South Shore Hospital — Local services in Weymouth

Do not go here; the 2-point something average rating for this ER is generous. While I understand that a couple of local hospitals closed recently, I do not understand the complete lack of organization, transparency, urgency, or even caring that we experienced during a recent visit. My 80-year-old father's heart was skipping quite a number of heart beats, and he was feeling fatigued; my aunt and uncle (both doctors) told us to go to the ER. I thought, "it can't be as bad as the reviews". We got there at 5:30 PM, and as of 7:30 AM the next morning (FOURTEEN HOURS LATER), we still hadn't seen a doctor. The waiting room was a mess; they kept calling people repeatedly for various questions and tests (if you think seeing a doctor is the next step, it's not). One woman was wailing in pain for hours; I didn't see one nurse stop to ask her if there was something they could do. When they finally called my dad in the middle of the night, they put him in a bed in the hallway. Yes, all the rooms were filled and the hallways were packed with beds/patients. No, the nurses didn't explain anything whatsoever about what they were doing in terms of hooking him up to machines, that he shouldn't eat, didn't offer him water, or express the slightest bit of concern for his well being or comfort. It took them hours to give him a blanket (it was cold). There were plenty of nurses standing around talking about frivolous things throughout the night; not one of them made any eye contact or smiled at any of the people waiting or asked them how they were doing unless they shouted for a nurse in pain. Two older women were isolated in rooms with droplet warnings; the nurses repeatedly left one door open while the woman coughed like crazy (we were just a few feet away). They repeatedly cried for help while the nurses were oblivious, chatting and joking away. At one, point, I had to notify them while exchanging concerned glances with the woman next to me (she eventually left without receiving care, too). When one nurse attended to one patient with dementia, she shouted at her. I saw at most one or two doctors all night. Like the nurses, they didn't seem to be in the slightest rush. One doctor had a 20-minute conversation about an inhaler dosage, casually recalling her various experiences to nurses and a PA and chatting about other non-medical things as well. When you have that many people waiting to see you, wouldn't you just tell them to adjust it with a short explanation and move on to the next suffering, scared patient? As my dad put it, "These people do not care." One nurse overheard him, looked at his monitor, explained that his EKG was looked at immediately when he was admitted, what the monitor showed, and told us that he was next (hours before that, we were told he was fourth). Apparently, if you aren't in another area of the hospital, the doctor(s?) who is there overnight only have time to see you if they stop being busy there. They don't tell you it likely won't be until morning. At 6–6:30 AM, a new doctor arrived and attended to the patient who was in front of my dad for just ten minutes—and then disappeared. At 7:30 AM, I asked if anyone had been assigned to my dad (who, at this point, was pulling off all of his monitors) and was told a PA—no doctor—had just been assigned to him but it could be soon or hours. My dad said he wanted to leave and the nurse immediately said, "I'll get you forms!". They didn't care. I asked them if the doctors cared that so many patients were signing themselves out without receiving care, and a PA (presumably the one we were going to see) came over to ask if she could help. I asked if they couldn't just look at his EKG quickly—no. She spent ten minutes telling us how busy they were but couldn't take two minutes to glance at it to let us have peace of mind after all that time. No compassion—they were just annoyed. They need to 1. teach compassion and urgency, 2. find a way to see less urgent patients in between more urgent patients and clear out the space/resources, and 3. hire...

South Shore Hospital Emergency Department Review

Overall Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5)

Emergency Department Experience: The emergency department at South Shore Hospital presents significant challenges for patients seeking urgent care. My recent visit, beginning at 3:30 AM and lasting until 5:00 PM, highlighted several concerning issues with both the facility and patient care.

Physical Environment: The triage area is poorly designed, with cramped conditions that compromise patient comfort and privacy Total of 15 seats in the waiting area, with 8 seats designated exclusively for vitals intake. These 8 seats remained empty most of the time, yet security staff strictly prohibited their use by waiting patients except during actual vitals checks With 8 seats off-limits and several others occupied by sleeping patients taking up multiple seats, most patients were forced to stand for hours The waiting room has been partially converted into ER space using makeshift walls, a change apparently implemented during COVID-19. However, the hospital has failed to adapt or optimize this arrangement in the post-pandemic era, resulting in a permanently compromised waiting area Overall facility maintenance is severely lacking: Floors throughout the area were visibly dirty, scuffed, and appeared unwashed A former outpatient entrance has been completely blocked off with bags of rock salt and barriers, effectively converting what was once a functional patient access point into an impromptu storage area Basic cleanliness issues were apparent throughout the triage area, suggesting broader institutional maintenance problems

Wait Time and Patient Flow: Total visit duration: 14 hours (3:30 AM to 5:00 PM) Limited seating availability was further reduced by some patients occupying multiple seats The ER was operating at approximately 90% capacity, primarily with Medicare patients awaiting inpatient beds Younger patients appeared to face significantly longer wait times

Staff and Care Quality: Security presence was notably heavy-handed and created an uncomfortable atmosphere The attending physician, while polite, showed signs of burnout Care appeared focused solely on primary complaints without comprehensive evaluation The treatment provided was ultimately ineffective, necessitating a follow-up visit to Massachusetts General Hospital

Comparison: A subsequent visit to Massachusetts General Hospital resulted in successful treatment within 4 hours, highlighting the stark contrast in care efficiency and effectiveness.

Recommendation: Based on this experience, patients with urgent medical needs might want to consider alternative facilities, particularly Massachusetts General Hospital, for more efficient and comprehensive care. The facility appears stuck in its emergency COVID-19 configuration without having developed effective solutions for current patient volumes and needs. The repurposing of patient areas for storage and the general state of disrepair suggest serious organizational and management issues.

Key Issues for Improvement: Waiting area design and capacity Patient flow management Treatment comprehensiveness Facility cleanliness and maintenance Resource allocation for different patient demographics Post-pandemic space optimization Proper facility management and space utilization

Additional Note: Multiple nurses confirmed that this lengthy wait time was not unusual, stating that typical ER visits at South Shore Hospital commonly range between 12-16 hours. This appears to be a systemic issue rather than an isolated incident.

[Note: This review represents one patient's experience during a specific visit. Conditions and quality of care may...

I have trust in this hospital for many many years , but I didn't have the need to go untill last night 7/7/25 get there at 11:00 pm scyiatic back pain couldn't bearly walk i register it took like 15 min to get my vitals taken but after that I look around there was like 5 patient waiting , so I thought it was going to be ok to wait , the pain was driving me nuts horrible , 3 hours later still waiting walk the hallway to were the vending machines are looking tru the emergency room door there it was about empty on that side just nursings and Dr. Talking and laughing there , so than I went to the lady's room at by registration and it has about 5 patient that about in two hours get discharge two hours later they call me in place me on the hallway when there was rooms empty available a nurse came take my vitals again and leave the machine on me I had to removed my self to be able to go use the lady's room this was at about 5:00 am , nurse pass by and said someone will come over to start you on an IV. No one show up finally at 6:30 am I get in to sooo much pain I ask my husband to help me up and went with he's help to the desk and ask why during all that time no one came to not even ask how I was doing or treat my pain , ( Serena ) a nurse tell me with attitude that everyone was busy and I tell her all I see it's you all walking around talking laughing and a poor old guy walking around sneezing coughing look like he's on terrible pain but no one care about him and give him something to calm him down and not been spreading he's germs around other people I says to her I know there is people here that walk in at same time or lil after me and been here for hours with out attention I want to see the director of this hospital and Serena turn her name tag backward and said to me I'll go get him for you like in a some kind of attitude , like she don't give a damn , so I tell her if someone don't came soon I will go see him 9:00 am comes I'll walk out of here on you're responsibility and go look for the director , 8:00 am a Dr. Or whoever he was came see me name Steven Lansing, he was kind and respectful , order torador, Lidodern ,Robaxin and Tylenol #3 Oxicodone.lil bet after they discharge me like when you kick out a dog no prescription just a check out papers a referral and work note that I had to ask for . Waw for many years this was my most amazing hospital with respectful people working you feel you belonged there ,I wouldn't go any other hospital , but with this I think I will amstart looking someplace else , and not only me cuz my heart still hurt for a gentleman that was there with burns on he's leg on an accident and loose sight on one of he's eye he came after me and I would've like to see him been taken care even if it was before me he was on a greater pain and the elderly guy I mention before , teach this people that they need to have compaction kindness ,Love for what they choose to work as . It's Sad Sad to see this kind of behavior,and not think that you're pay checks come from the insurance company we had and even if it's gov insurance you still get paid good money to work there and if that's not the career you love to do than you're in the wrong place I was a nurse and I loved my job and the people I work for you need to have a good heart and live for what you do if you don't than obviously it's not for you ( ( Mrs Serena ) hope the director take accion on this cuz after last night for what I hear about 5 of the people there waiting were saying they changing hospital and I'll do the same . Cuz I want to be treat with respect as I believe the director of this hospital would like to be...