clbmwest

Review of North Ottawa Community Health ...

Went to the emergency room because my girlfriend w...

Went to the emergency room because my girlfriend was vomiting uncontrollably, had extreme dehydration and severe stomach pain. The ER nurse was very pleasant; that is where anything good about our experience ended. My girlfriend was asked to drink over 20 ounces of fluid in order for them to run tests. Given the fact that she was there for severe stomach problems and was nearly incoherent from the dehydration she was unable to drink most of it. The attendant seemed irritated when I told them that she could not finish the liquid and said "Just make her drink as much as she can and we'll see if it works...". I have had more pleasant service at a fast food restaurant.

The doctor was a very young man(late 20's -ish) and had another very young female intern with him. He entered the room with an inflated sense of confidence, claimed to know what was wrong with her before even seeing test results and was generally rude. I watched as he and the young intern went and sat down in front of a computer and seemed to be flirting with each other for a solid 30 minutes before a nurse(the people who do the real work) brought him some test results. He came back and informed us that the tests were inconclusive and he was standing by his original diagnosis(the one without any kind of empirical evidence).

After about 6 hours of sitting in the emergency room and running tests we left with my girlfriend feeling better than when she came in. Maybe you could consider that a small victory for NOCH, however: The problems resumed and continued. The bill for our visit was over $5000 and she was misdiagnosed! She listened to the ER doctor's advice and the ailment continued. With some internet sleuthing we were able to come to our own conclusion and with a little more fact finding we were able to bring an end to her illness without the help of doctors or a hospital.

If the point of going to a hospital was to be disrespected, misdiagnosed, and put on the brink of financial ruin, I would give NOCH 5 Stars.