Lin Lin

Review of Banner Thunderbird Medical Cen...

First, I am a 70-year-old using a cane because of ...

First, I am a 70-year-old using a cane because of a broken ankle.
Now, the issue: I brought my granddaughter to the ER of this hospital. I accompanied her through the ER and eventually to her hospital room. Then, 4 hours later (at 3 pm) as I am leaving her room, I am directed by the nurse (who was aware that we were admitted through the ER) the nurse directed me to follow the signs to the Exit. I limp through the entire hospital, to discover that I was directed to the Main Entrance, which is on the OPPOSITE side of the hospital from the ER. I ask how to get to the ER, because that is where I was parked. I was advised that "the ER is a bit of a walk," and to exit the Main Entrance, follow the sidewalk, and go around the building. (I'm exhausted at this point and my ankle is throbbing, and explain that my car is over there. I am told there is no other way to get there. (Not true, because I came through the hospital from the ER.) So I head out and follow the sidewalk to where it dead-ends, and I can't find the ER. I look back at the long walk, and I'm not sure if I can make it back to the Main Entrance, I'm already hot (it's now 3:30 pm and over 100 degrees, and I've walked half a mile) and out of breath, but I limp back to the Main Entrance, where I find the Security Guard and the intake nurses. I explain that I can't find it. They show me a map. I explain that I can't walk that far again. They stare at me, shrug, and say, "There's no other way." So, I go outside and sit for a few minutes trying to cool off. Stand up, and start hobbling down the sidewalk again. And again, I end up where I was before, no ER in sight. I see a large sign that says "East Entrance and Maternity." Then, a nurse appears from the parking garage! She leads me past the East Entrance, through a gap between two buildings, and there it is, the ER. I thank her and continue to hobble my way to the parking garage on the other side of the ER, locate my car, and sit for 15 minutes to cool off. It's now 4:15, and I figure I walked for an hour, over a mile, from my granddaughter's room to the Main Entrance, then around to the dead-end sidewalk, back to the Main Entrance, then back around finally to the ER.
My issue is not with the hospital. The staff at the Main Entrance certainly had no compassion nor help for an old lady with a cane and a broken ankle. Wouldn't you think that the Security Guard, or someone, could have given me a 5-minute lift to my car? And, since I came through the hospital from the ER, why couldn't someone have helped me go back that way?
I know discharged ER patients do leave back out the ER entrance.
This is ridiculous. I'll NEVER drive anyone to this ER, ever again.