Cleveland Clinic - Hillcrest Hospital

Reviews 3

AL

Aleksandr Lapidus

This is the first review I write about medical facility, so dont judge too harshly... Well here it goes: Long time ago (20+ years) i had a lower back injury as a teenager lifting heavy weights, but it was not bothering me too much. Pain was tolerable and did not interfere with daily functions until i woke up one morning in 2015 and discovered I cant walk. When i was laying down still, it was not too bad, but walking caused pain to be completely intolerable. Shocking part is - there were absolutely no prior symptoms and i was perfectly fine the night before. I promptly called off work and then called my wife and my sister, since i was unable to walk without somebodys assistance, to help me get to Emergency Room in Hillcrest Hospital, which seemed like a logical choice at a time when i didnt know any better. I will not even try to complain about the 6 hour long wait at the lobby, as this seems to be common experience and i had anticipated something like that. All this time i was holding out hope for a medical professional restoring my ability to move without assistance of others. The moment of truth came - we got called upstairs, doctor came out, took a 5 minute look at my back, and came back with a list of prescription drugs in his hand. He gave me multiple causes of my back pain and a list of pills. The obvious questions in my mind were: 1) How are you giving me pills if you dont even know EXACTLY what is wrong with me 2) Why no X-Ray was taken if there is difficulty identifying the problem 3) HOW MANY PILLS DO I HAVE TO TAKE FOR MY SPINE TO STRAIGHTEN ITSELF OUT??? I refused to take any pills until the root cause has been established and left. Next day i took a trip to a chiropractor and here is what happened: 1) He Immediately took X-Ray of my back 2) He identified root cause (spine was out of alignment, which rendered me unable to walk unsupported) 3) He informed me that this will require a series of treatments ( came out to 9 sessions in total of gradually realigning my spine back to its natural shape) 4) After the initial adjustment my back cracked so loudly, i thought that his table broke, BUT... i was able to get off his table and IMMEDIATELY walk on my own without a cane or a person supporting me!!! For the sake of objectivity i will not name this chiropractor, no matter how much i want to advertise him, but lets compare my experiences in these 2 instances: Hillcrest Hospital: Walked in supported by relative, unable to walk on my own, enduring intense pain. Waited 6 hours, walked out supported by relative, enduring intense pain, coupled with horrible disappointment after the abysmal service and total uselessness of care that i have "received" there. Chiropractor: Walked in supported by relative, unable to walk on my own, enduring intense pain. Entire visit, including wait time, X-Ray, back adjustment and therapy recommendations took just a bit over 2 hours, walked out ON MY OWN. Next day in was back to work, next week i was taken off light duty and back to full operational capacity. Within few months that injury faded to nothing more than a painful memory... UNTIL BILLS CAME IN! For 9 sessions i owed chiropractor a little upwards of $350 out of pocket, which i had no problem paying in full, and would never even consider going delinquent on a bill from a person that brought me back to normal life. For 6 wasted hours of my life and after doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to help me, Hillcrest Hospital sent me a bill for $700. I will let you know right now - I WILL NOT PAY! I will take it to court if necessary, or default on this debt, but i REFUSE to pay this outrageous amount of money to somebody that done absolutely nothing! If that is not adding insult to injury (literally), then i dont know what is. I wish i could issue a 0.001 star rating for the terrible service i got, unfortunately i have to settle for 1 star. PLEASE DO NOT FALL INTO THE SAME TRAP! STAY AWAY!!!

MI

Michael Zafiroff

First I need to start by saying this review is specifically for their ER exclusively, and in particularly under Dr. Vincent, as we have had previous, very positive (although not exceptional) experiences. We just spent 7 1/2 hours in the hospital for my girlfriends severe abdominal pain and were sent home without a diagnosis, guess at a cause, or treatment plan. The nurse who placed her IV was inexperienced and collapsed a vein in one arm and made a bloody mess with the other. Upon coming back from a CT scan, my girlfriend noticed her vein further up in the arm had become inflamed, we questioned it and the doctor blamed it on her recent pregnancy despite the inflammation not being present until after the IV was placed. It seemed that rather than doing a Urine test, blood test, CT, ultrasound and physical exam in quick succession and seeing what the results were as they came in, they had us wait for each result before giving her the next test, which we would have to wait extended periods of time to be administered. Finally as we are waiting for her Urine test to come back (yeah, the urine test was the last test they did... how is this even a thing to do a CT and ultrasound before a urine test!?) at which point Im exhausted, my girlfriend has no relief and no answers, and our two young children are uncomfortably sleeping on various chairs in the room so I step out in the hall and ask if we are almost done I get the response "We are getting to you when we can" and I say that we have 2 kids that have been there for the better part of 8 hours and Dr. Vincent responds "Well maybe you should of taken the kids home." I didnt say anything because I try to be respectful in public places but I should have told him that if I would have know that I would be there for 7 1/2 hours, I would have taken them home and that if I would of been aware of his inability to make a diagnosis or provide treatment , we wouldnt have come at all.

TI

Tiffany Tippen

I want to start by saying that I have been using Hillcrest Hospital for my childrens emergencies for the past 11 years and I have found that my care was acceptable and the staff acted compassionately... For the most part. Until recently, it was faster and friendlier than the other emergency establishments in the area. However today I didnt even make it through the doors to have that "almost" experience with the actual medical staff. I was shocked to be met at the door by metal detectors and a younger security guard. Caught off guard, I did a quick check in my purse to make sure my pocket knife wasnt in there and placed it into the basket without noticing my small black tazer was still inside the bottom of my bag. When he pulled it out I said "Can I just have my purse back? Ill just go drop it in my car” but as I turned around I thought about it and turned back and said " Why are there metal detectors here now anyways? Was someone stabbed or something that I didnt hear about? Should I be worried about my kids in this emergency room?" to which the cocky security guard replied "Have a nice day" and pointed at the door rudely walking up on my kids and I. Twice when I asked "excuse me?" out of confusion. With that said, that will be my last experience with Hillcrest hospital. Over the past few years Ive noticed how the "fast track" has begun to lack the "fast" quality, and the front desk staff has been very cold/non personal with the kids. Personally I drive past a hospital to get to Hillcrest which is further away from our home, and if thats how staff is taught to react to peoples questions I want nothing to do with it. Ill spend just as much time in urgent care and get the same care, only itll be 10 minutes away not 25 and I dont have to sit there and wonder what kind of crazy stuff is going to happen while I sit there in the unsanitized waiting room for 3 hours with my kids swapping more germs.