Hartford Hospital — Local services in Hartford

I don’t know what happened but I just posted our entire experience here (still here) and it wouldn’t let me post it, so I’ll try to summarize. Was sent here last night by Urgent care due to my boyfriend having appendicitis. We arrived at around 9pm and were admitted pretty quickly into the ED. Then it began, we were brought to a room for him to lay down with NO BED. They told us to wait in the hallway while they went to get one, well, we never saw her again. After about 20 minutes I asked someone who was walking by in scrubs and she finally found us a bed. At this point my boyfriend is in excruciating pain and they couldn’t administer pain meds until they confirmed the diagnosis. Once in the ED room we were not greeted by a nurse for around 30 minutes who told us he needed to be hooked up to fluids and that he needed a cat scan ASAP to look at his appendix. At this point we are terrified. Again, no one comes back to hook him up for another 30 minutes and told us that he should be going up for a cat scan ASAP. Our nurse finally comes back and says he may not get a cat scan until the morning. After this 4 other people came into our room to ask the same exact questions and all gave us different answers around his care. Apparently no one communicates. He was finally taken upstairs for a cat scan and they told us we’d need to wait an hour for the results. When the results were in about 5 different people came to tell us he needed surgery ASAP and once again told us numerous different plans. Then someone came about 20 minutes later and said they were taking us “up” which we assumed meant he was going in for surgery. Nope, we were brought up to a room in which the nurse knew nothing about him needing surgery. She stated, “they are so confusing in the emergency room they don’t tell us anything.” At this point I wanted to tell my boyfriend we were leaving because I was not about to let these people operate on him. After me asking numerous times our nurse finally called the OR and said oh “they’ll be here when they’re here. They’re waiting on anesthesiologist.” I was so enraged at this point but I knew we couldn’t leave because my boyfriend was in excruciating pain. He was not given pain meds on time and our nurse was never available at 2 AM. They finally came to take my boyfriend in for his “emergency surgery” at 3AM, and he was done around 415. The surgery went well and I would highly recommend the surgeon and his team Dr. Cohen, but NOT AT HARTFORD HOSPITAL. Since this morning again, we experienced horrific service. His pain meds were ordered for every 3 hours and I was lucky if I could find ANYONE who would come in after 4-5 hours. He wasn’t given enough fluids and the nurses were rude. The man at the 5th floor desk told me he didn’t know where our nurse was and said, “you can look for her in other peoples rooms” I REFUSED, came back and called her. We were told we would be discharged about 10 hours ago and we are still sitting here as I’m writing this. Thankfully my boyfriend feels better and our most recent nurse has been the only decent interaction we’ve had. Slow, but attentive. However she was missing for periods of time as well. The absolute worst part just occurred, after being told different instructions by different people all day and night a member of the surgical team JUST NOTICED THAT AFTER 16 hours of prescribing narcotics my boyfriend is on bupeorphine and she was NOW concerned about the interaction. Me and him had to explain that it could be taken with pain meds but if it was suboxone it could have been a DEADLY OR DANGEROUS INTERACTION. I am APPAULLED THAT A DOCTOR WOULD NOT KNOW THIS. With the opioid epidemic that is happening in our country you’d think someone would notice the patients medications before prescribing barcotics or before speaking with the patient. I am disgusted at this hospital and will never be back. Do not bring your loved ones...

I came into the hospital with a heart attack on the 14th of May.I had a procedure to fix it.on thurs.5/16 after the procedure I was in my room with two nurses taking care of me doing what they needed to do because of the procedure. I had had a ninety percent blockage and left heart syndrome The kitchen staff brought my meal. I opened the cover and saw that it was marinara. I could not eat that after my procedure.It was too rich. I sent my husband out for some food.An aid presumably mine which I have no way to know because she did not introduce herself or write her name on the board like everyone else had done. She came in even though I still had nurses working on me and she shoved.The towel up under my chin and I said no I don't want to eat. She said I'm going to uncover all of your food.I said no she obviously got mad at me and left. When she came back later on when the nurses were done with me.I asked her for help with my bed. There was also the air machine on the bottom of the bed that they had used to put air bags on my lower legs so I wouldn't get a blood clot. I wanted to help and asked her where I should put it because it was wrapped up in the sheets and blankets. She snapped at me.I will do it and ripped it away from me. She started whipping my blanket and sheet all over the floor and the garbage which was right in front of the sink. At this point I definitely was not sureif she was at my aid and if I had asked her to do something when she wasn't.Why else would she be mad.She went away. I ate with my husband and later on when she came in. She wanted to take my Blood Pressure.The cuff was super tight.I knew it was a new machine because the one last night had died and I was told it was new. She took my Blood Pressure twice.Hurting me considerably and decided.She was going to take it a third time.I refused she got mad. She left again and when she came back.I offered her an apology to say that I had been waiting to eat with my husband earlier.she started yelling at me. I don't even know what she said I couldn't believe it. I yelled at her to get out of my room and in the hallway. She was still yelling as she's walking away. I don't even know what. I yelled to her co-worker to make her stop.And how dare she do this to somebody?Who's just had a heart attack?I could not believe it. After that, the assistant nursing manager for the floor spent 2 hours with me. He was very nice.By the time he was done I was no longer upset but I knew the score.I knew that the other aides were not gonna be too happy with me. I was a nurses aide for many years. And of course, that's exactly what happened.I was either had my calls ignored or when I asked for water. I was not given any. I definitely had an attitude from everyone. I lay down to sleep for a whole 4 hours and someone cranked up my heat in the night. The door to the stairs was right across from my room and I feel she turned it up on her way out.They all knew that I have heat intolerance. It is in my file. I have told them all yet. My heat was cranked up. It did not affect the lady next to me. Because the minute you walked around my curtain, it was warm.. I was.Told by the Assistant. manager that I wanted her kept away from me. I am ambulatory when I walked outside my bedroom door, she was sitting at the very next door obviously sitting for a patient in case they needed something however I was told she would be kept away from me. I do not feel that she was. I was afraid. I can't believe that there is an aid who will treat people like this.Before this happened, every single aid and nurse was unbelievably.Nice and efficient I am very sorry to say. Hartford hospital was my favorite hospital and now I can't stay far enough Away from it. When I complained to HHC they sent a letter saying they took it seriously but did not...

Giving birth at a ‘baby friendly’ hospital means that you as a new mom will be treated like a rotting, useless, vacant carcass.

It took me a lot of time to process everything and write this review. During the birthing process up in labor and delivery, I was actually treated wonderfully. I was a seizure risk being sent in from the OB with preeclampsia symptoms and was given an incredible nurse, a nice big relaxing room and staff was caring for me and compassionate. It was after the c section when things went down hill. When you didn’t think they could get any worse, they kept getting worse. I had slept six hours in four days because of being so sick and they knew this going in. I wasn’t aloud to sleep. I begged, I cried, even my husband told them how desperately I needed sleep. I felt like I was going to die. Well, in the three days that I was in the hospital, I didn’t get more than seven hours of sleep combined. They insisted that I was some sort of ‘junkie loser’ because of some sort of sedative they gave me in labor and delivery. It was a medication that was medically necessary for me. It took them 48 hours to figure out the med was given to me there, and not something I took for ‘haha’s.’ How could there be such a lack of communication? I was treated like human garbage, because of something the hospital gave to me. The baby was sluggish because of it. They didn’t tell me what was going on, and probably because they didn’t know for so long. I wasn't aloud to rest, because the baby had to be in the room with us. He couldn’t be taken out for a few hours so I could take a nap? I just had abdominal surgery and was VERY sick. On top of that, I had to BEG to get my meds on time, at one point went over 12 hours without what I needed. I of course had to stand up eventually and use the bathroom after the catheter was removed, and they said “Oh wow, look at all of the blood, we will be right back.” This isn’t scary? The doctor had to check and see if that was an appropriate amount of blood. So, they just left me in the blood soaked room wondering if I need some sort of emergency care. I was continually apologized to, and told how short staffed they were. Why don’t you hire more staff? The final bill for all of this was over 30,000$. Insurance paid for 99% of this. How can you not hire a few more nurses? They charged the price of an entire bottle for a single Tylenol. I really could continue on for a while. I could be a bit more understanding if this was a free, nonprofit clinic of some sort.

I get that the birthing process is painful, not enjoyable, etc. That the most important thing is the mother and baby surviving and being healthy and getting past the situation. My health, both physical and mental, was not taken care of.

To add insult to injury, they are sending a new bill every month, and despite me telling them I didn’t consent to some of these services and charges, they just say it doesn’t matter. They barely give if at all an explanation of the services rendered in said bills.

Go to a hospital where you will be treated like a human being. I’m a human being that loves and cares about myself and my baby. Do not go here if you have any self respect. I’m just glad I survived this and that my baby, six months later is doing perfect. Don’t let this be your birthing story- or worse.

Go to a ‘baby friendly’ and ‘mom...