Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania — Local services in Philadelphia

This hospital is the worst hospital I've ever seen. We came from a crappy hospital to this one because their neurological team told us that they would absolutely look at my brother's head injury and cervical spine injury. But the moment we walked in the door I knew he had made a mistake but I couldn't find any way to correct it. Because it's a different team that works there they won't let you transfer out.

We got into the ER and they took a CAT scan and an x-ray of my brother's head. We were told to come to this specific hospital by the neuro staff of his Hospital. They said "our brother has a head injury and a cervical spine injury, and this is definitely the hospital he wants to be at because our neurological surgical team is the best in the world".

But when we got there, the ER staff was so confused by the results of the X-ray and the CAT scan, because the two images were conflicting with each other, they didn't show the same person basically, they got so confused that they pushed his head and neck aside and turned the whole visit into a urinary tract infection visit so they could cash in more from him.

And I kicked and screamed and hollered for the neurological team that we were specifically told to see and they refused to send him to it. Instead they admitted him into the hospital but not as an inpatient. They admitted him as an outpatient in observation. Which means when they decide to discharge him, even if it's completely unsafe, the family can't fight them using Medicare and Livanta, because he's not an inpatient and there's no actual discharge happening. It's all treated as if he's waiting in the waiting room seeing doctors and being sent back to the waiting room for the results.

This is the new way that hospitals are getting around families being able to fight an unsafe discharge. Jeanes hospital did it to us a month ago, but i was so shocked at UPenn, because Jeanes hospital is a two-star piece of s* hospital. But for University of Penn, supposedly one of the highest rated hospitals in the country, to pull the same dirty bait and switch trick because they were stumped by their own imaging, is completely unethical and unprofessional and unforgivable and unsafe.

Every single doctor I spoke with by the end of the call had to get off the call because they had an emergency happening right then at their point of frustration. And I spoke to five different doctors. One of them was arguing with me in the ER OVER MY BOTHERS BED. My brother started trying to change the subject, but she kept going on!

Every one of the doctors had to suddenly get off the phone when they got frustrated talking to me. When they couldn't answer my questions anymore. And they ALL hung up on me.

Do not bring anybody you care about to this hospital. It's a conglomerate corporation machine factory assembly line. Once they can't figure out what to do, they start an aggressive discharge push that you won't believe. Every single department I called to complain, from guest services to patient advocacy to the cheif medical officers office to the executive offices to the administration offices to the nurse on duty, every single one of them swore that they were going to try to help and in the end, within 1 hour, he was pushed out of that hospital and back to the facility that gave him the injuries in the first place.

The doctors in this Hospital are nothing short of involuntary manslaughterers, if not intentional murderers. They don't care at all. And I was shocked but the treatment we got there. The ER staff actually went out of their way to make sure that he was NOT seen by the neurosurgical staff that told us to come down there. The Neuro doctors were waiting for him and the ER doctors couldn't understand the imaging so they literally BLOCKED him from ever getting to them. They didn't even know that he was in the ER waiting to see them, and they were the ones who instructed us to come there to see them!

Sadly, the only photo i can add is of my middle finger at the hospital.

THIS is the hospital you go to if you...

The hospital is... well, a hospital. I suppose the big deal is the name. The location is congested, so come prepared to hurry up and wait- though that describes several Philadelphia areas. Word of advice: do not utilize valet service unless you have to; I never saw the wait time less than 20 minutes unless it was overnight. Go to 3600 Civic Center Blvd. or the Perlman Parking Garages that are nearby. Perlman connects to the hospital while 3600 is a bit of a walk unless you take the shuttle.

The nursing staff and doctors are great. Friendly, accommodating, knowledgeable, caring, and professional. I would actually wager there is a high nurse to patient ratio just based on observation. There are several attending doctors from other hospitals, so you're generally in good and knowledgable hands.

Another word of advice, this one to those who plan on having a child here: don't.

Labor and Receiving is very ample with the room situation. Each room is incredibly spacious with it's own thermostat, chairs/cots for guests, and amenities. I swear our one nurse was camping outside our room because she was there mere seconds after calling for her.

But... it goes downhill once you leave there. Fast. Post Pardum is literally the opposite. Cramped, hot, and severely lacking. A room meant for one is split for two patients by a curtain, and you better pray you have the side closest to the window unless you want to be woken up and have mom's bed bumped into. Oh, and hopefully you get along with your neighbor, don't mind sharing a bathroom, don't care about your newborn crying through the night, or cramping all your visitors together like sardines in a room that has hardly working air conditioning! Oh. And hopefully your arm's reach neighbor doesn't mind all that from your side either. And vice-versa. A good night in one of those rooms seems to require a lot, huh?

I don't know what their management was thinking when planning this aside from the almighty dollar, but it certainly wasn't the interests of the patients who chose to go to UPenn.

Another word of advice: If you do happen to get stuck in a 2-in-1 room: complain. Be annoying about requesting a single room, I dare say short of causing a scene. The waitlist for one means nothing and you can jump ahead if you're vocal.

Seriously, do yourself a favor and go to literally any other hospital for labor. There are other facilities that accommodate their patients and plan for excess/overflow deliveries; UPenn is, apparently, not one of them.

Aside from that, discharge was great. The gentleman who wheeled us out was friendly, the pharmacist not so much- but her frustration lead us to getting our medicine for free- and the valet attendants do all they can to keep the front entrance clear for those picking up.

Unfortunately for UPenn, we will not be going back for any of their services and it's because of this experience in Post Pardum along with the distance and traffic in University City.

Obligatory "rating 2 stars only because..." the nursing staff there is great and two of them...

The scheduling system is a bureaucratic nightmare. I was interested in a particular doc who's both family and sports medicine. I work out a lot and get occasional injuries and figured it would be nice to have someone who knew me for both. The scheduler said (a) family medicine and sports appointments would have to be booked separately and (b) only one body part per visit, although each body part would take about 5 minutes. It took 3 separate calls, each with a long wait, to learn this. I found a PCP elsewhere and will use Rothman for sports medicine.

Then I tried to get an appointment for a gynecology problem. I chose a doctor listed as taking new patients and applied online. When I called back, they said my request was filed by the name of the doctor I requested. I then waited online almost 30 min to be transferred to gynecology. The gynecology scheduler (after another 20 minute wait) said the doctor I chose wasn't taking new patients for the rest of the year. She asked me who else I might want to see. I asked her who was available within the next 3 months. She offered the names of one doctor with a lot of negative reviews and a nurse practitioner who seems to specialize in prenatal care. I later met someone who'd been to that doctor; she said he was mediocre at best. My issue was not related to obstetrics. I had no guidance in choosing any doctors.

This was an enormous waste of time. If doctors aren't taking new patients for six months, they should not be listed as taking new patients. I wanted an experienced doctor and did not want a CNP. The scheduler said to try Dickens which seems to be mostly obstetrics. I gave up and went somewhere else.

The "new patient" appointment is a racket anyway. The scheduler said, "They know you if you've been there." That's a blatant lie. You fill out your history and forms online. Doctors don't do anything different for new patients, especially if you're there for a problem and not a checkup. They don't remember most of their "old" patients and hopefully they won't trust their memory anyway. They just read the chart.

I've been to a good Penn specialist a few years ago. I was referred by the doctor's friend who let me bypass the system and call the specialist's office directly. I get the feeling that's the only way to get in to see an experienced, competent specialist.

An encounter with schedulers makes us understand why the movement for legal assisted dying is gaining momentum. If you're symptom -free and just want to schedule a "preventive" test at your leisure, you're fine. If you've got a problem, you're on your own. What's the use of a top quality hospital if you only get access to the least qualified, lowest-rated professionals? And you wait three months...