Lisa G.
Yelp
Went to Pearland HCA because I was having very bad migraines. Arrived at the facility around 5:00 pm and did not walk out until 1:30 am. Within one hour of my being there, the lady responsible for billing took my information, as well as all others who were in the waiting room. Her process was fairly efficient and should have been replicated in other areas of the hospital's practices. However, it would be another 6 hours before I would actually see the doctor. In the meantime, these are the things I observed or experienced:
During the 8 hours I was there, an elderly lady walked in and died two hours later; a lady screamed and yelled for 45 minutes "HELP ME!" and the staff laughed and took pictures of her; a lady, who obviously had mental issues and appeared to be detained, consistently walked back and forth to the bathroom, escorted by the police. Because the wait was ridiculously long, a lady who was in the waiting room when I arrived, eventually walked out after being told by the staff that they were "shorthanded". In other words, there was only one doctor on duty.
When I was finally taken back to see the doctor, I, along with several others, was stationed in the hallway. My bed was directly in front of the bathroom, which was frequented every 5 minutes. Right in the middle of the hall, my IV was done in the view of at least 10-15 people. When the nurse gave me the IV, she spilled blood on the floor. Another person walked by and stated, "Do they know you are bleeding" (she was referring to the small puddle of blood that was on the floor). Although the nurse, came back to clean up the blood, seeing a puddle of blood in the hallway is not the most impressive way to advertise your business.
Also, in the hallway, was an elderly lady who appeared comatose and she had to endure the constant traffic and noise on the hallway. This lady should have been given priority concerning a room.
The lady who died had family coming in and out of the room (understandably so); however, this family was not given any type of special consent, consideration, or otherwise. The deceased should have been moved to another location of the hospital and the family should have been granted another access to enter and exit. People who were in the waiting room and in the halls knew that someone had died. Yet, no one on staff had the forethought to consider how this event might affect the psyche of the remaining patients.
I did not get the feeling that anyone cared about whether we lived or died in that facility. Subsequently, I did not finish my IV medication but asked to be released to go home. This place was more like a zoo than a place of healing. The lack of bed side manner was apparent throughout all aspects of the place. The only person who had true compassion and really knew how to talk to people in a comforting and confident way was the doctor.
Perhaps if HCA was equally intentional about providing genuine quality care to their patients as they are about "collecting payment and insurance information", then I am pretty sure my review would be quite different. For what it's worth, I will never be back. For those reading, I encourage you to beware.
