AdventHealth North Pinellas — Local services in Tarpon Springs

My adventure started at the free-standing advent health ER on US HWY 19. The staff there was amazing. I went there for upper right abdominal pain. After testing and ultra sounds it turned out my gallbladder was the culprit. As a pretty healthy 22 year old this was a shock, I thought maybe I was being dramatic, and I almost opted into being discharged. But my body was telling me something was wrong, so I chose to be transferred to advent health North Pinellas. Upon arrival I was greeted by my first nurse, Lorin. She was on the 8th floor with me. I immediately felt a sense of comfort from her, as I was scared of what was coming for me. I only had Lorin for a couple hours that night before my night nurse Chris came in. Chris was my nurse for two nights, and he offered me support and comfort during a scary time for me. I was alone during the night as my family went home, but Chris always made me feel like I was safe there. When I found out I needed to have my gallbladder removed, it was a pretty shocking bit of news to receive. Chris talked me through what happened when he got his gallbladder removed, and gave me some peace of mind. The next day, I was still on the 8th floor and my nurse was Becca. Becca was so sweet, caring, and showed me empathy during a very scary time. She was gentle and made sure I was ok before doing anything else. She even gave me a hug when her shift ended and she was leaving me. I had Lorin as my nurse on the day of my surgery. She was able to get me some medicine to help me calm down and she truly cared about me. She was so thoughtful and kind. She even checked on me after surgery when I got moved to the 7th floor. I had two nurses on the 7th floor, Liz and Roz. They were both amazing and I can’t say enough good things about them. They helped me after my surgery and took great care of me. I can’t get over how amazing the staff was here, from the housekeeping, to the transporters, to the techs, to the nurses, to the doctors. The tech on the 8th floor, Nikki she was so sweet and amazing too! There were a couple other techs , i don’t remember their names but they were great. Even the radiologist looked out for me during my CT scan and helped me advocate for myself! I don’t remember her name but she was so nice! I felt supported and helped by every single one of them. This was a very scary experience for me as a young person who had never even been admitted into a hospital before and now I was having to have surgery. I wish I could personally thank and hug every single person that took care of me during my stay from 2/22/23-2/25/23 on the 8th floor and the 7th floor. And to the surgeon, Dr. Frattini and the surgical staff including the pre-op and post-op staff, I was on a lot of medication so I do not remember everything but I do remember you guys being kind and careful. Dr. Frattini did a great job and treated me as if he had known me forever. He was personable and caring. This whole experience was something I never imagined myself going through, especially not at this point in my life. It can feel scary and lonely but the staff here at advent health never made me feel scared or alone. I felt a sense of comfort and security...

Two Months in the Hospital, One Doctor Who Truly Cared

Note: The 1-star rating reflects the overall hospital experience, not the ER staff or Dr. Kaszuba, who were outstanding.

The ER staff and Dr. Kaszuba were amazing — compassionate, thorough, and the only ones who truly fought for my mother. The rest of our experience at Adventhealth was heartbreaking.

When we first brought my mother to the hospital, we didn’t even know what was wrong. Within one day, hospice was aggressively pushed on us. I was pressured to sign a DNR even though my mother was awake and breathing on her own. They essentially wanted me to “make her comfortable” and let her starve to death before investigating the cause of her illness.

Before the PEG tube was even placed — about a week into her stay — Dr. Patel told my awake and alert mother she had no chance and we should ‘let her die.’ Hearing that while she was conscious was devastating and unacceptable.

We eventually fired Dr. Patel, and Dr. Kaszuba took over — the best thing that could have happened. He pushed for answers and discovered the cause of my mother’s weight loss when everyone else gave up. Yet even then, no specialists wanted to help, claiming she was “too weak.”

For a full month, I resisted signing a DNR despite constant pressure. They even tried to trick me into signing a full DNR until I had to call Dr. Kaszuba at night to ensure my wishes were respected. Only after he assured me that chest compressions and intubation would do more harm than good did I agree to a limited DNR — nothing more. Other life-saving measures, like epinephrine, were still allowed.

Machines were left off, the oxygen she was getting through her nose was constantly off her nose and we either had to fix it ourselves or get a nurse to do it, the bed was often in the wrong position, and critical details were missed despite my daily presence. We were told her organs were failing — then they weren’t. Told she was in a coma — but she was following commands and squeezing my hand.

Her heart rate dropped once, epinephrine was given, and it worked. It didn’t drop again until over a month later, but the ICU doctor arrogantly refused to give epinephrine because she was a DNR — even though the medication was not prohibited and could have saved her again. His incompetence and attitude cost my mother her chance.

Through it all, when every other doctor gave up, Dr. Kaszuba told me he had not given up on my mother. He was the only doctor at that hospital who truly fought for her life instead of rushing us toward hospice. That dedication and compassion are what every patient deserves.

Families deserve real answers, dignity, and doctors who fight for life — not pressure, neglect, and mixed messages. If this review spares even one family from what we went through, then my mother’s suffering will not have...

In my record it states that I didn’t tell the doctor that I was allergic to NSAIDS with I did inform him. Let’s get the record straight the doctor asked what I was allergic to and I told him he said I didn’t and then proceeded to argue with me meaning he did not listen to me or how I was feeling, these doctors try to play God and act like we as the patients do not know our own bodies they make that decision for you. I look at my medical records to see what these doctors write about me. See they can put in your file whatever they want, yet because they can and who will believe a patient over a doctor, so now other doctors read what they put in your file and that doctor now believes what the doctor has written meaning prolonging correct treatment. In my file because I do go to the hospital a lot as I do have medical conditions but the doctors know my body I call bullshit. We as patients know our body and what we are doing through so of course in my record I’m considered a drug seeker or frequent flyer. I’m so tired of these doctors making me out to be the bad guy because they don’t want to treat my symptoms or even listen to a patient. Can we awesome that doctors are drug seekers or smoke marijuana or maybe they are an alcoholic now if the roles were reversed how would they feel. See doctors don’t really know the patient until they read what other doctors wrote and of course what other doctors write about is gold and each time they write a report on you, you as a person has been tagged by doctors that know nothing about your life style. Do we even know about there life style and how they treat their patients. This world is pretty sad to think people only go to the hospital to search out drugs. See if I were a drug seeker I sure the hell wouldn’t go to an emergency room when it all over the streets. So call me what you will in y’all’s lieing ass reports, I guess yall are the judges of patients and you see fit in what other doctors say in your report witch we can not have removed as I have tried. Stop playing God and listen to your patients they know what’s wrong with their body yall are supposed to help isn’t that what you went to school for because maybe someone in y’all’s life someone got sick and you wanted to become a doctor to help others including these nurses with bad attitudes we as the people stop judging your patients and listen to how we feel with bedside manners because we are not there for the fun of it. You didn’t go to school to become a lawyer you went to school to help people not judge them. Feeling ashamed of these hospitals...