Penn State Health Children's Hospital — Local services in Hershey

The pediatric Urology department, especially Dr. Smith failed my son. My son has a UPJ obstruction so they placed a nephrostomy tube. It has caused infection after infection. Dr. Smith was very inconsistent with his answers and plan of treatment for my son. He continually backtracked on everything he said and never gave the same response. When my son was in the NICU his abdomen would fill with urine and they would say it was IRs problem and not theirs. My son looked beyond pregnant!! His skin was taut and cracking. He almost lost his life several times because of this!

Whenever something would go wrong with the nephrostomy tube, urology and IR would argue about whose problem it was. Most of the time they played the “wait and see” game and only intervened once my son became critical and was on the verge of potentially losing his life!! It was a constant battle.

This past weekend my son’s nephrostomy tube and bag filled up with blood. The pediatric urology department tried telling me I wasn’t feeding him properly and he was dehydrated. HE IS G TUBE DEPENDENT AND FED BASED ON THE DIETICIANS RECOMMENDATIONS. HIS HOME FEED SCHEDULE WAS IMPLEMENTED BY HERSHEY!!! Don’t you dare blame me!!!

I told them they failed him and so many of these problems would go away if they would have done the surgery for his UPJ obstruction like they originally planned. In the end my son is the one who paid the price for their carelessness and negligence. They sent him home without even giving me proper training and equipment to take care of his nephrostomy site and bag: how to clean the nephrostomy site area, do the dressing change, etc.

After finally having enough, I took my son to CHOP yesterday. It was obvious Hershey urology wasn’t going to do anything for him and they don’t care. He’s receiving the care and attention he deserves! Thank you CHOP for stepping in where Hershey Urology failed. I’m finally getting answers for his kidney and...

I'm thankful for the pediatric ICU nurses and doctors who are giving my son (10yrs)their absolute best to be a team that cares for his immediate health in the ICU as well his continued plan of action for his health going forward. My son went in cardiac arrest several times and got helicopter over from york hospital. The health care team has been amazing in his care as well as mine. Child life staff is a great asset to families. they help kids deal with their hospital stay and provide resources such as books,toys,games, and my son had an Xbox 1 to play in his room. The staff have emotional support dogs Pilot and Becky who are amazing. The dogs brang a smile to my sons face and were a blessing to have their companionship. Another resource for families that have a child in children's hospital is the Ronald McDonald's house. Ask your nurse. They provide room accommodations, meals and are within walking distance to hospital. The children's hospital has several complimentary features for families. There is a Free laundry room, family lounge with coffee, TV and microwave and one parent can get a free meal per day or a Cafe voucher for food. My only complaint is my sons room toilet was having problems flushing and no plungers are available. My son waited over 3 hours after telling 2 different shifts about toilet. They said only 1 maintenance staff in entire children's hospital today.UNACCEPTABLE. My son enjoyed the meals.kitchen does nice job. Big shout to nurses CORENE, NICOLE. Thank you for the cardiologists team including doctor STEFEK, doctor IMUNDO and doctor SCHAFFER for preparing and designing the best short term and long term solutions for my son's health. They have walked me through this process with a caring, empathetic hand by answering my questions and concerns. Shout out to the whole 4th floor pediatric medical staff for bringing forward the best health care for our children. Health care heros are...

The only good employees here were child life, pet therapy, music therapy, art therapy, and nurse Pam (Floor 3, PCU). The doctors are dismissive and gaslight you. The pain control is horrible. You could be bawling in pain and they would only offer you Tylenol. If my mom wasn't there, they wouldn't even entertain the idea of giving me something stronger. I guess all teenage girls who come in with GI issues are either anxious or have eating disorders. One said ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), another said functional abdominal pain, one said anxiety, another said constipation, one said depression, and one said I was just being manipulative. If it wasn't for Wellspan OBGYN, I could had died from their mistake. When I was under for my ovarian cystectomy, they discovered I had severe retrocecal appendicitis. It was severely twisted, enlarged, inflamed, and moments from rupturing. I tried contacting my GI many times and she didn't once play a role in my care. The resident broke the seat on my new rollator. They stuck the NG tube on the side I had Trigeminal Neuralgia. They were clearly aware and still did it anyway. I had nurses get mad at me for wasting food when I couldn't eat and was forced to order. I had CNAs curse at me for needing frequent bathroom trips due to bowel prep. They tortured me with many IVs after the IV team said many times I needed central vascular access. I will probably never hear an apology, since they refuse to admit any of their wrong-doings. They will only move on and torture their next patient. I was desperate for help, in pain, and was treated inhumanely. I only hope someone will read this review and give it a second thought before...