Mercy Health - Lourdes Hospital — Local services in Paducah

My grandfather volunteered at Lourdes hospital for over 25 years. So, when he had to have a very serious operation (removal of his left leg) there was no question as to where he was going. He spoke highly of Lourdes hospital my entire life and was determined that this hospital was the best place to be. He went in the hospital with leg pain January 18th 2017. After a couple of weeks it was determined that due to restricted blood flow, he was going to have to loose the leg. Surprise right?! So, the operation went over without a hitch and he went into recovery. (I am leaving out multiple details for time sake.) The care plan for my grandfather began to take shape after my aunt and uncle found a suitable nursing home for him to do his rehab in. He was supposed to have some therapy at the hospital and then move to the facility of his choice. 2/28/2017- it is told to the family that my grandfather has an infection and due to this infection he can no longer be accepted at the nursing home that he chose. We were all very upset, as no one at the hospital had even told us about the infection until this day and apparently the nursing had known several days prior, informed the hospital, had the staff suit up in the infection gear every time they came in the room as a "precaution", but NO ONE AT LOURDES TOLD THE FAMILY OR THE PATIENT ANYTHING. On Friday February 24th after most of January and the entire month of February spent in Lourdes hospital it was decided by my grandfather, the family and the administrative staff on the 8th floor, led by MELISSA CLARK, that he was going to stay in the hospital until Monday 2/27/2017 so that he and the family could have time to discuss his options. At this point my aunt and I went home, about 5 mins away. My grandfather calls us as we are walking in the door to inform us that the same woman, MELISSA CLARK, who just told us he was staying through the weekend, came back into his room and told him he was being discharged to a nursing home-- right after we stepped out. She then informed him that since he was his own POA he had to make a decision and he had to do it immediately because the nursing home would not hold the bed for him and he could no longer stay in the hospital. FROM THERE HE WAS STRIPPED OF ALL OF HIS RIGHTS, FORCED TO LEAVE AND TO TOP IT OFF BEFORE WE COULD GET OUT (WHICH WASN'T FAST ENOUGH) WE RECEIVED 3 CALLS FOR THE PERSON COMING INTO THE ROOM!!! THIS WAS A FINANCIALLY MOTIVATED DISCHARGE OF AN ELDERLY PATIENT. THERE WAS NO REHAB TO HELP HIM GET INTO A CAR. THERE WAS NO EXPERIENCE TRANSFERRING FROM BED TO CHAIR TO VEHICLE. HE RODE WITH ME IN MY CAR TO THE NURSING HOME AND IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOR THE HELP OF A NURSE NAMED KELSEY, WE WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN HIM THAT FAR. SHE CAME DOWN WITH US AND HELPED HIM INTO THE CAR--FOR THE FIRST TIME--AS HE WAS BEING KICKED OUT OF YOUR HOSPITAL. A MAN WHO VOLUNTEERED HIS TIME, MONEY AND FANTASTIC SPIRIT TO THIS HOSPITAL THAT HAS NOW TREATED HIM LIKE AN OLD FOOL. MADE HIM FEEL LIKE EVERYTHING HE DID AT THAT PLACE MEANT NOTHING. AND YOU KNOW WHAT MELISSA CLARK AND SHERRY THE SOCIAL WORKER??? IT DIDN'T. YOU ALL PROVED THAT. YOU CLOCKED OUT BEFORE WE, HIS FAMILY, HIS BACKUP, HIS TEAM AND HIS ONLY SUPPORT COULD EVEN GET BACK TO HELP HIM DEFEND HIMSELF FROM THE LIES THAT YOU TOLD. HE IS A VETERAN AND A MEDICARE RECIPIENT. WITH MEDICARE A PATIENT GETS UP TO 4 HOURS TO FIND A SUITABLE PLACE TO GO. MELISSA CLARK GAVE HIM 15 MINUTES. I WOULDN'T TAKE A DOG TO LOURDES HOSPITAL AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE AND I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT OTHER PEOPLE NEVER HAVE TO EXPERIENCE WATCHING THEIR 86 YEAR OLD GRANDFATHER REALIZE THAT HE IS NOT IMPORTANT. BREAK YOUR HEART RIGHT ALONG WITH HIS. A CHRISTIAN FACILITY WITH THE MORALS OF A BANK. I DO NOT RECOMMEND LOURDES TO ANYONE. AND I PLAN TO TELL EVERYONE...

edit: after careful consideratiom and some soul searching, I've edited my review. 3 stars was unfair. 1 star is more reisric.

the er care is decent, if a little stretched thin and slow, but that's the unfortunate nature of hospitals nowadays.

the behavioral health/psychiatric ward is rather abysmal. Augustine, Terri, and Debby (?) are very kind, and the majority of nurses and other staff I encountered were kind.

however, the BAC/nurse Nicole was absolutely not. a fellow patient was nervous and crying about not knowing the status of their pills, and expressed their concerns to Nicole. Nicole, very abruptly, responded by telling the patient they were "jumping the gun" and irrational without any trace of tact or kindness. in front of every other patient. yes, that patient was irrational. that's why they were in the psych ward. working directly with patients in crisis units and psych wards requires a strong sense of empathy and understanding, as well as discretion to know when things should be discussed privately or not and the discretion to not come to work if you're going to publicly berate patients.

Nicole was also rude to my visitor, who was understandably in a sensitive position as well. I expressed my displeasure with Nicole's treatment of just about every living thing in writing on feedback forms, as well as to staff, and I have never left such a negative, detailed review like this about one specific employee.

it is very plainly irresponsible and inhumane to treat mental health patients who frankly can't get away from you without empathy or kindness. you have to be enough of a human being to acknowledge when someone else needs to be comforted or at the LEAST not berated and made to feel hysterical when they're kept in the dark about their own treatment.

the psychiatrists themselves are also odd birds. while I've never been seen by him myself, Dr O has never had a good review from any of the women I've met in the psych ward. the men usually either agree or feel that he was indifferent towards them as a patient. the psychiatrists, on both of my visits, tried pushing a diagnosis of a personality disorder on me despite 1. not seeing me for more than maybe 3 hours total for a combined time of ~ 8 days 2. my existing diagnosis explaining all the symptoms 3. myself not even meeting the DSM's requirement of 5 symptoms. everyone in my life disagrees entirely with this diagnosis. I've been in mental health care for roughly 10 years now, 3 years as an adult, and have never even had a personality disorder diagnosis SUGGESTED to me.

one patient had, very plainly, been placed under involuntary hold by an abusive person who had them taken in by police in handcuffs under the false claim that the patient was suicidal. according to the patient, Dr O disregarded all of this patients explanations with a simple "I don't care." the patient repeatedly explained how they were not suicidal, felt like they had, in fact, cheated death previously and now reveled in life, and had plenty of reasons to live. a similar case happened to another patient who was also placed on involuntary hold.

there is very little one-on-one time between a therapist or psychiatrist and patients, which left me feeling uncared for and like I was essentially being babysat. I found more solace in gabbing with the behavioral specialist, Kenzie, than I did speaking to the blonde female psychiatrist I spoke with who, again, tried pushing a false diagnosis on me.

the negligence and lack of empathy from some of the more authoritative members of the staff is frightening. anyone can have a mental health crisis, or have a loved one do the same. if you find yourself looking for emergency mental health care, consider anywhere...

1 is the lowest rating or I would go lower. Covid has made Lourdes callous and uncaring. My mother fell in her bathroom April 2nd and laid in her floor for at least 12 hours. she was found by family, warmed up and dressed and driven to the hospital. She was checked in and bloodwork drawn, but then sat in the ER for 8 hours exposed to God knows what. We later discovered that her bloodwork indicated a possible issue with her heart, but her triage "ranking" was apparently so low she was not going to be seen. At this point she was starving and thirsty and, since her earlier confusion had eased and there were no signs of brain bleed (according to google), she was driven home. i traveled 6 hours during this time to stay with her a few days. She started to feel better from her fall, but began having chills and cold symptoms on April 5th. On April 6th i took my 87 year old mother to Mercy Health walk in, where they did a follow up to the blood work because of the heart issue, covid test, an EKG, xrays, and gave her cough medicine and antibiotics for a touch of pneumonia and redness around some of the scrapes from her fall. I settled her at home, but had to drive back to Tennessee for my job. On April 7th, by the end of my shift i was feeling unwell. my symptoms became very severe and when i went to my walk in clinic i was tested for covid and the flu. i was given Tamiflu for FluB and began recovering. i immediately let my sister and mother know that they likely had the flu as well. my sister was past the window for Tamiflu treatment, but my mother was not, and in the meantime, had become weaker and slipped from her bedside to the floor in an attempt to get up. So she was taken back to the ER and did test positive for the flu and admitted. i expected her to get pallative care, fluids, and possibly Tamiflu (day 5 of symptoms), but she got nothing. On April 11, the hospital, having done nothing for her flu, wanted to send her to rehab for her weakness (flu related as i could barely move when first diagnosed) so instead she was discharged home to take her chances with family to at least give supportive care. I find it unbelievable that a simple flu test was not administered in 3 visits until requested, and then no fluids or Tamiflu was administered despite still being within the treatment window. I used to have high regard for Lourdes, but my mother would have received far better care at my vet clinic. i guess the new Mercy Health, CDC and/or medicaid policy is "let them die" if no longer a working...