New York Presbyterian Hospital-New York Weill Cornell Medical Ce

I’m glad I hadn’t read all these scary reviews before my visit. But last Tuesday evening, five days ago, I tripped over an unmarked LARGE obstacle, sort of a traffic island, within a STRIPED crosswalk on 8^th Avenue. I don’t live in New York and was not familiar with such a serious hazard on a public walkway. (What were they thinking?)
I fell flat on my face on the paving and was unconscious for some minutes. EMTs from a nearby fire truck fitted me with back board and a neck collar, then 911 responders carried me to NY Presbyterian at Cornell. For the next six hours I was treated rather well in the ER. They hooked me up with all kinds of monitors, ran an extensive series of blood tests, and a plastic surgeon skillfully put several stitches in my face. They x-​rayed me and further checked my head and neck with CAT scans.
The only negatives for me were that they left the uncomfortable neck collar on for a couple of hours after we all knew it wasn’t needed, and in the sixth hour I had to ask for a urinal.
I’ve spent better evenings, but nearly every part of this experience was as good as the hospital could make it. Everyone we dealt with was polite and helpful. My injuries are healing well. I left about 1:00 AM against medical advice, but that was the right decision for me. They provided me a package defining all of the blood tests they had run, and the social worker who had talked with us left us her card as she ended her shift.
The next day I returned home near Boston, and will have the stitches removed by a local doctor this week.

We were originally sent to the pediatric endocrinology department at Weill Cornell, when our toddler was first diagnosed with type one diabetes. We left for another hospital. These were some of our experiences that lead to our decision to leave:
1. When our daughter was first admitted into the emergency area for complications from diabetes, a teaching doctor came by with medical school students to examine our daughter. The teaching doctor quizzed me on diabetic ketoacidosis. When I didn’t know what it was, she expressed irritation at me. When a child is newly diagnosed with diabetes and the parents are exhausted from worry, perhaps it’s not the right time to pop a quiz on them and get irritated when they don’t know the answer to something that they had no time to research.
2. The fast acting insulin pen that was being used to treat her in the hospital was loaded with a test cartridge that had no insulin. When a diabetic patient is getting no fast acting insulin the blood glucose readings look very different than when a patient is getting it. The nurses and doctors in the hospital never figured this out despite high blood glucose readings when our daughter was checked. Instead we were told that this can be quite normal at the beginning. We were discharged from the hospital and sent home with the fast acting insulin pen with the test cartridge in it.
3. For two weeks we were reporting to the doctors and clinic staff that the blood glucose readings would spike very high several times a day. This was due to the fact that the fast acting insulin pen that we were using to treat her was filled with a test cartridge that had no insulin. Interestingly, no one could tell that our child was not receiving fast acting insulin and we were told that she seemed very resistant to fast acting insulin but that this was not out of the ordinary. It was only when this test cartridge ran out and we switched in a new cartridge with fast acting insulin, that we found out that her high blood sugar readings were due to her not getting any fast acting insulin.
4. During the two weeks we were reporting high blood sugar levels, when we were asking one of the on-​call doctors if we should be trying something else, she said something to the effect of «if that’s what you want to do, then you should do it…»
5. When we were looking at the different options for an insulin pump, we were shown 5 different models that were available. In retrospect some of the models should not have been shown to us because with very small diabetics like our toddler, you need to be able to adjust the rate of insulin drip down to very small units. Some of the models we were shown did not go down to a small enough unit level.
I am thankful to some of the staff for strong sympathy and a genuine desire to help. Our particular episode may have been a learning experience for them as well as us. It still bothers me though that no one could tell that this child was not receiving any fast acting insulin and instead tried to reassure us that her high blood sugar readings could be normal.

The hospital is beautiful and clean but as everywhere you so get bad patient service depending on the department and the people who work there…

I have no idea how «America’s Best Hospitals» get ranked. And if NYPWC is that high up on the list, we need to completely overhaul healthcare. Not just slap a bandage on it.
This review is not based on one visit or two. This review is based on 7 visits that include the following departments: Nephrology, General Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology.
They all suck.
The doctors are competent.
The nurses are competent.
They know exactly what they are doing.
What they are doing is (a) making patients feel they’re trying to stay in the hospital just for fun, because we all SO enjoy hospital cuisine and bloodwork every few hours and who doesn’t enjoy getting poked with needles and getting woken up every 2 hours? (b) making their relatives feel they want to keep their loved ones there because they don’t want the responsibility, because — c’mon! — - how fab is it going to the hospital 3 times a day and sitting in those sublimely uncomfortable chairs and trying to chase down any info!!! Free scavenger hunt!!!; and © they’re just faking it, because… um…hospitals are FUN!(?)
What??? Do you not DREAM to be in a hospital forever and ever??? *insert sarcasm here*
The truth is they REALLY REALLY want to earn the bonuses from insurance companies for fast discharge and don’t care about return for repeat ER visits because they can charge more for ER than they could for a regular bed.
It’s math, people. 14^th floor self-​pay rooms are very different from the redt of the hospital beds. They have no problem if you stay there for weeks. Months. Years. And the cuisine is better. And the view. They also kiss whichever part you point to there. And the doctors encourage you to stay one more day, just in case. Oh, c’mon! Stay!!! What if you fart after discharge? We need to smell it to make sure it’s a healthy fart!
(That was not us)
We’ve just spent 24 hours in the more expensive ER even though beds were available in the unit we were going to at least for the last 12 hours. As this is our 7^th trip, I know. I also know why.
They look to double-​charge for a room: in other words, charge the outgoing and incoming patient for the same room during the same day. PLUS charge the incoming patient for the ER room for that same day.
If you’re in their ER for however long (we’ve been there for 70+ hours 2 of the 7 times), you will eventually get a room sometime after 9 pm but before midnight. Discharges usually happen between 10 am an 2 pm. Do the math.
Your attending physician will ask you in a very sympathetic voice: do you want to go home? Then put in his/​her records: patient said he/​she feels well enough to go home.
Ask him if HE wants to go home. Everyone wants to go home. Feeling well enough to go home is a different matter altogether.
They’re not incompetent. Which makes it worse. Because this is deliberate and intentional, people — pushing you out before you’re ready to get bonuses from insurance companies for fast turnaround.
I would wish the same happenned to their loved ones, but I actually care about people, not numbers. So I hope their loved ones go to the 14^th floor.
Anyone who ever took the Hippocratic Oath and meant it would be embarrassed to work here and need serious councelling.
But as none of them seem to have meant it (must be in the job description), I’m embarrassed for them.
Please forgive me that they don’t give a cr@p. A lot of our family dollars went towards their feeling that that’s the way to practice medicine.
It’s not.
Push for patients’ rights and don’t let them bully you into leaving before you’re ready.
Ask THEM if they «want» to go home when they ask you.
Call your insurance if you feel pressured.
Their expertize is worth diddly squat without care and compassion. If they don’t care what happens to you the moment you sign the release, they’re not doctors.
They’re greedy selfish a-​holes, whatever their expertise.
You come to a hospital when you can’t not come, and IT IS THEIR DUTY to take care of you. Demand they do. 14 is just ONE floor of many. And you’re not on it.
Non-​profit, my @ss.
Two stars for level of expertise had their primary focus not been pushing you out. Being generous, because when they KNOW they’re pushing sick people out it really should be minus, not plus.

An amazing place, the kind that you hope never to need but is there when you do. I’m so glad this is in my area, I’m so lucky to have this hospital close.

I was a little apprehensive after reading some of the negative Unilocal reviews, but well, I needed emergency services so I didn’t have the luxury of time on my side. I came here and was greeted warmly by reception. The woman was very caring and friendly and called me hun, which wasn’t condescending or trashy at all, but instead genuine. I had my blood drawn and was checked in by a couple more friendly associates.
Then I was led to a room where I was seen by a doctor and a nurse. They were both very friendly, although the doctor was more business-​like, but more importantly — KNOWLEDGEABLE. Not all doctors know a lot about specific medical issues but Dr. Vortmann was able to answer all my questions which really helped put me at ease.
While I was waiting on the results of my tests (which did take, surprisingly, over two hours), a couple different people came in randomly (patient care workers or something) simply to check on my well-​being and see if they could bring me anything. I was given a tuna sandwich because I was hungry. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before in any doctor’s office ever, certainly not in the ER.
While I came in for an incredibly scary and important issue, I left satisfied because everything turned out okay, and what really helped was that the entire staff with whom I interacted was genuine, friendly, and caring. They may have recently taken steps to address the negative reviews, I don’t know, but either way I had a pleasant experience and I am grateful for it.

Here to get a friend, and the staff acts like I’m a homeless person looking for lodging. Very rude, low par establishment.

Dr. Barone is the sleep whisperer! He is really knowledgeable and takes the time to actually listen to your concerns. The sleep center is exceptionally well run and my calls/​requests are always responded to in a timely manner. I am so glad to not have to deal with the long waits, unanswered messages, and mediocre doctors at other facilities now.

I have posted on facebook because I have had one incident after another. I am in the
health field and never have I seen such a mess. Dried feces on the floor as well as floors
that look like they have not been cleaned in weeks. I was so disappointed because I
thought this hospital was so good.
This was only one of my complaints. We had a nursing issue where my sister had
compression stockings on and when I told the nurse that the stockings were cutting he
the circulation off and caused a purple ring around her leg, she answered well she came in with them
on. When she arrived at the hospital 3 days earlier her leg was not as swollen as it was
this day. I took the stockings off the my sister. What kind of assessment is done daily. \
I have taken a picture of her leg and will gladly show whoever is interested.
Another incident is parking. I received a letter from the floor stating parking with a mac
card is 12.00 a day and a deposit of $ 5.00 for the card. I also have a copy of this letter.
I get to the garage and find out it is 17.00 dollars a day.
I am so disappointed and would not recommend this hospital. Hopefully I don’t get a
survey home because I will give it the lowest rating.
Mary Virtue

This ER is torturous. DISRESPECTFUL security guards and staff. Negligent. I have primary and secondary insurance and I gave them both cards as I was in triage with my adult nephew. On the bill? No insurance. I had to submit the claims myself.
On top of that, I’ve heard horror stories about their psych ward from my friends. One said she was taken there against her will after being told she was suicidal after she had an episode of PTSD. She wasn’t. They lock people in there. Overnight. I wasn’t aware this was the 19^th century… There are better places to go than this who treat patients with DIGNITY and RESPECT.

Arguably some of the best medical facilities in the country. Every doctor my family and I have dealt with has been professional and punctual across the board. But I tell you, dealing with the billing department is the worst.
I have spent hours on hold waiting to both pay bills and ask about erroneous charges. You can never reach anyone within a reasonable time frame. Thirty minutes, 45 minutes, an hour to get a rep. Jesus Christ already. In one case I was referred to the billing department manager, left a 3 voice mails over a few weeks and never got a call back. Very discourteous. Call people back!

.Horrible and overrated worst hospital ever terrible neglectful staff top to bottom. You will see 1 doctor every 7 hours theyre ovdrcrowded. This is your life involved go somewhere else. The operate on name alone. Nurses do not care if elderly patients eat or not. It’s a disgrace!

My husband needed emergency treatment and waited over 14 hours for it (its a trauma hospital with a staffed OR in an EMPTY ER). No one wanted responsibility for his case (neurosurgery, trauma, ortho, general, etc) By the time, he was given a simple fasciotomy, he had lost feeling below his back and was in complete rhabdo. He never saw a surgeon despite asking to see the surgeon over and over again to the nurses and the less than stellar intern. They tried to discharge him without feeling in his legs after emergency back surgery until I called the medical director. I had asked for a neuro consult for five days. They denied him a PICC line despite having Mannitol infused around the clock for over a week, by the time he left, a healthy 32 year old male needed a 22G placed by anesthesia. If you need REAL medical care by REAL professionals — go to Columbia. Weil Cornell’s appearance is all smoke and mirrors.
BTW My husband and I weren’t married yet and he was visiting me from Fort Bragg, NC. They kept insisting that he was a delusional drug seeker despite the fact they never once checked his record or ID card to see that he wasn’t from the area.

My fiancée was scheduled for his 8^th round of chemo today (the final round total, woot woot!), and I have to say my experience with this place has been mostly good. Our oncology doctor is awesome, attentive, and patient, and the nurses seem MOSTLY attentive.
I’ve had some really annoying experiences though, especially with the administrative people here. Case in point: today. NOBODY CALLED US ALL DAY, despite the fact that my fiancée was scheduled to come in. I know patient discharges can take a turn for the worse, and people aren’t always released in a timely manner, but have the decency TO CALL the patients waiting to be admitted, instead of allowing them to wait in anticipation. Especially considering this is our final round, it was incredibly frustrating. So at 4:30, we finally called THEM. And they farted around for 30 minutes before calling us back to say he would be admitted Monday. Thanks for wasting our day, jerks!
This isn’t the first time, either, that we’ve had to follow up with them about being admitted when we’re scheduled. This is roughly half of our experience.
And while our out-​patient experiences have been pretty good, the inpatient experiences vary. When my fiancée was reallllllllly sick, I used to spend every night with him on the 10^th floor. Those nurses were NOT TIMELY, at ALL. His machines were constantly going off for like 20 – 30 minutes at a time without anyone ever coming in to shut them off. Even when I’d call, sometimes it would take like 20 minutes! That is just not acceptable in the middle of the night when sick people are trying to sleep. We’ve had more than one older roommate blast his tv at all hours of the night, and out of the 5 nurses we talked to, only one did anything about it. I really hope that our hospital visits are NOT representative of what it’s like in the ER…
And we are constantly asked what medicine we’re on, when we’re taking it, if we’ve stopped taking them yet, by both the nurses and our oncologist… ummmm, shouldn’t YOU know that? Isn’t that what your computer right there is for? This isn’t as annoying being that we’re young, he is better and able to think and operate normally again, but what if we were older/​sicker? You really expect all cancer patients to be able to tell you exactly what they’re taking when they have to alternate between 7 types of medicine at varying rounds post-​chemo? I would say «use a damn computer» but the nurses walk around with iphone trackers and STILL have no idea what they’ve just given their patients. What’s the point of computers if that info isn’t being saved?
I think this is a good hospital for the NYC area, with a great set of oncology doctors, but to say anything is «good for nyc» is like saying it’d be sub-​par anywhere else.

This hospital is very clean and equipped with the best.
They really keep an eye on their patients and feed them as well as they can.
In addition, there are Purell machines and flu masks everywhere, making sure everything is sanitary. There is also a mini-​kitchen with free apple juice, orange juice, tea, and coffee.
The seating area on the first floor is also very welcoming– it reminds me of a hotel with all the flowers and the dark wooden furniture.

My follow up with my Mother prooved to be exceptional. They must. have had an off day. We are all entitled to a few off days.

REVIEW: New York Presbyterian-​Cornell Hospital, 525 E 68^th St., Manhattan, NY
I thought this was the best hospital in New York City; however, I was so wrong. My son has Transverse Myelitis, and he was never adequately treated for such a condition. My son now has FIVE bedsores; two on his behind, one on his testicle, and two on his heels of his feet. My son made a call to 311 and complained about neglect; therefore, Ms. Lorraine Baker (Administrator — with Patient Services) took my son’s phone privileges away and no longer allowed his mother to visit. I legally tape recorded Ms. Bakers threat to do such. There is NO Patient ADVOCATE at this hospital, as there is at most hospitals. She did not allow my son to talk or see his mom for Thanksgiving, her Birthday, New Years, or any Holiday. To prevent a patient the rights to making and receiving phone calls and visits, is against the Patient Bill of Rights. My son was left almost a month sobbing from pain and suffering from Transverse Myelitis symptoms and bedsores. It is my understanding that two of the bed sores became stage IV and the bone and muscle are exposed and got a very bad bacterial infection due to gross negligence. It is my understanding that they had to do surgery on two of the bed sores yesterday, but could not confirm. They have a police officer (could be Hospital Police) outside my son’s door as if he is a common criminal, to make sure no one sees the condition he is in. It is my understanding the hospital is on DAMAGE CONTROL (to protect themselves from a malpractice law suit); therefore, they do not want anyone to confirm he has the bedsores and/​or surgery. The hospital will not allow him to talk to any friends or family to confirm if he had surgery or not, and no one can get close to seeing him. This is not the best hospital in NYC; it is a DISGRACE to our health care system. I am forced to seek legal help JUST to talk and see my son. A few good employees at this hospital have called me to say they feel so bad for my son, that he is mistreated — yelled at and neglected. There is NO compassion. That one phone call my son made to 311 (with complaint for neglect — that the bedsore prove he was telling the truth…) has turned my son and my life UPSIDE down. The hospital tried to isolate my son; they put him in the psych ward after he called 311 and treated his transverse myelitis symptoms with anti-​psychotic medications that had horrible adverse side effects. I contacted the Attorney Generals Office and NYS Governors Office and soon after that — my son was given a psychological evaluation, that showed he did NOT have the conditions that they put in his medical records. He then was taken OUT of the psych ward and put back on the medical floor. I have since been told by the few good hospital employees at this hospital (and there are some, thank God) that this particular hospital gives great care to the rich and famous; however, if a patient does not have private insurance (has medicaid) they get horrible care, if any. A social worker at this hospital on 5 Central told me that they do NOT take Medicaid patients and tried to discharge him when he was sick; however, no other place would take him like that. The Social Worker would not work with my son to get his health insurance re-​certified (partially her fault it was terminated, in my opinion); therefore, they send me all the unpaid bills. Bills for services now; of neglect. They had to get my son some type of air/​foam bed for the bedsores. They will not even tell us what the name of the bacterial infection he got there. The doctors refuse to show him copies of test results or give him updates on his condition. This place has become our NIGHTMARE. The motto of this hospital is «PUT THE PATIENT FIRST» — someone that works there told me, that motto is ONLY if you are RICH or FAMOUS.

The place is very clean and has various sections that caters to different medical needs. There is paid parking but it is located below. The people that worked there are knowledgeable when it comes to your diagnosis and are friendly.

When my son was two months old, he had a very high fever and ended up being hospitalized. Our first stop was at Brooklyn Hospital, but we were horrified with the conditions there and high-​tailed it here as soon as we possibly could. The hospital was clean and well-​lit. Within minutes of walking in to the children’s ER, we were registered and seeing a triage nurse. We were in a room speaking with a doctor shortly after that. Everyone that we encountered was informative and caring.
My son was initially put into isolation (they had to make sure that he didn’t have the flu), and we had a giant, clean room all to ourselves. It became a running joke between my husband and I that Nurse Katie was our son’s girlfriend because she was so caring and attentive and our infant would smile and gurgle at her whenever we came in.
Whatever we needed, they provided immediately. A new hospital gown? Done. A package of diapers? Done. Did I want to pump? No, I was fine with breast-​feeding directly, but thanks anyways. We spent a total of four days in the hospital, three in a private room.
At one point, Nurse Katie told me that if I ever wanted to go grab something to eat or just go for a little walk, to just let her know and she would make sure to check on my son frequently until I returned. I didn’t take her up on the offer, but it was very considerate, and I appreciated it very much since I was starting to go a little stir-​crazy.
After he was deemed flu-​free, we were transferred to shared room, which was basically the same size as the isolated room, except with 2x the furniture/​equipment/​etc.
Seriously though, everyone was helpful, on the ball, and went out of their way to make you feel like they really cared.
If you have to go to the ER, this is the one to go to…

Naturally, it is just a little difficult to sleep with 28 electrodes attached to your body with super sticky conductum, especially when you’re doing the the sleep study to in the first place to understand long-​standing, acute insomnia, but the superb staff at Cornell Weill’s Sleep Center made it as comfortable as possible for me, both physically and emotionally. The facilities are absolutely gorgeous and absolutely top-​tier: the Sleep Center actually provides a gorgeous view of the Upper East Side, which in and of itself was soothing, and the bedrooms are equipped with extremely glorious beds with some serious Egyptian cotton bedding, and a soothing environment in which there are several options for lighting, and a private restroom that includes a shower. I was very impressed with the facilities as a whole, and have absolutely no complaints. It was wonderful, really.
My «sleep specialist» was amazing: knowledge, deeply kind, incredibly interesting, and clearly concerned with the comfort of the patient. He allowed me to go outside for a few minutes as I was feeling exceedingly anxious at first, and put on the equipment after I left better. He talked to me not only about the study itself, but about topics such as neuroscience and linguistics that we have mutual interests in; which truly set me at ease. The care was amazing, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back for a second study, which may be necessary (the findings, too, were illuminating, as is the two-​week sleep diary they furnish you with); and also would recommend it to anyone else in need of such services.
This place absolutely lives up to its name, which I have found, unfortunately, is rather rare regarding health care, especially for behavioral health. This place is truly a breath of fresh air, and a professional and useful as it gets.
A quick shout out: If anyone at the Sleep Center is reading this, thank you so much for your stellar care. You all rule! For real.
(And I gotta admit it: the sleep technician was totally hot.)