Brandywine Hospital

Reviews 4

ME

Melissa Campbell

If you dont feel like reading my full experience below here is a summary: If you have a choice DO NOT go to this hospital. From treatment to billing they are incompetent and rude. If you are being transported by ambulance please note that you have to request they do not take you to this hospital! A few years ago I was unfortunate enough to choose to go to Brandywine ER with a minor issue. The wait / experience then was enough for me to never want to go back. They had issues entering my insurance information and ended up billing me $800 after a 5 hour wait to be seen for 5 min. They are rude and uneducated. Then in May of this year I had an incident where I was choking and had to be transported by ambulance I ended up passing out and woke up in Brandywine again....it was like a nightmare. I sat there for 6 hours with steak lodged in my throat, barely able to breathe, and passing out. My husband was with me and was obviously upset that the staff was doing absolutely nothing to help me or calm me down. So they were being completely rude to him and ignoring me. I ended up having multiple panic attacks because the nursing staff kept asking each other very basic questions right in front of me and I had absolutely no faith in their abilities / knowledge. The blankets on the bed, the commode they rolled into my room, everything was filthy. Before they rolled me back to the operating room all I could do was look at my husband and whimper that I was going to die there. After everything I had seen and the way I was treated I was completely convinced I would not make it out of that nightmare of a hospital. By some miracle I managed to wake up from anesthesia able to breath. The nurse asks me if I would like a drink (I had just had a scope and food removed from my throat and was very uncomfortable) so I said no I just wanted to go home. She then informs me I cant leave until I drink something. So I said fine and she brings me APPLE JUICE I just had minor surgery on my throat and instead of water they give me the most acidic beverage they could find. I chugged it just to escape them. As the nurse is finally taking out my IV so I can leave she notices they put an IV in each hand and says ...out loud...in front of me and my husband "Hm why did they do two? That was unnecessary..." Im writing this review months later because guess what? They send me one bill after treatment that reflects my insurance deductible and I pay it. Months later....I receive another bill for $33000. From treatment to billing this place is a never ending cycle of frustration.

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PH

Phyllida Whittaker

I went through the eating disorder program at Brandywine. It was exceptionally bad. As the other reviewers stated, the majority, or at least an unacceptable amount of staff were lazy/ignorant/unhelpful (though three or four of them were, I believe, actually good at their jobs). Most of the staff had no understanding of eating disorders and would tell one so, and there was little to no trust given to patients, except for in the food department, in which patients were often held responsible for remembering and getting for themselves specific foods or supplements. I found this odd: they do not trust the patients with anything and let it be known that the patients have little to no control in this situation, but expect them to be fully compliant and active in their "recovery", which the patients cannot define for themselves, but is instead defined by the doctors. If you are not just like them, you are wrong. The treatment of food is almost eating-disorder like, if you eat X amount of food, you get this as a consequence, if you dont eat this amount of food, you get this as a consequence. The website is a joke and uninformative/untrue. 90% percent of the time, whatever you say for yourself is deemed wrong. I think some of the staff works with the program purely because they want to exert their dominance over others. Alternatively, they could have started in the program because it had a paycheck, and simply learned to love the control they have over defenseless people. The outpatient familial plan they proposed for me was abominable and against my wishes and just plain wrong for me, but they didnt care when I explained this. I developed another eating issue while in the care of these people ("the best in the nation", as one therapist proudly described them). When I was discharged, I thought perhaps my feelings for the program were skewed because of my eating disorder and would change. No, I have since done a lot of work and accomplished so much with my great team of doctors and supportive friends and family, and recovery really means something to me now that I can define it for myself, instead of it just being the extremely uninviting idea of being just like the brandywine treatment team. Im doing great, no thanks to brandywine, and my feelings for their program have not changed. Dont send your loved ones here! Its a bad idea. Thank GOD i got out of there. The only helpful thing I got out of it was the connections I made with the other patients, who were ultimately the most helpful people in the building. Please, dont send anyone here.

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A

A Private User

I had my concerns taking my Mother via ambulance to Brandywine Hospital, because I had heard their reputation was not very good. However, in her emergency state, I wasnt going to take a chance on going all the way to Paoli and losing her in transit. I was pleasantly surprised at what I found. The Brandywine staff was very responsive and caring. She was two days in intensive care before being moved to a regular room. We got a great team of doctors. We had the option to move her to another hospital but elected to stay. She was there for nearly two weeks getting stabilized, going through a battery of tests, and having surgery. All went smoothly and no effort was spared, no stone left unturned by the medical team seeking to diagnose her condition and take care of her. The team was dedicated and responsive. The care was personal and the concern/care real. The results were excellent. New ownership and management is changing this hospital for the better. They were upgrading the rooms, adding flat screen TVs as we left. My Mom is now regaining her strength in a nursing home for a couple of weeks and going through physical therapy so that she can return home self sufficient (had surgery on her leg). This hospital has had a bad reputation in the past, but in our experience, that is no longer justified. Independent ratings made me comfortable with keeping her there, and our experience was very positive. I will not hesitate to take her to Brandywine Hospital again if we have future issues.

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GU

Gus Gusimio

I went in for a outpatient cardiac procedure and I could not believe the excellent care received during the actual procedure. Right from the start, the specialists and nurses involved were nothing short of top shelf. However, due to complications, I was required to stay overnight for observation and thats when I hit a few bumps in the road. Specifically, I had to lay on my back for 24 hours, and the people bringing in the food, never even lowered the table so I could reach the dinner plate so I ended up not eating for my entire stay. Also, two fo the three nurses on duty were very nice but there was a third nurse (the last one I encountered) who looked like she was bothered whenevr I requested anything. Oh well, it was an overall delight to get the attention and care received with that last nurse being the exception. In summary, Im nopt going to let "one bad apple" ruin the reputation of an otherwise fine hospital.

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