Norwalk Hospital, part of Nuvance Health — Local services in Norwalk

PATIENTS BEWARE!

Do NOT go to this hospital if you want to be treated well, or even like a human being instead of a headache. I made the unfortunate error of coming to this hospital after I had developed several blood clots in my lungs from my heart surgery (at Stamford hospital) a week prior. Not only was I made to wait in the lobby for nearly 20 mins, even though I could barely breathe and my nails were visibly PURPLE, I was almost sent home the same night with some vague implications I was exaggerating how severe my condition was.

The only saving grace this hospital has is that every last nurse I dealt with after admission during my stay were the kindest, most empathetic and concerned people I've ever met. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the doctors here.

I was told by an ER assistant, just before they got my report back that I did in fact have clots, that because I am a woman, and that I do not have a primary doctor, that sometimes, "[women] experience pain that there may not be a cause for," and that by having a primary care doctor I would, "know what is normal and not normal for me." Even though I now had confirmation that my condition warranted an actual emergency, and justified my trip to the ER, I still had to wait nearly 7 hours before I was moved from the ER to an actual room. From then it didn't get much better.

Dr. Mathew attempted to discharge me the next day even though I was still struggling to breathe and visibly painful. I requested a new doctor and he did not acknowledge my request or see me again for the remainder of my stay. He even went as far as to deny calling my script for blood thinners into another pharmacy.

I do not care if I am legitimately dying. I will never consciously set foot in this place again. Never before have I had such an awful experience with any medical professional before. Do yourself a favor and just go straight to Stamford, they actually...

Unfortunately, I cannot leave a good review for the emergency room doctor on behalf of my mother who is the patient. I was there with her as her interpreter. I do like to mention first that the nurse, his name is Mark. He was very kind and professional, putting the IV line on my mother. On the other hand, the emergency room doctor. Dr. Joseph Ponticiello, from the moment he walked into the room was rushed and had no bedside manners at all. This doctor doesn't treat patients like human beings. My mother left Norwalk hospital worse than when she went in. My mother has a lot of health problems. Dr. Ponticiello has a right to his opinion as a doctor but he doesn’t have the right to express himself in a disrespectful way. This doctor proceeded to criticize my mother‘s medical record by saying “your mother is seeing too many doctors and she takes too many medications.” then he tells me “you are not understanding what I’m saying” at that point I was trying to understand what was going on here. Why is this doctor so mean to us? My mother doesn't like to go to the emergency room. She's diabetic she has high blood pressure. She was having a headache for days and nothing was helping. She was worried about a stroke. We went to Norwalk hospital looking for help instead the patient was humiliated and treated in the most unkind way by this doctor. He was rude, arrogant and like I said before he has horrible bedside manners. At this point I was my mother's only advocate and I called this doctor out on his behavior because I had enough of his attitude. He was talking to us out loud by the entry room door in front of everyone in the ER about my mothers medical record which is a HIPPA violation. Now I’m writing this review in the hope that Norwalk Hospital learns how this doctor treats patients and does...

Earlier this week I was admitted to the ER via an ambulance from a local urgent care that I went to for blood sugar issues. At the urgent care, the nurse was concerned because my blood glucose levels were dropping quite fast despite eating sugar to help alleviate my symptoms. I was feeling faint and like I may have passed out. She called me an ambulance, and I was sent to this hospital. While the doctor and the nurses were VERY nice, they basically said that my body was doing what it should be doing, and sent me home with an information packet on “abdominal pain” and suggested I see a neurologist. They sent me home even though I said I was still feeling lightheaded from not eating as I felt like I needed to have a meal every 30 to 60 minutes. I immediately had to go to another urgent care that night and was able to see my doctor the next day who evaluated my blood work from my most previous visit at urgent care. Today, I was just diagnosed with reactive hypoglycemia. Both the last urgent care and my doctor evaluated the first urgent cares bloodwork, and did not understand how this hospital did not diagnose me with reactive hypoglycemia. This hospital said there was no issues since my blood sugar was above 60 and therefor not dangerously low, however both doctors since explained it is the crash I am getting when eating carbohydrates which is indicative of reactive hypoglycemia. Like I said, the doctors and nurses were VERY nice but they probably did think my issue deemed being in the ER despite knowing I was traveling by myself outside of my home state. And again, I was feeling unwell and like I may faint every hour. If properly diagnosed I would have also learned early NOT to counter these crashes with more simple carbs. I will now be charged for a heafty fee I’m sure for getting an...