Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center Emergency Room — Local services in Wilmington

I’ve visited this emergency room 3 times for intense chronic pain management and testing. PLEASE see a doctor if you’re questioning it!!! A bad experience/a waste of time are better than untreated bodily harm or death. The following is simply a review of my experience in rough chronological order:

Pros’s: The café has a good selection of well-portioned items and is open late

Some of the staff are genuinely hard working and nice

Once I got a room, I was seen and taken care of relatively quickly

There’s security that’s always there and consistently patrols which makes me feel more safe as some of the other patients were exhibiting uncomfortable behavior

Con’s: Having to stand up through check-in even though I was in so much pain that I was hunched over the counter and clinging to it. I was not offered a seat

The waiting room is uncomfortable and filthy

The bathroom is filthy

I asked for a heated blanket to use as a make-shift heating pad and it was only slightly above room temperature (not to mention scratchy, thin, and uncomfortable)

Wait times are UNACCEPTABLE. I’ve wait 7-12 hours to be seen. I’ve checked in around 10 PM-12 AM

No, you are not allowed to leave during this time so you’re stuck in a gross, uncomfortable waiting room during this time. (I understand why but that doesn’t make it any more tolerable)

It’s not just me having to wait. Some poor guy broke his leg and was there for a similar amount of time, not being cared for. And many others who I didn’t talk to experienced similar wait times from my observation

My symptoms went ignored after a scan showed that I didn’t have appendicitis. Great! But, through tears of frustration and exhaustion, I had to ask the doctor what’s next as the pain was still unbearable. The answer was Tylenol. TYLENOL. I can personally guarantee that Tylenol works for some things but when I’m going to the ER, I need something stronger than just Tylenol.

The reason I came in is because of a genetic disease of my uterus. I was talked down and ignored to frequently by male staff and I can’t help but feel that my sex and condition is the reason for this. For reference, this disease causes uterine contractions. AKA, going into labor without the pregnancy

I made it very clear to all staff that I do not have a history of opioid use and, in fact, have adverse reactions to some. (Found out after surgeries. No biggie.) But I still got the vibe that they thought I just came...

I went to this department a few days ago with a bite/sting that was excruciatingly painful! I didn't have to wait long, which was nice, but when Adam (I think was his name) Came into the cubical, his right eye was watery, sore and red, it was obvious it was bothering him badly. The reason I was there needed someone with good sight to see the bite/sting mark. He was so awful, he started to rub my toe very hard, I told him to stop, that hurting me was not going to help! He said, " he had to to get the fuzz from the band-aid off" I asked is there some alcohol, he said, "no we don't have that here" (are you serious?) I then asked him if they had a magnifying tool, again he said, "we don't have those here" (give me a break) then he started talking about pain meds, I quickly told him I am not here for drugs! At this point I knew he was not in any condition to be assisting someone with anything, he needed to help himself...You can not pour from an empty cup, you must take care of yourself first, that why they say put your oxygen mask on first in a air plane emergency!! I needed him to see if he could tell me if it was a spider or stinging insect bite, I am new to the south and wanted to make sure I was not in danger, I was feeling nauseous, shaky and was having weird inside tremors.... He could not do that since he could not see, and was in a terrible mood which made him unhelpful and mean! I was told on my way out he was almost done his shift, he had 5 minutes left, which is also why he was so unhelpful and rude (he wanted to go home and take care of his own medical issue, new contacts that were painful and irritating) He should have went to the supervisor and asked to leave in the state of mind and condition he was in, this job requires eyes sight, compassion and he had none of either!! So I left with no help, tired and ready to drop it was 3:00am I had not been able to get any rest due to the severe pain. After the swelling went down a bit and the pain subsided to where I could touch my toe, I took this photo, I see 2 dots, which leads me to think it was a spider and that's why I was in so much pain for 17 hours. I am ok today, but with absolutely NO help or compassion from this man. I did report it to the correct department and was told I will not be charged for this visit, which is fair since I...

I went for respiratory distress, coughing up a storm and heavy chest pain. Went to Medac and they were concerned enough that the test they ran didn’t show results but were not equipped to research the problem so they sent me to the ER. They called ahead and as I walked into the ER the check-in process was very fast. A+ No triage, but then it went downhill fairly quickly. The doctor came in asking why I was there while they did an EKG. I told him why and his look of disgust after finding out that they had run the test already on me, I quote “What the hell did they expect me to do”, like I knew.. I said I don’t have a clue. Then he shook his head and said he knew it was rhetorical. Then the RN tried to draw blood from me with a needle that didn’t hit a vein, I was focused on trying to breathe and forgot to warn him my veins were deep, so he was going to get another needle but heard the doctor say in the hall “no need” give him a breathing treatment and send him on his way. I was floored. Granted they did an EKG but I knew it wasn’t cardiac, I have heart issues and have gone through that and this was suffocating. They did just that too. As soon as that treatment was done I was gone, the doctor didn’t even come back and talk to me. The EKG was good so they were done just like all the other reviews. They focused on the wrong thing. Sadly, I bet my bill will be 5 digits for my joyful experience. The respiratory specialist was awesome and so friendly along with the RNs for the record. The doctor I think - guessing (James Epperly) according to the paperwork should be ashamed and learn better patient care and interaction. He never even carried a conversation with me to try and figure out what was going on. Just stormed out because I was pawned off on him while his ER was empty. I think I would have maybe had compassion for him if they were slammed but it was a ghost town. There was one person in the waiting area and maybe one room occupied as I walked in and walked myself out. Next time I’ll just...