UAMS

I’ve had the unfortunate opportunities which required me to spend 5 nights at the UAMS Hospital. The nursing staff was exceptional.

My first stay was a couple of weeks ago after undergoing an “awake trach” & a throat biopsy.

Again, the nursing staff should be rated A+ because not only did they care for you as a patient but they also served as excellent advocates.

I visited UAMS for a CT scan on Wednesday, March 6th.

The Radiologist’s last name was Fordyce & she was fantastic sharing information & appropriate instructions.

Unfortunately, the initial results from the CT scan were apparently not of a positive nature.

Radiology called my ENT Dr. on Thursday morning &they then called my spouse.

We were not ordered but we were compelled to go the ER at UAMS for an “emergency MRI.”

The ENT’s office indicated that my ENT Dr. had placed an order into the system for the MRI & in that manner, the ER people would be ready & prepared for me when we arrived.

We arrived at UAMS ER at 1:00pm. We waited in an ER “patient room” for 6 1/2 hours before the MRI test was conducted.

After which, I was admitted into the hospital although I did not request this action nor did I appreciate not being told “why” I was being made to spend the night.

I asked to speak to the Resident Dr. at 8:00pm after being informed that I was admitted on an NPO status. This made no sense to me at all.

There was no reason to be placed on NPO status but the Dr. did not respond to my request to meet.

Five hours later, at 1:00am, I informed the nursing staff that I would be leaving the hospital @ 2:00 IF the Dr. did not come and speak with me & my spouse.

After a full 6 hour wait @ 1:58am, the Dr. arrived. We had a less than reasonable discussion & in the end, the Dr. admitted that someone made a mistake & she lifted the NPO order.

Obviously, this made no difference as there was no food service at this time of night.

IF nothing else, at least the Dr. explained that I was “scheduled” for two procedures in the morning & they thought I needed to spend the night.

I did have an “Echocardiogram” at 8:00am Friday morning. Of course the results were perfect as I visit my Heart Dr. every 90 days & the “Echo’s” have always been perfect.

The head Neurosurgeon visited me in the hallway after my Echo test & informed me that I would be having a 2nd MRI in order to have a comparison/contract view with the 1st MRI.

I was informed that I had apparently suffered a mild stroke during my earlier 5-day stay at the hospital.

He also told me that he thought I had a tumor in my brain and the 2nd MRI would give them a more definitive idea of what was going on in my brain.

Transportation arrived & took me back up to my room to await the 2nd MRI.

We then waited for over 7 hours only to be told that I would not be having a 2nd MRI because there were too many already scheduled.

I was sick of the philosophy of “hurry up & wait” so we chose to leave UAMS while we could. We departed the hospital @ 5:00.

The inordinate amount of “wait time” is completely ridiculous.

The aloofness, arrogance, & uncommunicative behavior by the Dr.’s is totally unacceptable.

Their incompetence & lack of communication skills contributed to a very unpleasant experience.

Again, I will reiterate that the nursing staff at UAMS is fantastic.

They all deserve a rating of A+ especially because of their advocacy for the patients under their care.

The questionable Dr.’s more than deserve a rating of D- due to their lack of communication skills & their unwillingness to spend time with the patients.

I am in the process of writing a letter to the State Medical Review Board to explain the “roller coaster ride” of this past week.

Good luck to you IF you have to visit UAMS.

It will NOT be our choice of hospitals in the future.