Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute - Minneapolis

It all started with left shoulder pain, arm numbness and sweats. I called my cardiologist, PA Annika Peterson, and she saw me the next day. I had no other symptoms and my EKG was normal. But she was concerned and scheduled a cardio CT scan. Hours after the CT scan I was called and told to go immediately to the ER at Abbott. I had three blocked arteries, one I was told they call the "widow maker". ER staff was wonderful, attentive and had a sense of humor. Two hours later I was checked into my room for the Labor Day weekend and a six day wait for surgery. Holidays screw up schedules. But during that time I had all the prerequisite tests for surgery. I was ready to go when they were. All the time the staff was great, attentive and informative of what was going on. Finally surgery day arrived and it was a quick trip from my room to prep to the OR. But again, great staff with good humor and smiling faces. I woke up the next day and was transferred from ICU to my room. Full of tubes, IV's and wires it wasn't the most comfortable but I was pain free. The nurses were quick to assist me in bathroom trips and the physical therapists had me up walking the halls right away. Four days later I came home, exhausted but alive. The exhaustion comes from normal hospital procedures. Blood draws every 4-6 hours, blood pressure checks, weighing daily, bathroom trips, etc. but the staff was always sympathetic to my condition and always helpful. A big thanks to all the staff and my surgeon Dr. Beckmann. And a special thanks to Annika Peterson for starting the process and literally saving my life.

Dr Melby is attentive and sincere and answers all my questions as well as listening to everything I have to say. I never feel rushed or anxious. Love this place, the staff and every experience has been wonderful!

My doctor was great, but I've been trying to schedule an echo for the last 48 minutes on hold, this is my issue every time I call.... Why can I never speak to anyone? Doesn't seem like patients are a priority. When it comes to heart health, it's serious and scary. Not once have I called a clinic and waited close to an hour for someone to answer. This is a joke at this point!

Went in with a friend who was having chest pain that she had had for the past few days, with records of going in to the ER for said problems previously, and was seated in the emergency waiting room for an hour and a half after they ran the EKG test. When we finally got a room, they ran a few more tests and then left us in the room for two hours. When we finally called the nurse to ask for an update, she had her doctor sent over again. Said doctor, Dr. Joshua Bailey told us that he didn't believe it was heart issues very dismissively, and when asked what issue it was, he said he didn't know and was essentially going to send us home without doing anything, saying it "wasn't serious" and "nothing scary" (mind you, my friend almost blacked out on the street on her way back from class because of these heart issues). Would not recommend, wait was long and doctor Bailey was dismissive of our concerns.

I've had many positive experiences w Mpls Heart Institute over the last decade, but it was so discouraging to work with some of its staff to do simple things like schedule or find the right care, even in an urgent situation. Haughty, gate-keeping, unpleasant -- a dated mindset in today's healthcare world. So I moved my cardiology care to Mayo and the contrast to MHI is night and day.