St John's Hospital Library

Wonderful Hospital, Amazing Doctors/Nurses, Great Support Staff. I've been to St. John's for two surgeries, the most recent being to the John Wayne Cancer Center, Brain/Pituitary Center for removal of a brain tumor last month. I work in clinical research, so I have been to hundreds of hospitals on a professional basis. St. John's is the best hospital I've ever seen. Medical care is excellent, and patients are treated with kindness, compassion, and a respect for the dignity of the body and spirit. more

In my life I have been in six hospitals plus many trips to emergency rooms. My 28 hour stay at St Johns was by far the worst of all and nearly cost me my life. First let me say that there are some very good people there; however there are not enough of them to offset the generally poor quality of care of the others. Everyone is busy just coping with the barely organized chaos of the completely over-sized, inefficient and unmanageable facility. The hospital is in general disarray with little leadership or management shown, incompatible equipment from one section to another - and some of that defective. The general atmosphere is of a sullen, distracted and disparaging staff and a general disregard for the patients. If you have any choice at all, stay far, far away. more

I recently was admitted to the hospital and must say thank goodness I chose St Johns as the hospital that I walked into. The staff was more than helpful and supportive. Bari was funny and made me forget why I was there. The crew that cleaned the room was as professional as a five star hotel. Everyone was on my side, and I felt great comfort in knowing that they truly cared about my health. Thank you. more

3 Star Rating: Average 04/16/12 Xlnt doctors and a concerned staff by john london at Citysearch I was admitted for an emergency appendectomy. I was in at 7pm and operated on at 10 am. The operation was successful, and painless. BUT something went wrong-- I got an infection in the gastric tract. I think. I stayed an extra 10 days, never knowing the exact cause of my trouble. I will say the doctors were otherwise extremely helpful and caring. I know I could not have recovered as quickly without their help. I am grateful to an excellent staff of nurses. However, the certified Nurse Assistants was a different story. They ran the full gammit from Caring to callous, to very professional to unprofessional, like not getting a bath or clean sheets for a week. Maybe that was my fault. But there were some very angelic Nurses (male and female) and my 2 docs were tops. more

I was admitted for an emergency appendectomy. I was in at 7pm and operated on at 10 am. The operation was successful, and painless. BUT something went wrong-- I got an infection in the gastric tract. I think. I stayed an extra 10 days, never knowing the exact cause of my trouble. I will say the doctors were otherwise extremely helpful and caring. I know I could not have recovered as quickly without their help. I am grateful to an excellent staff of nurses. However, the certified Nurse Assistants was a different story. They ran the full gammit from Caring to callous, to very professional to unprofessional, like not getting a bath or clean sheets for a week. Maybe that was my fault. But there were some very angelic Nurses (male and female) and my 2 docs were tops. Thanks, St. John's. more

My husband had a heart attack when he was driving. He was taken to St.John's for emergency. When he got to the hospital, he felt he was in the best hands. He was there for three days. They not only saved his life, but treated him very good. more

I was just recently at this hospital for gyn surgery and the treatment there was so disconnected that I went for my first 24 hours post surgery with nothing more than a regular strength Tylenol. When I asked for pain Meds stronger they said that my MD had not left orders. They did not try to contact him. I had a family member staying in the hospital with me and I hate to think how I would have managed otherwise. There was no response to my bell and he had to help me out of bed to use the toilet. No one ever came in to see if I was ok. The nursing staff seemed overworked and incompetent. I was glad to be released one day early so that I could get out of there without harming my health. more

I usually never take the time to comment on anything but felt I MUST do so here because I feel so helpless and don't know how else to scream this from the rooftops! It's my heartfelt desire to PROTECT anyone from making the mistake of coming to this horrific place! I could write pages upon pages and I too, experienced every negative thing posted here as well. In the case of my mother, apparently the doctors and nurses met behind closed doors and ""decided"" my mother should ""die."" Please take note... The doctors/nurses without any consultation with the family to dramatically reduce her food and fluids in an attempt to expedite weakness and her death. They did NOT consult my mother who would have told them bluntly she wanted to live, nor me although I had full medical power of attorney! I only discovered what they were doing when my mother kept complaining of how hungry and thirsty she was! When I confronted the nurse she said yes, they were ""reducing her fluids and food in order to weaken her and precipitate her death."" My mother did not sign a DNA, was coherent and happy and certainly did not want to die!! I work in the media and had that leverage to work with by precious little else as I was forced into a fight and confronted the entire hospital, the doctors and nurses who decided this fate for my mother. They ADMITTED to me in a meeting they thought it was time for her to die!!!!! WHAT???! I then confronted president, Bruce Lamoureux on this and he quickly changed the lead doctor and tending staff for my mother. I did my research and had her transferred to Kindred Hospital. A place which treated her with respect and dignity and supported HER wishes. She went on to live many happy and meaningful weeks and died very peacefully. Point here, NO ONE especially not a staff of nurses and doctors at a Catholic Hospital have the right to euthanize human beings because they think it?s time to die. I call this pure EVIL and is starkly reminiscent of Nazi Germany. I only wish someone with the power would sue this institution! more

The draw here is the roster of doctors, who are very good, and include some genuine superstars. The support staff are mediocre, some are barely competent and others frankly inept. The rooms have huge flat screen TVs, but the call buttons don't work. Enough said? more

I recently had outpatient surgery on my back (sciatica, micro-laminotomy) for a herniated disk and have a number of observations: 1) the facility is clean and modern, inviting and smells good! 2) the nursing and aide staff were very courteous and professional. Wilma my preop nurse was very nice and friendly and got my IV started in 1 shot 3) I was promptly taken to surgery and the last thing I remember was the anesthesiologist giving me a shot of versed in my iv 4) An hour and a half later, I remember waking up groggy in the recovery room with 100% of my sciatica symptoms gone! Woopee! 5) my recovery room course was not without hitches. I wasn't able to pee write away and had to be cathed. (I have a sensitive bladder). My nurse Carmelita was fantastatic. She was available, affable and able (the three A's). She was in close contact and was in contact with my Dr., Dr. Rich, who was in surgery. He promptly came down and got a urologist, Dr. Rich, to see me there, but I was able to pee by then, so it was ok. I was so pleased when I was leaving with the care that I gave my nurse a hug! I highly recommend this hospital for outpatient surgery (that's my only experience there.) The trouble is that most people who are happy with their service, expect it and get and never write a review. I'm aware how a single disgruntled patient will probably write one and a happy patient probably won't. So I promised them that I would be different, so here it is. Please everyone, keep in mind that an unhappy patient is 100 times more likely to leave a review than a happy one. So here's the silent majority talking. more

This hospital honestly seems to be built from the bottom of the pile regarding doctors, nurses and staff. My mom was in there 10 years ago and she had a heart virus and they even called in an exotic diseases specialist and couldn't diagnose her. The pompous dork who was her respiratory specialist said she was on an antibiotic. She knew she wasn't, I went and looked at her chart and there was no antibiotic listed. There was another medication she was supposedly on that also was not listed, so if she was actually SUPPOSED to be getting them she wasn't. When she asked what the xrays might indicate he said ""Probably lung cancer"" just like that because she was a smoker, but the x-rays were seen later by another doctor who said no way they were indicative of cancer. Her respiratory therapist signed off on a treatment when she was not only not in her room but on another floor. When we told the doctor he said she probably just forgot she'd had it! Then when we said ""Come on, you don't forget huffing medication for 15 minutes at a time"", he said the therapist could get fired for that. Ya think?! When she described the hospitalization, symptoms and results of x-rays etc to her GP several years later he said ""Oh, you had a heart virus"" just like that, but six St John's doctors couldn't figure it out. They just treated symptoms until she got better, and billed her insurance $20,000. more

I took my elder sickly mother to St. John's Hospital in SM for health care. She was suffering from gastric problems, her food was taking too long to digest among other ailments. She was hospitalized for 2 days. On the 3rd she was told she had to leave eventhough she still felt very sick and was in no condition to check out. They still insisted she leave. She felt like a sack of trash being put out on the street. Money wasn't an issue here cuz her insurance paid for as long as she needed to be there and there was appeared to be plenty of room for new patients. more

Depends on what you want from a hospital. IF you want a large room, flat panel TV, sure St. John's is the place to go. If you want service, NEVER go to St. John's. We delivered our baby at St. John's and the nursing staff in the postpartum ward just sucked. They would not show up for hours after buzzing the help button. After waiting for an about an hour, I went around the ward to find 5 of the nursing staff chit chatting while the new mother (who delivered just 3 hours back) was waiting for help! This happened not once, not twice but at least 5 times in our 40 hour stay. When my wife requested for swaddling the baby as she was alone in the room, while I was gone to bring lunch, the nurse told her that she is doing her a favor and it is not her job. Kaiser and other hospitals in the area nurses do it as part of their ""job"". Also, when my wife was starving at 4 pm and requested for food, Nurse told her that she will have to wait for hospital dinner time and she cannot give her food, although she could have at least offered milk, which is available in the supply room right next to nurse's station. All in all St. John's service just sucks! It is not worth the $40,000 we have paid towards delivering our baby. more

My Mother and I are both diabetics. I have been in this facility once and she has several times in the last few years. They serve meals to diabetic patients that are incorrectly calculated and may be very harmful. During my Mom 's last stay they served her a meal that included pasta bread and a brownie for desert, which was 3 or 4 times the grams of carbs a diabetic is allowed in a meal. When I protested they threatened me with security and the police, much as they are doing to their nurses who are organizing. Pros: Good Medical Care Cons: Poor management Hostile Reaction to Criticism more

I've been to St. John's a number of times and have always been treated very well by everyone there, from the doctors to the people who check you in. Even the man who works the information desk is genuinely interested in helping you. Not a typical hospital experience at all. more