Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center

Reviews 3

AN

Angry Girlfriend

I am not very happy with this hospital. My boyfriend had a mental breakdown & had to go into the psychiatric portion of the hospital. He was transferred from Streator to Joliet. Youd think they would have informed someone, right? His stepdad, his roommate, his girlfriend...? Nope. Not a call. My boyfriends roommate had to spend HOURS tracking him down. And, sure, thats partially Streators fault, too, but my boyfriend ASKED the nurses if he could get his phone to get my phone number & call me to let me know where hes at & that hes okay. They told him he could, then they never allowed him to (trust me, this will be going on Streators hospital profile too). Nice, way to lie! That shows such promise of a good hospital, lying to people who are already under enough stress! If it wasnt for me getting a hold of my boyfriends roommate, Id STILL be panicking & wondering where he is, 3 days later. Oh yeah, speaking of 3 days later, you know how involuntarily admitted psych patients are legally supposed to be out of the hospital after 72 hours? Yeah, no, not going to happen with this hospital. Hes not going to be out until MONDAY (thats two days after hes supposed to be out). Why? Because they "dont have anyone to discharge him". SERIOUSLY? Thats like someone going into the emergency room & then when their problems all fixed saying "oh, no, you cant leave, we dont have someone to discharge you." Its your JOB to discharge him. If someones in there voluntarily, he/she/they have the right to leave whenever they want- so theyre breaking the law there too by not allowing them to leave on the weekends. Im FURIOUS- hes going to pay more than he already will have to for his copay with insurance because the staff cant do their job & discharge him on time (or, theyre simply trying to leach off money from the "crazy people" & their families. Nice), hes going to miss the very last concert I am performing in for school, not to mention all of the stress they have put me under by not knowing where he was at for 4 hours, & the stress of not knowing if hes okay. I have bad anxiety & I cant even tell you the number of times Ive had to stop myself from freaking out & breathe. I have burst into tears multiple times worrying about how hes been. The only reason I am giving this place 2 stars is because: A: I HAVE to rate it. I cant give it 0 stars. B: He has told me there is one male nurse in there that talks to him & makes sure hes okay every morning before he leaves. I really appreciate that, & if I ever see him I will be sure to tell him so. C: He says the treatment hes getting is helping him. (By what Ive heard from him & what Ive researched, its pretty standard stuff so its not like theyre going above & beyond, but Im still glad its helping) But still, a few good ingredients in a soup doesnt make the soup great.

AN

Andrew Esquivel

Come by ambulance or walk in, they will ignore you and lie to your face. They will refuse to look at you if you look middle eastern and walk right past you. Im not middle eastern, but Im Hispanic with a large beard so people mistake me as such all the time. Ive never experienced anything like racism in my life, but after many hours of begging for anything (even just to call my family) and having no one even look at me (I came by ambulance, I did not know where I was at the time) was more than upsetting. I couldnt breath, and was very dehydrated from the flu and bronchitis. When I did get someones attention, they would lie about doing anything. Seriously, all I asked was to call my family and after about 12 times of someone saying they would get me a phone over the course of 40+ minutes the last time they gave up and did what I asked after other people became visably concern about the guy with no cloths in a wheel chart begging just to make a phone call brought in by EMTs asked for over half an hour straight. My mother, who is white, came in after I sat there for over 2 hours got everything she asked for immediately. How is it that I, the patient, cant get so much as a glance, but a family member gets everyones attention immediately??? I have insurance. This had nothing to do with money. A man with a serious spinal problem got stuck in the restroom for 10+ minutes yelling for help (everyone in the waiting room could hear him) but only after a small mob of people demanded someone check on him did the staff do anything. Parents with babys walked out after waiting 8+ hours to try and get help for their newborns. They left in tears. The 90 year old woman also in a wheelchair was waiting for over 6 hours in a room full of disease right next to me. My friend, a large African American, waited 12 hours there once as he was having and asthma attack. My friends ended up driving him to another hospital father away where he was seen immediately. The worst part - I was never even seen. My family and I had to hedge our bets elsewhere. Make no mistake, this place is deaths waiting room and the staff are his employees. Ive never made anything about race in my life. Ive always been welcomed with open arms by all races. I dont know what happened here. But its the first and only time Im my 23 years of life that I feel like my race played a roll in my survival. You can tell by the way others look at you that your not welcomed. It was on the faces of other patients too regardless of their race that they didnt like me based on how I looked. No matter who you are, what you are, where you come from, avoid this hell hole. I wish I could have live streamed the whole thing. Literally any other hospital would have been better.

A

A Private User

I have been to the ER at St. Joe a few times. Once or twice the wait has been a little long. I do not take offense to this because even though I felt my case (or the person I was with) was an emergency, or I would not have gone to the ER, I know that there are others that may have gotten there before me or just simply have a more severe case than I do. I think that some people forget that just because you are sick & in pain that doesnt mean that someone else is in less pain or has a less severe case than you do. I think it is important to remember that the Dr.s & nurses are the ones with the degrees & we have to be patient with them as they do with us. I give them a lot of credit dealing with parents of sick children & loved ones. We think we know what is best for our child/loved one, when in reality they can not just take us for our word & say "oh you think this should be their treatment, ok" & go order it. They have to follow procedures & tests when necessary. Just because something worked one time does not mean it is the correct treatment ALL the time. I know that it is hard to watch our children in pain & not feeling good, I know because all my kids have to say is "Mom I dont feel good" & Ive got tears in my eyes for them. You want an instant fix for them, but that is just not always possible. My son has been in the ER twice & I have always gotten the best of care. The staff, from the minute I walked in the door to the time we checked out, whether it was the same day or an overnight stay, has been very pleasant, warm & friendly. I have NO complaints about St. Joe. I was just there with a "foster" daughter who had a baby & the care was wonderful from every nurse & Dr. we came in contact with. I know that we had too many people in the room at one point & the staff did not say a word about it, knowing the expectant mother was fine with it. We did have one issue we were concerned about & when we spoke to a nurse she immediatly sent the charge nurse to talk to us & it was resolved immediatly. We also need to remember these Dr.s & nurses are human & not perfect & if there is a problem we need to speak up & address it without getting mad so fast. St. Joe is my first choice for a hospital. Thank you all at St. Joe for your service & care you give so many people on a daily basis.