University of Iowa Health Care Stead Family Children's Hospital

I am forever grateful for what these doctors & nurses did for my baby! They took such good care of her! But also thank you so much to nurse Crystal, she went above & beyond for my baby. You guys have no idea how happy & appreciative I am for you all have done to make my daughter feel so much better!

We had to come here for my son to get surgery and despite the unfortunate circumstances we had a wonderful experience. The doctors and nurses kept us informed and explained things in a way a non-medical professional could understand. As the parent they made me feel very comfortable. In our rush to get to Iowa City from Dubuque I forgot a lot of my toiletries and they were able to provide some for me. They took great care of our son and followed up after we left to make sure all was going well. I felt confident that my son was in the best hands.

I don’t usually leave negative reviews, but if this helps even one family out there, then it’s worth sharing our story. From the moment we arrived at the Stead Family Pediatric Emergency Department on Tuesday, July 29th around 8:30 pm, there was very little communication as to what the actual plan of action was going to be for my 10 year old son who had suffered a possibly severe neck injury in a swimming pool. At 11 pm, after hours of waiting, we were finally told by the neurosurgeon she believed that based on what she could see in the MRI, she did not believe my son needed surgery. She told us she couldn’t be sure yet as she was waiting on the “final read” of the MRI. She said she would “be back by in about an hour” to let us know what that final read was. She said, “I’m sure you’re tired.” We certainly were! We had already been to three other hospitals since noon that day, none of which could help my son. Unfortunately, as we would learn throughout the course of the night, neither could the Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Midnight came. Then one, two, and three am. The doctor who promised she’d be back in an hour never returned. We were never told what happened to that final read. No one could tell us whether there would be a surgery or not and we were kept in the dark all night long with no actual information about what was going on or why we were being held in limbo. My son was hungry and extremely thirsty as he was without food and water since noon the day before as a precaution in case he needed surgery. A nurse gave him a sponge soaked in water. It was not fun watching him suffer like that. We were not discharged from the ED until 8:30 am. Even at discharge we were provided very little information as to his diagnosis. Basically, “It’s a ligament injury, keep the neck brace on and come to the follow-up appointment in two weeks.” The timing of my son’s discharge from the hospital was also peculiar and makes me think they were inadequately staffed that night. All night long with no information, and all of a sudden, as soon as day shift arrived, we were almost immediately discharged. Just like that? Did the appropriate personnel arrive to work that morning and immediately complete the final read? Sure seems like it. This entire hellish experience conveyed an unacceptable level of incompetence, lack of communication, and extreme disregard for my wife and I and our 10 year old son, who was in pain all night long and having anxiety because he was nervous about having surgery. This was one of the worst experiences of our lives, and UIHC should be ashamed of this kind of patient treatment. It is clear from all the one star reviews the ED receives there is a real problem which needs to be addressed, but it seems to be continually swept under the rug Instead. I was actually excited we were finally going to get my son the care he needed at the LAUDED Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Boy was I wrong. Whatever happened to do no harm? Oh, I almost forgot. Neurosurgery never called to set up the follow-up appointment. I had to do that. If either of my children ever need serious medical care in the future, I will be taking them out of state rather than receive treatment like this ever again. If you’re still reading this, I suggest you do the same.