UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh — Local services in Pittsburgh

This review isn’t for Children’s Hospital as a whole but for Heather Greening CRNP on the ENT floor. My three year old daughter was evaluated by her PCP due to concerns about the size of her tonsils. It was brought to my attention that they were a level 3 almost 4 and needed to be evaluated by ENT urgently, which our PCP got her into childrens within three days. We met with a PA during this eval at children’s hospital and he was fabulous, he took all of my concerns into consideration and evaluated her and recommended surgery. I’m assuming he was supervised by Heather Greening because she later joins in on the appointment. Heather Greening CRNP asked what my concerns were. I had mentioned that she obstructs in her sleep resulting in waking up gasping for air, she randomly gags when there is nothing in her mouth, she excessively mouth breathes, random high fevers and she has trouble putting two or more words together without becoming out of breath. Heather evaluated her throat and agreed they were a level 3/4 but “It’s common, littles have tonsils like this all of the time.” Heather did not take my concerns or what she was visually seeing into consideration. She recommended over the counter medications daily to reduce the swelling of the tonsils until she was of a preferred age to get her tonsils and adenoids out. I say preferred age because Heather mentioned that this surgery is hard on littles, they can have excessive bleeding, or they have to come back in for IV fluids, or that they simply just have a hard time taking motrin and tylenol while they are healing, I understood and was grateful she told me that, but once i mentioned that over the counter medications to reduce swelling would not fix the problem and I was not changing my mind about the procedure she started to get really stern. Of everything of my concerns mentioned above, I was the most concerned about her breathing at night, because Ive seen it. Heather told me “I know it looks scary, but she still has her nose.. she’s going to breathe.” I simply asked her “Well if she still has her nose, why is she only using her mouth to breathe? Why does it sound like she has a stick of butter in her throat when trying to speak to me?” “More importantly why do I hear her panting on my steps when I am downstairs if she has her nose to breathe?”. Heather had no answer for me and just offered a sleep test to see why she was obstructing and croaking in her sleep. I knew this was more than just a tonsil issue & we proceeded with surgery. My three year old daughter had her tonsils and adenoids removed by Dr Bennett. He came out midway through the procedure and asked “How does she sleep at night?” very concerned. I said “She is usually on her belly because i’m assuming the tissue falls forward enabling her to breathe better.” He later finished up and stated her tonsils were a level 3/4 & definitely needed to come out and sighed with relief that she’s never had strep with tonsils this big because her adenoids were blocking 80% of her airway! That’s right! My daughter was breathing through a pinhole through her mouth down into her throat. With Doc verbally telling me that, and it also being in her report on the UPMC app.. my blood just boils that Heather Greening CRNP just brushed this off. My daughter handled the procedure so well! She ate, drank and played like she just didn’t have her throat cauterized. She is on the Autism Spectrum and is now able to speak sentences too, now that all that tissue is out of there. She sleeps better & isn’t on edge from having disrupted sleep, she’s also eating more foods and is just overall a happier kid. So thank you to the wonderful male PA (didn’t get his name) for recommending the surgery & Dr Bennett for doing the absolute best!!! As for Heather, please let me be the last parent you say “they still have their nose” when questioning breathing due to...

My 2 year old daughter had surgery on Aug 27th at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. She had surgery on both of her feet the second toe next to her pinky toes. My family woke up at 3:45am on the 27th to make sure my daughter got something to drink before for 5am cut off. The surgery went well, however when the breathing tube came out all my daughter did was scream and cry from 10:30am on the 27th all the way till the 28th at 9am the next morning. She didn't sleep all night and either did my husband and myself. She kept complaining about her feet. I understand she just had surgery the day before. It's hard to understand what is really hurting my daughter when she can't say what it is. I made multiple phone calls to Children's in Bridgeville to see if I could get my daughter a same day appt. No one answered my calls or voicemails. I was very upset, I ended up getting a call from the hospital seeing how my daughter was feeling after surgery. I explained to the lady on the phone what was happening. She advised me if I couldn't get a "same day appt" to call her back and she will have someone waiting for us at the ER. She advised me she could have an infection or something else could be wrong. She would have them unwrap her feet and check her toes. I drove 1 1/2 hrs to get there, the MD assistant came in and I expressed my situation with my daughter's feet hurting. That doctor would NOT unwrap my daughter's feet to see what was wrong! She wrapped them with coband over top her other exsiting dressings, she gave my daughter Motrin and sent us home. They didn't care about my daughter's health or her pain in her feet. The lady was very nasty and so was the Bridgeville office once they desided to call me back. All they wanted was to collect my $125 copay. If I would have known they weren't going to do what they said they were I wouldn't of went. Lastnight my daughter unwrapped her dressing and what was under that was utterly disgusting and I know for sure that they were hurting, it's terrible that they made her deal with this pain for this long. My daughter's right foot the toe that had surgery was completely open with no stiches and HUGE BLISTERS all over both of her feet! I have called to make my daughter's follow up appointments since last Wednesday and no one can return my calls. It took my daughter's pediatrician to get my a phone call from these people. There is poor communication with that hospital. Now where my daughter's feet like that on Wednesday when the hospital neglected my daughter's needs when I took her into the ER? I'm very disappointed in this hospital and I shouldn't have to pay the copay due to them not taking care of my daughter like they should have. If I could figure out how to post pictures of her feet I would. Update: I took my daughter to her pediatrician today 9-6-19. She ended up getting a cold, he also looked at her feet. He was so disappointed that the doctor's didnt check her feet on Wednesday in the ER on 8-28-19 or do anything for her on 9-3-19. He advised me that her toes shouldn't be cut open like that 10 days out of surgery. He can't believe she is able to walk, and they didn't put her on any medicine to help her not get an infection with them being fresh open wounds. He also disappointed that my daughter is being neglected like this. The soonest post op appointment I was able to get is 9-30-19. My daughter is suffering and no one wants to help her from Children's. I can't thank my daughter's pediatrician for stepping in and trying to help! Parents we know our children better than anyone else, we know when something is wrong! Don't let anyone tell you differently about your child. Taking my daughter back to Children's ER. I hope she gets the...

I honestly don’t think this hospital deserves a one star, but sadly that’s the only option to leave a review. Tuesday 5/27/2025 @8:13 am my son sends me a text from school asking what a migraine feels like. My response was for him to go to the nurse. Around 9:14 am the school nurse calls stating he is c/o of a headache and vomiting. I pick him up around 9:30am. While driving home, I was questioning the sequence of events. He started slurring his words, left arm went numb and became disoriented. I drove him directly to Wexford AHN Emergency Department. They acted quickly; taking him in and getting him a CT scan. I went outside to call my husband and heard them paging “life flight, stat!” They airlifted my son to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to have a STAT MRI. He arrived before I did (10am or earlier). I arrived at 10:27 am (with construction and traffic driving from Wexford PA). Walking into a sea of students/residents around him. He hears my voice, but at this point he can not see me. He sat in the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Emergency Dept for 7 hours before they did a MRI!! How does a life flight mean nothing to this hospital? Several hours later and once admitted, an ophthalmologist resident walks in after midnight. Examined his eyes and told me he needed a “lumbar puncture due to his optic nerves being swollen” I told him I needed a second opinion and refused to consent. At 3 am, the nurse with a nursing student who is shadowing wanted to cath my son due to him not be able to void. Again didn’t consent. This resulted in “bladder scans” for them to see how much urine was in his bladder (he wasn’t uncomfortable and trying to sleep). She walks in again to tell us he can’t have anything by mouth due to them needing a MRI. I insisted he had a MRI (she said he had a 5 minute MRI) I insisted he had both due to him being sedated they did both and suggested her to check with the ED. After the inconsistencies, lack of quality of care, I requested to be transferred to AHN due to not having any answers, or seeing a neurologist or MD. A resident (general pediatrics) walks in to explain what was going on. I asked why we haven’t seen a neurologist. Around 4:15 am neuro called me. At this point I had nothing to say to them via a phone call. Only then when I requested a transfer and 5 hours later (8am 5/28) almost 24 hours later we saw the first specialist (neurologist). The neurology and the ophthalmic teams are the only reason I stayed. They were incredible! My issue is I had to ask for a transfer and advocate for my son to see the teams my son needed to see. Results: his optic nerves weren’t swollen, they’re shaped that way. There are too many inconsistencies, but one is certain…They do not take a life flight as an emergency. I do not want any parent or child to experience what we went through. It being a nightmare doesn’t truly describe this experience. We were at the mercy of a hospital who didn’t act accordingly. Again, if they don’t take a life flight seriously and as an emergency - how could they take anything seriously?? Please seek other options and let’s pray AHN opens a...