North Shore Medical Center

DO NOT COME HERE. Take your chances driving to Boston MGH or another hospital. I have been sitting in the ER for over 5 hours with suspected internal abdominal bleeding (which I told them) and they either aren’t taking me seriously or I need to actually pass out on the floor to be taken in.

If I could give no stars I would. The other reviewers are absolutely correct. I’ve been here for 4 hours and I saw someone the first 5 minutes. ABSOLUTELY NO UPDATES, NO COURTESY, NO PROFESSIONALISM, NOTHING. I would not even come here ever again if my life depended on it-​literally. If you are on this page because you are considering coming here– please dont. As crazy as it sounds, you are better off at union Hoapital in lynn or robbing a pharmacy. The sad part is I know what is wrong and it would take 3 minutes to get me seen and discharged. I just cannot write a script to myself for antibiotics for the flu. THE FLU! Maybe I’ll be cured by the time I get seen.

Everytime I call this place, I’m greeted by a rude operator or a rude employee answering the phone. I understand your job is hard and can be annoying but suck it up, and don’t take it out on patients, other employees or anyone for that matter.

My sister in law had excellent care here. She was admitted through ER and stayed overnight. Her ER nurse Kathy was very nice and all the doctors very thorough and kind. She was on Davenport 8… the staff there were great… Myra, Jason, Maxine. I would give 5 star but the bathroom did not smell too clean.

Avoid this place at all costs. My mother was a patient here, and needed to go to a one hour appointment to refill a prescription. It was for a anti-​depressant that she needs, as my father passed away from pancreatic cancer three months ago. She made an honest mistake with regard to her appointment time, and showed up 20 minutes late. She was then publicly scolded by a receptionist, her nurse practitioner refused to see her for the remaining 40 minutes of the appointment, and she was told she would need to see her therapist twice before they would see her again. My mother was embarrassed and ashamed at being scolded like this, and left the office in tears. Is this how someone who just lost their soulmate should be treated? Shame on them. Mental health practitioners, of all people, should understand that grief can cause people to mix up things like an appointment time. To make matters worse, they just sent my mother a letter demanding payment for a missed appointment. I have never heard of such horrible treatment, and am pleased to say that my mom is now happily seeing another health care provider, who has already helped her. Do not let anyone you care about seek treatment here.

This ER IS AWFUL! I’ve been here for over 5 hours now with my 90 year old aunt and they don’t keep you updated at all! Nurse is chomping gum in my aunts face and popping bubbles!!! I ask where the dr is that we have been waiting for ever and she answers «that’s the question » !!!
I run down to cafeteria to try can grab something quick to eat and food looks awful– I finally get something and cashier is talking to someone for like 5+ minutes about cats with no tails as I wait to try and pay! She couldn’t ring me up then continue her «important» conversation!!!
Still waiting and STILL don’t know what’s going on with my aunt!!! Happy 4^th of July!!!

This place sucks. I went there with severe back pain. I had a resting heart rate of 120 bpm due to the pain. I then laid on the floor while i waited cause sitting was not an option. They gave me 2 percocet and a valiume then sent me home without conducting any tests whatsoever. They told me it was probably a strained muscle, and then insisted that I leave. I had to literally crawl out of the hospital on my elbows and knees.
It turns out that i had a 2.7cm herniation in my L4 disk which required surgery. I would have gotten better treatment if I was in Auschwitz. FUCK SALEM HOSPITAL.

I recently had a C-​scan and an MRI at Salem Hospital and both experiences were better than I expected. Check in and registration were fast and easy, all my paperwork was completed before the visits. The test waiting areas were clean and I saw that the chair where the IV is put in was washed down after each person used it. The nurses were attentive, friendly (although harried looking) and answered all questions thoroughly. The technician who performed the C-​scan was outstanding as was the MRI technician, both were patient and very good at making me feel safe and comfortable. I’ve read some bad reviews of this hospital, wrote one myself two years ago after an awful experience with my grandson, and I hope to see more good reviews as changes are made.

Literally NEVER going here ever again– the staff was fine BUT I caught lice in their facility. I had a tonsillectomy and didnt leave my house at all– there was NO other place I could have gotten it. I will give credit where it is due, nurses were great, my surgeon was great, and when I called to kindly tell patient care specialist Chris Quinn he was highly apologetic which leads me to believe I’m not the 1^st person to complain about this happening. Bottom line, I have spent HUNDREDS on lice products and have finally gotten rid of it BUT I will NOT be entering that facility ever again.

I was rushed here by ambulance last Mothers’ day. My husband told the ambulance to take me to MGH but since it is closer to our house i was brought to this NSMC Salem ER to get me stabilized and since it will be a miserable ride to Boston but it was definitely bad decision to go to this ER!!! I had a very bad experience with the staff in this hospital. The nurse was very rude and incompetent. I was very sick with extreme dizziness, vertigo and vomiting. I had history of brain surgeries in the past. The nurse didnt even do her nursing assessment or even read my medical history or better yet ask me question. She didnt care how i feel. Good thing my mom was there to help me. She only went to my room once after had my ct scan done to check my bp and i closed my eyes and dont want to move my head because im gonna start to feel dizzy again and throw up. This very rude this nurse came to my room grab my arm to check my bp and of course that was sudden movement to my head so i closed my eyes because i started to have a vertigo again and this very unprofessional nurse made a comment «YOU WERE JUST FINE WHEN I WALKED IN THIS ROOM HONEY! LET’S GET THIS THING DONE SO YOU CAN GO HOME!!!» Then left the room and I started vomiting again and she just throw the kidney basin to my mom. Is she freaking for real??? I am very miserable and i never want to be hospitalized especially on mothers day! I am a nurse by profession i will never ever treat my patient like that ever. I am not faking my sickness if thats what she is trying to say. I will never ever go back to that hospital again. I was transferred to MGH and had emergency surgery the next day. I am very upset and disappointed with the care I receieved in that Hospital. I am writing this review because I want people to know how horrible is that place. I dont want my patient to be treated like that ever the way i was treated. They need to train their staff to be courteous, professional and competent. It seems like that nurse doesnt want to do her work at all and she doesnt know what she was doing! MGH is the best place to be well trained professional, caring staff.

Applies to ER nurses (most with the exception of 1). The nurses seem to show a lack of compassion towards people in pain, it feels understaffed, feels as if most nurses were rude and incompetent, in short; there was a feeling of being ignored, for instance a conversation with a nurse played off that they’ll run tests (wait over 7 hours) to identify your problem (which they don’t tell) then come back and say «here’s a prescription of pain killers. bye bye… No I will not help wheelchair your friend out, do it yourself.» (Gist if it) BUT! Unless you’re an elderly patient (which I’ve noticed while walking in and out of the er, then it’s your place to go to for some quality care! And full on attention. The youth in serious pain aka my friend? You’re out of luck. On the bright side, security and front desk staff was nice and insightful. Still, In case of emergencies, I’ll guess I’ll try and lighten their night by taking an ill-​in-​pain patient to another facility.

*For the ER*
Unless you HAVE to go here for an emergency, and you are unconcious, try going to another ER. Wait times are horrible, staff is rude, and the place to state simply, is a dump. This is a classic Ghetto ER, complete with alkies, drug addicts and other low lives. Union Hospital is a better location, but Beverly has a much better and modern ER, and is much more professional. Better yet, try to make it to MGH, because all those locations send patients there if they can’t figure you out…

Nothing but good things to say about the front desk staff and medical staff here. The NP ended up being able to treat me without even making me pay my outrageous ER copay of 150 dollars. I only needed a small stitch to stop the bleeding so they were kind enough to help me and even took time to tell me how to care for the wound after leaving and provided me with bandages/​medical supplies. It was also ridiculously fast compared to any other ER visit I’ve had involvement with (legit no more than 25 minutes total). I plan to make an appointment with my PCP tomorrow to make sure I don’t need antibiotics and make sure my tetanus shots are up to date but they sure made me feel better in the meantime.
Minus one star for the rudeness of the outdoor security officer (the security officers inside were very kind). After driving around the entire ER parking lot multiple times with no spots to be found ANYWHERE in the entire lot. I didn’t know what to do so I temporarily parked in the farthest away handicap spot (there were still like 7 other empty spots and it was 10pm). I approached him on the way in, limping, barefoot on the grimy road, with my foot and paper towels drenched in blood, so I asked if I could stay there or if there was somewhere else close I could park and he simply said there are no other spots and I shouldn’t park there without the proper permit. This made me cry a bit because clearly my day was not going well at this point and I was just very frustrated. I went inside and there were two additional security guards at the desk. I told them my situation and they were like oh yea that’s totally fine to keep your car there! So yea that guy upset me for no reason but then everyone I met after that was great so you can’t win em all I guess.

Okay, Salem Hospital, imho, has moved up to 3 stars, which is actually a «not so bad» rating. It’s called «A-​OK.» I’m doing that, in part of the lovely nurse (s) who took their time out to give me their honest response. Also, they offer free valet service, so that’s new to me and definitely a plus!
As much as I appreciate your response regarding my poor experience several years ago, there is another story regarding my son’s experience in the psychiatric section of the N.S. Children’s Hospital. It was right after September 11^th. With all the graphic news reports, I guess kids can’t process that amount of reality in the news. His elementary school called me and told me that my son was having a hard time. This was the day after he started the new med, a lot like «Ritalin,» but it wasn’t Ritalin. I was at work, so my husband (bf at time) took my son to nsmc’s er. I met them there, after I got out of work, which was about ten miles away.
I walked into the ER (and I’ve been told that the appearance of the building has been updated) and I was told that he was visually hallucinating. He really thought he saw a terrorist coming after him. My child has never talked like this before. He was obviously having a psychotic episode that needed to be helped. Dr. Prince, who was the medical director of the Psych Services, or at least he was.
He gave my son Risperdal and wanted him to wait there an hour or 2, so he could observe. So the Risperdal worked and my son was back to himself. I have to give Dr. Prince kudos on that. But there wasn’t any follow up or anything, but maybe it doesn’t work that way…

The medical staff are rude, incompetent and have very condescending attitudes as if they really don’t like their jobs at all. Don’t count on living through a heart attack since you’ll probably be left waiting for several hours.

24-​hour pediatric emergency services! I took my son in at 8:00pm on a Sunday night and the intake nurse told us they were quite busy that evening. The waiting area was pretty noisy but what do you expect with a bunch of sick kids and tired parents. With the exception of the security guard, all staff members were easy to talk to and pleasant. We dealt with 2 nurses and 1 doctor and none of the three tried to rush us through the process. Rocco (I think that was his name) gave my son a Popsicle which was greatly appreciated. We were in and out by 10:30pm, which is unheard of in the state I’m originally from.

I went here on a Saturday morning to have some tests done at the lab. My primary care physician works at a different NSMC location and sent in the order to Salem Hospital because her office was not open on Saturday.
I was warned by a family member before I ventured out to Salem that it was not going to be a pleasant experience, and she was right. First of all, the place is impossible to navigate, and parts of the parking lot are just literally falling apart. I followed signs pointing towards the ‘Main Entrance’ and ended up in a creepy nearly empty parking lot seemingly on the back of the building. I walked in the entrance there and they had no reception area, so I got back in my car and drove around a bit more until I found another entrance that looked promising. I then had to walk through the hospital for literally 15 minutes before I came across another person.
Once I found a Lab Tech, she was quite short with me, even though I was more than nice. I had to give a urine sample at the lab and the bathroom was absolutely disgusting. It reeked of urine and was filthy. The last thing you want is to have an unsanitary hospital.
The reason for three stars, and not one, is that the woman at Registration and a nurse who showed me to the exit on my way out were more than nice. Also, it was a Saturday, so they were of course not fully staffed, so I’m taking that into consideration.
I guess my major complaint is that both the exterior and interior had portions that seemed dirty and falling apart, and the Lab Tech was really rude to me.

I had to bring my fiancé here after a car accident, the wait time as actually shorter than any hospital I have been to before. Once taken it was quick for a hospital. Id say if its an emergency then you wont be reading this review…

I did my clinical internship for my allied health program here. It is a great hospital. I am also an EMT and have brought patients here. The ER staff is friendly and the docs are attentive. I did my internship in Radiology and most of the staff are great. They truly care about their patients. The OR staff is great too and do not mess around with safety or sterility. I’ve been in the cardiac cath lab and have seen nothing but extreme professionalism. Overall, I would not hesitate to come here if I were sick. I left one star off because Partners needs to put some more money into renovations here. The wear and tear is showing and some of the equipment is dated, but hey, it’s the north shore… not Boston.