Good Samaritan Hospital — Local services in San Jose

I’m writing to formally file a complaint regarding the treatment I received at GS Hospital on Sun., Mar. 9, 2025, between approx. 4:15-4:30 PM. The attending physician was Dr. Anthony Lim, the practitioner was Nancy Farah, and the assigned nurse was identified as “CTM.”

I arrived at the ER in severe distress after returning from a work trip in Orlando, Florida. My symptoms included an extremely high fever of 103.9°F, severe body aches, chills, pounding headache, and difficulty breathing due to persistent coughing. Given the severity of my condition, I chose to seek emergency medical care at Good Samaritan, a hospital I have trusted in the past.

My initial check-in experience was positive. The staff member handling my insurance information was courteous, along with the initial nurse who provided me with warm blankets. However, from that point forward, my experience took a drastic turn for the worse.

Once in the exam area, I wasn’t provided with a gown or a bag for my personal belongings, as has been standard in my previous visits. Instead, the assigned nurse, CTM, abruptly instructed me to remove my jacket so that an IV could be placed. Her demeanor was rough and dismissive from the start. She did not show me how to use the remote to call for assistance, nor did she check in on me as I endured extreme discomfort throughout the long hours. Luckily, the cleaning staff came to my aide. They adjusted my bed and pulled the remote from behind the bed. I’d been left alone for a while, w/each cough soiled my clothing due to my condition which I sat in for sometime making matters worse. It got so cold and unbearable and requested assistance from the remote. She was surprised to find the remote on me too. Rather than offering any semblance of compassion or dignity, she left the room, came back leaving a pee pad, disposable underwear, an incontinance pad and a gown, without any direction or privacy considerations. When I asked where I could change, she coldly stated, “Right there,” making no effort to draw the curtain or provide any assistance. I was forced to change in an exposed and humiliating manner, feeling entirely disregarded as a patient and a human being.

I was left in a cold room with minimal blankets, and when I expressed my discomfort, she intentionally adjusted the filtration system, making the room even colder. She repeatedly dismissed my concerns, making callous and sarcastic remarks about my condition. At no point did she offer me water, check on my pain levels, or demonstrate even the most basic level of humanity or compassion. Most egregiously, despite asking multiple times, I never once saw the doctor. The only update I received was from a nurse who briefly informed me that my test results were negative and that they were working to reduce my fever.

When it was time to discharge, the removal of my IV was especially painful. There was no apology, no acknowledgment of the pain she caused—just indifference.

When my friend arrived to pick me up around 9:30 PM, I was emotionally and physically drained. There was no discharge discussion, no review of medications, and no offer to answer any final questions. I was simply handed a stack of papers and sent on my way. The entire experience felt dehumanizing, as if I were a burden rather than a patient in need of care.

As someone who has relied on Good Samaritan’s emergency services in the past, I’m appalled by this experience. This nurse’s behavior was unprofessional, cruel, and entirely unacceptable. The lack of compassion, attention, and basic patient care left me feeling humiliated and deeply unsettled. No patient should ever be made to feel like a nuisance when they are seeking emergency medical attention.

I request that this incident be formally reviewed and that appropriate action be taken to ensure that no other patient experiences the same mistreatment. At the very least, I would like to understand why this level of neglect was allowed to occur and what measures are being taken to prevent it in the...

If it is life & death, or if you need the best Emergency Room physicians & nurses, Good Samaratin is the place. I doubt I would be alive without the exceptional team at Good Samaritan in 2016 & as a former ER nurse, I know it was “an impossible save” in 2015. Improvements in ICU care noted: a brilliant architect designed RN computer seats between rooms of two assigned patients. ICU RN provide bedside care, & as a patient I knew if my RN was with second patient: I would wait to call for non-urgent matters, resulting in better use of RN time. However, I would learn staffing problems persist in the extreme, & “temporary” issues with newly constructed parts of hospital are clearly permanent: told management/owners removed the large airconditioning additions placed while work proceeded on AC, until it became clear AC will never function. Chaplins laugh at the “temporarily out of order” sign on elevator, hung in 2015! How was it possible for project managers to release the thousands paid for AC, before patients able to stay in rooms with reasonable temperature?

The ongoing problems associated with shoddy construction, impact patients & staff in varying ways. My wonderful Intensivist MD was raised & trained in Syria, & he, like other physicians accustomed to warmer temperatures of the Middle East, or India are functioning well, even in the summer when some patient rooms reach mid 80s & the humidity leaves many patients very uncomfortable. PT explained a number of the blue codes, or other urgent requests for help with respiratory distress can be room temperatures too warm for patients with COPD to breath: a neubulizer treatment offers no more help to the patient, than calling in engineering to “fix” the AC that has never worked!

The Wound Care clinic has hired Dr. Donn, an expert in debridement, & his FP knowledge complements Dr. Kaplan: learning my injuries occurred in Mexico, Dr. Donn uncovered a bacteria rarely found in U.S.A.. Sadly, the wound clinic is now double booking patients, leading to wait times of up to 2.5 hours: 15 minutes with MD at first visit, 8-10 minutes with MD for F/U visits. I was seen in the wound clinic three years ago, & I suspect Dr. Kaplan continues to strive for perfection: Three years ago, it was a joy to learn Dr. Kaplan timed a visit to the hospital to request free samples for a costly would care product not covered by my insurance: patient & MD problem solving together. Dr, Kaplan has worked to hire & train new talent: now, physicians are showing signs of stress of unreasonable booking practices. Dr. Donn, thought I was questioning his skills with a scalpel: I was admiring his skill! Might I suggest paying Dr. Donn and one RN time & a half to see select F/U patients at additional times: change the phone message to let patients know, there is no receptionist during extended hours. Good Samaritan Wound Clinic has advanced considerably in three years, now it is time to protect your exceptional staff.

As a PhD medical anthropologist, I think it maybe time for the city to establish a volunteer group to take a look at the new urgent care centers opening in town. A list of all urgent cares, including services/insurances, should be noted at both hospitals, and on the city information site. Good Samaritan might make an effort to direct less seriously ill patients to one of the new clinics, knowing Good Samaritan physicians and nurses remain the best option in...

I had a life threatening experience at my home and was revived by paramedics and transported to Good Samaritan ER, where I was in ICU, and subsequently moved to a care floor. My total hospital stay was 3 nights.

Although clearly my life was saved and i was discharged on the road to recovery, the overall experience was alarmingly negative, even barbaric and inhumane; more in line with something one would expect in a developing country. What I witnessed from the hospital bed added emotional trauma to the medical condition for which I was admitted.

The overall professionalism, expertise, dedication and bedside manner of the nursing and other support staff was very positive, but I witnessed the work of these otherwise caring individuals severely jeopardized by the model in which they had to work, causing various irregularities that varied from inconvenience to negatively impacting the quality of my care.

From my hospital bed I witnessed the following:

I heard my elderly roommate moaning in pain for extended periods. She was given medication which made her so sleepy she was not able to eat or respond to her granddaughter’s visit. The granddaughter told me besides pain from her bladder infection, she had pain from bed sores that were irritated by contact with feces from a soiled bedsheet she was using for incontinence. I also heard the nursing staff struggle to communicate with this woman for even the most basic of questions due to her extreme drug induced sleepiness.

I heard cries of “Help me” from other rooms on my floor.

I was given several abdominal injections of a medication without telling me what it was. I was appalled to subsequently learn it was (Heparin?)routinely administered as a blood thinner. What if I had suffered internal injuries from the injuries of the fall for which I had been admitted?

I was advised not to walk around my room barefoot because the floors were not clean.

The food was deplorable. Part of my after care involved recovery from the poor quality and limited choices offered. My first “meal” after arriving from ICU was an unidentifiable glob of yellow pasty goo that once was macaroni and cheese.

The prescription medication that i needed to order and continue with was omitted on my discharge paperwork. It took a very long time to contact someone who could order it, and when that finally happened it was not available at my pharmacy. I never got the call letting me know it was available for pickup. I am still dealing with that fungal infection almost two months later.

I did not see my attending physician until very briefly the evening before my discharge. She was condescending, cursory, and clearly had limited interest or knowledge of why I was there in any detailed way.There was no physical exam or queries of any kind. When she heard my stomach gurgle she asked “Are you hungry?”

I may be contacted for any follow up to what I have...