Lakewood Regional Medical Center: Emergency Room - Lakewood, California

Jon

Literally the worst ER I’ve ever been to. It wasn’t even this bad when it was owned by TENET. You’d think UCI would have implemented better processes here but no. Got here at 7pm did labs and still not seen by a Dr to go over anything I keep asking how much longer and they say we’re waiting for the doctor to make a decision? Like either my labs require some sort of intervention or they don’t wtf. It’s now past midnight and not a peep.

Katherine H.

CT scan in ER and took over eight hours to get results. No place to sit in waiting room bc it’s too small and they were packed. They made someone with a serious concussion stand that whole time. That’s just wrong.

B. D.

Update: This hospital is now UCI Health. I hope they change how this hospital is operated. Especially the emergency room, visitor policy, and staff conduct. Let's hope it becomes like UCI in Orange.

Original Post:

This is a very small hospital. At times, the emergency room is filled beyond capacity. Beds lined the hallways from the emergency room to the main hallway. In my opinion, this is a fire hazard. There was no patient privacy. I heard everything about their medical situation and they heard everything about mine.

They really need to do something about their visitor policy. As a patient, this is what happened to me: I roomed with a woman that had multiple visitors at one time. This was daily. Their cell phones rang loudly constantly. They conducted
job related business calls in the room. They carried on lengthy conversations as they typed away on their laptops. They stayed all day until visiting hours were over. The visitors placed their chairs in front of the restroom, blocking the entrance, making it necessary for me, as a patient, to travel down the hallway to hallway restroom.

I don't feel like there should be more than two visitors at a time and there should be a limit to how long visitors can stay. After all, patients are in the hospital to recover. They need quiet time.

Fix this Lakewood Regional, fix this!

L B.

I took my son to the ER and it was the most horrible experience I've encountered in a very long time with in the medical community. He had a back surgery that was less daunting. Not only was it dirty and grossly understaffed the patients were not serverd or seen. We sat there for 12 hours next to homeless people, arrested people, people who were extremely sick and there was no flow to how people are triaged, The rest rooms were dirty the floors were unsanitary and we didn't get Amy doctors or results for 12 hours them we were just discharged with no explanation, I then had to see a specialist on our own. I would not go to this hospital you will not survive if you are depending on them for a life or death situation they are grossly incompetent!

anthony M.

Admitted showing clear signs of bowel distress and was told it was acute colitis that was later diagnosed as C. diff by my primary doctor. Emergency room did not do stool test; only hydration, stomach ct and bloodwork. Prescribed me Imodium and more antibiotics that wasn’t specific for any type of infection both of which would have made me severely worse had I kept taking them and could’ve killed me. I wasn’t heard by the doctor and was dismissed even though I kept pushing for more. Nurses were Amazing.

Cheryl D.

Husband was brought in by ambulance after a fall and leg was so bad he couldn't walk which is why we used an ambulance. Dr. S only focused on a completely different medical issue. He wasn't treated except for pain. Wanted to transfer him to UCLA for the other health issue that has been under doctors care since 2009. Discharged after 8 hours. We demanded to be discharged. If we had gotten the other doctor things would have been much better. The director of er was supposed to call me almost a month ago and yep of course I'm still waiting!
Is this standard of care?

Lee W.

After an rear-end auto accident, I went to the Lakewood Regional Medical Center 'LRMC' ER to be examined & tested for injuries. I arrived on Saturday at about 2:15 PM & checked in. The woman at the check in was very professional, polite, nice & friendly. Immediately afterward, I was escorted into the examination area & was further processed by a nurse and examined by a doctor, both of whom were very professional, polite, nice & friendly as well as light-hearted & jovial (in an appropriate manner). I then waited for some time to be called for shoulder & spine x-rays which took awhile. But, when I was called & finished with them, I found the male tech to also be very professional, polite, nice & friendly. I then waited to be called for head & cervical spine CAT scans which again, took awhile. During my wait, I was called back into the examination are where a male nurse provided & applied a pain patch for my lower beck. I found him to be... yes, just like all the other staff... very professional, polite, nice & friendly. After this, I was called in for the CT. The man who did the work was very professional, polite, nice & friendly (I'm sensing a pattern here!).

Then came the worst part of my LRMC ER visit, the wait for the x-rays & scans to be developed & sent to the doctor, have them examined & anylized by the doctor, who then determines the diagnosis results and the treatment plan, type the final plan paperwork & submit prescriptions to the pharmacy, then pass everything over to the discharge nurse, who adds me to the already lengthy lis of people waiting to be discharged. In between processing & discharging patients, the nurse was also assisting police & paramedics with the people they brought to the ER as well as several other duties assigned to her position. Finally, at about 7:45 PM, I was call in to be discharged. To my shocking surprise, the discharge nurse was very professional, polite, nice & friendly, although she seemed somewhat tired. I was impressed with her ability to stay strong & remain flexible with all the demands placed upon her. I was also impressed that she was able to stay cool, calm & collected, her personality remaining pleasant & especially with being able to keep her sanity intact!

After being at the LRMC ER for about 5 hours, 45 ninutes, I was finally on my way home. But, before going to the ER, I resolved myself to the fact that the experience would take a long time. That it wasn't in any way similar to scheduling a visit with my regular doctor. I knew that including myself, there would be a never-ending stream of people dropping in, unannounced, to the ER also. I knew that many of those people would be in a much more critical & dire situation than I was & they would be priorratized accordingly, being seen & treated before me even if the came after me. I knew that I would often be pushed further back in line, but that is life in the ER & there is no other way it can be done.

So, those of you who left reviews saying how this person or that person at the ER was unfriendly, mean or rude to you or that it took a ridiculously long time to get through the ER process, keep in mind how valuable the roles ER employees play, & how important they are individually, to society and our lives. Be empathetic & sympathetic to what they go through, physically & emotionally on a day-to-day basis. Remember that you are likely not always top priority, especially in the ER, & should probably step down from your high perch. And, if you do experience a problem or issue with them, check yourself to see if maybe it was your attitude or lack of respect that instigated it.

Summary: My experience was long & tiring, but I encountered, in every case without exception, very professional, polite, nice & friendly people.

Gracela V.

Well I have so much to say but I’ll start off with the sad truth that the doctors don’t treat people like people they think because someone is in pain that they are looking for narcotics very sad but true something has to change because people are dying and there are people in real pain and can’t get the help they need