I needed to use Mercy Health's emergency room last week, due to a cut on my finger late at night that was just bad enough for stitches. Overall, I was very impressed with this clean and caring facility.
I expected chaos, crowded misery and a long wait (isn't that the conventional view of a hospital waiting room?) Instead I found great signage so the ER was easy to find, ample convenient parking, and a friendly receptionist who was patient, cheerful, and helpful. Seriously -- she talked to me above and beyond just getting me checked in, and just radiated kindness! They don't take your insurance information at the front door, which was a surprise. She asked just enough about me to get me checked in. Then she called for a med tech to immediately get me stabilized so I could wait comfortably -- which meant cleaning up my finger, & giving me a gauze pad and instructions on how to keep the pressure on the wound. I was told it was "medium busy," -- I'm guessing the wait was about 30 minutes, in a very clean, bright room, which easy access to bathrooms, a vending machine, and my car, if needed.
The doctor who called me in was careful and efficient -- she examined the finger, and said what I already believed -- it wasn't too deep & hadn't cut any tendons, but did need stitches. She had a good "bedside manner," asking if I needed to lay down, concerned I might faint at the procedure (no, I was fine, but thank you for being concerned). She explained that the lidocaine shot directly on the finger was going to hurt and sting, and yes it did. She stopped to ask if I was okay -- I was being pretty verbal about the pain and waving the uninjured hand around. When I told her I was okay, that this was how I was coping with the pain, she quickly understood and complimented me on it. The stitching went quickly from there. She cleaned up, and stated that she'd send the nurse in to "dress your wound."
That nurse was my only real complaint. She took a long time arriving -- the longest wait I'd had all evening, at a time when I was pretty much done and ready to leave. The "dressing" was a simple butterfly band-aid, that didn't fit that well. I had to put on a much more secure "dressing" on it myself when I got home. And gave me a tetanus shot that really hurt and was too high up on my arm (my experience with the last 5 years of vaccinations is that they most often don't hurt when a skilled person is doing it). However, she too was very friendly, and was the most relaxed and chatty of them all, showing real interest in me that seemed genuine.
Then someone came in to get my insurance information and talk about payments. When I asked, she explained that they wait until the end to prevent any delays in getting patients' emergencies treated. Definitely have a lot of respect for that approach.
So except for a few concerns about the one nurse, all the staff's procedures seemed designed to get you cared for as quickly and comfortably as possible. And it succeeded -- I was there for 90 minutes in all, which has to be a record for emergency rooms, and in the meantime encountered friendly, helpful and competent professionals! read more