Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center Emergency Room — Local services in Knoxville

I'm honestly surprised that the emergency room doesnt have more positive reviews. I wouldnt go anywhere else after my overnight visit.

Long story short, I went to UT medical emergency room two weeks ago (you should be wary of that place, not ft. Sanders). I had severe abdominal pain. I had to wait about 2 hours to be seen. Finally seen and doctor did an ultrasound. He found gallstones but everything else looked good and so gave me a diagnosis of gastritis with acid reflux meds and pain killers. Took medication except for pain medication. Pain increased and intensified. Thus began my prisoner of war diet which was basically triscuits crackers, soup, and yogurt.

Two days ago, I had an appointment with my regular physicial for lab work and for the abdominal tenderness and pain I was feeling. I had to wait there from 8 am to almost 10am because she was late. This has also happened before when I had a lan appointment so I will be firing her. Any doctor that is late to morning appointments and makes someone who has been fasting all night wait like that, especially if in pain shouldnt be practicing.

She thought I had maybe an obstruction because I have been constipated. She ordered a host of tests, referred me to a gi specialist and a surgeon. Made the appointment for a CT scan of my belly. All of these appointments had a 1 month waiting period, except for the CT scan which I would need to wait a week for.

My pain was unbearable. I was hunched over the steering wheel dropping my two 6 year old twins and step children off at school. I wouldn't make it a week.

I went to Ft. Sanders emergency room. Was promptly seen in intake and triaged. I basically waited all about 5 minutes and then got a bed. Nurse put IV in me.and I saw the doctor about 30 minutes later. Explained my symptoms and he told me he would get to the bottom of it.

Nurses were all very nice, although I will say I had to be poked for blood numerous times lol. Not a huge deal since I was dehydrated. All the staff in the emergency room were professional and very nice and caring.

Got a CT scan within an hour of being there. Had to.wait maybe 1 more hour and a.half and doctor.showed back up with general surgeon. Surgeon admitted that my gallbladder looked awful and that he would make room to have it out that day. Amazing ! Within an hour I was in surgery holding, within another I was in surgery, and then recovery.

Dont get me started on the surgery wing. They were all so very nice and caring. I cried because I was very scared and they were all just so warm and compassionate. I'm not prone to over exaggerating on hospitals because usually they suck but the staff went over the top to make me feel safe and positive about the surgery. The anesthesiologist.. not sure what her name is, she had short hair dark brown hair, tall, and very friendly, was awesome. All I had to do was tell her how nervous I was and she told me everything that she was going to do and give me to help with my anxiety. She was awesome.

The nurse in surgery holding was also amazing. I dont remember her name either but she was just so nice and caring and even gave me a hug.

I would also like to say the nurse aestheticians were great also. My surgeon, Dr. Thurman was also amazing. These guys are my super heroes and this is honestly.how surgery should go. They made everything okay and I have nothing but great things to say about this hospital and its staff.

Dont.bother with the low rating. The bad reviews were probably written by people who didnt get their way or pain meds lol. If you need emergency surgery for gallbladder removal, I highly recommend Dr. Thurman and Ft. Sanders hospital, as well.as their emergency team and surgery team.

Thank you Ft. Sanders for being awesome and actually making me...

Do not waste your time here! The ER signage is not clearly posted, so if you enter through anywhere else besides the ER you will wander the halls for 30 minutes, like I did, before maybe finding your way there. They do not believe in privacy when getting your vitals taken (I've never even heard of that in any hospital before), they don't call you by your actual name and then they yell your first name and last name at different times so the entire waiting room knows your full name. There was one time I didn't know they were calling me because they didn't say my full last name. They also don't know how to properly do the check in process, vital signs, wrist band (that is more of a carnival bracelet with a sticker with your information) and calling you back. They complain about being busy when there are empty rooms. I never saw a doctor and the nurse practitioner didn't do much, literally touched my injury 3 times, 2 of which were to check pluses, and sent me on my way, all while sitting in a chair in the hallway. While in my chair all I kept hearing were the nurses complaining about a smell from a patient and how hard it is to clean and just how overall bad it is. Working in the medical field in the past, I was shocked at the unprofessionalism. You deal with whatever a patient is going through and you do not make it uncomfortable for them or for the other patients around. Shame on you for making people feel even worse when they are already scared and vulnerable! Upon check in I told them my pain was a 7 and I was never offered any pain medication of any kind. They never told me what was wrong with me, but I was so over the non-professionalism and lack of care that I just wanted out, plus I had an idea of what was wrong, so it wasn't until I was reading the discharge paperwork that I knew for sure what the suspected. I think it is hilarious, and shows extreme lack of care, for them to do x-rays and see that nothing is broken and claim one injury even though the human body is filled with other things besides bones. For discharge they gave me a written prescription for pain medication, which I could not get filled that night since it was Christmas day and everything was closed and night so I had no choice but to wait until the following day. I called 4 days after being "seen" - 3 days after picking up the medication - and the pain is so intense the medication does nothing to help so I called to see if I can take Tylenol since it says I have to ask about mixing medication. The woman on the phone stated "we haven't seen you in the last 24 hours so we can't give that information out". You can't tell me if I'm allowed to take another medication in addition to the one YOUR people prescribed me. Nope, "but you are more than welcome to come back and we can see you again". Yeah, because the "care" I received the first time was so amazing. I've literally only been on the medication for 72 hours trying to tough it out through the pain and thinking it takes a little bit to kick in, which was all pointless since they refuse to answer a simple question about the medication they prescribed. With how bad the pain is I am confident something worse happened when I was injured but since all they care about it "oh nothing is broken" and "oh we can't answer any questions about the medication we prescribed you", I will not be wasting any more of my time there, dealing with any more of their unprofessional incompetent staff. Go anywhere else, I'm sure those other places will actually give you care and answer...

If you can help it, go anywhere but this ER. Even UT is better than this hospital, and they suck, too. They aren't bad once you finally get admitted, but the wait times are miserable and their security staff are hideously unempathetic, volatile, and cruel. I went to this hospital's emergency room the other day for an excruciatingly painful gastroparesis flare where I was insanely dehydrated and unable to stop vomiting or wailing in pain and I eventually had to just make a bed on the floor and just cry into a pillow. A security guard came over to me at one point and told my husband to, and I quote, "do something to make her be quiet because people are complaining and I'm done with all this" and all I could do was sob and apologize profusely while writhing in 10/10 pain and vomiting uncontrollably about every five minutes. I even asked him if he could maybe bring me a blanket or something to bite down on so I could try to muffle my cries (inhumane and absurd, I know, but I hate causing trouble and this guy was scaring the hell out of me and he knew it) and he just scoffed at me in disgust. All I wanted was some IV fluids and Reglan to get my stomach moving, and my mom eventually ended up taking me to Blount Memorial because there were people who had already been waiting at FS for 9+hours to be seen and that guard was just glaring at me the whole time and seemed like he was about to seriously snap on me or something. It felt unsafe. Blount Memorial got me back immediately, had my meds administered within a half an hour, and the nurses were outraged on behalf of me and the experience I had with this loser security guard at FS. And Blount Memorial was WAY busier!! I just hope that guard never has to endure the pain of an illness like gastroparesis as it is ungodly miserable. I can see how that poor Lisa Edwards was killed in large part by this hospital (and no doubt its heartless security staff). I also witnessed another guard be incredibly cruel and rude to a homeless man who simply politely was asking where he could go after being discharged. It's a shame as many of the nurses and doctors here are pretty good once you eventually get admitted, but the emergency department is horrendous and their security staff are genuinely miserable people. Their GI docs are honestly crummy too and tried telling me I was just constipated. Like, no, dude, my stomach is paralyzed and it hurts!! Anyway, sorry for disturbing you guys with my suffering, I guess. But seriously, just go to Blount Memorial if you can. It is a smaller hospital, and all ERs can be chaotic, but their staff and providers are far more compassionate and less desensitized to human suffering so they actually work to treat you with a sense of urgency. Dont be this hospital's next victim because God help you if your health issues are the slightest bit...