John H Stroger Jr Hospital of Cook County

The absolute worst experience I’ve ever had at a hospital in my life. My boyfriend was admitted for an emergency surgery at 5am right before his phone died he called his mom and I and told us he was a Rush so that is where we went. After talking to everyone possible at rush, they told us he was never admitted as a patient. Worried and confused we spent 5 hours calling every hospitals within a 10 mile radius to to try and find which one he went to.
We call Stroger 3 times and every single time they told us he had not been admitted… until the 4^th time (mind you this is about 12 hours later) I called and someone who seemed somewhat competent and they «helped me» figured out he was on the surgical floor and had been in and out of surgery and was now awake. Also the doctor that performed the surgery had a name tag that said rush medical hospital (since they are an affiliate of rush) which is why my boyfriend thought he was at rush.
He had been asking them for a phone the whole time and no one would give him a cell phone charger or phone to reach us nor did they use his emergency contact information to let us know what was going on.
After calling the ER tonight to ask if they could call in a prescription that had been written for him earlier that day to a 24 hour pharmacy the women who answered basically told me she wouldn’t do it and he needed to come back in, I then proceeded to tell her we had already been in earlier and asked if she could connect me with the Doctor that preformed his surgery and gave her the doctors name and again she told me she could not help me and not once did she ask for his name to check his patient records (not that she would have been able to find them…) So I asked how it was possible they has no way to find his doctor or for her to help and again she gave me lip and basically told me she could do nothing for me. Would make sense they wouldn’t be able to find his doctor I guess considering these morons had no record of him as a patient until 5 hours after his surgery.
The 1 star I did give them since I had to give one is for the surgeon because he did a great job and was really kind but their administrative offices are a complete disaster and their ER staff is atrocious, so unhelpful.
NEVER GO TO THIS HOSPITAL. Rush emergency room is right next door and 10 million times better.

Looks like if you want to see dermatologist you have to go to emergency first :(it’s my second time in emergency room and I have to say that I absolutely LOVE those people here.
They are very dedicated and friendly.
Like «Nurse Jackie» said the doctor is to diagnose and nurse is to heal. The emergency people are just like that. They heal. There’s just care about you/​me :)
5 stars goes to Emergency Room.
Thank u nurse Anette!
On the other hand, the Pharmacy BC is a disaster. No numbers. Staff is rude. Like they don’t care. You have no idea what is in there.
P

THIS IS THE 1ST TIME I WROTE A Unilocal REVIEW.
This is the worst place. Pleeeeease do NOT come here. I came to their ER at 1am last September. I waited for 3 hours with a lot of homeless people in their dirty waiting room. They have no idea what the ER means. If my BF didn’t ask them why we were waiting for so long, we would be still waiting. Finally they put us in a room and just let us hang around there OVERNIGHT. The nurse drew my blood and made my blood spill all over my arm. They just threw trash everywhere in the room. Then they pushed my bed upstairs to do some procedure and afterwards no one came to take my back down to the ER. I had to keep asking doctors walking by to get someone to get me downstairs. Finally I got to get out of that cesspool next day afternoon. Their service is horrible and whole place is disorganized. To this day I still don’t know anything they did on me when i was in their ER room. They don’t tell me anything.
And then I went to the billing department to pay my bill on October. We were waiting for 30 minutes and we didn’t know whom we could talk to. Finally some billing person asked us how long we’ve been waiting, we said 30 minutes, and she laughed saying it’s not like you’ve waiting for 3 hours. What a horrible response from someone working for public health. Finally I paid my full total amount of bill.
On December they sent me another bill, and something was added. I called the billing department and i was hung up by them. I called them again and got transferred. Then i called the patient relation to dispute my bill. They said they would get the billing person and call me back. And they never did, for twice. And finally I got to talk to the supervisor of the billing department, and she told me according to LAW, they have the right to add more on my bill within a year. That’s bullshitting law.
DON’T EVER GO THERE!

5 to 6 hour MINIMUM wait. The place reeks of death and disease. It’s filthy. The amount of homeless people in the waiting area isn’t even right. No one is even being treated. I had to walk out with my mother who was extremely ill. Go to Rush or Northwestern. F– this place. Seriously. Get health insurance.

This is the worst hospital I’ve ever seen. You’ll wait for hours. Minimum 5. We were in the emergency room and after my friend already took an injection the nurse said I’ll get your prescription in 5 min. That was another 45min. They gave him the same pills twice by mistake. Also they have mice. MICE IN A HOSPITAL. This whole place is filthy. The moral: don’t be poor.

Went to interview, at this hospital. The radiology manager who did the interview. Was unpleasant, and very disturbing. He made statements and was argumentative during the interview. Who does that

Its a public hospital, its free, and for the most part it gives pretty damn good care. It may not have the luxuries or amenities of a private hospital, but if you have no insurance and nowhere to go, they will take care of you.

On August 29^th I had a really bad sinus infection. I went into emergency at stroger and i was taken care of shortly after i arrived.
i was admitted at the east wing of 6^th floor at stroger. the staff of east wing was very caring, they took great care of me and i was overwhelmed by their care and effort they put into my well being.
I want to thank my Doctors: Anusha Kumbam, Afi Onuegbu, Avriel Go, Alan Jung, and Palash Jaiswal.
I want to thank my nurses: Wheeler, Bianca, and Añu
i want to thank the ENT department for thoroughly checking my infection.
and last but not least i want to thank the optimetry clinic for the thorough eye exams. you all are angels, you treat everyone with great care and responsibility.
thank you stroger hospital for taking such great care of me.

Stroger’s pediatric services are truly a hidden gem! For parents considering bringing their kids here, do it!
The pediatric ED has virtually NO wait time, and most of the pediatric Subspecialty clinics have an average referral time of less than 2 weeks. This includes pediatric hematology/​oncology, cardiology, nephrology, neurology, endocrinology, surgery, allergy and immunology, asthma clinic, just to name a few.
There is also a medical home outpatient clinic for children with complex medical issues. The pediatric clinic for well child and urgent care visits runs daily, 8−4pm, and appointments are easily available.
I don’t know about you, but if my kid is sick, Id rather them be seen immediately than wait in an ER for 2 – 3 hours at another institution!

What a horrible nightmare, masquerading as a «hospital». After our first awful trip to this place to get one prescription (which took over 6 hours), my significant other and I called several times on several different occasions to confirm when the clinic was offering ultrasounds. After two failed attempts (the window is only from 7am to 10 or 11am, Tuesday thru Thursday) we made it there with time to spare on a Tuesday morning, only to be told they weren’t doing them that day without anything close to a good reason. We both had to miss work and take a hour long train ride to get there during their ridiculous timeframe, only to be inconsiderately dismissed. I hate this place, so much. Terrible.

Came for a simple procedure in the Outpatient Surgery room 3310. When I walked in, first thing to hit me was the amount of people at 7:30am. Second was the smell of sh*t. Carpet has stains as if people just threw up everywhere. It’s truly disgusting. The most aggravating thing was the office women or nurse or whatever she is. She needs to be fired or given a serious talk about her attitude. The moment we walked in before I spoke a word, I was given an additude as if I was unimportant, she didn’t care to be there. All she did was roll her eyes and sigh of ANYONE asked a question. You have one job you dumb b*tch… Took all my might not to snap at her for the simple fact I don’t wanna be dragged down to her level.
All I know is that it is best to simply get health insurance and go to a proper hospital, even if it cost you an arm and or leg, it’s better then going to this place.
I feel like I’ll catch something just sitting in the waiting areas. It’s disgusting

Everybody is so friendly at this hospital especially in the ICU unit. We got a tour and got to meet all the staff which were very friendly. But antoneta Palik is one of my favorite. Had to get her name to write this review. If you’re ever stuck in ICU and you’re near this woman your stay here will be very comfortable and friendly. Hope you never end up in this place but if you do you’re in very safe hands

Arrived at hospital at 10:15p. My boyfriend had a serious bleeding issues (has had for over a month, it has steadily gotten worse and I FINALLY convince him to go to the hospital). And his insurance hasn’t gone thru with the union cus he got season laid off back in December and he had just started back with the union. So with no insurance you are limited on places to go, but we decided to give Stroger a try. Being a RN myself — I had been hearing positive things about this hospital!
We arrive at 1015p. Go to the first desk at the ER (my boyfriend is in horrible pain and can barely concentrate on what is being said, sitting or standing is causing him severe pain, not to mention the bleeding issue). The 2 ladies at the desk seemed nice at first — then they started into a convo amongst themSelves about a friend or one of them that picked up a patient who had gotten back from Nigeria. The one lady who I think was a nurse spatted some instructions too us, but the other lady was talking so loud over her that I couldn’t hear her. So I had to repeat «where do we go again?? l». The one lady stopped talking and we got a clearer answer. Fast forward to 11p — called into triage for vitals and info gathering. The nurse in there was so rude! Asked my boyfriend 3 times «what color are your stools?» In which he replied «blood». She asked again «are they brown, maroon or blood streaked». He replied again «bloody, I can’t tell what color cus the toilet is so full of blood». She asked again. In which I responded «he said the toliet is always filled with blood he can’t tell». She huffed. We got sent to waiting room again. Third window for registration — this lady was so nice! She got him a few sheets to pad the horrible waiting room seats. At 1230p we are still waiting — everyone else has gone in that came in behind us (people who didn’t even look sick). There were about 25 people in the waiting rooms (some looked horrible an had been waiting for over 6 hours– seemed like we all was waiting on the blue section). I go ask a nurse (who was in room #3 of the registration area) how much longer it was going to be — she said he is on the blue team — it’s going to be awhile. I said can you pls let him know this is a bleeding issue and it’s been happening for a month now and he is in a lot of pain — can’t sit or stand?” This RN replies to me «well it’s a bleeding issue that has been happening for the last month — if it was really that serious he would have been here sooner!» I was livid and told her «excuse me? I’m a nurse too, RN too and I would never say that to someone — actually I’m a DON (director of nursing) and I’d fire one of my nurses for saying such a thing!!» «I have for a month now tried to get him to come in and it’s extremely bad now — every time he has a bowel movement it’s like heavy period blood in the toilet — now the pain is too an all time high that he can’t handle it» she counts the number of people ahead of him and says «he’ll have to wait». We left cus he couldn’t sit or stand anymore. He wanted to lie down! And we had overheard several convos of the blue section not having any beds and everyone waiting had been there for hours. I was very upset withy his hospitals attitude and reaction to things (I get they may see a lot of fakers or people who really don’t need help that they forget there are people who really are sick and need assistance). I don’t feel like he was triaged properly from the beginning! Now I have to figure a way for him to see a doctor without insurance — if I can get him to a hospital again before his insurance kicks in! Which could be a couple of months away!!! I was hoping to avoid an ambulance ride! As a RN I was disappointed in attitudes and their customer service! And to top it off the bathroom in the ER waiting room were disgusting, feces and blood all over the place — toliet paper and paper towels all over the floor, and the doors don’t lock. I had to go to a different area to use the bathroom! I pray for anyone that has a real emergency and has to go here due to life handing you a moment without insurance. People deserve to be treated better!!!

Stroger Hospital is not the terrible place some reviewers are making it out to be. While no place is perfect, the staff and those who work at the Fantus clinic try very hard to treat patients who come in with bad manners and attitudes themselves with courtesy. Let me ask anyone who wants to call a staffer a bitch if they know how much restraint it takes not to tell an upset patron who is cursing them not to sit down, wait your turn and shut up.
As a long time patron myself I have witnessed visitors unwilling to follow signs or polite instructions. Many are prone to think their situation is the worst when they visit the er, but they forget that these nurses taking vitals must que in response to whoever is most in need. Here at Stroger it is one of the few times where being the worst makes you first. Sorry you broke your leg, sir, but the woman showing symptoms of a heart attack or stroke will be seen before you, since seconds count in those cases.
Someone complained about not being given the option to fill an emergency room prescription somewhere else when their injured party was ready to be discharged. This is ridiculous. Allowing the hospital pharmacy to do its job protects the patient, and you are not at Walgreens. Plan on coming back when the pharmacist tells you to, because an er patient will have been topped off with meds before he is released. What’s more, er cases are given priority and a special line, so for heaven’s sake calm down.
Next, it is not Stroger’s fault that those in need of services don’t make use of the resources that would help you cover your expenses. Sure it isn’t fair, but Stroger hospital is meant to serve everybody that lives within the boundaries of Cook County only. If you don”t apply for Limit of Liability or County Care, you will be billed. Signs are posted everywhere telling you where to go in the hospital to apply. If you are in dire straits, go to that department, take a number and get a voucher. Tell the people there you need County Care or LoL. They will tell you all the current documentation you need to apply, and if you don’t drag your feet applying you can present any bill you got before you were approved and have it covered once you are.
When you bring your application for LoL or County Care back, YOU must make sure you have everything you need on your sheet to finish your application. Have a current id for everyone who benefits. If you are allowed to use a passport as your id, it must be current. Same thing for birth certificates and social security cards if needed. If the person who needs insurance doesn’t speak english, have someone with them who can translate. Waiting for a translator of any language takes foreeeever and slows everything down.
Lastly, making crude remarks about the ethnicities of the staffers or the patrons screams arrogance and entitlement. Cook County is big, but the world is even bigger. Get used to sharing it and we’ll all get along. Everyone who can has a right to use whatever services are available to them and not be knocked for it.

The teams of doctors who saw me for my life-​threatening condition were kind and dedicated. The nurses on the ward gave personal attention. They saved my life: I am well for the first time in months. Appropriate clinical guidelines were followed throughout. After care is punctilious. My relatives who had had care at the Mayo clinic were also impressed. Thank you very much.

It is a shame the quality of care is so low here compared to more private hospitals. The wealth gap is still alive and well.
1. The facilities are filthy. The bathrooms were horrifying and our room in the ER was full of filled urine cups and blood samples all scattered around the counters. Seriously? Severe sanitation violations!
2. Some of the staff is very nice but others are horribly RUDE. I am a caseworker and display strict professional courtesy when I bring patients to Stroger, but I can tell multiple stories of the horrible attitudes directed at me without any instigation. If they had known I was a caseworker, they might have been more professional. But they must have assumed I was a patient, which is even worse because that means the staff gives rude attitude to their patients (who are suffering from all types of ailments).
3. When one patient was brought to the ER, his medical walker DISAPPEARED. I was sent from department to department looking for lost and found articles only to be finally told «go to that security guard and he will tell you the truth about what happens to lost articles.» When I asked, he looked at me with guilt and said the walker was likely gone: stolen, scrapped or sold. He said that when people see medical equipment, they see opportunity.” Not sure what he meant by that, but regardless, it is disturbing that you might enter the ER and have your important possessions disappear.
4. Stroger ER is either horribly understaffed or totally chaotic in their patient care. We waited for hours without anyone passing by or checking in and began to suspect that no one was assigned to the case. I began to wave down nurses who was attending to the patient and there were blank stares. Only after I reminded them of our patient did a nurse finally amble over to begin taking blood samples. The nurse that took these samples mentioned to his colleague «Ï might as well do it. I haven’t been doing anything.» Really??? Staff just stands around with nothing to do when there are ER patients in need of care???
Stroger needs to get their business organized because it is an absolute shame to see how the hospital is run. EVERYONE deserves quality of medical care. Not only the wealthy.

It wasn’t my intention or plan to use specific services of Stroger Hospital. I carry health insurance and have a primary care physician who works for Northwestern, so that’s where I go whenever I have health concerns. But life has a way of occasionally kicking you in the butt, and I ended up getting emergency and follow-​up treatments at Stroger. Despite all the bad press that added to my own fear about going there, I’ve received excellent care.
In early January I spilled hot water on myself and ended up riding in an ambulance to Weiss Hospital. It wasn’t long before staff there told me, we want to send you the burn unit at Stroger Hospital. I didn’t want to go. I told the nurse, after everything I’ve heard about health care provided by the county, I’d rather stay at Weiss. The nurse reassured me, and I said, okay.
If you want to skip the long lines in the waiting room, try arriving by ambulance. I was taken directly to the trauma unit upstairs, and within one minute of my arrival, I was surrounded by a group of six people — nurses, residents, and attending physician. They treated me, took excellent care of me, and sent me home with a big bag of supplies and explicit directions for care.
Since that time, I’ve had three appointments at the burn unit, and I’ve had nothing but excellent care. The only medical professional I’ve seen each time is the head of the burn unit, and he comes in to oversee the interns and residents. Even the beginners have been nothing short of sensitive, appropriate, knowledgeable, and caring.
So, the medical care has been 5 star. The layout of the place, and some of the desk folks, are the reason I take away a star.
First, the burn unit is not indicated on any of the signage. It’s actually under the auspices of the oncology desk, Clinic H. Trying to find the burn unit the first time, with no signage, was tough. It was only one week after the injury, and I was exhausted going down those long halls.
We had to ask for directions at a «help» desk — what a misnomer. When it was my turn, the lady yelled at me «Step up!» twice. I said, «I’m on crutches — I’m coming.» No apology, just attitude.
The wait times at the clinic, even with an appointment, can be long. That first time, I had my vitals checked half an hour past my appointment time, and it was 90 minutes past the appointment time when I finally saw the physicians. You want to know how tired I was? I was exhausted.
The second appointment, I got in and out at the speed of light. Go figure. Even the doctors were saying, it’s a slow day. But the doctors didn’t mention I had to check out at the desk in back, in the examination area. When I went out front to confirm the next appointment, I got yelled at for not checking out in the back area first. WTF do I know, lady? I’m a patient here, and I’m new. That lady’s behavior was inappropriate, insensitive, and just plain wrong.
The third appointment was kind of in between in length. The bottom line is, you have no idea how long you’re going to sit there, so you have to be prepared to sit for a couple hours. And that’s with a confirmed appointment time. Another patient told us, the clinic closes at four, so at least you know you’ll be out by then.
Parking can really be an issue. My friend went to a garage on Polk Street, and it was full. She was told by several people, oh that one’s always full. She found another, more distant garage that ran a shuttle bus to the hospital. The parking there only cost $ 2.00, but the gate malfunctioned when she was trying to leave, and it took her an hour to get out of that garage. She was stressed, and I was even more exhausted.
I tried looking at the hospital’s website for information about parking, etc., before we left, and that’s a hot mess. No help at all. When we were sitting in the clinic waiting area, we found a brochure on a seat that gave a beautiful map of the hospital and a directory. That’s the only such directory we saw. There’s nothing like that available at any of the entrances, or on the website.
Bottom line: once you see the physicians, you will get good care. But the poor organization and impatience of the desk staff really are tough to deal with if you’re healthy. When you’re weak and recovering from injury or surgery, you truly do not have the energy or strength to deal with it. The day after my first follow-​up appointment, I was totally exhausted. It’s gotten better since then, especially since I’ve recovered strength and energy, but it’s very tough on patients. The hospital needs to seriously step up its game on the front end.

I figured I’d share my experience because a great deal of the sentiments I hear about this place are negative. I have to say that 97−98% of my experiences here have been positive/neutral.I feel that my most thorough and compassionate care has been here and even though I have the option of going to other places, I like the doctors I have here and don’t want to. I have to give a huge shout out to Jamie and Lynn. They are always sooooooooo awesome! Give them a raise! The biggest issues for me are: The bathrooms. They definitely need to upgrade the bathrooms in the old Stroger building. –PRONTO! Even though I usually carry my own clean and sanitize kit for these types of places, the bathrooms here are just unacceptable. Also: Being that it is Stroger, you don’t know what you will encounter on any given visit but hell for me it’s no difference between those «off» events and taking public transportation regularly.

When I went it to the ER they took me in right away. The staff was friendly and organized. They made sure I had my prescriptions. All i paid for was the prescriptions for a total of $ 8.00. Love it!

This seems like a good time to update. Since my last review, I have probably been to Stroger no less than 50 times, having had many treatments for cancer and, may I add, successful ones. That includes two day surgeries; so never an inpatient, which in itself is amazing. The staff is organized, and they manage to move everyone through here with ease and grace. It is sometimes difficult to find your primary contact person because any number of specialists may be involved, or see you for your follow up care. But you will encounter lots of kindness (an often elusive quality outside of their walls,) in our big careless, selfish and impatient town. Professionalism and quality healthcare. I hope this is the last time I have to wake up in recovery with crackers and apple juice, but that’s not because of the company.