Samaritan hospital 830 Washington Street, Watertown, NY 13601

"Absolutely the worst medical care you can receive in L&D. If you are a military spouse or POC, do NOT go here. My husband was with our daughter in another room & I asked the nurse to get him, as I was in active labor. She lied to him & said, “your wife thinks she’s in labor, but she’s not.” Neither the midwife nor nurse could recognize active labor, so I birthed my second daughter unassisted, just as I was about to get an epidural. The anesthesiologist ran from the room, as he was about to poke me with the needle just as the baby came. Any time I asked for help, the attending nurse just rolled her eyes and said “UM, NO, I think you’ll be fine.” This was *during labor* when I asked for things like help walking across the room and an epidural. If this had been my first birth, I can’t imagine how it would have ended, because of how horrifying the staff was. The Midwife did not even attend the birth, she showed up 2 hours later although she was present in the hospital and it was NOT a busy night. Again, during labor I was advised to “keep (my) legs shut till the Midwife gets here,” even though my daughter was CROWNING. You cannot just shut your legs during delivery! The medical advice to just “stop” giving birth while in labor was absolutely terrifying, especially since she was a couple of weeks early. Someone from the janitorial staff repeatedly asked me about breastfeeding, then told me I should go home since my daughter was in the NICU and it didn’t matter if I was there. As in, a mother and baby don’t “need” to be together. Why was the janitor aware of my personal info? Why were they allowed to enter a new mom’s room and ask them about breastfeeding? Incredibly unprofessional, a traumatic experience. If you are not a local, do not consider this hospital for labor and delivery, make the drive somewhere else or birth in your home state. At home births are illegal in NY, FYI. But if you are a first time Mama or there for Drum, know that you’ll need your own Midwife and support system to deliver here, as the staff they employ is NOT normal, they are not respectful, and their medical advice could absolutely harm you and your child."

"Wonderful staff! I was on two different floors plus the ER. Everyone treated me with a sense of urgency, kindness & respect. My night nurse, Tom Bair, was an absolute gift from God as he held me when I broke down in tears. Every staff member including the transporters were phenomenal and I thanked as many as I could from the bottom of my heart."

"If you can, do NOT come here to have your babies! They employ Dr. Dodard whose obstetric violence is already viral on TikTok. He forces women to deliver ON THEIR BACKS, and even lies to them and tells them it's the only way, and what ACOG recommends. It's all caught on film. Dr. Dodard told a woman who wanted to keep pushing on her side to "Go Home" if she didn't want to obey him. Jen Hamilton has re-posted the video in question. See for yourself."

"My mom had to go in for a simple transfusion, but it took 8 hours. And in that time the doctor wanted to run unnecessary test and treatments. They also made her wait in waiting room ALL night. They didn't even feed her. And they couldn't even do the transfusion properly. Her arm is covered in bruises because they don't know how to do it."

"If I could leave 1 star I would. My husband brought in our medically complex 6 month old because of a cough and congestion which I know isn’t a big deal to most, but he’s been admitted 4 times within his first 4 months of life for same symptoms, and we are up here visiting family and he couldn’t handle the ride to Syracuse. The original triage nurse was great told my husband the tests would be back shortly and they shouldn’t be there long as he went in in middle of night. He sat there from 4a-9ish in waiting room. When shift-change came he went to ask new nurse how long it would be as his feeding tube pump was running low on formula and someone would need to bring more down. She was condescending and rude told him to sit down she didn’t care. This happened a couple times with the same answer.When they finally called them back they asked him why he even brought the baby in for a cold. My husband attempted to explain and even offered to show them the medical records we have on us at all times, which they had no interest in. One of the nurses attempted to PULL OUT my sons surgically placed feeding tube from underneath his pajamas because “it looked like the pulse ox cord” and then acted like it wasn’t a big deal. I used to work here and didn’t believe how bad it had gotten, and how little empathy the front end of the er had until we experienced it first hand. Sadly this isn’t even the only horror story I have (telling a lady with a broken back they put in the waiting room for 13 hours to urinate on her self and then laughing at her)"