Shriners Children's New England — Local services in Springfield

Extremely disappointed in the care I received at Shriners Hospital. I came to Shriners for a second opinion with my 1year old son approximately 3 months after a lower leg fracture. I wanted a specified plan of care by a physician who solely treats children. We had our first visit and it was nothing different than our previous orthopedic. After a follow up with one of my sons primary physicians who voiced her concern about his leg. I asked to be seen for another appointment and specifically requested to see an MD in place of the NP we saw the first time. I was told this couldn’t happen and the NP was who I would be able to see. I obliged and had the follow up appointment to be told “everything was fine” with my son and to stop worrying. About 5 weeks after that visit I called Shriners and requested to be seen because for the first time since my son broke his leg he was showing signs of pain and limping on his affected leg. I left a message with the triage nurse around 2pm and got a call back within 15 minutes, I explained the situation to the nurse who said she would speak to the physician and get back to me. I did not hear back from Shriners for 24 hours after I initially called and the nurse simply told me to “give my son some Motrin” To receive a phone call 24 hours after I requested to be seen for a change in my sons condition is absolutely unacceptable. This in turn forced me to seek emergency care for my son elsewhere. Which resulted in me requesting his records to be sent to them immediately after. I completed the records release form the same day and the receptionist assured me if I had the office who needed the records call and ask for them to be expedited it would not be a problem. A week later at our follow up appointment still no records had been sent. I am discouraged, angry and hurt at the way I have been treated while advocating for my son to receive the highest level of care he deserves and hope no parent has to feel...

Shriner's just does it right. After having a less than stellar experience at our local orthopedics practice, because they said they had a pediatric specialist and they did not. This was three years ago when my daughter was three and we and her primary physician had concerns about a leg length discrepancy and knock knees, we came to Shriner's. We returned last week for a follow up. The thing about Shriner's is that they have a focus on the care of the child over all else. Our other orthopedic practice was focused on getting us in and out with little time for explanations and was more focused on getting us booked for another appointment than just admitting they didn't have much expertise with children. Of course most of the time was focused on how we were going to pay our specialist copay and what insurance we had. The difference at Shriner's is caring and expertise (in our case) with children's orthopedics. From the minute you walk in the door, everyone is focused on the patient. The entire experience is helping that child. They know how to treat children and connect with them at their level. From the security guards, to checkin staff, nurses, volunteers to play with the children while waiting, radiology staff and doctors all focus on the child. This is the way healthcare should be delivered. The Doctors and PAs took time to explain and answer our questions and address our concerns. I know this seems very flowery, but this hospital's care is an example of how to do it right. Thank...

I can’t speak good things enough about Shriners hospital in Springfield. This hospital has really changed my whole life. It has been 15 years since I had my AP scoliosis surgery done. These doctors and nurses really went out of their way to take good care of me after my 13 hour scoliosis surgery I thought I wasn’t going to make it out of the surgery but from the help and support from my doctors in my family members they were there cheering me on getting me through this major scoliosis procedure. I am 31 years old now and I have overcome so much from my scoliosis surgery. I am doing my fun active activities that I have been enjoying doing for a very long time. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to dance again or walk again after my procedure. I am back doing dancing again and able to do my physical fitness activities that I am enjoy doing now than before. Peter Masso was my doctor that did my scoliosis surgery he was a wonderful and supportive doctor to me and my family. Honestly Shriners is a very special place to me and my family. If it weren’t for Shriners hospital I wouldn’t be able to do any of these things that I love doing before thank you Shriners hospital for changing my whole entire life. If it weren’t for you I don’t know where I...