Southern New Hampshire Medical Center — Local services in Nashua

tl;dr: Rude ER staff kept us waiting six and a half hours while a worker playing Pokemon on her Nintendo Switch did not bother to get a wheelchair for a patient who could not walk.

My wife had been operated on for plantar fasciitis this past Friday. I would like to say now that Friday’s surgery went very swiftly and was completed by kind and caring professionals in the same building (which at this point is hard to believe). Two days later, she began feeling her calf was tender to the touch. The on-call doc recommended she go to the Nashua Southern New Hampshire Medical Center ER to get checked for a potential blood clot. We arrived around 2:00 PM.

The PA put in the order for the ultrasound at 3:47 PM. It seemed the staff thought we were hard of hearing, as all they were talking loudly and frequently like this was some sort of social event. Nothing work-related. We waited roughly an hour with no contact from anyone and were starting to wonder if we were forgotten about. From this point on, we waited patiently until 5:15 PM before asking for a wheelchair so I could bring my wife to the restroom. She tried getting up on her own, but the pain was too great for her because her pain meds had worn off by now. The ER nurse said “You can’t walk there? Didn’t you walk in here?” My wife was embarrassed to admit her meds wore off and the triage nurse we saw initially said “DO NOT take anything before the ultrasound.” The ER nurse replies “OH that’s just for ‘belly ultrasounds’, this one it’s fine.”

Eventually, the ER nurse admitted “I’m not sure why your ultrasound isn’t ready yet”, and someone started bickering with her and shouted “WELL NO ONE TOLD ME TO CONTACT THEM!” The one shouting, Kelly, began accusing others on her team and other teams of who was supposed to do what and said it’s not her fault repeatedly. The ultrasound tech had apparently left. Throughout all of this we did not get an apology or even hear the words “I’m sorry” from anyone in this office.

Finally, around 6:50 PM, she was seen for the ultrasound by some one on-call. She asked the ER nurse if I could go with her, to which the ER nurse quickly objected “OH no, males can’t go into the ultrasound area unless they may be an expecting father. Do YOU have to worry about that?” I get the attempt to lighten things, but this legitimately made her and me uncomfortable.

While waiting, I noticed at one point one of the guys at the desk glared at me and must have mentioned something to someone. No one bothered to talk to me or apologize for the inconvenience, but were fine with talking about me behind my back.

The PA told us “It’s not a blood clot, so that’s good." I followed up asking what it was to which we got the reply “oh, we dunno.” I thought this was a joke. The PA then openly admitted he had never even heard of this, even though the procedure was done in the same building just days before.

By this point, we were unsure if we were supposed to leave or if we were waiting for a nurse, so I asked for clarification. I was interrupted by the PA with “YEP YEP she’ll be in to read you- you know what I’ll come in and do it” and as soon as he enters he changes how he’s speaking to a nicer tone and apologizes directly and condescendingly to my wife. While all of this was happening, the accusatory worker, Kelly, was playing Pokemon on her Nintendo Switch. I can’t make this up.

A guy at the desk gets the wheelchair and tells me “Okay I’ll wheel her out front while you get the car” to which I agreed and thanked him. I escorted them to the entrance and he said he’d be there with her to bring her out when I pulled around. Well, he abandoned her and asked some security guards to do it, who said they would. They did nothing. I found this out after I helped her to the car.

We ended up leaving at 8:15 PM. This entire visit was disheartening, troubling, and down-right insulting to say the least. I sincerely hope the hospital cares enough to read this feedback.

I had to fiercely amend my review due to Google’s character limit. There are many...

I am absolutely appalled at the care I received in the emergency department on June 4 2024. This all started because I was involved in a motor vehicle accident on May 31st in which I was unbuckled and my head smashed into the windshield after my dog lunged over my lap in the front seat.After returning home and falling asleep my spouse returned home and woke me up. I had no idea where I was and started persistently vomiting. This continued from Saturday morning through Tuesday morning at which point I attempted to return to work but was hit with a wave of dizziness and almost passed out. I then contacted my primary care office to let them know how I was feeling. I expressed neck pain, severe confusion, blurry vision in the eye where my face hit the windshield, feeling off, as well as the persistent vomiting and that I have been unable to keep food or water down since the accident and that I had not eaten for 2 days. I expressed dropping things and tripping and that my boyfriend reported that I have been having many bouts of severe confusion and waking up not knowing where I was. The triage at my primary care advised me to go straight to the emergency room. Offered to call an ambulance which I declined as my bf was going to take me. Being so appalled at the lack of treatment I received at st joes I decided to go to southern nh medical. Upon arrival to the emergency department I was greeted by a kind receptionist who did have issues with my private health insurance but kindly cleave me a card with the number to call to resolve it and told me to contact my insurance company. She was the only person in this whole department that I received kind care from. She put me as a self pay until the insurance is resolved. I proceeded to wait for 40 mins in the waiting room falling asleep in and out. At this point I was taken into triage where I explained the accident and that my face had hit the windshield and my foot was stuck on the accelerator because my 90lb bullmastiff who I had just adopted lunged over my lap in my apartment complex causing me to strike a parked car and then being ricocheted into a tree. I explained I was not wearing my seat belt and that I had hit my head on the windshield. My face is visibly extremely swollen and bruised and the scabbed laceration under my eyebrow from the impact very visible. I was told to wait in the waiting room and I would be helped in a few mins. I proceeded to wait another approximately 45 mins in the waiting room falling asleep on and off. Once brought back to a room I was given no blanket and told the dr would be right in. I sat there for close to an hour before anyone returned. At which point a nurse practitioner came in and basically expressed that the reason I was feeling this way was my fault for not following “complete head rest” which I said what the hell is that. As I had never been instructed by st joes I needed to do. All they said in my discharge paperwork was possible mild concussion. I found this appalling as I was laying there in sever pain. I expressed that I had belly pain and felt very confused and was puking at least twice an hour since Saturday. I also express I had not eaten in 2 days or drank and was not producing any urine. I expressed severe 8 to 9 out of 10 pain in my injured foot which I have a boot on from a previous injury’s d expressed that I thought it was re injured. I expressed pain in both my neck back and shoulder as well as abdominal pain and bloating as well as rib and back pain. I also expressed blurry vision extreme sleepiness and being dizzy. I explained being very confused and dropping things and feeling weak. Everything I said was dismissed as my fault for not following protocols I was never even given. He then left and said he was going to review the we notes from st joes and see if there is anything they can do for me???no one returned for another hour. No blood work or I’ve fluids. Just head ct. the dr never returned. My body never examined. My pupils never check and no neck brace place despite me complaining...

I was seen in the ER department for an ear infection. I was seen a few hours earlier by Elliott at rivers edge urgent care and prescribed oral and topical antibiotics because I had an inner and outer ear infection. I went to pick them up at the 24 hour pharmacy and the pharmacy didn’t have them in stock. I didn’t have a written prescription so I could not go to another pharmacy. The urgent care I went to was closed by this point (I got to urgent care at 9 and didn’t leave until after 10, they close at 10) so I couldn’t call to get a different prescription or have it called in somewhere else. I drove to southern NH ER and explained the situation to the triage nurse (I chose to go to southern because in the past I had good experiences). The triage nurse was helpful and took a thorough hx. I had a temp of 100.9 (even on 800mg ibuprofen and 1g tylenol), bp 171/88, and HR 116, all due to my ear infection and the excruciating pain I was in. I do not have high bp or HR. The doctor came in and first said I had a tooth ache. When I explained to him I was diagnosed with an ear infection he felt my ear and around it where the pain was and then he said it’s likely tmj. I told him again I was diagnosed with an ear infection, my ear is what is hurting, and I have a fever so unlikely tmj. The doctor said he’d write me a script for antibiotics and left. The nurse came back in and gave me paperwork and said I was all set. As I was walking out I went through the paperwork and realized I had no prescription. I talked to the receptionist who got my nurse. 15 minutes later she comes back out with my prescription for the antibiotics and said” sorry I didn’t know he prescribed you anything.” I went to fill them at CVS (it’s 12:30am at this point) and the pharmacist tells me the prescription that was prescribed to me is in the same class of drug as penicillins and I should not take it as I am allergic. I confirmed this allergy with the triage nurse at check in. I told the staff at the ER my pain was a 10 and was offered no help to alleviate it as I stated the ibuprofen and Tylenol weren’t working. I was basically treated like a drug seeker by trying to advocate for my own care. It appeared the doctor didn’t even look at my chart or medical notes the nurse took time to write up prior to coming in the room. I was brushed off in regards to my extreme discomfort and pain and prescribed a medication I said I was allergic to. Overall I’m very unhappy with the lack of follow through, attention to detail, and most importantly the lack of empathy and care I was shown while I was there.

Fast forward to 24 hours after this visit- I was admitted to the hospital (one that actually listened to me) for mastoiditis and needed iv antibiotics and iv pain meds. I was there for two days recovering. I suffered for that 24 hour period in between ER visits as I was so worried If I had gone to the hospital I would again be brushed off and not taken seriously. It’s a shame that the war on drugs has seemed to cause medical professionals to forget that some people...