Susanna M.
Yelp
GO ELSEWHERE!
On December 26, in my office, I suffered a rapid onset of left side flank and abdominal pain, more intense than any pain I'd ever had. I went home but don't even remember the 10 minute ride because of the pain. When home, I began vomiting forcefully, and this continued for half hour. Then I knew it was time to seek help. A friend drove me to this Urgent Care because it was closest to my home. I was weak, doubled over in pain, held a vomit bag in front of me, a hot water bottle on my abdomen, and I must have been white as a ghost. I could feel my blood pressure sky high. I approached the front desk. There were four or five employees there, and not ONE of them greeted me. I was not asked why I was there, or if I was in pain. After about a minute of waiting (which seemed like an eternity given the massive pain), they just asked for my insurance card and gave me a clipboard of papers to fill out. No hello, no smile, no welcome, no questions, no talk. I was in such dire pain that my vision was impaired and I couldn't see the printing on the sheets of paper. After about 8 or 10 minutes, the pain was so stifling that I was about to pass out. No one there noticed or cared.
There were other waiting patients, but no triage. All they had to do was ask me what was wrong, say this was outside their realm of competence, and that I needed to get to an ER quickly where I would be served better. But no, they wanted me to wait and wait and fill out numerous papers when I could have been having a heart attack.
After those 8 or 10 minutes, my friend retrieved my insurance card from someone at the desk, and we went outside and called an ambulance. The EMTs came, gave me new vomit bags, assessed my condition, took vitals and confirmed that my blood pressure was very high, and tried to calm me as I explained what was going on. They took me expeditiously to St. Peter's Hospital where I was given intravenous fluids quickly with a pain reliever, then sent for Lab work and an abdominal CT scan. I was then diagnosed with an obstruction in the ureter and a kidney calculi.
While I didn't expect Urgent Care to FIX my problem, I DID expect them to be polite, considerate, and compassionate when they see a patient writhing in pain and unable to focus. I got not even one question from them about my condition, and absolutely no care. They were more intent on casually conversing amongst themselves.
So, if you have a boo boo, and you need a Bandaid, and you can wait an hour or two for it, then this is the place for you. But, I cannot in good conscience send anyone there, for anything, at any time.