Riverside Community Hospital is a DANGEROUS hospital. I was hired by Pediatrix, an OB hospitalist company, to work shifts at Riverside Community Hospital. The turnover of OB Hospitalists was very high which was a red flag. I have worked in the healthcare industry as a OB/GYN for more than 20 years. While I have seen incompetence and culture issues in other hospitals that make healthcare unsafe for patients, this was by far the worst. From the very first shift, I had concerns about the safety of OB patients at Riverside Community Hospital. It was such a concern, I requested to be transferred after my first shift, but Pediatrix refused. I have always advocated for patient safety so of course I spoke up about the safety issues I encountered. The hospital administration supports very dangerous and careless OB/GYNs because they bring significant revenue to the hospital. It does not hold its nurses or scrub techs accountable for bad behavior either. In one example, a scrub tech tried to delay an emergency C-section for a cord prolapse. In another example the neglect at the hands of two OB physicians resulted in a patient experiencing a uterine rupture while laboring. There were concerning signs of this but the nurses did NOT advocate for this patient because of who the doctors were. Politics has no place in medicine but it exists nonetheless. I was the OB Hospitalist on duty and was called to deliver this patient. Luckily, the baby was OK, but mom was not. She had a 4 cm hole in her uterus. The OB was notified but refused to come in to repair the ruptured uterus. Worried, I kept a close eye on the patient. Within 1 hour it was clear the patient was bleeding so I and another OB took the patient to the OR to repair the damage caused by her OB's neglect. We contacted the OB but he didn't answer and didn't even show up until after we had repaired the damage to her uterus and bladder. That same doctor left a sponge in one of his patients and tried to blame a junior physician for it. That patient had to have a bowel resection. Doctors like these are praised by the hospital because they bring in millions of dollars. Some of the nurses on L & D are dangerous too. They sit around gossiping and do not call the OBs timely for their patients' deliveries. The community physicians possess a mentality that because there are OB Hospitalists in-house they don't have to come in. Because of nursing neglect there were babies delivering in toilets and on the floor! When I brought these concerns to the Chief Medical Officer of Riverside Community Hospital as well as to Pediatrix leadership, they tried to silence me and created a narrative that made it look like it was the patients fault that the adverse outcomes happened. Although I documented these safety concerns, the hospital did nothing to address them. It was because of this that I asked to be transferred out of Riverside Community Hospital. As an OB Hospitalist, I felt powerless to protect patients. It was the main reason I went back to private practice. As a community physician I have the leverage to advocate for the safety of my patients. OB Hospitalists should exist for hospital emergencies and to reduce adverse outcomes. But the way the model is being abused, the safety net that should exist does not. After several years of working in this model for different companies, I realized that the Hospitalist market primarily exists to make the hospital and the companies that run them richer. Patient safety is at the bottom of their list of priorities. I have kept an extensive paper trail and can back up what I speak here. I wish more physicians had the courage to speak up, but most do not. It is important that patients understand the facts about hospitals like Riverside Community Hospital who have the power and deep pockets to create whatever image and narrative they want. It is a dangerous situation. I am writing this review because I am a concerned OB/GYN who is committed to helping patients advocate for themselves and to hold accountable those systems who allow harm to come to them.
Posted Date : 31/10/2023
Anonymous
Terrible place if you need help. Unprofessional staff. They also bill for services never provided. Be very careful here. Be smart and go somewhere else
Anonymous
My fiancé and I were injured in a car crash where we were hit broadside by a car going 50mph. We were taken to RRCH. She was kept in a chair for 4 hours our in the hallway, only saw a doctor once, and given no medication for her pain. I was lucky, I was put on a gurney and kept in the hall for 4 hours, saw the doctor once, given pain meds and then released. Pathetic care. And for all that they wanted to charge us 6500 each.
Anonymous
House of Horrors! Admitting and Attending Nurses rude and non-compassionate. Avoid this hospital at all costs, especially if not an emergency and if you have good insurance.
Anonymous
Went into ER early in the AM Friday. Immediately took me in and registered me. Within 15 minutes I was registered had an EKG and blood drawn for lab work. I was in extreme pain. An additional 5 minutes and they had me in an ER cube hooking me up to an IV. Christina was my ER nurse. She was WONDERFUL!!! Med within minutes to reduce the pain. Admitted in two hours. 4 hours later was on the schedule for surgery. I could not have asked for a better ER experience. Friday evening in surgery and home resting Saturday afternoon. Thank you!!!!
Anonymous
At ER I went there for painful kidney stone. As a deaf patient my request for American Sign Language interpreter, they got a young nurse knew a little sign language (2 years) I was in pain, I screamed for certicated interpreter so many time. They forced me to write notes while my hand was on IV needle. the bed was on the hallway. They had VRI but so small laptop. Our deaf community collected all deaf patients complaints. The front desk nurse looked at my file when I returned to ER, she said I am troublemaker (red flag) for requesting an interpreter. I changed my health insurance to Kaiser Permanent. KP always provided me interpreter. Pray that deaf protest shows up at RC hosptial so tv media films and newspaper articles about this.