Columbia St. Mary's Review

Had surgery here. Nice hospital with amazing views of the lake.

Caring and loving staff, they were nice and loving it felt like I was taken care of. Felt like I was with family

Was asleep and woke up to a major fire in my home. Called 911 and Northshore fire dept came immediately. Was placed in a ambulance and was being told I would be transported to St Mary's in Milwaukee. I live in brown deer and closer to the St Mary's in mequon but was told this was best in area. Once we arrived in loading area no one acknowledged me or paramedics for 10 mins. Finally paramedics found someone who then moved me to the lobby waiting area with 10 others waiting to be seen. Keep in mind I was just in a fire so I had on no coat, socks and only a t shirt, and sweats, suffering from smoke inhalation, couldn't breathe and was placed in a waiting room lobby right by the door and it was 20 degrees outside. Was told the wait would be 2 hours. After an 45 mins someone asked for my insurance information and when I told them I worked for the state within 2 minutes suddenly I had a room. I was brought back given a xray a breathing treatment, told to follow up with my doctor (if I had one) and discharged. I was shocked. Then 5 mins later as I was calling for a ride home was told that I couldn't wait in the room and was told to leave.....again no coat, socks and t shirt on. Worst service ever. Later that evening was again taken to hospital St Mary's in Mequon for smoke inhalation and was told I needed to be admitted and can now say I'm resting well. Will never go back to St Mary's in Milwaukee.

Worst hospital in Milwaukee. Staff is rude and incompetent, ER is filthy and the follow-up is non-existent. Avoid at all costs!

I was impressed with everything in last 3 days. The whole staff was helpful and went deep into my situation to get me on my feet and feeling my age again. I can't believe the intrest in just one person. These people are great and deserve kindness and respect like they gave me. Thanks again for everything and God bless all of the staff all the way down the line

they absolutely assume youre not sick unless you have to come in multiple times for the same thing.

Had very nice nurses and front desk people. Very personable and nice atmosphere. Just had to get some blood taken for labs and the wait wasn t too long

Hello this review isn't for the hospital directly, I think the hospital itself has been okay in my experience. The review is mainly for the ER experiences recently. The first time the doctor was unhelpful, dismissive and her nurse was verbally inappropriate and refused to answer any questions. Very weird. Sorry they felt that way but that's not how you treat an ailing patient. The medicine they gave wasn't compatible with my ailment so it didn't work and had very serious side effects. The second time the other doctor was helpful, friendly and treated some stuff. His nurse was also very kind and nice to me. Much better!

I definitely appreciate when people are nice to me and hear me out instead of jumping to conclusions and making up wild accusations regarding my health.
Overall I had a few things going on at once and they caused some complications I couldn't handle alone.

I recorded the experience with the mean nurse and doctor to show to my friends.

Worst place to be seen for pregnancy!! They don't care for you at all and staff is really rude.

Unprofessional due to disorganization and lack of communication. Not very cleanly. Floors in patient room were dirty. The staff is nice, but I expect more than this from a hospital. Lacking where it counts. Years ago this hospital was much better.

Update 2/19. Per my previous review I had called at their request to discuss all the issues. Got the run around and was passed from person to person. Eventually just lip service. Will anything ever change for the better here? Had a m

Today, I tried to schedule an appointment with a specialist. Again, service was poor. Person on phone was rude. The earliest appointment they could give was July (it s February). I understand specificalists book further out, but five months for a cardiologist?

Also, just had a mammogram there-nice ladies, nice tech. The exterior of lobby is filthy and be prepared to hold your breath from all the clouds of cigarette smoke. Luckily I was in and out. Definitely not the quality of hospital it used to be.

I brought my father into Columbia St. Mary's ER per his cardiologist request. I had brought my mother her on another occasion. The ER is terrible!! LONG wait to do simple blood tests and chest x-ray. In fact I was told one of the blood samples clotted and they had to take another vile. Waited an hour even before they took the new vial, then waited another hour for the results. Waited in the ER for over 4 hours when they knew right away he was being admitted. It would be one thing if the ER was busy but there were hardly any patients. Horrible service of staff. They were more interested in talking with one another than taking care of their patients. When my father was brought to his room-doctor, nurses and case workers were great!! I would really like to skip the ER before coming to this hospital! The ER is the first experience when coming to this hospital. This isn't where you want to have patients have their first impression/experience of the hospital. Maybe have quality control of how long patients are sitting and waiting (what are they waiting for) and see if this is appropriate time for a patient to wait. This is horrible for sick people to lay in horrible beds and have nurses act as if they have more important things to do (that doesn't include taking care of their patients). I hate to bring family to this hospital because of the ER!! TERRIBLE TERRIBLE SERVICE/CARE!!!!

My wife is currently in here, she had surgery Friday, nurses are forever not available, thank God me and my daughters who are nurses are here. Housekeeping is non existent in this place, 3 days and haven't seen them. If you ever seen the movie John Q, I'm about to bring him here, sad service and I'm taking pics of this cess pool. Froedert will be our home hospital after this horrible stay. Room 6256 will be on FB.

Terrible service my girlfriend almost died it's not even a one star.

I entered the emergency room on July 4th at 10:00 AM. Dr. Richard Shimp met with me within 10 minutes of arriving. I had a severe pain in my left side. He immediately had an ex ray taken but felt there was more that needed to be done. after seeing just a cloud. He then had a CT scan which showed I had a large Pulmonary Saddle Embolism, which can prove to be fatal as happened to actor Dennis Farina. Dr. Shimp performed several more tests and admitted me that afternoon, placed me on the appropriate medications and did an excellent job. I spent the next six days in the hospital under the care of Dr. John Steck, he and the staff did an excellent job. Because of the medical care received by these gentlemen and the nursing staff, I am here to write this review. My family and myself are grateful for their care, thank you very much.

Very poor service. Went to the ER at 6:00 pm. I was still there at 11:00 pm. The staff was not polite at all. This was the worse ER I have ever been to......

I was horribly mistreated. I know due to medical reasons that I need an IV in my neck or near my collar bone. I had hospital records and doctors notes saying to not try and stick me. Ij was about to get an epidural aftrer waiting many hours and my ptsd acting up from the pain. The doctor stuck me countless times, refused to listen to me nor the doctors notes and once I was 10cm diolated and in a full ptsd attack he had me draw a line on the form to do the neck IV I was promised all along. I don't recall being asked nor drawing a line. The staff was awful and worst of all they broke the law. My baby had normal scoring the entire time i was there which was 9 days. I was told by multiple people I didn't belong there "staff members too. You need a score of 9 three times in a row to be taken to nicu.. My baby NEVER HAD A SINGLE 9!! NOT ONCE!! she got one 8. And the average for her was 2 and 3.. a normal baby. They force drugged her which she didn't react well to. They instantly started taking her off because she couldn't even wake up on them. They wanted to tube feed her "the nurses" and the voice of reason an Asian doctor came in upon my demand and said "she has been totally fine until this she needs to be off ". Guess what? In 9 days she never scored a 9 again.. never an 8 again.. averaged the normal 3 or 2 as said and was fine. Happy. Growing. No issues. I was not a drug abuser nor did I even drink. I was on a very low dose of a single prescribed pill that was a category C risk, but had wonderful results for all reported pregnant women. They needed to be sued for the hell they put me through. The mental and physical torture and mistreatment was sickening. I NEVER left my daughter not even for an hour. I'd go to the rest room and come back to the room. Some days I'd get a vending machine snack, power eat it and return. For 9 days I stayed in the hospital by my perfectly ok babies side. I had some health issues I couldn't tend to do to that. My grandmother "who raised Me" stayed there too. She 13 months later still has night terrors and on a daily basis talks about how she's haunted by this. She is a very young and capable woman. This has made my already hard PTSD worse, my family who sadly saw the care still are horrified and I will NEVER trust having a baby again which is shameful, because I had total faith before this. I am the proud mom of a baby girl who is now 13 months old. She is 28 pounds. Ahead mentally and physically. She walks, says over 40 words and is the reason I wake up every single day.. The way they caused her needless pain haunts my dreams and my families.. I didn't sue despite being told how stupid that choice was. The true reason I didn't is because I want to be heard. I don't care about any of the money, because the horrors don't have a price to me.. Nothing can take back the hell caused by this place. I won't be vengeful and do anyrhing legal now. I just need my story heard. One nurse even wrote on the board "please let them go home tomorrow". They knew that wrong was wrong. I'm now afraid to have another baby or to let myself love. The only thing I'll say is the wicked LAW BREAKING doctor in the Nicu is the woman doctor who is heavier, but not obese and between I'd guess 48-56 yeasrs old is the one who took us to Nicu illegally. When I asked her why since my baby had good scores she said "it's not If we will medicate it's when so we're going to do it now". I told her that's not legal and she told me I have no choice. Both me and my grandma heard this at 3:30am when they ripped us from bed up there. Where she took 1 dose of meds and had to be taken off and YET despite being taken off of their meds still scored a normal score and never even close to anything bad.. that doctor needs to be fired. She was the only average looking female doctor 13 months ago working in the Nicu. The only other female doctor I saw had very short hair and a more stocky build, but not heavier like the lady at hand. It's not the very short haired one. I hope this doctor gets fired..

I ended up at Columbia St Mary's for a week after I had a stroke. My Two days in ICU were scary but everyone was so nice to me and kept me informed on what was going on. When I finally moved to my normal room for the next 5 days on the 6th floor, I was so pleased at how nice the nurses and student nursing teams were. Everyone made me feel important and that they really cared for me. They even put up with my crazy sense of humor. And, lucky me had the best view of the lake and the Hoan Bridge! Thank you to all of the staff that made my sudden and scary issue feel so much less stressful!

This hospital is not St. Mary s it s St. Lucifer s hospital. Bad doctorss in this place they don t have a clue on what they are doing. My dad went in there with simply dehydration . Three weeks later my dad still in the hospital lost 30 pounds basically they starved to death. There cause of death heart attack of course your heart will give up from starvation. I hope they rot in hell.

If You're In Serious Pain, Don't Come Here.. Save Yourself The Trip And Go Elsewhere. I Sat Three Hours For A Chest XRay.And A Breathing Treatment, At The ER These Docs And Nurse Don't Give A God Damn Say No To St Mary's

Very unprofessional Doctor Cafaro & her nurse staff during the first 4 months of having my son rarely put scheduled appointments into system also having a wait of 20 mins plus for appointments after being on time and then told me due to my 2 No-Shows I had been banned from clinic.without every stating that information beforehand. Doctor and staff from the being were rude and unhelpful with bad attitudes. Would no recommend Dr.Cafaro & Staff for your child always had a bad energy never showed that much interest in my son during visit very unfriendly environment.

When it comes to billing - poor customer service. I spent too much time on the phone - only to receive wrong information twice. I contacted this hospital prior to surgery - and requested to pay the entire deductible ($4000.00) at the time of service. I was told that a discount could occur if the bill was paid in full within 30 days. Tried paying and was told I was given the wrong information. I was told they would escalate this issue and receive a call back in 24 hours - no call back. I called yesterday and was told if I paid the bill in full by Sept 1th I would receive a 20% discount. The irony is I asked for 10%. Done. I said I would put a check in the mail that evening. The person asked me to put it on a credit card. I relayed I thought the check would be appreciated because of the fees with credit cards. So I paid with my credit card and received a reference number. Oh no - here I go again. Wrong information for the second time. This hospital does not offer any prompt pay discount. She reversed the charge on my credit card and said I could pay the bill ove a 24 month period. r Beautiful hospital, but lacking in customer service post surgery. I believe it is a symptom of being part of a large system. Team members not empowered to make decisions. I did give it a one star rating only because this requires a star - the truth is - no integrity (probably one of their values) since they do not honor what their employees tell customers.

Worst experience at an emergency room. You might as well go sit on the bench outside until you feel better. A small emergency should not take 5 hours to get a a doctor into your room.

Very uncomfortable environment. Not sure why but a nurse walks in our room and starts talking about another patient and how she can't wait for her to go.

I had a preventative visit in August 2019 trying to establish a new doctor. I received a bill in the mail in January 2020 stating I owe money for the visit even though my insurance covers preventative and is in network with Ascension. I have been on the phone with my insurance and Ascension every month since January. My insurance is stating I do not owe this money and finally conferenced in Ascension with me on the phone two different times. I was told twice my bill was taken care of and yet I received another bill on Friday and it states that it's my "final notice" and will be sent to collections if I don't pay it. I asked to speak to the manager at Ascension on 5/7 and sent her an email on 5/7 with my Explanation of Benefits attached and never got a response but yet got another bill. I am not sure what to do at this point. I would advise anyone reading this to never use Ascension.

I honestly have to say they saved my life. One of the best Neurological surgery centers in the area.

They Really Need A lot Of Improvement It Looks Dirty Around The Walls Was Pilling Up It s One PA Doctor Going Around Seeing All The Patients. She Didn t Look That Older Than Me. It Was Unorganized It Looks Like People From Outside Just Be Siting In The Waiting Room. Paper All on The Floor . Could Of Just Went To St Joseph s Hospital Worst Experience

First, we saw a great PA & it fulfilled our infant son's needs. The reason I am giving a poor star rating is due to their pricing and inability to answer questions about cost before providing care.

I am from Louisville KY & was visiting family in Milwaukee when my 4 month old son started having trouble breathing due to a chest infection. Being new parents, and understanding that adequate care can be obtained from affordable urgent care centers we googled this location and headed to it.

For a 30 minute visit, that included seeing a nurse and a physicians assistant, the cost was ~$400. If I were do to this back at an urgent care in Louisville it would have been less than $100.

Boy am I glad I rejected their recommendation to get my son's chest x-rayed because that would have ran me another $400.

Bottom line, unless you want to walk into a situation where you have no idea how much the cost of service will be ... DO NOT GO HERE.

If I could give a negative star I would. They pushed my dad out after surgery that he got even more sick. Because he couldn't have a bowel movement they started doing everything they could do make it happen. So now he couldn't pee hid potassium levels were so high he was admitted to the ICU. Then he has a bacterial infection in his anus. Terrible service terrible people. I will be contacting the news

I have been a patient here for several years, but ever since ascension bought this hospital service has dropped to worse than I could of imagined. From ER staff being rude, to the prospect Medical commons next door wait times being in the 2-3 week range and you have to wait sometimes HOURS for your scheduled appointment, it's horrible. I just tried to reach my OB nurse, and I have officially lost all faith in this system. I called about possible contractions and because I asked to just speak to a medical professional to give more information I was told I would expect a return call in 24 hours per my inquiry. My insurance policy will not allow me to go to the ER or LD or anything without a nurse putting in the notes first. I guess I have to wait 24 hours for a return call that will probably not happen within the time.

DO NOT go here if you want a provider to see you in a timely fashion, you will have to cut through a lot of BS to get to them. Take your "business" and money elsewhere if you can.

The absolute worst experience ever. After birthing my son the nurse was really rough- she actually tore the epidural out of my back. Nurses were in my room every hour. Food service staff just walked into my room (the wrong room) after I told them to give me a minute when I was changing.

Not to mention the billing. Their billing is so messed up. I have had numerous calls from debt collectors for random amounts on debt that I don't even have with Columbia St. Marys. I have spent HOURS trying to get this fixed. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.

This is the loudest inconsiderate 2nd shift. You don't hear one patient making noise but the staff is very loud. Not one staff member has been in here to check on the patient. She's saying the chart is updated how when noone has been in the room in two hours. I will be checking in with the administrator!!!!!

Forgot my log in, they sent the reset link which does not work 3 times, contacted them to help to log in, nobody ever helped. Still no lab testing.

The staff was wonderful from the emergency dept, radiology, Nuc MED, CT, transport to the hospital service doctors and of course the nurses and staff on the floor.

I give one star for this reason. I have had great experiences on every level except, that my primary care doctor is not attentive to my needs. I feel rushed when ever i would go to see her and when I try to communicate my concerns, she never address them. It made me feel rejected and sad, because my issues are serious and could very well be genetic. I have had to wait to get my diabetic medication for days. Because I refuse to go back to her, i ma waiting for a new doctor, so i have not had my medication for my diabetes in at least three months. i sent a message through email and received no feedback at all. so this made me look for a new doctor. Staff seems nice and Dr. Nicolette Deveneau is awesome!! I would recommend anyone to her. Love her.

Terrible care - the PA clearly did not want to be there. Terrible billing. Terrible customer service. I was charged $2400 for a muscle relaxer and an aspirin patch. They billed me for a level 4 ER visit when NOT ONE SINGLE EXAM was performed. They coded a procedure incorrectly and refused to fix it.

my OB-gyn pushed me to the point where im switching to a midwife and birth center instead of a hospital and im in my last trimester of my pregnancy on the 5th. IM DONE WITH HER

The nurse in ed broke all hippa i can tell u her 5 patients info she was swearing and talking bad about her patients . i notified her upper and the nurse came back in shove a needle in my husbands arm with out telling him she was going to do it and walks out with out cleaning the solution off his arm or outting a bandaid on. Sad thing is she is becoming a PA in 2 weeks sorry st mary but if she is every my PA i will sew her. I dont knwo how to report her further but she needs to lose her lisence

The worst hospital I have ever been to. Horribly bad service, a general attitude of supremacy towards patients, and a laundry list of unnecessary tests that cost more than you would ever even think to guess. I even asked what was going to be done when meeting with the doctor and was told, "well, she's going to give you an exam and we'll go from there." I am not six years old. If I were six years old? I still would have felt disrespected being talked to as though I was a complete moron. A WebMD aided self-diagnosis is likely a better option. Save your time, money, and feeling of self worth; avoid Columbia St Mary's Milwaukee.

The women's hospital is wonderful. I delivered both of my children here. The nurses and staff were fantastic!

Horrible service. Was scheduled at 12:50 for surgery. Get a call that the 10:20 appointment before me had been cancelled and that my surgery took its place. The day of the surgery I get a call that the appointment before me got cancelled. And my appointment got moved AGAIN. So i get the surgery.... 4 fusions 2 rods and 10 screws placed n I get placed into the recovery room. I sit in the recovery room for over 6 hours waiting on a room. N all I get as a response is that the room needs to be cleaned. I cant have visitors. So my loved ones cant visit.....simply HORRIBLE. Was told couldnt eat until surgery was over. In recovery they dont get food. They get crackers n water. I feel like a prisoner

Dont come to this emergency room even if your about to die cuz if your condition doesn't kill you the poor lack of treatment from all nurses and staff will. Waited 5 hours for an ultrasound. Nurses and staff are too concerned about the movie jurassic world and eating popcorn. Whole place was empty. Doctor had some carhartt jeans on and some regular shirt. No name tag or gown. Most unprofessional hopistal in miwaukee. This place is a ghetto crap hospital and the staff are a joke. I'm filing a complaint asap

Some post op nurses were fantastic and were amazing at their jobs. The surgeons were top notch and professional.

Terrible condescending doctors. Was misdiagnosed by one and ended up in the hospital because he assumed I couldn't breathe with extra pounds. Don't waste your time here. Also the customer service is subpar

I receive Pain Management for Chronic Pain Issues @ Ascension Columbia Saint Mary's Hospital from
Nancy Bratanow MD. My experience with all the medical staff prior to my scheduled appointment from the receptionist, registration staff, and all nurses that escort me to the Out Patient Pain Management Clinic have been pleasant, attentive to my concerns and make me feel very comfortable though out my visit. Dr. Nancy Bratanow is truly a blessing. Dr Bratanow has treated me for over a decade for the Chronic Pain Conditions I suffer from on a daily basis which have left me disabled. She provides her patients with various types of solutions to treat and to assist in controlling their pain. Dr Bratanow gives each patient all the time needed to answer questions in a way that is understandable to the individual receiving treatment. You will never feel rushed, confused or misunderstood regarding the treatment plan Dr Bratanow discussed with you. Dr Bratanow & her medical staff are going to treat you with respect, complete understanding of your condition and all options available to live a pain free life. *****

Horrible nurses and doctors with bad attitudes and terrible service they don t care about there patients froedtert hospital is truly the best. I m praying for you guys up at St.Marys.

I loved Dr Koh and the majority of the nursing staff for my surgery.

However, I am now trying to pay my bills and billing management is a nightmare. I do not have insurance. They gave me a 20% discount on my surgery bill and will not give any more. Every other provider gave me a 40% discount if I paid that day. The customer service rep was great and tried to work on my behalf. The managers would not budge on my bill, even if I had cash in hand. I have never been treated so poorly.

Supposedly there is an additional discount if you pay your bill in 30days, but that was never communicated.

The billing department also called me not even a week after my surgery asking if I would be able to pay. That was incredibly inconsiderate and no discount was ever mentioned.

Care may be great, but beware of the billing. They are out for your money, will not work with you, and threaten to send to collections.

Never had a problem or bad experience been with them since child hood

Very poor communication with family. Can't call the nurses station because they rarely answer the phone. If you do get through, they say you have to talk to the patients nurse. That does happen either. I have messages for nurses and doctors and have never gotten a call back. But the worst was visiting my husband and he was lying is dried diarrhea. Also they lost his personal belongings on the 5th and as of today they haven't found them. Horrible place!

Last year, my grandmother suffered a string of medical emergencies, including a broken femur, a brain aneurysm and a series of strokes. She spent some time at Columbia St. Mary's while the doctors figured out a treatment plan and operated. The care was sufficient, but my family's experience was very sad and frustrating. Our faith and trust in this hospital was shattered when my grandmother's wedding ring, a family heirloom, was stolen out of her belongings (which were sealed in a bag in her room). The hospital was immediately notified, but they took few steps to find the stolen ring and return it to its rightful owner, a helplessly sick octogenarian. Of course, we were all devastated that the ring was gone, but we were even more appalled at the fact that someone would take advantage of a patient that way.
It has now been several months since the ring was stolen. We are still shocked and saddened that the hospital didn't try harder to return this possession to our family. The hospital failed to investigate in a timely manner and even implied that a visitor, family friends who are a doctor and a nurse, may have taken it.
Perhaps the most infuriating thing is that no one has apologized. No one has shown any kind of sympathy for what was taken. This was an heirloom passed down from my great great grandmother that my grandmother wore.
My grandfather lost the love of his life for 64 years, and is reminded of her absence each time we have to dig deeper into this case to try to get the ring back. We know it is just an earthly possession, but it is so angering to know that someone took advantage of a member of our family and so little was done to resolve the issue.

I'm a patient and this clinic is about average. I live in the community and dr Brett Twente has been out with a young girl Lolita they call her. This clinic needs to stop judging his life and get a life. He a grown man he can go do what he want with her. They ain't hurting nobody here so pluck off my doctors case!!

I used to work in food service. And if you seen how dirty the kitchen is you would rather have food from outside of the hospital. They leave food out overnight not even covered up. The floors are nasty / everything in the kitchen looks like it never cleaned. I did report them to the Milwaukee health department.

Currently here, haven't spoken with a doctor since being admitted 9 hours ago to get my gallbladder removed. Dr. Won't give me any nausea medication because he or she wants me "to feel when something is wrong". They keep sending people to come take blood because my white count is high, if I would have spoken to a Doctor he or she would know that. I am in the worst pain ever I can't eat JUST IN CASE they decide to do surgery. This is my worse hospital visit in my life.

Please pick the phone, I am trying to call... the number below in reply

Poor service the doctors and nurses have verry little compassions or genuine concern for clients. No one should leave a hospital feeling embarrassed or stipuf for not knowing all of the details of their illness.

Everything in this room is broke besides the television..nurses tried smh. Orderd lunch at 10am and got it at 2pm..this hospital went down the drain since ascension took over... sorry but this is very much the truth

Called early morning to asked a question. No one answered my question. Everyone that got on the phone had an attitude. Switched to four different people & 2 different departments I didn t ask for to speak with. Just a mess. Wish I could leave zero stars.

The ground surrounding this facility was not pink as advertised on Google Maps. I want my money back.

We have been trying to get clarification about a bill for over 2 months. The outsourced billing department is rude and unhelpful. With the help of our insurance company, billing determined that we should be able to receive an explanation from Cedar Mills Clinic. The clinic has no idea, and they have been waiting for an answer from billing. CSM never used to be this way. Administrative problems like ours ruins a good experience. I am seriously thinking about changing providers once the new clinic opens in town.

The receptionist and most of the nurses are so rude and unprofessional. I called to speak about prescription refills and Brenda was so nasty! She talked to me like I was dumb or a child. She even hung up on me and never sent the request to my doctor. I had to call back and speak with someone else. They need to hire better receptionists and medical staff or offer more training.

My brother arrived at the ER aroundv1:30pm. He wasn t put in a room until 4:30pm. The Doctor came in once. No one even came in to check or ask if he needed anything. We called the nurse he came in and cut off the call light and walked back out. The next time he came in he said the doctor was to discharge him. The doctor comes in gives a piss poor explanation and leave our. I WILL NEVER COME TO THIS ER AGAIN! Terrible service!

I kept being misdiangosed by their electrophysiologists for 1 year. They said one thing to me in person or on the phone, when I asked for a copy of my medical records they had written something quite different (to cover their back). I was (wrongly) told several times I have no autoimmune disease, but was denied the tests to check for them. I had to get them elsewhere, and they were positive. Their hematologists are better, but also denied tests. I wish I'd gone to Aurora and Mayo sooner, I wasted a year being sick and had permanent damage.

The last couple times we have had a very great staff really nice staff

Terrible. They completely screwed up my billing on two separate occasions. Almost two years later, they are still trying to bill me for a visit that was covered by insurance AND I have the Explanation of Benefits for.

My mother (89 years) was here post-op after breast cancer surgery. I (or some other family member) was with her over the two days she was recovering. The nursing staff would only come to the room if we went to actually fetch them. Call lights, IVs running out, needing to go to the bathroom had no effect -- even after waiting more than 15 minutes. So we'd finally go out to the nurses station and there would be several nurses there merrily chatting away. They were supposed to get her up and around the next day, but that never happened. We finally asked if we could take her on a walk and they were happy for us to do that. We seriously wonder what kind of care she would have received had not family members been there to advocate for her. I would rate this at 0 stars, but 1 is the lowest number they will let me give them.

In the last few weeks my mother was admitted to St Mary's. The one star was for the Critical Care Unit, they were kind and treated my mother well. The rest of her 8 day stay was terrible. She was moved to the 6th floor where she was ignored, left in the restroom for 45 minutes (unable to walk on her own), her cane was broken, they told her there was no walker to use so my father had to bring one from home, and her dentures went missing. NO ONE, NO ONE took responsibility for anything. They told us they would look into it. As of today, no one has looked into anything, no one has responded to our questions or emails. Not one supervisor did a thing. What happened to this once great hospital? I do have to amend one thing, there was a great nurse named Amy who took care of my Mom.

Great hospital and with excellent staff I might add everyone was really nice.

Horrible experience here. I don't want to go into medical details, but this place is dishonest and unhelpful. Doctors and nursing staff are uncaring and bad at their jobs. NEVER GO HERE!!!

I was in here several times within the past year and a half with various health issues ranging from heart issues to infections to GI issues. There was several times I had to go back to the ED to get proper treatment since they rarely did something the first time. The final straw was when I was under the care of a physician in the GI department with severe gastric ulcers which kept getting worse and worse. They refused to look into the few most common causes and kept insisting that I was "abusing NSAIDS like Ibuprofen" and causing this to myself when I wasn't (I would never do such thing). I went to Froedtert which thankfully found that it was a severe H Pylori infection which CSM claimed came back "negative". I'm so glad for the doctors at Froedtert for starting the proper treatment. They don't seem to take younger patients such as myself seriously which could quite literally kill somebody. I would not recommend this place for anything. I would much rather go across town to Froedtert than here.

This place gets to 2 stars because of the excellent ER staff. I went in 7/13/2020 with my GI tract bleeding. They took care of me and because I was having shortness of breat they had me take a Covid-19 test. I tested positive. I volunteered to take 2 more and both positive. My blood pressure was very hign from the pain so they relaxed me. The dr. decided to admit me and that's when everything went downhill. The 3rd floor did not want me due to my blood pressure so I waited paitently for 4 hrs. I go to 7 and you could just see the fear in the nurses eyes. She was so afarid. The less than a male nurse that was her counter part was no help. I called the charge nurse only to wait 2hrs for PPE. I went home AMA and I am so sick today. SHAME ON EVERYONE INVOLVED WITH MY STAY!

everyone in bariatric was excellent but post-op was chaotic and frustrating

The RN I had in the ER was awful. Impatient, pushy, and rude.
I came in because I could not get my contact out of my eye - an already humiliating issue - and made the entire situation unnecessarily uncomfortable.

She would set a syringe full of contact solution right on my crotch, and would get irritated whenever I flinched when she shoved her finger in my eye. I eventually walked out with my contact still in my eye.

If I ever am on the edge of death, I would rather die than be brought back to that Emergency Room.

The billing at this hospital is absolutely atrocious. I went to the ER in January of 2018. It is now December of 2018 and I have spent countless hours on the phone and on hold with the billing department trying to figure out why they cannot seem to run my bill through my health insurance. I have had the exact same health insurance for my entire life (24 years now) and this is the first place I ve ever gone where it has been an issue. Aurora has absolutely no issues billing my insurance, so I can t for the life of me figure out why it is such a struggle. As a medical student, I don t have time to spend a YEAR arguing with these people just to get my bill paid. I m nearly at the point of just giving up. If they want their money, they will figure it out for themselves. I will absolutely NEVER go to a Columbia St. Marys or Ascension hospital again. UPDATE: it is now June of 2019, 1.5 years after my initial visit. I have been calling the hospital billing department every couple of weeks trying to get this sorted out, however, they decided I was lying about having insurance, so I had my insurance company call them. They refuse to interact with my insurance company, and have taken so long to send over this claim that my insurance company will no longer cover the claim because it has timed out. Columbia St. Mary's has sent me to collections, despite them telling me that they would not do so because we were still trying to figure out the billing. My next step will be contacting an attorney.

DO NOT have your baby here. unprofessional & unsympathetic nurses and professionals will make a series of mistakes that will almost make you have an emergency csection and will leave you with a traumatizing birth experience. no one deserves this kind of care. i ve never left a bad review before, but this place is truly terrible.

OMG incompetence!
How many times must one call to provide insurance information for payment of services?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6? I ve called six times!!! Given them the same information six times.
Yet, we keep getting bills. Insurance companies will pay if and when claims are received. No claim? No payment! Quit sending bills to us, BILL THE INSURANCE COMPANIES!!!!!

Wow after reading the awful reviews about St. Mary's I could well agree with them. I was at St. Mary's before the internet was developed and so
had no way to share my terrible experience at this hospital. I had an
operation and afterwards was left to lie in my bed virtually unattended,
with a fever no less.
I would press the call button for the nurse to help me and no one came in.
Finally each time I needed help I had to call my doctor and had her call the nurses.
For the entire four days I was in the hospital no one ver helped me bathe and I was bedridden. If I could give this hospital a minus star I would. It scares me as I live close to the hospital now and don't want to ever wind up there again!
However my husband was in the St. Mary's in Grafton and the service he got was wonderful. It was more like a posh resort than a hospital, with
a piano playing tn the lobby and a all glass elevator.
If you're sick go to Grafton and skip Milwaukee!

Since the billing is done out of state, very hard to get answers regarding billing practices, get the run around and no one can get you the answers

I went here for OB services, as I was pregnant with my first child.
I unfortunately do not remember the name of my ob, only that she was female with brown hair and glasses, and apparently just graduated from school. I was 16 weeks along, and she told me the fetus was barely an inch long - a simple Google search will tell you that is not so. She did unnecessary invasive examinations that are reserved for high risk pregnancies, when I was not high risk. She asked me questions about development because she honestly didn't know.
She was extremely incompetent, but that's not why I am giving the hospital a "one star."
I ended up moving out of state and signed my release forms before moving, so that I could have the records faxed as soon as I found my new hospital.
Long story short, Columbia St. Mary's claimed I never signed any release forms and I had to redo the paperwork at the new hospital for my records to be released - 5 separate times in a span of two and a half weeks. Columbia St. Mary's just kept giving different excuses from "are you sure you ever went here? We cannot find your records." to "We have yet to receive anything from the new hospital" (which was a blatant lie, as the new hospital's fax is notified when the fax is received on the other end) to "We sent your records already" (another obvious lie).
Shortly put, I was not and am not impressed by Columbia St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee and my family and friends in the area will not be using their facilities for health care after my experience with them.

I am currently at St Mary's (ER) and the staff is awesome here. My nurse Sam and the Dr are very compassionate and caring.

I went here for primary care/annual checkups. On top of having doctors who were unsupportive and seemed too busy to hear my concerns and questions, they are seriously disorganized in their billing department. I've been on a monthly payment plan, and paying up-to-date, when all of a sudden I get a letter from a collections agency asking for the final balance in full. I've called Columbia St. Mary's billing department SIX TIMES in the last 2 weeks to figure out what happened and if I should still be making payments to them or what....and I have yet to receive a call back after leaving SIX MESSAGES on their billing department's voicemail.
I called a receptionist line for the hospital in general, and all she could do was forward me, yet again, to the same line I have been leaving voicemails on for weeks now.
Don't go here.

WARNING! PLEASE DO NOT CHOOSE ST. MARY'S/ASCENSION FOR MEDICAL CARE. OUR FAMILY HAD A VERY BAD, UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE. GO TO FROEDTERT INSTEAD!

Excellent experience. My boyfriend has been to three other hospitals with no diagnosis until we came here. Every nurse, doctor, PA, lab tech, secretary, security officer, greeter we came into contact with were very polite. We never felt like we waited too long for anything. Meds came on time, results were communicated to us, and they gave us good estimates on what we could expect for the future.

You don't get a choice for food in the ER which is why I took a star off. My BF has been waiting in the ER for a room to open up for two days (which is understandable, the hospital is full, what can you do) and he just "gets what they give" for each meal. Portion sizes are pretty small as well.

Other than that I cannot say one bad thing about this place. My boyfriend will be staying there for a while and I hope this awesome experience will follow us to the other floors and the new staff.

WONDERFUL JOB TO THE ER DEPARTMENT!! (And the nurses/staff that were floated there from other floors because they were so busy)

My brain power is not my best power but that's okay because the doctors are smarter. The other visitors were very friendly in the lunchroom and the man who takes your blood pressure offered to take mine even though I wasn't a patient I was just eating and waiting for somebody. The hallway by the vending machines smelled like an old shoe but that's okay. There was a barefoot homeless man wandering the hallway. I hope the hospital gave him some new shoes. :(

Absolutely terrible service. One lady told me I could be seen in two weeks. Went over personal info for a half hour. Got transferred. Was told I would have to wait 8 MONTHS to be seen because of the health insurance I had. Seriously? Go screw yourself st marys.
Just think about it.... Would you want to handle a life or death situation in the kind of care that is on these reviews? I doubt it. Have another place in mind. Avoid this place like the plague.
Also, one other thing. I had another bad experience while trying to pick up another person from the hospital. They literally have zero people skills and are just looking to give you a hard time.

The doctor was racist towards black people he kept saying "you people"and lied and said the young lady threatened him and she didnt, he was very rude to to her and got security to escort her out he was in a real big power trip last night i will never go to St. Marys again the girl was really sick too, they need nicer and more helpful and concerned rather than dr.'s thats only there for a pay check.

DO NOT GO HERE!!!!
If you are black, or on state insurance you will not get the medical help you need here. Most of the staff are unprofessional and most of their Doctors are from the bottom of the barrel. Yes some have a good bedside manner, however, they are biased and will deceive you and/or not give you all the information you need to make an informed decision about your care. Go to another hospital please if you value your life!

Terrible communication, staff are hard to contact, you get transferred all over the place.

Ascension as whole is horrible apparently. I was trying them out switching from another medical group to follow a doctor I liked. I'll be switching back to the other group, I'll miss the doctor but can't deal with this run around and bad attitude and endless transfers from the people answering the calls.

I had an appointment set up with my doctor for the new location and called to confirm the time and location. It took me 30 minutes and 5 transfers to finally get someone who was able to help and not rude to me.

Very rude staff I've been disrespected by the doctors & nurses

You will be told to get unnecessary lab tests that you will later be billed $800.00 for because insurance says it's "experimental". You will wait to get your blood drawn for 9,000 hours and when they finally take you back to the blood drawing area they will not even have the blood test in the lab area and will call 900 other departments trying to track down the test elseware in the hospital. While you are waiting forever and ever for them to make phone calls to other departments they will be joking around and giggling with each other about inappropriate topics and you will consider walking out the entire time and regret not doing so very very much when you later receive the $800.00 bill and realize the jokes on you.

I've gone there twice for Day Surgery for kidney stones. Not only is my Doctor amazing, the experience I had with the Nurses, OR Docs and staff were excellent as well. The love, compassion, patience, understanding, and skills were impeccable to helping me get well. I hope to never go back (I desire not to have any kidney stones), but if I did have to go again....I would choose St. Mary's again.