Community Surgery Center North

"Had an urgent surgery scheduled for a family member and this surgery center made a very stressful situation as smooth as possible. Team was friendly and organized. They kept me informed the whole time and did not try to rush us out the door. They called as promised the next day to check on the patient. Very positive experience from beginning to end."

"Significant lack of communication between the surgical care team, physician care teams and staff. My elderly mother has been waiting for several months to get the proper clearances to have a much needed surgery that is causing her much pain. We finally met the criteria as outlined by her physician and were scheduled to have the surgery at 9:15 this morning. I got a call 5 minutes before we were to leave the house indicating that the Head of Anesthesiology - I believe Michael Caldwell - just looked at her case and determined he would not allow the surgery without an Endocronoligist clearance. Per the nurse she indicated that they had tried to call the Endo doc the previous day but didn't hear from them until 10 that night. Endo didn't provide clearance because she had no data with which to determine so she can't provide the clearance and apparently the two doctors could not talk to determine if the clearance was really necessary given her Endo told me that morning she wasn't seeing anything that concerned her but we wanted to rule things out and get a good baseline given she has been losing weight. My mother was so disappointed as she has been in so much pain and was hoping this would help. This is a conversation that should have taken place weeks ago when the surgery was schedule - or better yet, prior to us scheduling the surgery rather than a last glance of something that may or may not even be material with no discussion between the Endo and the Head of Anesthesiology to even indicate if there is even a reason to be worried about a risk. When asked why I wasn't informed the night before I was told they weren't working and that it was too early to expect anyone from the surgery center or the physicians to answer a call as well. My answer - I too am not working as I cleared my calendar for the day to take care of my mother. I asked why this wasn't called for sooner and it was explained to me that he missed it. Sorry. What then added more insult to injury, was an hour later the surgery center called me to tell me I was late and why wasn't I there with my mom. Seriously does anyone on the care team speak to each other? How can I possibly trust the care givers of this organization with my mother if they don't even have a strong checklist or process for ensuring they have all the proper procedures followed prior to scheduling the surgery. We are new to town and I was very excited to have the facilities so close to their new home but now I am seriously considering taking our care to another, hopefully much more competent, healthcare center."

"Lack of communication. I scheduled my surgery over a month ago, was told it was scheduled for 6:30AM and to arrive at 4. I live an hour away and woke up at 2:30AM to arrive at 4. Get there, the doors are locked and lights are off. I call the main hospital and the receptionist said she has no clue and can never get ahold of anyone there. That this happens a lot. We’ll come to find out they meant 4:45 since the doors apparently don’t even open until then. Then I get inside and am asked a series of questions (normal stuff). They asked me if I have had a positive Covid test in the last few months, to which I replied that I had at the beginning of August. Then they asked my vaccination status (which doesn’t make a bit of difference based on the guidelines they’re going off of). According to them since I’m not vaccinated I can’t have my surgery until it has been 7 weeks after my positive test based on some organization that hasn’t updated guidelines since February 2022. Why this was not mentioned or asked during scheduling is beyond me. They didn’t give any instructions on pre surgery procedures, I had no clue if I was allowed to eat or drink. MyChart only listed the dates, not times/any other information. I feel the anesthesiologist just didn’t want to do his job. I don’t know if it’s due to my procedure being a tubal and maybe he’s pro-birth? Who knows. Now I’m having to try and call to reschedule when they are so far backed up due to all the tubals that have been scheduled recently (all while hoping I don’t get Covid again in the meantime or the clock restarts)."

"I had surgery and stayed overnight. The front desk personnel were pleasant and the nurses, anesthesiologist, and surgeon were fabulous. Everything was running on time and they were immediately responsive to the call button. They explained things well and made sure all of my questions were answered at each step. I felt like they were happy to be there and genuinely cared about my pain levels and nausea. People can be crabby when they are in pain and they put me at ease. It was a great experience. Thank you all!"