Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center

I don’t like hospitals I’m glad that when I needed one Williamsburg was here. The nurses on the 3rd floor are awesome Jenn you are a shining star my girl. The emergency room department was great they all just great.

My Dad was admitted for a persistent heart condition and spent a good five days at Sentara. I visited him daily, sometimes twice per day. I found the staff to be exceptional. From the greeting in the lobby on up with the great nursing staff and doctors, they were very attentive and took great care of my dad. I am grateful for their care.

Here is the story. 25 years ago today I found out the baby I was carrying had passed away. I had to go to the hospital because I was running a fever and had to be given Iv antibiotics. After everyone had left the hospital that night I was left alone and finally abled to process that I was really living this. It was not just a nightmare I would wake up from. I was laying there alone and crying my eyes out. The nurse I had that day crawled in bed with me and just held me while I cried. Her name was Heather. I do not know her last name. She worked at Williamsburg Labor and delivery Feb 1996. She was with me the next day while I gave birth. She held my sweet baby girl like she was the most precious thing on earth. It inspired me. I went to school to be a nurse. I am the same kind, loving, and giving nurse that she was to me.nI really would like to find her and thank her. Not only for being there for me, but setting the standard that I live by as a nurse. Thank you all for reading my story. If anyone can help I would appreciate it so much!

Additional Update - Again, the ER ward is superb. During a weird winter storm where we had icy rain that froze, I slipped backwards outside with the dog and fell on my hand. My finger bent funny and I drove myself in. The ER staff, yet again fabulous, turns out I snapped a tendon in my finger and thankfully didn't break my finger. The crew was great getting X-rays, talking with me, overall phenomenal. Yet again the ER is tops - 5 star, phenomenal. It seems to be the longer stay portion of the hospital that needs work.nnEDIT - recent review for the ER ward. My son recently had a terrible fall from playing outside with friends and my husband rushed him to Sentara. He said the staff, the nurses, the receptionist, everyone was extremely wonderful and ensured him and our son were connected throughout every test and exam. They kept checking up on him and ensured my son was comfortable. I heard rave reviews about the ER and the staff there when they came home.nnPrevious review for a stay at Sentara....not so great. Hopefully they have addressed these issues since.nThis has nothing to do with the surgeon - my surgical team was excellent and professional. This has to do with my hospitalization and stay at Sentara:nn- no heat in my room the first evening. They did have someone stop by to help fix it, but the staff piled on multiple blankets instead and said it would be fixed the next day. I was freezing all night as the temp did drop to the low 40's.nn- I threw up after surgery and had to sit in bed holding the vomit baggie in my lap for over an hour until a nurse came. Another time I threw up and got it over my gown and surgical area. Took the staff over 2 hours to come help me since I wasn't allowed out of bed. I had to wear the vomit coated gown for a few more hours afterwards even though they cleaned up my face and chest area because the staff went out to grab more gown and 'got sidetracked'.nn- I needed to use the toilet and was required to call for help. First nurse threw a bedpan under me and said she would be back. She never returned. I pulled it out after 45 minutes of waiting. I still had to use the toilet. I had to wait 3 hours....yes THREE hours to get assistance to use the toilet. The staff thought I really didn't have to go and when I filled up the entire bedside toilet they were surprised.nn- I was not served lunch or dinner my second day of stay. When I called and asked why I wasn't being fed, the nursing staff told me I was better off calling my family to deliver food for me. I was brought gelatin to fill me up, but those don't really fill you up. I was told the cafeteria was not equipped to handle gluten-free cooking, despite how prevalent it is now, and they 'couldn't figure out what to serve me'. I guess steamed vegetables was too hard to do.nn- My blood was taken for evaluation less than 30 min after taking my medication so my levels were always really high and I had a 'false positive' making it look like I was doing well when in fact I needed more. When the surgeon came in to evaluate me and I mentioned this, he went to speak to the staff and I received a higher dosage because my levels were extremely low and tanking when they drew blood at the right amount of time afterwards.nn- I was offered numerous apologies during my stay by management, however the service or care didn't improved for most of my hospitalization. I did have a few great nurses, but when their shift ended, the next staff managed to forget about me or completely ignored my call button requests. I was told they were busy with other patients, however when I left my room I couldn't find or hear a single person.nn- I did have one good experience when my extremities when numb all of a sudden - the night team did rush and help me out. That was on the one team that was excellent the entire stay I was there.n-

By far the worst experience I’ve had to experienced. Dr. Marc Farraye refuse to give me an MRI for an order in which my family doctor had wrote. His reasoning was it was not an emergency. Ironic because my family doctor sent me from his office straight to the emergency room with an order for the MRI because he believed it was an emergency. And then best part is the $1200 doctor bill, somehow they didn’t even process my insurance. Do better Sentara-Williamsburg/ Williamsburg Emergency Physicians Inc. You all are a huge part of the problem with America’s healthcare system.