Northwest Hospital & Medical Center

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I was very pleased with the hospital. I dropped a piece of sheet metal, and instinctively reached to grab it, and so I have a 3 inch scar on my wrist, and other internal injuries. We had first aid, and we wrapped it in a cloth, applied pressure and went to the emergency room. He basically cleaned it up, sawed it up, and put it in a splint. I then went to see the hand surgeon. The last time I saw him was 2 weeks ago. I have been having physical therapy every week at their place. The hand surgeon is there only one day a week, and you have to make an appointment 2 or 3 weeks in advance. I was impressed with the emergency room and the therapy is very good. I waited only 2 or 3 minutes. The staff was very friendly. There were two doctors.

They are awesome.  They are just all around.  They are the best hospital I have ever been to.  The doctors are really good.

Medical services provided were excellent.Final total invoiced amount was 300% higher then the Healthcare Blue Book's listed average for this procedure when performed in the 98xxx zip code area. It is extremely difficult to then deal with the UW Medicine's Finance Office, and try to get an explanation as to why their charges are 300% higher than the average price for these same services. Currently still trying to get explanation and/or a reduction in price charged, that would make it more comparable to the "fair market price" for this same service.

my experience with this clinic has been very positive...
* they stay on schedule...so minimal waiting time
* staff is very skilled, helpful and friendly
* karen, the clinic nurse, is very caring and skilled..enjoy seeing her!!

I'm always nervous about them finding a vein easily in my arm, it's not fun getting stuck many times while looking for a good vien. He found it quickly and with very little pain. I like that I'm lying down so I didn't have to watch. He explained each step and what would happen next. My experience was very good and will be requesting my scans there from now on.

They seem to be pretty good. They are a general all-around hospital. The staff was friendly and congenial. It was not hard to get a room. There were no problems. We would use this provider again.

The tour started on time and the staff was friendly. We were given a thorough tour of the facility and allowed to ask any and all questions. They led us into several empty patient rooms so we could see the differences between them. The nurse leading the tour gave us tips on how to make our stay more comfortable based on her years of experience in the unit. After the tour, the charge nurse helped me find information on family practice doctors who deliver babies at NW Hospital. She was very helpful.

They take my insurance and they are close to my home. I would use them again.

The referring physician's practice is housed in the Northwest medical office building, on the grounds of the hospital. That physician's office manager claimed to have conducted a preauthorization check with my health insurance (former policy), and told me that the lab services were covered under the policy. Otherwise, I could have waited (non-emergency) for about three weeks and had the lab covered under my current group policy which was soon going into effect. I obtained the lab diagnostic services. The coverage was then refused, afterward, by my former personal insurance carrier, due to the pulmonologist using the wrong diagnostic coding for billing purposes. Efforts to get the physician to correct his coding have been ignored. I contacted the patient accounts office at Northwest Hospital as soon as I learned there was an issue, and informed them that I was appealing the insurance company decision (through 3 appeal levels), and asked them to bear with me. Despite my proactive stance, they turned over the billing to a collection agency after a short time had passed, and I began to receive threatening phone calls from Renton Collections at my workplace, which have continued. More recently, I contacted the CEO of NW Hospital and provided his office with all of the supporting documentation. I let the CEO know that, under the circumstances, I am willing to pay out-of-pocket for the services provided by the lab, while waiting insurance appeal, if they will arrange to bill me only what the insurer would not have paid, and at the special lower rates that they give that insurance company. Three weeks have passed, and I have heard absolutely nothing from NW Hospital. Unless this situation changes for the better, even though NW Hospital is closest to our home, we will never use that hospital again, opting instead to use one of the many other hospitals in the Seattle area. We are relatively new to WA State, so we have been in the process of establishing our medical providers. This is not good PR for Northwest, and they have lost a lifetime consumer relationship with our family due to this poor first encounter.

POORLY INSERTED IV RESULTED IN IV FLUID AND ANESTHESIA TO INFILTRATE FOR 5 HOURS RESULTING IN SEVERE PAIN AND AN INFECTION, requiring an emergency visit to a doctor to fix the problem. The irony is that I had no pain from the laparoscopic myomectomy surgical procedure. What could and should have been a wonderful surgical experience went sour on 5 fronts: 1) INDIFFERENCE AND POORLY INSERTED IV: I was repeatedly told that the pain I was feeling was a result of the cool temperature of the IV fluid. My arm was then wrapped in a warm towel, yet I was still in a lot of discomfort. When I pointed out the large lump in my hand where the IV was pressing up against my vein and asked if this was normal I was told yes. When I asked why I was still in quite a lot of discomfort I was offered some pain meds for the IV and told not to worry about it. 2) SURLY CHECK-IN ADMINISTRATIVE PERSON: the woman managing patient check-in was unfriendly and irritated when I paused to read the documents that I was signing. 3) DIRTY/UNSANITARY BATHROOM IN THE POST SURGERY DAY SURGERY UNIT: after leaving the recovery room I was encouraged to use the toilet, before I could be ready to go home. The bathroom floor by the toilet was covered in urine. I had to rely on my mother (who met me in the post recovery day unit) tto change my socks and disinfect my feet.. 4) ZERO FOLLOW-UP FROM NURSE IN THE 48 HOURS POST DISCHARGE FROM HOSPITAL: hospital literature says that patients should expect a follow up call from the day surgery nurse within 48 hours after discharge from hospital. 72 hours went by before I ended up calling the hospital myself as my arm was in quite a lot of pain. When I asked why there was no follow-up I was offered the explanation that due to construction in the day surgery unit, my chart was probably misplaced. Fortunately, I remembered the name of my day surgery nurse. When I asked why my entire arm was swollen, red and in a lot of pain, i was told that this was normal and I should continue to take my pain meds and compress the arm with either a hot or cold compress. 5) ZERO FOLLOW-UP FROM NORTHWEST MEDICAL CENTER & HOSPITAL TO MY COMPLAINT: when discharged from the hospital I was given an evaluation form to fill out. I registered all of the issues/complaints that is in this review and checked the box that asked if I would like a follow-up from the hospital in response to my complaints. It's now 2010 and I have not heard back from anyone at the hospital. Over a week went by and the pain, swelling and redness in my arm continued to get worse. I ended up making an emergency visit to a doctor and put on anti-biotics to controll the swelling and infection. I am quite upset by this experience - particularly the IV infiltration- and as a remedy would like to see that the medical technician responsible for my IV (I have her name) go through additional training so that no one else suffers what I suffered. I WILL NOT LET THIS GO AWAY.

Dr. Sommers seems like a nice man. But because I was not a gun shot victim or a heart attack patient, I was not given any diagnostic testing other than blood work and a urinalysis. I asked to get some hydration since I couldn't keep water down and I was refused. I requested something for the pain and that was denied. After being there for 4 hours (and seen by the doctor twice) he decided to release me without doing a cat-scan or an xray of my abdomen or even a sonogram to see if my gallbladder or pancreas was inflamed. They gave me a script for antibiotics, but cautioned me that they might need to change the medication if it was the "wrong" antibiotic. I was not listened to and was sent away in practically worse shape than I arrived in.

They were very professional and the doctors there had good bedside manner. The office staff was friendly and the office environment was very clean.

They were excellent and the surgery went well. The atmosphere in the hospital was superb.

The care and the staff were excellent.

It went so well. Everyone we met there was very helpful and prioritized my mother's health. This is hard to put into words, but if you have ever had that feeling of being pushed out the door of a medical facility before things were really ok? Not here. They made sure she was fine to leave and set up follow-up care where needed.

I have been to this hospital several times in the past ten years for migraines and they have always been great. The last time I had severe food poisoning and was violently ill and became dehydrated and got a migraine. My husband took me in and I had to wait maybe 5 minutes before I was seen. They were really nice to me and got me on an IV and gave me anti-nausea and pain meds really quickly. I was really cold and they also got me heated blankets and turned the lights off since I was light sensitive. Being that sick was horrible, but the hospital experience was excellent. Very caring and kind staff.

I arrived a little later than I had planned, around 8:30AM, and parked in a nice lot immediately next to the hospital. The walk into the hospital was tainted by a patient smoking outside in a wheelchair where signs were clearly posted against smoking. Upon entering the information desk was busy so I proceeded without directions. Signs were not entirely clear so I stopped at another desk to inquire and was politely directed to the right location. Arrival at the lab involves reading the signs and following directions that although not 100% clear were sensible enough for me to follow. Check-in was quick and within minutes I had been given a beeper and told to await a buzz for my first blood draw. Because I had checked in later than I was recommended for a short wait time I did end up waiting perhaps 25 minutes until my first page. The first blood draw was easily one of the best of my life - I nearly didn't feel it happen. The staff were fun and kind about my having to gulp down a bottle of orange tasting sugar solution. Over the course of three more hours I had my blood drawn four more times, with the second and third being progressively worse. These were done by less experienced and less skillful staff. I specifically asked that my last draw be done by the same woman that had done such an excellent job on my first and she made sure that she was the one to do it, so that was very satisfying since it did turn out that she was just as good the second time as the first. I had my laptop and gear with me and used electrical outlets in the waiting area and free wi-fi access to get work done while waiting. The facilities were nice and I couldn't drink or eat so didn't have the opportunity to try the cafe goodies.

I was in there nine day and the nurses were wonderful. They did what they had to and saw that you did what you were supposed to do. The food was good, the service was good, and they give you a peace of mind. The quality of care was absolutely like a bunch of angels. I would fight to have to go to a different hospital.

The initial check-in process was very long, and I sometimes had to wait a bit long for help after paging the nurses' station (my floor was extra busy, it seemed, and I just think they were understaffed), but overall I was very, very pleased with the quality of care I received here. The whole hospital staff was friendly and professional and the nurses & aides that looked after me were just great. It was the best hospital stay I've had.

The staff and facilities were terrific. They worked on schedule, professionally and coordinated with my physician very well. I was done and out of there on schedule.

I went into L&D on Saturday morning and was assigned a nurse and room within a few minutes. My intake RN was very caring and went over my birthplan in detail. I labored approximately 26 hours and had a vaginal birth so I was with 4 different RN's, and eventually had my original RN return for my delivery the next day. The medical and nursing staff are excellent. The after care I received after my daughter was born was wonderful. They all made me feel comfortable for the duration of my recovery and discharge.

They were extremely nice. They serve good coffee, I couldn't believe it! I was so impressed. They were very patient oriented.

They are good but you have to wait a long time to be seen. It took forever to be seen and to get checked out.

It was an extremely good experience because I felt that all the staff, including nursing, dietary, various specialty technicians and doctors were caring and professional. The food was surprisingly good as well. I like that it is a small hospital. Visitors found their way to my room easily. The hospital takes obvious care to make the environment as pleasant as possible; there is very attractive decor, furniture and plants in the visiting areas on each floor and there is even a piano on the main floor.