Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital

Reviews 5

SE

Sebastien Langevin

I worked inside the laboratory at Hines for three years, and it was one of the worst experiences I have ever encountered. I was labeled as an outsider because I was one of the "rare hires". Normally, the laboratory recruits through their school, so the work environment is toxic because management takes extreme preference to those who have graduated from their school, it is as close to a cult as you can get. Let me shed some light on the laboratory. The laboratory is filthy. Nobody cleans, and nobody cares. Its the norm there to have cockroaches, mice and fruit flies parade through the work areas and to have employees bring in their dogs to the laboratory even when emails were sent out not to. Management only address these issues when accreditation is near. As a Navy vet, I clean every day while other employees enjoyed Facebook, shopping, and gossiping. It was extremely filthy for it to be called a laboratory. I found patient information/accession label dating back to 2003. Here are some disturbing personal experiences I have encountered in the laboratory. I discovered a security breach/ flaw in the computer system. My supervisor sent out a reminder of our required training with a link attached, and that link gave full access to her account. The employees at the laboratory were failing required proficiency tests and using this link to reassign the tests to themselves without our supervisors knowledge. I informed the supervisor immediately, and what disciplinary actions did they take? Nothing, these employees were their angle graduates from their school. Another disturbing experience I encountered, one of the employees have stated in the center of the laboratory that a particular vet needs to die because his medical condition is difficult to treat, this happened twice. It actually made me think, maybe the VA is killing veterans. I was not welcomed inside this laboratory. I was repeatedly targeted. I was told that us vets should not receive any type of medical benefits because its a volunteer force and if it were up to her, we vets would get nothing. Uh, hello, you work at the VA. HIPPA violations. Employees take it upon themselves to troll through veteran medical records when they are involved in a needle stick or get body fluids in their face. I reported this to the supervisor and can you say cover up. The worst part of this experience was the fact that I expressed all these concerns to upper management, and they took ABSOLUTELY NO ACTION and they would always defend these so call honest employees. I developed PTSD from that lab thats how bad it was working there. I will never ever step foot inside Edward Hines VA ever again. To say they take care of vets is just a slogans they use to your face but behind closed doors, they dont give a $am. Again, as a recently separated vet, I was unwelcomed inside that laboratory, and at that VA.

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Frank Nichols

Received fast efficient treatment , er checked me in , in less than 5 minutes, technicians , nurses, took my vitals within 5 minutes afterward, appropriate Physician saw me with in 15 minutes, and sent me for xrays. After x-rays were reviewed by the physician and reviewed to me and prescription was issued and I went to the out patient pharmacy to get them. All in the same building, no driving around all over, no 500 questions, credit checks, etc, no long waiting for a Doctor in the ER like most civilian hospitals , was better in a week. when you have a VA card, really a vet, and have a VA primary with specialist referrals. Did not wait 30 years to see a doctor, or go on drunk or drug benders for years, or poor life and eating habits for 30 years. I really feel many of the whiners and wimps who complain are one of them with poor life style habits and blame the VA, and think that a pill will cure everything in a week or have no or poor paper work to prove they are a real vet, or are drunk or drugged up when they arrive at the hospital. Been to four VA hospitals in the mid west , no weird problems, no one trying to drain my wallet, no 500 questions every visit before I can see a doctor. Appointments are super easy and can be changed or done on the cell phone or internet. The VA is light years ahead of most civilian hospitals. Done both, and had valid Blue Cross full coverage for civilian hospitals near my house and valid VA card for VA hospitals that I saw in Chicago Area and Milwaukee.

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MI

Mike zebbman

Ive been going here since 1995. First visit was in a room in the old building with bars on doors and windows. I of course had my doubts. Those soon vanished. The care I have received since day 1 has been A+. They have quite honestly changed my life. I have received care for everything from my hearing trouble to weight loss. My hearing aids are awesome and thanks to my primary care physician and my simply awesome nutritionist I have lost 90 pounds and am no longer taking diabetic meds or cholesterol meds. To put it as simple as possible, they actually care about me and all my health needs. Walk into any civilian hospital and you are a number. Their first question is do you have insurance or how will you pay. Walk in to Hines and the first question is how can we help. From bars on the doors to the beautiful building it has become is amazing to me. I am a disabled veteran not by choice but I am a patient at Hines which is the best choice I could have ever made. Dont put a review here because you heard something on the news and want to jump on that band wagon. Veterans owe a lot to these hospitals. We all gave and now they give back. I, like many others have already say thank you.

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Jason B.

Hines has tremendous potential but is just not nearly there yet.... There are a few superb doctors but it is very difficult to find them and get in their good graces. It is a huge crapshoot and it is the luck, or lack of luck, of the draw. I am fortunate now, after going through patient advocate hell and other methods of communication, to have some of the better doctors and staff in my corner. It was very very difficult and thus the two star grade. If you do not like your doctor, ask to change it though advocacy. If you have questions and concerns ask as many people as you have to. There are many lack luster people working at Hines. Avoid them or change them if they are part of your health care support team. Be your own best advocate. Call and write congress. Do whatever you can to get the best health care that you can. Good luck to you in your personal quest for well being! :)

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A Private User

Ive been dealing with the VA here in Illinois for almost 10 years now and every time I come to this hospital I wonder why the hell these people even work there. Ive encountered 2 people that cared about whether I was alright or not in the entirety of my useless visits to them. When I first got out the doctor actually told me that, "...there was nothing wrong with me..." and "...it was all in my head...". Yeah. I was medically discharged because it was all in my head during a war time. Are you retarded? Oh and youll RARELY if EVER see an actual doctor. Most of the people you see are students from Loyola and if its not a student its a nurse practitioner. Nurse practitioners I can deal with for routine visits, but students? Thats the best we can do for our Veterans? Well... here in Illinois, it is.

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