Henry Ford Rochester Hospital — Local services in Rochester Hills

PART 2: Last week I posted that my 88 y/o grandmother was getting treated at this facility and that her treatment was less than satisfactory. Let's start at the beginning. We were originally concerned about a UTI as she was having extreme confusion and issues using the bathroom. Her GP who has Crittenton Affiliation gave us a sterile collection cup and asked us to bring her and the specimen back on Friday, 5/13 for a checkup. On Friday, he took one look at her and decided to admit her to Crittenton. Upon arrival at Crittenton, we were trying to give one of her nurses and/or doctors her specimen to be tested as this was still a major worry for us (UTI in the elderly can be dangerous). They didn't want the specimen we collected, they said they'd test for a UTI if they found it necessary. Well, obviously they didn't find it necessary (more on that later). We were alerted they day before her discharge that they were sending her to a rehab facility to get "stronger". A list of facilities was shoved in our face by a less than compassionate Social Worker who gave us about 4 minutes (literally) to make a decision. We fought against this discharge, we even tried calling her GP at 11pm the evening before and begged him to keep her admitted, as she wasn't stable. He informed us the next day that the Cardiologist (Dr. Goyle?) assured him that her heart was stable and she was ready to be released. LIES! Her heart rate was off the charts the night before she was released and it was still off the charts the day she arrived at the Rehab facility when they took her vitals. The evening before she got booted out, we inquired to the nurse about the original UTI test we requested, and she said "I'm not seeing anything in the record about a UTI test, but her white blood cell count appeared normal". She spent 4 days in the Rehab Facility, who, upon admission, questioned many of the decisions made at Crittenton: Why was she taken off her Alzheimers Medications cold turkey? Was she truly tested for a UTI? Why didn't they honor your request for a podiatrist to come and take care of her painful ingrown toenails? We had no answers for them, because Crittenton had no answers for us. Each day in the Rehab Facility, she became progressively worse. She went from being in bad shape to being at death's door. Last night, she was gasping for air, grimacing, thrashing and moaning loudly. The last type of communication she gave us was Monday afternoon, when out of the blue, she began spelling out a few random words to us. Yesterday, the only two words she spelled were "H O M E" and "H E L P". We felt powerless, and it was obvious that she was in serious pain. The rehab facility was great, but they did NOT have the equipment to deal with her condition, which is why I am AGAIN questioning Crittenton and their MORONIC standard of care. She was in so much pain and angst, the facility checked her vitals: heart rate at 160, uncontrolled by the Cardizem & Beta Blocker that Crittenton assured us would keep her stable...and they even gave her two doses of Ativan & Risperdal to try to control the thrashing and lower her heart rate. NOTHING. She was rushed to Beaumont Troy at 2am. The ER Doctor was by her side the second she arrived. Within 10 minutes he had diagnosed a severe case of Sepsis, brought on by, you guessed it...an undiagnosed UTI as well as pneumonia and acute cholecystitis. These aren't things that you just "get" in a 4 day span at a Rehab Facility. These are things that take time to fester and take over your body and progress into the type of infection that she is fighting as we speak. I'm thankful to Beaumont Troy for treating her like a person and not just another bed that needs to be cleared out ASAP. Crittenton, you may try to reach out to me again to attempt damage control, and you obviously have my phone number so feel free to call; just don't expect a very understanding person on the other end of the line, or accept any type of remorseful statement/apology you post on here. Disgusted is an understatement when it comes to...

My 88 year old grandmother has been in Crittenton for 5 days now with a suspected pulmonary embolism. She has A-Fib and is having recurring a-fib attacks while in the hospital. She's on the 5th floor (cardiology floor) and the bad experiences we've had have truly outweighed the good experiences. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

For starters, the doctors and nurses we encountered in the emergency room gave us the run down on what is wrong with my grandma; she has clots in her legs and one has most likely traveled to her chest. She'd need to be on continuous blood thinners to help break up the clots. She's VERY weak and frail. She can't sit up on her own without help. Every nurse and doctor we've encountered since then have told us a contradictory story...one says she doesn't have a clot in her lung, but the other one says they're 99% sure she does.

I came to visit my grandma in the hospital on Saturday around noon. I walked into her room and and noticed that her lunch was all over her, there was wet brown liquid all over herself and her sheets, and upon further investigation, she was sitting halfway on a bedpan. Of course when I saw this, I immediately thought her bedpan spilled, but then realized she had spilled the cup of tea from her lunch all over herself. The brown liquid was freezing cold, as if it had been there forever and I still couldn't figure out why there was a bedpan half under her. I hit the red button on her bed to get a nurse, and about 10 minutes later, one walked in acting put off by our request. I pointed out the spill and the bedpan and she said "let me go look for her to get help"....look for who? another 10 minutes go by and another nurse comes in and says "she asked me for help but I don't know where she went?" and by that point I just told her these sheets need to be changed RIGHT NOW before her skin started chaffing. I also asked her why she was sitting halfway on a bedpan and she acted like she had no idea how it got there!

Not done yet. Yesterday I got to the hospital and my grandma was in her bed panting like a dog, having a very hard time catching her breath. I panicked and hit the emergency button to call a nurse....AGAIN, 15 minutes go by and there is NO nurse to be found. I walked out to an empty nurses station and had to flag down whoever I can find. Sure enough, she was having an a-fib attack and her heartrate was going 160+ bpm. They tell us they'll send in a doctor for some tests shortly. About 30 minutes later, a doctor we've never met before came in and acted oblivious to my grandmother's case, didn't have a file to review and acted like he was Sherlock Holmes because he pointed out "she may have a clot up here" as he pointed at his chest..UM?! We were told this 4 days ago! Why are we always going in circles?!

A while later after he ran his tests, we noticed that her heart medicine IV was unattached from the IV stand and laying on the table beside my grandmother. We thought there was a mistake, because we've never seen a nurse just lay a bag of medicine on a table with the tubes attached to it, almost like it appears that someone forgot to hook it up to my grandmother. So my mother and I walked out to the nurses station to calmly inquire about this. A blonde nurse with a NASTY attitude wouldn't even look up from her paperwork as we asked her about the heart medicine...she rolled her eyes a bit and said "Makila is your nurse.....she's very good at what she does....she's been doing this for years, you know" with a dismissive tone, like she's so above being asked such "ridiculous" questions.

Nope..STILL NOT DONE! Today, Physical Therapy visited my grandmother's room, as they do every morning, and stood next to her bed and said "Okay...get up." --- WHAT?! Like I said earlier in this review, she can't even sit up on her own. She's BEYOND weak and frail, she's roughly 83 pounds and I'm sure that number is shrinking due to her loss of muscle due to being the bed for days. I'm LIVID right now and at a loss for words over...

This is the worse place to get yourself treated. I visited this hospital for a yearly check up (which is included in the insurance free of cost once a year). I specifically asked doctor to consider only those things that are included in the insurance. This was done in the December month last year. After this there was no communication for next 7-8 months. I also did not call them because I was not expecting a bill. But suddenly some 10 days back I got a bill which was already transferred to another agency for recovery. Along with the bill was a letter stating that I was sent multiple communications which I had not respond to and I had pending bill. Well first of all I never received any bill or letters for eight months, secondly, if there was any such thing they should have called and confirm. Lastly, why should I pay this bill? I was treated 8months back and I was assured that everything is covered in the insurance and I need to pay nothing. Then why all this mess now? However I tried calling up the billing department to clarify but surprisingly the internal departments in the hospital are not at all synchronized and patients have to go through all sufferings due to management and doctor's mistakes. First I called billing department (number was mentioned on the bill), but they said they could do nothing (as they displayed their department phone number on the bill just for fun). They told me to call the doctor, but they themselves didn't had doctor's contact details or office number. I had to make multiple calls to somehow get to the doctor's office number. Again doctor also do not take the responsibility for the error that happened and asked to call Wyane state (which is not the part of the hospital anymore). Well somehow I got that number and called them up and they clearly said they have nothing to do with the bill. Its the doctor who gives the codes to billing department and they are the ones who needs to change the billing codes. Well, I again reached out to the doctor and she gave the same stupid argument again. I had to explain her that she has to change the codes and give it. Finally she accepts the mistake and confirms that there was bill code error and that needs to be updated and new bill needs to be generated. But she said she already realized this and made the necessary changes 4 months back.But this was not updated in the billing department it seems. After little more research I came to know that there was not coordination between the billing department and the doctor. Billing department said when doctors change the codes on the system from the back end it does not get reflected in their system automatically. I was told to contact the doctor again, and take the codes personally and submit it to the billing department myself. I again got back to the doctor but this time she started avoiding my calls. Every-time I called up and receptionist did not transfer my call to the doctor, and gave me std reasons that doctor was busy and was not calling me back hence. This continued for 10 days. Well, I understand doctor could be busy but if I had been calling continuously from last 10 days, it should be enough for the doctor to grab the attention and come on the call for two minutes and tell me the new billing codes. Then finally after 10 days I told the receptionist, if I do not get either the new codes or atleast the doctor on call today then I am going to file a police complaint. And finally, receptionist made some efforts, she kept me on hold for about 20 minutes and told me that she got the codes from the doctor. It was a small five minutes of efforts for receptionist as well as the doctor but neither of them were willing to help the customer. I would recommend everyone to avoid visiting this hospital. However, if anyone and too much of free time and is willing to go through all this struggle of running behind them then they can visit...