Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center — Local services in Knoxville

Horrible experience with our Dad … : ( Last June 2024 My Dad was sent there for a procedure of removing his bad gallbladder.. He was sent there from our local hospital .. He was talking, laughing with family and in good spirits , in better health then when he left .. he was eating and drinking with restrictions that they did not follow… his food was supposed to be softened only.. ( with the blender) his liquids were supposed to be thickened.Only !! Including water, which they said they did not have, but just regular water ,they was given him regular water and regular liquids including ,a sprite which he had never drink before in his life until one was on his table for lunch the nurse was trying to get him to drink , He started aspirating immediately.when we walked in and seem what was happening.. one of the head nurses seem also what was happening and ordered it be taking out immediately .. he was begging for water after three days not given anything to eat or drink .. ( he was scheduled for the procedure two days before taking them off everything but said something always came up first so he literally went three days without water or anything no feeding tube no food no water… did bring him plain water in a cup .. said they have anything to drink that was thickened..at one point when Dad was asking for something to drink … one of the nurses came in ‘ said they didn’t have anything thick to give him other than a feeding tube bag of liquid to pure from in a cup and I said no way… ! .. My son ( his grandson ) went immediately and got him a milkshake. He drunk it with no problem.) then they withheld everything again for 2 more days saying emergency procedures came up that came first…on the 5 th day they did Decide to do his procedure to see if he was a candidate to have surgery to take the gallbladder out. This was five days being deprived of nutrition, feeding tube or anything to drink whatsoever other than the milkshake my son got him days before… received a phone call his procedure was going to start Within about … I was an hour and a half away from getting there from my home and said that it should be over by the time I arrived.when I walked in his room ‘ I saw a nurse over him … from her backside with her Hands in front of her .. Dad was gasping for air. Appeared to be trying to breathe couldn’t see it that point all but her backside and Dad making funny loud noises.when she turned her head around ( hands still hiding in front of Dad . Seen it was me .. I said oh ‘ he’s already back ? She quickly made a statement with only sent her backside just her head turned around and said no it hasn’t even started yet and left the room. I was horrified when I seen my dad in the state he was in… Dad oxygen appeared to had been shoved far in his throat. He had’ looked to be vomit or possibly saliva & form coming out of his mouth & Gaspin for air. She quickly ran past me as I was screaming help my dad $! something is happening. Help my dad !! She didn’t say a word but ran out of the room , not knowing what was happening or what to do !! I grabbedthe a Pair of gloves in his room and a towel laying in the bathroom sink .. started pulling his Oxygen tubes from deep inside his mouth.. set him up and started gathering all this horrible stuff such as saliva and what look like to be vomit from inside his mouth running past his chin and running down to his chest with the towel I had in my hand at that time, as he was still gasping for air, trying to get his breathing back under control, looking, petrified and scared to death himself …

It was horrifying what I witnessed !! The most terrified I’ve ever been or witnessed anything like this in my life. I did report her and asked for the administrator .. they sent someone in his room to Talk to us … I explain what I had saw and what happened. She acted mortified and said that that had never happened before that she knew of and guaranteed me that Nurse would never be back in his room again as long as he was there.up On...

Warning: Long Post!!! I cannot say enough good things about this hospital. I wish I could rate this place 10 stars but even then I don’t feel like that would be enough. But anyways I had my twins here 8 yrs ago and they were awesome to me then and I just had my little girl here 2 weeks ago and again they were wonderful. On Monday I had a c section the next day I had a blood transfusion due to complications from the c section (not the dr fault at all) and I lost a lot of blood, so to say I felt like I was knocking on deaths door was an understatement but anyways (sorry if this is too much info but don’t say I didn’t warn you) I had to pee so bad and I was in so much pain I mean excruciating I couldn’t get out of my bed and my nurse offered to bring a bed pan I was humiliated because I’m stubborn and thought I was just being weak but finally I agreed and she brings it to me and I’m crying because I’m hurting because I’m embarrassed and the amount of patience, kindness, and empathy this nurse had with me was phenomenal. She reassured me and comforted me like I was her child (not in a demeaning way either) and she made me feel 1000 times better. All my mamas out there know how emotional you are after having a baby and how insecure you can feel and your hormones are running rampant thru your body. Just that little act of kindness I will never forget. Not only did she do that but when she found out I was in so much pain and couldn’t even move she immediately went and got my pain meds for me and her and my other nurses made sure I had them when I was supposed to and it helped out tremendously. All my nurses catered to me and made sure I was eating, that I was comfortable, if I needed more pillows or blankets, if my daughter (who was staying the night with me at the hospital ) or I wanted popsicles, drinks, snacks, etc., They even went as far as offering to bring my daughter games, coloring books, books to read, anything to help her not be bored. I mean when’s the last time you went somewhere that treated you like you were a VIP? They offered to get me anything I wanted. When I left the nurse pushed me in my wheelchair all the way out to the parking lot because my 84 yr old grandfather was carrying all my luggage and couldn’t push me too and I was too weak to do it myself. I don’t have one complaint on this hospital, their staff, nothing. Even the ladies working in the cafeteria were so nice and friendly when they brought my food trays. And then today I got a thank you card from the hospital thanking me for choosing them and in the top corner of the card was a handwritten little note from Brynn that said “Congrats on your sweet Justice (my baby girls name) I will be thinking of her while she’s in the NICU. Brynn RN” Just those 2 little sentences made my day. She didn’t have to take the time to write that to us but she did. To me that is as sweet and thoughtful as you can be. I’ve already put that little card in my baby’s memory book if that tells you how much it meant to me.Brynn if you see this thank you so much you are an absolute sweetheart also in case you can’t remember my daughter was born on 1-6-25 if that helps lol. So I urge anyone out there if you need to go to the hospital for whatever reason but especially if you’re having a baby please go to fort sanders regional hospital and get the best care you can get. I live an hour away but I’m more than willing to make that drive anytime to ensure I’m taking care of and treated with kindness. But a huge shoutout to all the ladies and gentlemen that work in L&D and the ladies that work in dietary you guys are all angels and I thank each of you from the bottom of my heart for all you did for me and my...

Uncouth and unprofessional atmosphere. CNAs need improvement on skills. In Admissions area, the clerk was playing Lauren Hill 'Dat thing' really loud and I couldn't concentrate on check-in screens. I asked him to turn down the music and he responded with a glare as if he was entitled to listen to whatever he wanted. Check-in clerk presented me with surprise billing of $1932, and I contested that charge with the fact that I have 3 insurances, insurances that were verified during the check in process. Afterwards, it was acknowledged that her data screen only showed my primary insurance not the secondary and tertiary. Why aren't information systems mapping over billing details in a way that reduces risk of surprise billing? Then on the way up to the surgery waiting room, she was more concerned about how long I had been married to my spouse than on the billing mistake she had made. During hospital stay, a nurse dropped a pill on the floor and then rolled it around on between her index finger/thumb and administered it to me. The same nurse failed to provide proper pain management to me in accordance with doctor orders which led to needless pain and suffering for 2 hours of severe inflammation. During that time, the same nurse told me to stop screaming as it doesn't help anything and that I should practice deep breathing. A CNA told me she brought me a heated blanket to keep me warm during the episode of acute inflammation because I kept pulling my gown up. I should have been administered an ice pack. There were people in the hallway laughing during the time I was in immense pain. On the 1st night of my hospital stay, the night shift nurse was not knowledgeable on how to address an error message on my IV machine. I called the nurse station, each time the machine would go off and she said that she didn't know what the problem was. After several times of this, a charge nurse came and addressed both the machine error and repositioned my IV on my wrist for better flow of medicine. When a CNA was working with me to get my bathing done, she failed to prepare me for what she was going to do and started to apply hygiene wipes in the genital area. I closed my legs and asked her if what she was doing counted as bathing? This was to remind her to prepare the patient before touching them in private areas. On the morning of my release, I was provided Prozac to take and it was given to me to take as I was talking to a Nurse Practitioner. I dont recall having that medicine administered to me up to that point, but I took it as I was focused on finishing my conversation with the Nurse Practitioner. Later on, I was in severe pain and pressed the pain button to obtain pain medication. Additionally, my husband went after medical assistance at the nurse station. 30 minutes elapsed and as I was getting at a pain threshold that was becoming intolerable, my spouse and I made our way to the nurses station to get attention. Two men were laughing and joking about silly things at one end of the counter. Another man was talking to a female staff member that was working on battery replacements for medical devices and the other 2 women were staring at their screens. Finally a thin framed woman with short cropped hair came out of an office room and assertively told us to move away from the area and go back to our rooms as it was a HIPPA violation since patient information was discussed in that area. I replied that had my needs been addressed sooner, I would not have been there to begin with. When the nurse that gave me a Prozac earlier finally did arrive, she apologized and said that no one had communicated to her that I was in pain and needed pain meds until after I had went to...