Zineb Rami

Review of Mount Sinai

I've been in the ER of Mount Sinai queens hospital...

I've been in the ER of Mount Sinai queens hospital a couple of times before and I've always been given a descent service and treatment until 2 days ago: Sunday, June 2nd 2019. I was transferred from city Md to the hospital with a doctor note and report, due to my extreme level of pain caused by a herniated disk and a sciatica. I arrived there around 9:30-45 pm and was given a wheelchair since I couldn't walk. It was crowded, so I asked the security guard who escorted me in to give my note to the nurse, but he said she wouldn't take it and he asked for my name to sign me up, until the nurse ( Asian) is less busy.
After one hour sitting in the chair right in front of the nurse desk, she finally approached me to ask me if I needed to see a doctor, I said : yes, and tried to show her the note, but she said oh ok, what's your name ? I gave her my name again and she returned to her desk. Another hour later, with the pain substancially increasing, I couldn't sit anymore with my nerves compressed at the bottom of my back. Also, I've seen two patients (Caucasian) who she decided to admit immediately because they were insisting and complaining about the pain (which was clearly over played). So I got up from my wheel chair and went to ask her if she can provide me with a bed to lie down while waiting for my turn or find me a solution as the pain was unbearable. The shocking fact is that she said: she is not sure, and ignored me immediately ! And when I insisted she asked me literally : what condition do you have ? After 2 hours sitting there she didn't make the slightest effort to assess my emergency level or even look at the doctor note that I tried to show her in the first hour I was waiting !!! I was irritated and I found it unprofessional, inhuman, and discriminatory, so I spoke up, telling her that if I can't have a solution I would rather leave, while I couldn't even stand still, and that she didn't bother to sign me up correctly. She simply ignored me and called the security guard on me, even if I wasn't harming anybody ! He escorted me to my Uber and tried to be compassionate, he was clearly more human than her. I came back home, but couldn't stand the pain, so I called 911, they sent me an ambulance and drove me back again to the hospital. When I arrived at 12:30 am I was placed in a bed in the hallway with the folded sheets thrown on my feet, no plastic bag, no socks, nobody to care !!! I had to ask the nurses in the ER front station to help me with that, and even so, one of them came with the bag. She handed it to me and put the pair of socks next to my head, and said there you go! I said I can't reach my feet, I have a lot of pain, but she simply ignored me and joined her desk until the other nurse (Russian) came and helped, and covered me. At 3am, I've been seen by the doctor and I had to ask to be discharged just to leave around 4am. So I literally have been in extended pain for more than 5 hours !!!! from my arrival around 9:30pm on Sunday until 3am on Monday !!! Because of an incompetent and inhuman nurse (whom I hope she will be corrected) and a short staffed hospital on a busy weekend. Clearly this was an awful experience and a shame for a hospital like mount Sinai. I'm not sure I'll ever come back there or even recommend it to anybody. The essence of any health system especially in a country like USA is humanity and equal treatment regardless of the race or ethnicity after all. That wasn't the case.