UF Health Shands Hospital

Although I am thankful that my wife is alive, since last time she had a similar medical procedure, she almost didn't make it. So, I am thankful for that. But lets talk about lower than average standards. • The elevators outside the facility are disgusting and dirty (see attached video clip). • The monitors to view patients surgery progress were poorly placed. They have privacy screens placed over them, however, since the monitors are about 10 feet up from the ground, you'd have to stand on a chair in-order to clearly see the status of patients. • Knowing that my wife has a servere immuno-comprimsed system, the staff did not isolate her going into procedure or coming out of procedure. She was placed in a large room with other patients. • When coming out of anesthesia, they cut off the air assistance but did not remove the breathing tubes from her nasal passages. When she was coming in and out of consciousness, she idicated she had a hard time breathing. I had to pull the breathing tube out of her nose - something the staff should have done, if they were more aware of thier patients. • When removing the IV pic line, the staff had difficulty removing the adhesive cover and instead of being gentle (with the needle in her arm) they had to be rough and yank around the pic site to remove the plastic adhesive cover. • When getting the wheelchair to escort her to the lobby, they brought in a wheel chair and cleaned off the chiar before she sat in it. Due to the immuno-comprimised system, the chair should have been cleaned before entering the room, not after coming into the room. • While she was coughing up the fluids that were pumped into her lungs, I would need a rotating stock of tissues for her to place the fluids in. The garbage was located behind the machines and tubes/electronic wires. The placement of the trash was in a bad spot and could cause issues if whomever discards trash ends up being clumsy. There seems to be a lot of standards that are overlooked and that concerns me when its from a medical facility (espically one that is supposed to be a top-rated location). This facility would not be my primary choice for care, based on what I was able to observe.

This is the 3rd day my nephew is here, I must say the treatment has been incredible, caring and top top nurses and doctors, his surgery went excellent, I would definitely say that outside of not having rooms and making you wait until they get you a room Outside of that. This is an incredible hospital with incredible staff that cares and very tentative. I would highly recommend this place and again sometimes you can’t judge a book by It’s cover. Thank you Shands for providing outrageous services for my nephew and Godbless all the nurses and doctors for their support.

Good place to spend countless hours if homeless, cold, out in the rain. They have good strong fast wifi, charging outlets and soft chairs everywhere. You can lock the bathroom, they have hot water and blower dryer to warm up. If you feel the need for any reason the Emergency Room is right there. If you’re homeless, they take good care of you, no questions asked. Nobody bothers you if you just sit around and look busy. I would not try to sleep here unless you want a medical worker waking you asking if you need help. Remember to behave yourself and try to act somewhat normal, whatever that looks like.

The overall quality of a healthcare system depends on many factors. One is the information infrastructure, the efficiency of the staff, and the quality of the people. I work in healthcare and I am a physician. My mother has Alzheimer’s disease and we took to her here. Their electronic health record (EHR) system is Epic- very common. Our insurance company wanted a form filled out by the provider. To prevent fraud they wanted to send it via email directly to the provider. Amazingly Shands said they have only fax communications. Back to the 1990’s seems to be the way to go. the insurance company refused to fax, and the medical system and insurer refused to work together. The physicians are ok, but the system is antique. But ok, surmountable, maybe worthwhile if you can get good care. . You can communicate via MyChart at the GP’s office. But wait, when the physician sent my mother to an audiologist for hearing probkems, she sent her to UF facility. You would think that being in the same system the audiologist would know that my Mother has dementia. But she did not. She claims that it was not clear. When i asked her was it in the chart, she said it was not clear and no one told her that my mother had dementia since my aunt took my mother to the appointment. I checked, and they do use EPIC as well.and it was clearly documented so it was there, she just did not read it. Then the audiologist said that because my mother did not want to wear her hearing aid that she would not prescribe one. I said that when my dementia patients say they would not like to take their insulin or other meds i still prescribe them and then work on compliance. She said she would have to get the hospital lawyer to weigh in on it. Pathetic is the only word I have for her quality of care. Not reading the chart or preparing is one thing, another is covering up your mistakes, and the third is creating extra barriers to care. Then she said that they do not have any way for patients to get and receive messages for the audiology group except phone and fax. No email, no MyChart electronic health record, nothing other than phone and fax. So one step worse than the neurology office. Its like living in a third world country. My only suggestion is to not come here if you have a choice. Some of the physicians are good. My mothers first neurologist at UF was good. But after 1.5 years she left UF. I was disappointed, but i am happy for her - she deserves a better place. The follow up appointment was with an APRN (advanced practice registered nurse). That is ok, some APRNs are excellent, i have them, and as part of a team they can be outstanding and really improve ability to efficiently deliver care. My mothers has had an increase in emotional lability. Very common in moderately severe alzheimer’s. The APRN said we should consider antidepressants. I am not a neurologist but it is easy enough to read the guidelines on dementia management. For 80+ years old moderate dementia, emotional lability is very common and medications are the last resort. Other environmental interventions are better, make sure to look for exacerbating medical factors (eg infections), social factors, communication issues, home environment, etc. antidepressants can make things worse. She seemed clueless. Worse, there was no physician oversite. The next available slot for a physcian is 11 months. Poor continuity, poorly trained APRN, poor information infrastructure = 3rd rate care.

🏥Incredibly Kind Staff & Medical Professionals🏥 I met so many kind workers and professionals here across multiple buildings and floors. Everyone treated me with kindness and went above and beyond to assist. There's also a surprising wealth of delicious dining options available here, from coffee shops to luncheon spots with all types of food available for a variety of preferences. The hospital is calming and peaceful, with a lovely outdoor garden to walk when the weather is cool.