Albany Medical Center Hospital

Our recent trip to Albany Med Pediatric ER on 10/12/18 with my almost 5m old grandson. Check in was not very smooth. Two people at check- in asking different questions at the exact same time overlapping each other caused confusion. Other people who came 1.5 hours after we were there with a 7(?) year old that did not appear to be as sick were taken in before us. Even that child's father made comments to nurse asking why they were being seen before a sick infant who had been waiting a long time. Nursing & MD staff were great. But the wait time in between seeing a nurse and seeing MD were not acceptable. I completely understand that there may be an injury or illness more severe that may warrant another child to be seen as priority; but when you have a very sick infant who is crying and having trouble breathing and gagging with a severe cough and congestion I believe that almost 2 hours in waiting room is a long time to have to wait as well as hours long wait once in a room. Wait times need to drastically improve. On top of that we were in the one room that had no air flow and was uncomfortably hot. I give medical staff a 5-star rating. But as far as flow - not a great rating.

Unbelievable.... with the amount of money they have poured into this place, there are no maps showing you how to get from place to place. Signage is at best, poor. The desks with people to help close down way to early. Medical care seems to be pretty good but so is St Peter's and Ellis. My last choice from now on.

In 2008 I came here to give birth to my daughter. I was induced. They wouldn't let me eat anything but ice chips and drink water while I was in labor for 36 hours and pushing for 8 hours. Doctors apparently don't know how to check dilation because they said I was 5cm, then 2 hours later said I was as 3cm. I called him (he was my doctor until my obgyn shows up) out on it, he said nothing and left the room. During the 8 hours pushing, my mom and husband were watching the whole time and said there had been no progress at all. I knew something was wrong and said I think I should have a C-section. The rude nurse gave me an nasty attitude "We don't just hand out C-sections". Apparently they just hand out jobs to people with no compassion, she was obviously in the wrong profession. I begged for a C-section, but they couldn't do it without my doctor seeing me. All staff left me in my room...in labor...for over 30 minutes. I was in active labor, my body still pushing..what if my daughter finally came out? I screamed for help every time I my body was pushing because I feared for my daughters life because they left me alone. My doctor finally came in, made me push a few times and saw for herself there was no progress. She promptly ordered a C-section, and thankfully my daughter came out fine. I have always had issues with my lady parts, I've suffered from PCOS since I was a teen and was told I would likely never get pregnant, and if I did, I might not be able to carry it full term. I found out later that my uterus is backwards and the staff at Albany med trying to force me to push when I knew something was wrong could have KILLED me, especially when they left me alone for over 30 minutes. Doctors and nurses think they know it all. I got news for you...we know our own bodies better then any doctor, so when a patient tells you something is wrong...you can either believe them or be sued. I should have sued back then and contacted the news about being left alone in active labor for over 30 minutes.

A mistake happened below, but since then they acknowledged the mistake and worked with me on a fair credit back to me. Much appreciated.

[They told me inaccurate info that caused me to proceed with an MRI, resulting in my insurance quoting $500, then I got a bill for $2,700. Now they refuse to accept responsibility.]

This hospital sucks. My son was sent here from another hospital. We were in the triage area for almost 2 hours before going to a room. We were told that the nurse would be right in. We are still waiting after 15 minutes while nurses are just standing around talking. My definition of right in is definitely different than the medical staffs.