Buffalo General Medical Center Emergency Room

"About ER: Truly awful jaded Healthcare workers. Treat people that live in the city like absolute trash. Spent all of mother's day there for severe GI mystery pain instead of at home with my loving family having breakfast. (Hubs stayed home with our newborn) Had to come back to ER twice in same day before they would run a single test on me despite having excellent insurance, presenting with clean clothes, and excellent manners. (Although I was in a fetal position quietly crying in waiting room until seen) The 2nd time I returned, I insisted that they do a scan - they took me back and put me in surgery bed as a joke? Then moved me to a normal bed when I didn't give the reaction they were hoping for. They found intestinal swelling on scan at 2nd visit, but told me that they found nothing and "I could go now" declined to give me discharge paperwork even when I asked. (My primary reviewed results with me on monday) They do no discharge paperwork so that they don't get a survey back -tied to make it look like I walked out both times (both were 5+ hour visits, and I stayed until someone came in and said I could go) colonoscopy & upper endoscopy a few days later found multiple polyps & evidence of swelling from unknown cause. My GI DR works out of that hospital so I'm supposed to go back if there's trouble again- literally supposed to hand them a note from over a year ago that tells them what tests to run so they treat me like a human this time. Can't find note. Dreading my return visit. This hospital & medical campus received millions of taxpayer dollars to serve my community, and I don't even feel safe getting treatment at my local hospital because of the toxic work culture there. Seeking medical attention literally became a traumatic experience for me because of ER staff. Rest of hospital is excellent."

"The wait time for the ER is beyond ridiculous. Waiting with a friend for over 10 hours and still waiting. Last time ever coming here. Another huge annoyance is that you can’t sit next to your love one while you wait. If you move the chairs to do so the security guard will come around and tell you to separate them by three feet."

"I was treated horribly from Natasha Petersen NP and Amanda May MD. It was Labor Day weekend and the ER was not very busy. They just didn’t want to help me. I could barely walk into the triage room or to the bathroom due to the pain radiating down my entire leg and back pain I was experiencing. The staff watched as I could barely breathe from the pain and was holding onto things to walk to the restroom down the hall, never offering assistance. They continued to try to give me medication that was contraindicated from my GI doctor. And since they said it was just my sciatica acting up they refused any imaging. I let them know several times this was beyond that type of pain as that is a pain I am familiar with and something is very wrong. I tried to advocate for myself and attempted to get a hold of a patient advocate or nurse manager. I was told by Caroline the operator I was not “entitled” to speak to those people. I eventually did speak to a supervisor so was finally given a very low dose of pain medication however still refused imaging and no relief of pain. They discharged me with nothing. Watched me hold onto walls and try to catch my breath on my way out. saw my primary the following day who felt very strongly that I had a herniated disc, the mri showed my disc actually had several pieces broken off. Thankfully I was able to see a neurosurgeon quickly and two days after that appointment had back surgery. I developed foot drop as well as severe weakness in my right leg. My surgery was two weeks after my ER visit. During that time I had to use a walker, slept for 45 minute periods at a time at night, could barely move or use the bathroom due to pain and weakness. I do believe I would not have developed foot drop and this much weakness in my right leg had the ER treated me properly. I have been in physical therapy for over a month now and have a long way to go in my recovery. I have filled out a lengthy survey and received a call from a the hospital relations manager, Lori Stoudmire, and received a very generic letter in return. I have also since tried to make a formal complaint as she was just responding to my survey however she has not called me back, that was now over a week ago since I left that voicemail. I had previously tried filing a complaint with Casey at the access center on September 26th however no one has attempted to call me back from that either. My goal with this follow up was to make sure the doctor and NP are aware that people can be in significant pain and it shouldn’t simply be ignored because they think you are faking and just don’t feel like it. They are supposed to be in this profession to help people. Truly they do not care about the concerns of their patients or the treatment. Absolutely do not recommend going to this ER."

"The ER was very busy so we were not surprised that it took time to get through each step but we realized it was done so inefficiently. It was hours before one of the staff decided they could help by drawing bloodwork. Then we were informed all exam rooms were full. They didn’t leave a single room available for exams like a doctor office would have. After 11 hours we left."

"I didn't believe the other reviews, big mistake. You wait and they don't care. Dozens of staff sitting around on their phones and talking and laughing. The emergency waiting room was empty early in the am, not busy. Sent back to a treatment room and nobody checks on you for hours while you bleed. I figured people were upset with the cost and wrote bad reviews. It's that bad at buffalo general. I'm still waiting while writing this review and bleeding. If this was any legitimate business it would be closed. Poorly run by useless incompetent overpaid staff"