m1150
New Member
I recently spent some time at Toronto East General Hospital for an ailment, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life, despite the courtesy and professionalism of the staff. My experiences included:
*The ER was disorganized with would-be patients walking around all over the place waiting for triage and no clear priority system.
*I waited 5 hours to be seen after triage (not unexpected).
*I was then stuck for 24 hours in an alcove of the ER listening to the wails of geriatric patients with dementia while waiting for an inpatient bed to open up.
*I was then taken upstairs to an inpatient ward. Because my "semi-private" room was not yet cleaned, I was placed in a tiny ward room with two elderly men and two women. One of the men kept screaming and another kept vomiting. I said I couldn't stay there and was told I could wait in a chair in the hall, which I did.
*My "semi-private" room was microscopic, probably meant for a single person. My roommate was another incontinent geriatric patient with dementia who made disgusting noises for hours.
*The ward was very crowded and noisy with little privacy, and I was kept awake by more screaming and the attempts of the heroic nurses to communicate with their barely functioning patients.
*The interior of the building was dreary and dilapidated, with scuffed floors, beaten-up doors, holes in the paint jobs and failing ceiling tiles. There were few amenities for patients -- on the floor was a tiny "lounge" with a few chairs and old magazines, no TV.
*I overheard nurses commenting that a dead patient had been left in his bed for several hours in a serious violation of hospital practice.
*Bedridden patients were given cardboard urinals that sometimes had holes in them rather than the normal plastic kind.
None of this should be held against the medical staff, who were attentive in providing all the help I needed as quickly as they could. And it may be hard to blame the hospital for the conduct of its dying patients, although I think there should be a way to keep patients suffering from senility together, away from the general population.
But I'm used to U.S. hospitals which, while not luxurious, are meant to be at least comfortable. (Please, no lectures on the comparative merits of the two countries' healthcare systems.) In its crowding, physical condition and lack of physical comforts, TEGH seemed to be something I'd expect in a much less wealthy country than Canada.
Now I kind of know the answer to my own question. I spent time at Holland Orthopedic on Wellesley Street, part of Sunnybrook Hospital, and it had none of the problems of TEGH. Of course, Holland Orthopedic is a much different kind of hospital treating much different patients. I also have some experience with a hospital in a smaller Ontario town, which was much nicer than TEGH, albeit with similar long waits to be seen in the ER.
So would I find the same kind of problems in all Toronto general hospitals? Is there a more comfortable hospital to go to the next time I am seriously ill? Thanks.
*The ER was disorganized with would-be patients walking around all over the place waiting for triage and no clear priority system.
*I waited 5 hours to be seen after triage (not unexpected).
*I was then stuck for 24 hours in an alcove of the ER listening to the wails of geriatric patients with dementia while waiting for an inpatient bed to open up.
*I was then taken upstairs to an inpatient ward. Because my "semi-private" room was not yet cleaned, I was placed in a tiny ward room with two elderly men and two women. One of the men kept screaming and another kept vomiting. I said I couldn't stay there and was told I could wait in a chair in the hall, which I did.
*My "semi-private" room was microscopic, probably meant for a single person. My roommate was another incontinent geriatric patient with dementia who made disgusting noises for hours.
*The ward was very crowded and noisy with little privacy, and I was kept awake by more screaming and the attempts of the heroic nurses to communicate with their barely functioning patients.
*The interior of the building was dreary and dilapidated, with scuffed floors, beaten-up doors, holes in the paint jobs and failing ceiling tiles. There were few amenities for patients -- on the floor was a tiny "lounge" with a few chairs and old magazines, no TV.
*I overheard nurses commenting that a dead patient had been left in his bed for several hours in a serious violation of hospital practice.
*Bedridden patients were given cardboard urinals that sometimes had holes in them rather than the normal plastic kind.
None of this should be held against the medical staff, who were attentive in providing all the help I needed as quickly as they could. And it may be hard to blame the hospital for the conduct of its dying patients, although I think there should be a way to keep patients suffering from senility together, away from the general population.
But I'm used to U.S. hospitals which, while not luxurious, are meant to be at least comfortable. (Please, no lectures on the comparative merits of the two countries' healthcare systems.) In its crowding, physical condition and lack of physical comforts, TEGH seemed to be something I'd expect in a much less wealthy country than Canada.
Now I kind of know the answer to my own question. I spent time at Holland Orthopedic on Wellesley Street, part of Sunnybrook Hospital, and it had none of the problems of TEGH. Of course, Holland Orthopedic is a much different kind of hospital treating much different patients. I also have some experience with a hospital in a smaller Ontario town, which was much nicer than TEGH, albeit with similar long waits to be seen in the ER.
So would I find the same kind of problems in all Toronto general hospitals? Is there a more comfortable hospital to go to the next time I am seriously ill? Thanks.
