Thomas Hospital: Emergency Room

Went in because I had pain so bad I was sobbing. I had gone to the urgent care first, she told me she was afraid she would miss something given how much pain I was in and told me to go to the emergency room. The first Nurse David was really nice, and even when I was crying we managed to make jokes with each other. He gave me a shot of Toradol, which I'd hoped would help. I saw a doctor for about 30 seconds and she said it PROBABLY was an ear infection. Then I was rolled out to get a CT.nnDid I mention motion hurt and I was still sobbing? After, the night Nurse Sam told me they were discharging me as it was just an ear infection and the doctor had already told me all about it and treatment. Which the doctor hadn't bothered to come back in at all (still sobbing by the way) but they had a prescription for something to help with the pain and amoxacillin.nnThe stuff I was given for pain? Advil. They proscribed naproxen... like I had already been taking cycling out with ibuprofen to try not to hurt my stomach... you people are there to help people, but you kicked someone out who was sobbing, then your nurse sauntered through the front laughing about how she is such a mean nurse and acting like I'm the issue?nnDid I mention they also botched my blood draw and IV that they didn't even bother doing anything with even though both people who stuck me said I seemed severely dehydrated? My arm looks like patchwork or blue, purple and red from how badly they botched it? Of course blaming the dehydration of the person who was sobbing. Have photos I'd love to post.nnOh and my favorite, they let me go after most pharmacy locations were closed and by the time someone could come and pick me up because absolutely no one allowed in especially with kids (I do understand that... keep kids away from all of that) none of them were open. So I am still in pain 12 hours later, and haven't been able to start my antibiotics that they could have just given me a shot for. And there are no 24/7 pharmacies near me. Not like insurance wasn't covering everything.nnI didn't want any serious pain killers, the stuff most doctors prescribed in the past are either headache inducing or do nothing, but the fact that they acted like they were doing me a favor by prescribing ADVIL!!! Regardless of your feelings of superiority and obvious poor bedside manners, not everyone is stupid. Why not just say, go grab a bottle of advil?nnYou guys broke your oath to do no harm. I just hope you don't kill the next person with your lack of care.

I arrived today and was expecting a long wait and rude personnel. My wait was short and all of the staff were super nice. During all of this Covid craziness it was nice knowing that they take other cases as equally important.

Husband brought by ambulance from Orange Beach very ill. Since arriving well over an hour ago, no one has even taken the consideration to speak with me. He is severely hearing impaired and I was told I could be with him. All of a sudden due to COVID, I can’t. He has many comorbidities that he can’t pronounce and new to the area so they don’t know his history. When did healthcare professionals become so hardened? I completely regret moving to this area. It’s like being in the 18th century. Don’t come here!

As an EMT, I have delivered patients to nearly every hospital in Baldwin, Mobile, and Escambia (FL) counties. The Thomas Hospital ER is, by far, the worst in the three county area.nnApproximately 5 min before we arrive with a patient, the paramedic calls the hospital and provides information on the patient so that the ER staff can be properly prepared for our arrival. At all other hospitals in the area, this usually ensures that a bed is pre-identified, specialists can be notified, equipment can be on hand, etc.. This works most of the time at the other hospitals, but rarely at the Thomas ER. Most of the time, we arrive at the nurse’s desk and are met with either silence or apathy. As the patient just sits there on the stretcher, it’s obvious that, despite the call and information provided, they are completely unprepared for our arrival, or just don’t care. I don’t know why we even bother to call ahead. This is a real detriment to patient care.nnI have no reason to believe that the care that our patients eventually receive is subpar. However, a rapid reception and evaluation is critical to good patient care and positive outcomes. On those points, Thomas ER receives D- from me. I would never take a family member there nor recommend it to a friend.

One star is too much. My husband and I sat in the waiting room almost 3 hours and another 4 hours in a room. Saw the doctor one time and she hadn't even looked at his chart to see blood work and CT had been done. Said she was ordering him a shot and would be right back. We got there at 5 PM and walked out at 1110 PM. Never saw a doctor or even a nurse to treat him and noone wanted to talk to us till we leaving and then they wanted us to sign an AMA. We never did get the results of any test or even find out what was wrong. You have to actually be being treated for AMA to be active. My husband wasnt being treated or even talked too. The doctor even refused to shake his hand when she did pop in the 1 time for less than 5 minutes. Pitiful uncaring staff. All about the money, not patient care.