St. Mary’s General Hospital

Went in for appt for pacemaker. No waiting, very nice friendly staff, smiling, very helpful greeters. Had the very best back surgery and radiation therapy there just a year ago and no complaints ?. Wonderful, organization.

I attended St.Mary’s on April 30th At 9 am after I had fallen down 4 stairs the day before. Dr Curtis was wonderful but the nurses? Deplorable and as a nurse myself it was disgusting. I worked at GRH for 35 years I have not seen such apathy. I asked to lie down…..”oh if you have to” No comfort or caring treatment as I had broken my back. They spent more time sitting at the desk.

After all those millions spend in hospital and health experience going in when you have emergency is worst like going in what you called 3rd world countries. (You will be surprised where we get  better ER care ). At the registration process guy didn't have patient to allow us to tell him what is the problem or to listen us, they have some comment between staff about our language skills what was disrespectful . After registration reception was quick to call in for EKG after I ask them if we can get blood work done as well he role his eyes and smile like sure sure we will do (it was clear he didn't mean to add that). So 3 hours later we have doctor talking to us asking if we did blood work (joke right?). ... we told him we didn't so another 2.5h before we was again talking with doctor After 5.5 hours later nothing was done and no diagnose , person that didn't eat or dring water 3 days was send home saying to relax..??? If you try checking ER online waiting times estimate don't work for sure at least 6 mounts  or more , when you arrive there is no info on waiting times or how many patients are waiting and if you gather courage to ask you will be quickly taken down not to be inpatient... Now understand that it is not easy to estimate times but for humanity sake, because of kids, old people , people in pain, people that need to organize somebody to be with kids there must be some better way  to estimate waiting times. Looks like we will be better off having private clinics so they try their best and you can chose clinic that works best for you. Current system is NOT FREE as we are all paying for it. (Not talking about surgery and other procedures but triage and 1 level of care)

My wife went in with COVID symptoms and her nurse, Melissa was fantastic. Kept our spirits up and made the whole experience much less stressful. My whole life I've been going to St. Mary's (born there too) and it's been nothing but lovely. Perhaps naysayers need to keep in mind that even nurses have bad days. Bashing a hospital because it saved your life, but forgot to smile makes the complainer a small person.

I wish I didn’t have to write this, my senior mother was taken in via ambulance on May 14th with severe pain in her stomach that went on for days. She has an ulcer and diverticulitis and has had kidney stones in the past. She did not see a doctor for 5+ hours…coming in via ambulance as the pain was unbearable and the paramedics stating so at the desk. They did not give her anything for pain or IV fluids that she desperately needed “until the doctor came by” so they just left her to lay there with no one checking in or any source of comfort. The doctor didn’t even sadly find out until the 6 hour mark about her health history and sent her home shortly after with no further testing ordered claiming it was long Covid and handed her a pamphlet. To sum up, my mom has requested to never be taken to this hospital ever again. So disappointed and heartbreaking because we want to cheer on our Canadian doctors and nurses but they need more support, education and assistance to help people!

Excellent group of people, very professional! Had the worst night of my life, my dog had his first seizure and he accidentally bit my mom. My mom is not very fluent in English and My dog was having seizures again. I was torn between taking my dog to the Vet ( Which I did the first time but staying with him at the Emergency Vet ) vs staying with my mom to help her communicate with nurses and doctors at the hospital. The staff was very understanding and accommodating. After talking to the staff I was confident that my mom is in great hands. I was able to take my dog to the Vets and stay with him and my mom got the best help she could get with or without me. Thank you team for being awesome!

Picture this : my dear beloved parent in the back of my car sick and unable to really move, me running into the hospital emergency to ask for someone to help me bring him out. Then being told by the volunteer teenager at the door of St. Mary's hospital in Kitchener, ON that no one is there to help me bring him in and that is nothing they can do for me. So in my desperation, I had to call 911 to get the ambulance paramedics to help me bring him in. As soon as the paramedic saw my parent they said, wow he doesn't look good (not kidding, why did I call 911). Then waiting with my unstable parent in a small wheelchair that clearly should had been switched to a stretcher, but no one seemed to care. The nurse at reception advised that because of insurance no one is allowed to go outside and help me. They are not covered the moment the step foot outside. There I was, fixing my parent's head to stability, watching so he did not fall off the chair, looking around to see if anyone would help, to see if anyone care. After almost 5 hours we got a bed and then 11 more hours to run tests in between long waiting episodes. I give credit to the amazing nurses that make the place tic. To you ladies, Thank you. They truly are overworked and underpaid and took such good care of my loved one after all. We made it after 16 hours, but the taste in my mouth (partly from not eating or drinking anything) was that I saw very little humanity from a hospital emergency room that I have personally seen received millions of dollars in donations every year. Perhaps doners should be made aware that when someone has an emergency on the emergency entrance, no one can go out and help. This is the same government of Canada that has shut down for more than two years and tells us they care.

Over the last few months I had two medical procedures done at St Mary’s hospital. The experience was very positive both times. From entering the hospital and being directed and guided to the relevant department to the efficiency of the medical staff who performed the procedures. Everything was explained in detail. The procedure itself was carried out with the utmost care and expertise. I was prepared for some after effects but experienced none of them. I appreciated the good service I did receive, thank you!