CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (CUMC - Bergan Mercy)

I went in to CHI for heart surgery. Everyone that helped me during pre-op was great and knew their job. My first day in the Cardiac ICU / rehab on the 5th floor, I did have a fun nurse that called me Bubba and said things like "all dillywompus". I do not remember her name but she reminded me of a close work friend, so that was nice. Every nurse and respiratory tech and physical tech did a great job! Each was special and excelled in their own way. From showing concern and care, to getting my pain meds quickly, and also pushing me where needed. (I needed a lot of pushing) I expected the hospital food to be bland and sub-par. The food was great. I thanked the woman that delivered it. Sorry for forgetting her name. Please thank your kitchen staff for me! There were 4 people that stood above the rest. I hated the respiratory therapy and it hurt my chest. However, Nate, RT, did a great job at pushing me to get through it! Thank you Nate! Lea, RN, was very caring and knew her job well! Thank you Lea! Liz, RN, really showed concern for me and helped me through a couple rough nights! Thank you Liz! Top of my list is Lauren, RN. Lauren has the perfect attitude and personality for that job. She shows care for her patients. Her energy and constant pushing helped me get up and be mobile. She makes a personal connection with her patients. Whatever you are paying her, it's not enough! Big Thank You, Lauren! I see several bad Google reviews, but I have literally nothing negative to say about pre-op or the ICU / rehab floor. Everyone that I came across, during my walks, were very friendly and had positive attitudes! Several student nurses came in to help me as well. Every one of them were friendly and helpful. I would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all that helped me through those 5 days! It would have been much worse without you! Please pass on my gratitude to your staff! Keep up the fantastic work!

They don't return phone calls, and Katrina had a MAJOR attitude problem today when I called in AGAIN to get an appointment today. I don't know how somebody that horrible to customers/patients can stay employed. Unbelievable! The office manager needs to evaluate horrible employees, and do something about them. Katrina should not have a job where she visits with patients, THAT is for sure! Horrible person with a horrible attitude!

Disorganized mess is the best way to describe. Out of all of my mom's surgeries not one person called her to see how she was doing after this most recent one. This is a first. We were told her pacemaker battery was going to be replaced and come to our surprise it was the pacemaker itself which was fine especially with it being 11 years old but none of this was ever explained to us. In fact we didn't find out until right before mom got wheeled in to surgery. Also, the doctor didn't talk to mom after the surgery. He popped his head in and told me everything was fine and that was it. The guy that gave me the pacemaker device to take home said all we have to do was to plug it in and press the heart then walk away, that's it. He was absolutely wrong as it took us an hour to get it going. You expect the guy to actually know how it works and to be more knowledgeable. After the Eco we were told to sit back out in the waiting room. Well, come to our surprise we were told wrong as we were supposed to be in the procedure dept. The lady in the procedure dept was clueless of why we were even there. I made her look up my mom's info as she wasn't going to bother doing that. She really added extra stress to the day and didn't even scan my mom's cards as she said they weren't scanned which didn't make any sense as mom has been a patient for at least 11 years and nothing has changed with her medical cards. One of the nurses told my mom that the Dr didn't review the Eco images before the surgery which is crucial. The Dr was supposed to review the tests mom had before her surgery just in case something wasn't right. Mom also didn't get the instructions in the mail before the surgery. She has always got instructions by mail before any procedure. She's almost 84 and doesn't do anything on the internet. I called the admin and left her a message to call me. Instead, she called my mom. Mom gave her permission to call me, but of course she didn't bother to call. For the remote checks and everything else they always call me as I'm her POA. We are done with this place but unfortunately mom has a follow up appointment coming up that she has to go to. Hopefully they don't stress us out like before!

O Connor is the worst cardiologist to have to look after anyone. He does not even want to listen to the patient. He gets the medical history wrong and Will not even look at other doctors ECG complete disgrace to CHI. I will never come back. At least he could've called me and explain why it's normal when it says that it's abnormal. Instead, his nurse called me to tell me that it was normal and that he is not going do any further testing. Only because I'm not outside of the standard range which I'm not the same as everyone and everyone is not the same so you need to stop thinking about the textbooks and listen to the Symptoms a patient is experiencing. I am still having chest pain and tightness in my chest. And you don't have to worry about contacting me because I don't want to talk to any CHI person ever again. I'm moving all my medical records everything away from you guys.

I saw Dr. Issa Asfur and Dr. Venkata Alla at the CHI Fellows clinic. I came in with a referral from my Primary Care Physician for concern for POTS, with heart rate elevation, dizziness, lightheadedness, and shortness of breath upon standing. After seeing two anxiety medications listed on my chart, Dr. Asfur immediately asked me if I knew what a panic attack was, and if I had ever had one. I regularly see psych and my anxiety is well maintained, I cannot remember the last time I had a panic attack. He asked me about menstruation, and assumed that my current anemia was caused by heavy blood flow. Due to my Nexplanon, my periods are also far and few between. He asked about my coffee and energy drink intake, once again, far and few between. He then stated that my testing was fine, and that nothing is wrong. He seemed to have several assumptions for what was gong on, as this was all before even listening to my heart and lungs. Dr. Alla, the attending, reiterated that nothing was wrong, once again before examining me. When I asked for additional testing to confirm this, Dr. Alla stated that he didn't care if I did the testing as he'd "get money for it anyways". I understand their questioning would potentially help lead to a diagnosis, so I was happy to answer them. However, the symptoms I listed were not addressed and I felt like I was immediately chalked up to a "healthy patient" due to my age and clear labwork. Yet I have a chronic illness that I was very clear about, that makes me more susceptible to developing POTS. Dr. Alla ordered the additional testing, to which I cancelled my appointments for because I refuse to give him "money for it anyways". I have scheduled a second opinion with another CHI Dr. and hope that this next one will do their job, respect me, and believe me.