Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus — Local services in Milford

So here’s the full story of the Milford, CT ER room experience:

We got into Milford late Friday night. Not having had a shower (the campground was a bit too icky) and being stressed from a looooooong day, I got into the shower at the Red Roof In (also in Milford). I started lathering up with soap and picked up a foot to place it on the edge of the tub to scrup my foot and leg (bending over far is hard becuase I do, in fact, have spinal stenosis and bending is hard).

The soapy water made the tub surface SUPER slick, my feet went out from under me and I crashed heavily in the tub. My travel buddy hollered from the room, “Marti!! Are you alright??” I could tell I hadn’t broken anything so I replied, “Yes, I’m fine.”

The I realized that I had badly sliced open my foot (between big toe and the next toe) on the metal drain plug and that’s where all of hte blood was coming from. I didn’t know what to do, so I just stood there....worrying a bit about how much blood I was losing.

THen....it stopped. Like a faucet shut off. THE most bizarre thing.

So I gingerly stepped out of hte shower and wrapped my foot in a washcloth. I was sure it would immediately be soaked with blood, but....not even one drop. So I figured I was okay. And then the pain hit.

I put my pj’s on and went into our room and sat on a chair. Knowing that Mary had experience with wounds, I asked her to take a look at my toe.

She did and immediately said, “You need stitches.”

I called down to the front desk to let them know what had happened and so that they would have a record of my fall. THe night manager said simply, “I’ll report it to the mornign manager.”

After a few minutes of chatting about whether I should go to an ER then or wait until morning or just wait and see how my foot was, I made the decision to go that night.

I called the front desk to ask for the address of the closest emergency room. He gave me the address.

Mary wanted to drive me, but I didn’t want to leave the dogs in the car and, frankly, I knew she needed sleep as much as I did!! I knew I’d be less stressed if I knew she was in the hotel with the three dogs (her Caillaigh, my Callie, and Ziva), so I insisted that I just drive myself.

Got to the ER and they were kind and welcoming. THe PA was very nice and since my way of dealing with my own injuries is to make jokes, we bantered back and forth about how their standard protocol for injured toes is amputation at the hip but he said he’d make an exception in my case.

And then the intake questions. I’ve never been to an ER before, so I had no idea what to expect. I reported my broken arm but no other medical history. WHen he asked about meds, I was taken by surprise, because I don’t think of myself as having medical problems. Hence, my hesitation as I had to really think about what meds I take.

And that’s when everything changed.

No more smiles and bantering. The ER doctor was very good, but also very brusque (I attribute that to just being his style). At one point, still trying to kid around, I made a joke and he replied, “you should thank me for being honest.” I had no idea what that was about but in hindsight, kind of wonder if it was a jab.

I asked him how deep the cut was and he just said, “Deep.”

Several incredibly painful shots of novacaine and three stiches between my toes later, he was done.

And then he left and for about maybe 20-30 minutes, i lay there shivering.

When the PA came back, no more friendliness, no blanket when I asked for one (just the question, “You’re cold?”). No prescription for an antibiotic, although they’d asked me early on if I could go to a Walgreens in town to fill a script.

I left feeling confused, hurt, and then ANGRY.

It was one of the most bizarre experiences I’ve ever had and I ABSOLUTELY felt like I was being viewed as making things up....both to create a reportable injury and then (from the hosptial), as a liar.

My faith hospitals is...

If I could give negative stars I would. My 84 y/o father was in Milford Hospital for a month. He was very ill and dying slowly each day, which he knew and accepted. He’d been with my mom 67 years and she was struggling with his end of life situation. I, as a critical care RN, explained the consequences he might go through if they had to do cpr, being on a vent and unable to wean off etc. I asked him if he wanted to be a DNR and he told us he wasn’t ready just yet (he was worried about his wife). I informed one of the hospital dr’s of his decision when they approached me, as his medical power of attorney, regarding making him a DNR. Despite this the next day a Dr LauraBelland asked my brother re making Dad a DNR. Again, they were told he was lucid and his decision was to not be a DNR. My dad was livid she kept harassing us and wouldn’t take no, not now for an answer! My brother asked her to leave. The next day Dr Belland came in again with my mom and dad. Again she sat at his ear for a 1/2 hour trying to convince him to be a DNR and he said no. The next day, his last night, Dr Belland came again and my dad got VERY upset and mad as they were harassing him day after day about a DNR. He said no again and then the dr starts telling my mom, in front of my dad, well if you shut off his hemodialysis he’ll die within days. Mom got so upset and accused the dr of telling her to murder her husband. Dr even said to him, “I HAVE to know the answer today as I’m going on vacation”. So unprofessional! Then, we found out later she had walked out and MADE HIM A DNR!! By now my dad became angry and told my mom to leave too. He wouldn’t look at her. He said, “okay, I’ll die now”. He wouldn’t kiss her goodbye or say goodbye thinking we were wanting him dead due to being a burden. This couldn’t be farther than the truth. We were supporting him in any decision he wanted. My mom left at 6pm and by 9:30pm he was dead. When he went into respiratory distress they did NOT help him as Dr Laura Belland had made him a DNR AGAINST OUR WISHES! My mom and dad were so in love and cuddly etc and now my mom is beside herself that instead of dying surrounded by love and in peace, he was angry and upset thinking we were telling the drs to harass him to be a DNR. She says this will haunt her forever. I wouldn’t recommend Milford Hospital for end of life issues. Refuse Dr Laura Belland if she comes to you as she will NOT take your wishes into account, just what SHE wants . UPDATE: I spoke to a Dr on 3/22/21 to discuss how upset we were with Dr. Belland’s harassment. We found out per him that she left my dad’s room and made him a DNR against our wishes!! Then went on vacation. When he had trouble breathing, instead of putting him on bipap, they let him die. if she hadn’t changed him to a DNR my mom, my brother and I could have cleared up the misunderstanding and tell him we had nothing to do with her machinations and when he did die it would be at peace for him and us. our hugest upset that we keep crying about is that after everything that poor man went through, he died angry thinking we just wanted him to die. How on earth can we live with that the rest of our lives because of one extremely aggressive Dr! we’ve been trying to get his medical records and they are putting us through the ringer! We sent the correct form, then they asked for a copy of our license and proof we had the right to ask. We sent another form, copy of license again and the copy of the will showing we’re his POA and have the right to get them. Now they’re saying we have to go to probate court and get some letter to send to them! We did all the wills, financials, etc so we wouldn’t have to go through probate and now we do just to get the medical records we have a right too! This has been an incredibly horrible experience with Milford Hospital and their medical records...

I was referred to go to the hospital for an Urgent Ultrasound to rule out DVT (blood clot) in my legs. Typically i like to stick with St. V's with HHC since all my docs are HHC and that's where all my information is, but the urgent care recommended me to go to Milford hospital. I got there at about 8pm. Check in was easy and they told me to wait in the waiting room. Gina checked my vitals and made me feel better about the symptoms i was having. She was great! At 8:30pm they took me up for the ultrasound and it was finished by 9pm . I spent the next half hour waiting for someone to come get me to bring me back to the waiting room. All of the nurses and staff were saying how busy it was, and that they havent been this busy in weeks. There was no rooms available in the back, people were being treated in the hallways so they finally came to get me to bring me back to the waiting room at 9:30pm. The ultrasound tech told me the radiologist was reading my scan as it was urgent and to wait in the waiting room for my results. I then waited in that waiting room till 12:30am! I wanted to leave so bad but i was thinking if they just call me back there maybe they can figure out what's wrong with me. If i leave, I wont find out till i see my doc next week. I couldnt wait anymore. Finally at 12:30am, nobody had called me back, the waiting room had emptied out I honestly think they forgot about me and just don't know what's wrong with me so they left me there. Nobody even bothered to tell me my results. I logged onto the portal on my phone and got the results my self which is just crazy. I went to the front desk and said i would like to go home, nobody has come to even talk to me and I just wasted all of my night here. The security woman told me she would check with the nurses AND THEN they said they wanted to speak with me. I went into a room to which the PA said shes unsure why im having this problem and to follow up with my new pcp next week and they sent me home. I am so beyond upset with this experience... I feel like all the hospital did for me was the ultrasound which i was referred there for and then just left me in the waiting room for hours with no answers and didn't want to help me. I get it, they were VERY busy but they showed no interest in doing blood work for me or trying to figure out what was going on with me. I went there for help and this experience put a bad taste in my mouth for yale. Again, Gina was great!! she is an asset to your company, treat her well. Update: I got the bill for this visit and the hospital tried to charge my insurance thousands of dollars and labeled most of it as "professional fees". My insurance covered most of that however the out of pocket cost for me came to a little over $300.. for what??!?! for me to sit in the waiting room for 4 hours.. I did end up disputing the charge.. I got a call from the billing department stating a needed to make a statement (i agreed to only pay for the the tests that they performed..aka the ultrasound but nothing more) and they would send it off to be investigated and they would call me to talk about it. I never received another call but i did check mychart and my balance was significantly reduced. Safe to say I will be searing clear of Milford...