Northwestern Memorial Hospital

My mother has been at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for a few weeks now and let me tell you the nurses and doctors on the 15th are MAGNIFICENT!!! Every nurse every doctor that came into her room was very attentive very supportive and very cheerful! They gave us straight answers and allowed us to ask many questions. We got calls from them to keep us updated on her care and that’s the type of medical care that we all want. They have the most caring and compassionate people! They didn’t allow her to be discharged until they had answers! Thank you Northwestern Memorial Hospital for the excellent care of my mom and a special thank you to all the nurses doctors and cleaning crew on the 15th floor!!!!!!! ❤️

Do not mistake this place for a homeless shelter. Avoid this ER, as you will need to educate the medical staff on medical care. Their triage component is a failure. Our life threatening situation was triaged at the lowest priority and the patient began neurogenic shock. We were refused blankets to shield the patient from the public as we were catheterizing. The medical advice of our existing medical team suggested an alternate offloading every 2 hours. 9 hours in the powerchair contradicts their own medical advice. The nurses scoff when you approach them. Upon intake, a cot in a busy corridor becomes your awaited oasis. Your meal is thrown into your crotch. You need to provide your own catheters. This place is a complete joke.

Quality of service here is not groundbreaking or any different from other healthcare systems. I have been here to see both PCP and specialists and they didn’t do anything different from what I would get in another system. What will make me switch to another system is the fact that billing is super expensive for what you pay for. Also, lack of parking at the hospital is a pain for patients when the lots are always full and when you do get a spot it’s expensive. Lastly, and the biggest issue, is lack of appointments. I have to wait months to see a doctor in various departments, which is longer than other hospitals/clinics I’ve been to. Even if you tell them an issue is critical (in my case, I have family history of stroke and I had symptoms of a mini stroke), they make you wait 4-7 months to see a specialist. Not sure what the issue is if they don’t have enough doctors, but the waitlist seems inhumane for most people dealing with symptoms that need to be addressed more immediately. For as expensive as this hospital is, they should be able to budget to hire more physicians or expand their buildings in the downtown Chicago area if there is a high demand for certain areas/specialties.