MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center

Cha'Nise Goldston

Only giving 1 star because 0 wasn’t an option!! This emergency room has been through a few renovations, YET the service is TRASH!! Been sitting here 4 hours!!!!! And still no Dr. Not even a room assignment. The staff has no sense of urgency nor do they even know what’s going on. Terrible communication. I truly hate this ER, but they know it’s the only one in the area so great service is not the priority. Stay far away from here!!

Kelsey Jones

Absolutely horrendous treatment of my father at this hospital.My dad went into the emergency room for extreme jaundice and other worrisome symptoms;they had him waiting for 12 hours,did not allow him to eat/drink in prep for a procedure they wanted to do.Took forever for info and when we finally did get it,it wasn’t anything helpful.The doctor came after multiple hours of testing w/o updates.Finally said my dad could eat,but not after 12am,so he could have the appropriate procedure the next day.We asked 3 different nurses over 2 hours about food because we were racing against time to get him fed before 12am and none of them helped.Finally got a nurse who gave him a sandwich and crackers. He got checked into a hospital room after 12am Tuesday when his original check in time to the ER was about 1:15 pmMonday. I went to visit him the next morning and he still had not received any helpful info.They did a lot of testing that Tuesday morning, so it seemed the hospital was doing better, wrong.They did an MRI early in the AM, said the doctor would talk to us a few hours later to go over the results.They again said he could not eat/drink for the procedure.My brother and I switched as visitors because they only allowed 1 of us in the room at a time.I left right around noon, my brother was there for the rest of the day,& kept asking for info, but was told nothing. A doctor came in early evening&threw out the term “pancreatic cancer” and we found out they still hadn’t even looked at the MRI yet. So the doctor was making this serious prediction w/o any new info and the previous 2 doctors who had seen my dad said nothing about that.The doctor told my dad the procedure was now not going to happen until Wednesday (when originally we were told Monday evening which turned to Tuesday) which meant my dad spent another day without water/food.Late into the day,they finally cleared him to eat. Doctor had also promised to do outpatient,but never followed up and disappeared. Wednesday morning came around and we still didn’t receive updates.Also found out the phone in my dad’s hospital room was not working,so we could not get in contact with him before visiting hours.Calls were made to the hospital complaining about the treatment&finally nurses started to check on my dad.Doctor reappeared, and finally looked at the MRI,which didn’t give any new info&he said the procedure would now take place on Thursday, but he did at least approve outpatient. Thursday, my dad had his procedure.They had him under sedation for it and when they were explaining the results they only told him,they did not allow my brother or I to talk to the doctor or hear what he had to say,even though my dad granted permission for me to receive his medical info.I’m not sure how proper protocol would include only telling the 70 year old who had been sedated and not also with family who had been approved to receive updates. My father experienced the worst night of his life in that hospital thinking he had been issued a death sentence&the hospital couldn’t even give him the respect to be prepared for a common procedure.There is no doubt in my mind doctors are overworked, especially after Covid, but how in the world could you justify treating a human being like this?Dropping scary terms on someone w/o concrete evidence to substantiate what you’re saying,then w/o following up with any helpful info or even to just check up,to postponing a procedure for days, which prohibited my dad from eating when he was already in a weak&vulnerable position.Disgusted with the experience.I just hope my dad will be okay&we will not have to face consequences due to the inadequacies of this unorganized&careless place.

Douglas Thron

My mother was a patient at this hospital and my family and I found that the staff presented very little care for the challenges that families were facing concerning the health of their loved ones. Over the course of my mother's stay my family and I found a few individuals within the nursing staff and staff of doctors that were able to relate and communicate in a manner which provided a sense of care with my family and mother however these individuals were less common than my family had expected to encounter in a medical institution. The most disgraceful moment which my family and mother were subject to was when the day nurse brought the night nurse in to meet my mother and a question was asked concerning a symptom which my mother was experiencing and the day nurse looks to the night nurse and states " I told him this is what happens, it's end of life. It''s part of the process." I asked if we could leave the room to talk and explained that my family and I had not had that conversation to which the day nurse stated " What ? Really?" I then entered back into the room the find my mother crying and trying to talk and her heart rate had increased by 20. It took about 15 mins to calm my mother down. As may family and I struggle to come to terms with the loss of our mother who was the heart of our family the fact that our mother had to experience a complete lack of compassion in her final days is beyond words in terms of the pain my family feels. I hope that nobody ever has to experience moments similar to what my mother did.

Elder Wayman

The experience was very pleasant. Short waiting time. Excellent service.