and results back quicker than expected, even on a slow day. As soon as possible the on call doctor came in with the final results and treatment advised. It all took hours, but I am not unhappy about that as it was obviously part of the system to make sure we received the care needed. At every step hen we asked how long for the next step we were given approximate waiting times, and most were quicker than expected or pretty much right on schedule. No matter what others have said here, I found not one unfriendly individual in the entire hospital. And how do you keep every thing so clean and organized? Great Job ER and hospital staff.

I don't appear to be able to comment on any one elses review or to add a new one. Someone mentioned about access to wheel chairs or services for the handicapped--did they ask anyone at the customer service desk or the valet? There are 25+ wheelchairs available very close to the front entrance. Folks if you need anything just ask someone. Any hospital employee you see will take the time to help from what I have seen, and if you don't see any staff (hard to believe) ask a friendly person walking by for directions (like me). If the person needing help that needed a wheel chair it would have been provided in a couple minutes at most. But I have another suggestion as I know someone on staff reads these. Why don't doctors carry PDA's with them or have brochures on the floor to pass out to the patients that explain what is going on? You want to give good service, I know that. With the computers in the room or using a PDA you could actually show a picture of what is going on. Here is where it is, and here is our plan on getting you back to normal. And before they leave the room they should say these words- "is there any thing else I can do to help you today". In one hospital I was in even the cleaning staff said that every...

Not one negative thing to say about my 4 day stay here! Staff all were amazing, They did whatever it took to ensure I was good and taken care of. Great personalities. Was treated as if I was their friend and not just part of the job. Come in do what is needed and leave. Made my time there so much more enjoyable! I wish I wasn’t so foggy so i could remember everyone and give them the props they deserve! Ones I can remember obviously they made a great impact. Shanna, she was awesome, always there for me, always making me laugh, made me feel so welcome. Amy was just as amazing! I’m the kind of person who is like nope, I’m good if it wasn’t a big deal and She would just be like here let me get you this, just know what I needed! Just sensed the right stuff. Also great personality! Very bubbly just would brighten the room with her presence. She reminded me of my best friend in sooooo many ways actually and my best friend was unable to visit me so it was like a perfect substitution and really made me happy!!!’ Anaya (sorry don’t remember how to spell, the lion king….) she was great too! Another great personality and always there checking up on me. Brittany (you were a life saver with that toast!!!!) very friendly, always checking up on me. Reese smart one with creating spit bucket for me and splash guard so I could finally shower! Felt like a new man! And also so kind to call and let me know I left a contact case and was trying to get it sent to me! Alexis she was very kind and very helpful too! Obviously that’s the weekend crew. I really feel bad for the weekday crew that took care of me Thursday as was just so out of it. Monday as I was walking there was a lady with shorter hair and glasses who was like oh there’s Stephen! Hiiiiiiiii! Which made me smile I couldn’t remember but must have had her taking care of me on Thursday and I’m sure she was amazing too! The house keeping lady (sorry I couldn’t remember her name) she was awesome too! It is a sad thing too but most people think of house keeping as a janitor or a dishwasher at a restaurant ( which to be honest I fall in that category as I couldn’t even remember her name! ) and don’t see the importance she brings keeping everything clean like she does. I’m kind of a germaphobe, the guy who puts toilet paper down on a seat but I actually was impressed with her work and had no fear. The cleanliness she brought put me to peace. she took great pride in what she did. Very detailed with her cleaning, very friendly, made jokes, always saying hi and seeing how i was and small talk when I would see her walking the halls even with probably sensing I was one of those people didn't discourage her and kept trying every day and change my way of thinking and it worked! Tara was great too. Beeping when iv runs out is annoying but with him spidey senses tingled and showed up right before it did! Also friendly and even before being assigned to me would say hi when walking the halls and helped me out when I had a coughing fit and having an appendix removed…. Yea coughing was killer to me! So much appreciated to you. And ofcourse the doctors were great. Don’t know names as in pain or foggy when saw them or still asleep basically. But they did a great job. Did a great job on me and all I can remember them saying was a small hole in it and infection spread and was very messy. But they did great, no complications, and I’m feeling great right now! One doctor I talked to right before the surgery and in the mornings very caring and great personality too. Remember shaking his hand which being foggy dont know why as didn’t do that with anyone else but I had that much respect for him! Not that i didn’t have that same amount of respect for the rest I mentioned but more of the fact of I couldn’t remember much with him as always foggy but to shake his hand my mind knew something good! handshakes to all. Miss you...

I WOULDN'T HAVE PUT ANY STARS HAD IT NOT BE FOR THE ICU!!! Im disappointed & furious the the treatment my father in law received from harrisburg hospital. He had a stroke January 17 of this year we had him taken to UPMC Memorial after which he then went to rehab the following week for his care. The rehab was going to get everything he needed to go home & make sure it was safe to be home. He was getting 3 hours of rehab which was starting to help, While at rehab he was there a total of 2 weeks & got a GI bleed where he needed to be flown from UPMC memorial to Harrisburg hospital to fix the bleed which they did. The I.C.U unit was great & even the nurses on the regular floor after he was moved, but the social workers are the absolute worst. It started when the doctors were medically clearing my father in law. The doctors kept sending reports to the insurance company in regards to the bleed so insurance kept denying the claim for him to go back to rehab. When we asked the doctor if a report about the stroke was sent we were told yes. I asked for a nureologist to come in & asses him which was not done just another lie. The doctor told us that my father in law needed the highest level of rehab for his stroke & not 15 minutes later a social worker came in & tried to explain to us that my father in law who is 82 years old either needs to be discharged to a nursing home or go home. Mind you this was at 3:30 on a Friday afternoon. When I explained what the doctor said she in turn told me the doctor doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Not only did she have my father in law in tears all weekend, my mother in law was very upset as well. We asked for her not to speak to them because it was to upsetting. She chose to ignore what we asked. Then she told us we could appeal the insurances decision. So we did & that was at 4 pm on that Friday. While the insurance company was appealing the decision my mother in law received a message from someone at the hospital who said Patricia what are you planning on doing with your husband. This person left no name. I have the voicemail & number it's attached to. I called the number back & its a open line in Harrisburg hospital,So after waiting 2 weeks the insurance company denied the claim because as we found out that the wrong paperwork was being sent over. After all the work we did & tried to do Harrisburg hospital decided to have a meeting over the phone to inform us that my father in law needed to get out of the hospital basically. Now mind you the man can't walk up steps which he has 13 to get to his bedroom or to shower. His swallowing is not the greatest & his speech isn't good either. Rehab would of had all of this taken care of & made sure it was safe for him to return home. Harrisburg hospital didn't care they just lied about everything to get him out of the hospital. There is absolutely no compassion or sympathy for the suitation. The hospital told us he was walking up steps at the hospital which was a lie. They told us they would send him home in sweats but what did he come home in a gown & a blanket draped over him. My father in law also has a catheder which needs emptied but of course no one explained how to do this. So when he got home last night we had to scramble to go buy a walker & other items that he needed that the hospital told us would be sent home with him. I'm sorry but this is totally unacceptable. I've left messages with the hospital head of director & never received a call back. I have never been so disgusted with a hospital or staff then I was in the last month. The social workers need some kind of training or you need ones that actually care about the patient & not sound like someone who's getting a kick back for getting patients out of...