HMH Pascack Valley Medical Center — Local services in Westwood

I had Bariatric surgery earlier this week in Pacack Valley . The experience has been horrific . Not entirely : I hope that my surgeon really did a superb job he promised ( won’t know for a while ) , I had an INCREDIBLE pre op nurse named Anne , and on the floor there was one great nurse , I think Julia ? I might be off , blond , energetic and with a ponytail , and a wonderful overnight nurse, a guy named Daniel who literally got me through this procedure by immediately responding to my needs and requests for pain and nausea medication and being the only one ( along with a nurse I described above for one day ) who offered a kind word . The staff on the floor ( after the surgery , were cold and stand offish . Often they did not respond at all when I pressed the help button . When I asked to be disconnected from an IV so I could walk ( they NEVER initiated this ! While it ‘ s crucial for healing ) , they came an hour later acting super annoyed . Getting my IV to turn on again was always a story of its own . I found myself walking less then I wanted to and should have as I did not want to bother the cold nurses . This can be a dangerous practice .

I don’t tolerate general anesthesia well , yet until I adamantly requested pain meds , they were not administered ! Same with anti nausea . Originally , my doctor shared that I would be on narcotics 2 or 3 days as needed. By day 2 , I was unable to hold down even a sip of water . It would come right up . They did not bring me an emesis dish and never brought me a new gown to replace the one where I vomited on myself and cleaned up with paper towels . By day two when once again when I requested pain meds ( which I was promised before the surgery ) , a nurse arrived with a pill . I told her there is no way in hell u can swallow it . After more deliberation ( this is day 2 post op ! Of course I should be on strong stuff ) , a doctor showed up . He literally shamed me for being unable to swallow pills yet ( day 2 ! ) and needing serious Odin meds . He said : I can order more , but understand that these are narcotics .

I literally said : Duh ! That ‘ s the idea ! I have zero history of drug abuse , but I need this now and you promised to keep me as comfortable as possible . I was reluctantly given a dose

Again . Thank God for Daniel , the night nurse who gave me drugs for prom and nausea as quickly as I asked !

I brought my coal machine from home … it took 3 hours to get a respiratory tech to bring me distilled water for it . When he did , I still could not move at all and asked him to pour it . He fiddled with it , eventually telling me he will get someone else … I waited for 2 more hours to get the machine running . The final straw was a medication for high blood pressure that I requested at 11 am and finally got at 8 pm when I was finally being discharged of this hell hole .

Other than the preop nurse , the sweet blond nurse and night nurse Daniel , no one pronounces a word of support . None . No one said a kind word either . The surgeon could have found something encouraging to say a well . Maybe once or twice ? Annoying how his bedside manner changes from the times I was still deciding to have surgery , I know my insurance reimburses well , and how there was a 180 after the surgery :( he seemed like a good professional and was very thorough . A slightly different attitude post up , an occasional “ hang in there “ , or “ You ‘ ve got this “ would have gone such a long way :(

Midnight my issues are with the nursing stuff . Surgeons are known to be blunt .

I would never choose this place for any procedure . Not in a...

This hospital is a horror show!

A friend of my family collapsed from a heart attack across the street, his boss performed CPR and brought him back, he opened his eyes… was breathing and moving his arms. He proceeded to call 911… the emergency services took about 20+ min to arrive despite the hospital being across the street!

They then proceeded to take their time unloading the equipment and providing medical aid. They are so lucky that I am not family, that his family lives in another country, that I don’t have the time, energy or resources at present to request an investigation!

HE DIED! His boss revived him and after they took him … at some point between transport and arrival he died! - time is of the essence in a cardiac emergency and the negligence displayed was unacceptable! Perhaps because he was an undocumented worker they didn’t care as much but also he didn’t look like one tall, white, blonde, so perhaps the carelessness is universal.

While visiting the hospital to identify the body, we requested for my mother and another friend to go in together. Again we are not family but we were the closest thing to family he had in the US. We knew the family would be choosing cremation because of financial reasons so both my mother and the other friend asked if they could go on together to see the body as they knew it would likely be their only opportunity for them to say goodbye and for friends to say goodbye to him so he wouldn’t go into cremation in such a lonely unceremoniously way …the nurse answered “ it’s not a viewing” is an identification.

I am always someone who plays nice out of caution in order to make sure I get things handled especially when others are counting on me, but oh man! I wanted to tell that woman off so badly! “ it’s not a viewing” ??? Really we had the two people in this country who were closest to him, we didn’t bring an entourage we brought two people who wanted to say goodbye and you have the nerve to deprive them of their only chance to say goodbye? I hope if she ever finds herself in such situation that the person in her shoes will have more compassion.

To finish off things great, I got a call several days later about 3… from a woman in some department related to the morgue asking me if we had plans for the body?… yup! This is the call I got. THE BODY WAS AT THE FUNERAL HOME!!!!!!! she was like oh disregard this call I have like three bodies in the morgue and I should’ve checked and I should’ve updated my files before calling you… THE NERVE! THE LACK OF CARE! THE LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM! I literally panicked! Like oh my god where is he? Is the funeral home lying? Do they have the right body? What do I tell his family members back home? NO ONE SHOULD GET A CALL LIKE THAT especially while grieving! She made it sound like she had sacks of potatoes in a fridge …Oh I have like three bodies in the morgue! NO YOU HAD THREE LOVED ONES, THREE PEOPLE, THREE PRECIOUS REMAINS THAT YOU ARE ENTRUSTED WITH! I was utterly disgusted!

This hospital is scary and after that call I have no question that something questionable happened and that he probably died due...

Horrible experience from the time I walked into the doors of the er. I was seen on 6/15/2023 for a very severe thumb injury. The intake at the front desk had entered my information wrong and didn’t think there was an issue with it. My middle initial was put in wrong, normally not a big deal but when insurance is involved, it becomes a big deal. 3 times I asked for the information to be changed so I didn’t have an issue with it and 3 times it was not until I refused to leave unless they corrected the issue. The nurse practitioner that saw me, was very insincere and not very knowledgeable as to diagnosing the issue. The X-rays came back as nothing broken but there was a bone out of alignment, wrote me a work note to return to work in 2 days, meanwhile my thumb was incredibly swollen and I couldn’t move it. I was also supposed to receive a pain injection to help with the swelling as well, never received it, but was charged for it. When I asked the front desk about it, her ( different person than did the intake) response was “ well workmans comp is paying for it anyways “… that wasn’t the point. You guys were trying to charge me for something I never received. Then I had to go see a hand specialist and the hospital made it damn near impossible for the insurance company and drs office to get my records. I had to miss work more than once to go to the hospital. I was told over the phone to go to the records department to fill out a release of information . I walk in, spoke with the greeter who proceeded to tell me there was no records department. I had to go to the registration department. So after I wait for about 15 minutes (missing more work) , someone comes in and tells me that I need to go to the records department… the one I was just told does not exist. I fill out paper work, which by the way was not a signature as I was told over the phone, it was an entire page of info I had to fill out with an injured hand. I was also told they could not help me and fill it out for me. After filling out, I finally, get my records. They would not release any info directly to my insurance company or the drs office. I understand there are policies that need to be followed, however it was workmans comp insurance and a hand specialist requesting info for a hand injury I was seen at their hospital for. The next day, I needed the er discharge pw for the specialist and a referral from the er dr. , I go back to the records department, explain what I need to them and that I was there the day before to fill out the release, the receptionist tells me I need to fill out ANOTHER release… with the injured hand… you couldn’t just look up me info? As far as the referral, they would not write a referral to a specialist, even the ones provided to me by them. Lack of communication between departments at this hospital is absolutely ridiculous. Wouldn’t trust them to test me if I was dying. In the end, my diagnoses from the hand specialist was a torn ligament in my thumb on my dominant hand , surgery and 3 months out of work… thanks for the great care you guys provided. Just sayin’ this is why people...