October 2019 by B R.
Last year, my husband had sudden, terrible pain in his abdomen. I haven't ever seen him in such agony. I rushed him to the closest hospital, Genesis Medical Center, in Silvis. When we came in, there were 4 people in the waiting room, all sitting and chatting, obviously not in any distress. My husband was moaning in pain and barely able to walk, but the e.r. receptionist still told us to sit in the waiting area. During our hour long wait, I expressed my concern several times that it could be his gall bladder, or appendix, and the possibility of a rupture. The receptionist told me to sit back down, and that all of the exam rooms were full. However, when they finally took him back there, one person was in the room next to him. The rest of the rooms were empty. (the time was around 8 pm) They put him through some blood work and testing, said it was likely his gallbladder, and admitted him. He then lay in the e.r. for several more hours, in complete agony, waiting for someone to take him to a room. When he was finally in one, it was hours later before the doctor came in the morning, to do the surgery. My husband's gallbladder was now 4 times it's size, and had necrosis. The doctor told me he hadn't ever seen one that enlarged, and was seriously concerned it would rupture during removal. The fact is, my husband had a severely blocked duct, and he wasn't given immediate medical attention. They allowed him to suffer for hours, while his gallbladder swelled hugely and started to die. We could have lost him because of this hospital's lack of compassion. If he had come in with a severed limb, would they have told him to wait, while he bled out? To make matters worse, after the surgery I went home to sleep for a few hours, being exhausted by then. When I went back 4 hours later, I thought he'd be sleeping, but he immediately asked for water. (no food or drink prior to surgery, so now he was over 16 hours without water) I asked at the nurse's station why he wasn't given something, and they told me he couldn't have water yet, which I knew, but I also knew they could give him a lolly dipped in ice water to wet his mouth, which was very dry and chapped. Oh, yes, they said, he could have that. They would bring it and some ice water. Nearly an hour later, still nothing, so back to the nurse's station I went. This time something was done, because they could see I'd reached my limit on patience. After that, I slept in a chair in his room until his release. This hospital is the closest one to us, but I will never take anyone I love there again, except to have them stabilized before transport to another hospital, if the situation is critical. They all failed my husband miserably, and it could have cost him his life. And don't even get me started on the Restorative Care for seniors at the same hospital. My mother was there in 2017, and I couldn't get her out of there fast enough. I saw several nurses treat the elderly with no dignity whatsoever, not even pulling a curtain when bathing or tending to them. To be clear, I'm not talking about all Genesis hospitals. We've been to the Genesis Medical Center in Davenport, and the staff and care was absolutely wonderful. I would give zero stars to the one in Silvis, if I could.
