DeKalb Medical Long Term Acute Care at Downtown Decatur

Reviews 4

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Paulette Taliaferro

My mom spent 5 weeks here in Feb and March of 2017. Although we had a few caring and compassionate nurses and therapists, we also had quite a few who were not compassionate or caring. Fortunately, we were able to be with my mom 24 hours a day while she was in this facility. Many times we had to ask several times before we would receive the help she needed. All I could think about was the patients who waited much longer if they did not have an advocate for them to call over and over or to search out help. They seemed put out many times that we were even there. It is much easier to not have to do much if there is not someone calling all the time for help that was needed. Unfortunately, I had a head nurse come in the room at 3:00 in the morning yelling at me across the room. The nurse and tech, Sharonda and Deslyn, that night had told her that I was taking pictures on my phone. If they had a little compassion, they would have turned around to see me sobbing as my mom had asked about hospice earlier that day. Sharonda even knew about this as I had discussed it with her earlier that evening. This could have all been avoided had they just taken a moment to turn around and check on me. When the head nurse came in the room accusing me of this action, I, of course, had no idea what she was talking about. Understandably, I was quite upset, and she proceeded to tell me I was over reacting to her accusations. I still wonder why the nurses cared if I was taking pictures - were they doing something they were not suppose to be doing or were they not doing something they should be doing? Makes you wonder! This is with my extremely sick mom trying to rest. I will say when I called to report this event, Bea was receptive to my complaint. Of course there is no way to know if anything was done about this unprofessional behavior of the nurses and tech. Phyllis never came in to apologize for her behavior. In fact, she never came to the room for the remaining 4 weeks when she was head nurse like the other head nurses always did. Unfortunately, we did have Shardonda as a nurse a couple of times. She lied about medicines she was giving my mom. Be aware if your sick one is being taken care of by these people. If you are in need of a LTAC, I would strongly recommend you consider other options. When we visited this hospital, the last question I asked the therapist that gave us the tour was, "If you had a loved one who needed this type of hospital, would you feel comfortable having them at Decatur." She said, "Yes," After my experience, I would tell her that I hope she never finds her self in the position of having her mom or any loved one in this situation, but if she does, she needs to reconsider taking them to a different LTAC. In the 5 weeks we were there, there were many patients that passed away just on the hall near my mom. Finally, if you do find your loved one here, stay clear of Dr Miller. He is condescending. He did not want to answer our questions. He would respond with a rude comment. He acted like we were questioning his diagnosis when we asked about medicines.What was he hiding? Even the case worker was not surprised when we mentioned his rudeness. I would consider just not having him come in the week he is on duty and waiting until a new doctor comes in the following week. He is that bad! On a better note, be sure to look for Phil and Doug for night time respiratory therapists. They always came when I called throughout the night and did whatever they could to make my mom comfortable. Also, be sure to find Dean, day time respiratory therapist. He was the light in all of this experience. I do not know what we would have done without the few kind, caring people,

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Sharon McKeehan

If you or your loved one is able to call for help I might would consider going to this facility. However, my husband has aphasia and could not speak or ring for a nurse because he was disabled. I would never leave him alone and Im glad I didnt because there was a mess up on his medications several times. Some of the nurses and aides were great but I cant say that for everyone. Twice doctors there discontinued medicines that had been prescribed at Emory that were crucial to his health. After confronting them, they added them back to his medicine regiment. In addition, it was crucial that he be turned every 2 hours to prevent skin break down and rarely that ever happened. (except when Santino was on duty-he was the best!!!) Many times I would have to call someone but again if I couldnt have been there where would have been? Another incident, I was contacted and told I had a family meeting scheduled with the Case Manager at a particular time and date. Then at the designated time the case manager had no idea. Because my husband was on blood thinners for blood clots the doctor at Emory explained that he could very possibly have another brain bleed. One night I was very concerned about some changes I saw in my husband, I requested a cat scan be done to make sure he was not having another brain bleed. Dr. Walker refused on the grounds he did not believe he was having a brain bleed but he could not promise me he wasnt. It took calling my daughters up ant 2am to plead and beg for a scan to be performed. I personally would not take a family member back to this location and pray my family would not take me. My husband was in there Dec 14 to Feb 15. The one positive thing I can say it the respiratory team is the best. Dean, Carl and Tybia are among the best we dealt with. I felt Dean cared about my husband as much as a family member. I will always be thankful to the resp. team for taking such good care of my husband.

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Ti D

This hospital, or should I say "death trap" is the worst. My mother went here. They made her condition worse. The nurses and techs are terrible. They have go out in the middle of night shift get get alcholic drinks. They brought them back and was drinking on the job. One of the nurses even had the nerve to invite me out and leave her patients. I reported this, and the director of LTAC, Valencia refused to hear my concerns about this behavior. Beware of the Dr. Terri TenHoor. She performed unnecessary painful procedures on my mother, which caused her to lose so much blood that she had to go to intensive care for weeks. We asked a question about my mothers care, she stormed out and threatened to call the cops. I never even act nasty to her She was nasty, disrespectful, careless, insensitive. She treated my family terribly when my mother passed.

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Tona Henry

When I first got to the hospital I wasnt very happy because I was so far from home and I was upset because I was in so much pain. Then when I got here, I met this girl named Lylynda and I was so upset, I was in tears. "She said dont worry about anything. This is a nice place and we will take care of you here." From that day, everything got better and better. She braided may hair and made me feel very comfortable along with the nurses and other techs. Now Im leaving, I am sad about leaving but Im going to a place thats going to make me better because I have met all of my goals here at the long term acute care hospital.

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