Hi-Desert Medical Center

Sad to say Hi Desert is awful sad for the new owner and patients. I'm a spinal cord patient I just had my 15th surgery 4 months ago and I'm having a nother surgery in July. I fell in walmart because I went into spazems, I was taken by ambulance sat they took me in Dr asked what was going on sent me to the waiting room he did give me a pain shot that did not work I laid on the hard benches for 7 hours Er doc came out I told him and you could see in serve pain I needed an iv and he said they where to busy to put one in.i did get Ruid but after 7 hrs I. Pain no help my husband took me to another Er where they checked my record and I was taken care of.

While the nurses were all very kind and compassionate, I felt they were spread thin. I stayed in the ER for two nights with a broken ankle (in severe pain) and two nights post surgery in a private room. There were so many times in the ER when I needed help (meds, bathroom, water, etc) and there was no one around to help me. I would ask through my curtain if anyone was there to help and the physicians sitting at their desks would tell me my nurse would help me. From my perspective, it looked like the physicians in the ER didn’t help much at all and just listened to me cry while I was in pain. Oftentimes I would keep track of when I could get pain meds again (broken ankle, 48 hours between accident and surgery, I was in A LOT of pain) and the nurses wouldn’t even have written it down.
A nurse I’d never met even came by on the day of my surgery and told me surgery wasn’t happening today. She hadn’t even looked at the schedule and she was wrong. She sent me, already in so much pain and fear, into panic for no reason.
When admitted they gave me a cup of water around 3 pm and it wasn’t until 8 pm that I finally was able to get someone to get me IV fluids because I was so dehydrated.
After surgery, my surgeon spoke to my partner briefly But not to me. The next day we had to ask several people to please ask if he could come talk to us and explain the situation and next steps.
When being discharged after my surgery, it felt more like they were kicking me out and I didn’t feel like I had a full understanding of the drugs they were prescribing me, how to take care of my broken leg at home, etc. My first time taking high strength NSAIDS and opioids and no one even told me they make you constipated! Seems like an important thing to miss with a patient.
It felt like the nurses, doctors, front desk, records staff, case workers, all the different teams weren’t communicating with each other and would give me different info.
The surgical nurses were amazing! Very kind and helpful.
Like I said, the people that cared for me for kind, hardworking, compassionate people. But the systems were not dialed in to have a well working machine.

I took my mom here while she was visiting because she was having a horrible breathing issue. When she was checked in and first evaluated, we were sent back out to the waiting area where children and other adults walked around sick. We waited for what felt like nearly an hour as people that continued to be called back before us up until I went up and asked one of the nurses why we hadn't been called back again, and she blinked at me owlishly and said, "you haven't left yet? " I asked her what she was meaning and said we'd been done about 20 minutes after we'd been sent back out to the waiting area AGAIN.
Turns out everyone else had been seen as an 'urgent issue' and were sent to a hospital room, while MY MOTHER WHOM WAS HAVING ISSUES BREATHING was being overlooked, like she was invisible!

Well my mom started having another bad breathing spell and we got sent BACK in and she was put on a nebulizer that had 30 minutes of liquid in it and was told to breathe it in until it was gone then we'd be free to go home. Once it was done, my mom still had little to no change to her breathing and we were told to sit in the waiting room so they can "observe" her for 10 minutes.

After the time passed, I went to the front desk and asked if we were needed for anything else since my mom hadn't been checked on during the wait time and I was told we were set to go home. 20 minutes after we left, prior to getting home, we received a call wondering where we were at. The call was to say "we weren't done with you yet. " and we asked if we needed to come back? We were told no, that a prescription would be called in for us to pick up at the Rite-aid that was close by. A week later we received a bill stating she owed the hospital between $1,200 to $1,500, which is because they didn't have the correct date on her birth certificate nor the correct plan from Medicare.

Furthermore, their lack of the diagnosing of the situation or any concern over her health issues were minimal at best.

Due to the lack of professionalism, had I lost my mother, your facility would now be facing lawsuits!

Lastly, my recommendations for your facility will be VERY grim.

To the other people thinking about going there and reading this, please beware.

Front desk staff is atrocious. Demeaning, impolite, and snippy.

Triage nurses are lovely though.

Would not go here again- would rather drive the 20 extra miles than deal with Blondie.

This place is awful… I went here because I was having severe pain in my lower right abdomen and after waiting for 4 hours they took me back and put me through blood tests, cat scans and X-rays.

After another hour they told me I had a hernia and referred me to a specialist. I took the paperwork they gave me to the specialist who informed me I did not actually have a hernia, but told me the area of pain was near my appendix.

I went back to work as the hospital informed me nothing was abnormal other than a hernia and the specialist saying I didn’t have a hernia.

While I’m at work I couldn’t stand, walk, lay down. I had to crawl to my car to drive home, went back to Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree and they took me back and the nurse couldn’t figure out how to lay down the hospital bed and asked me to remain standing in the hallway until she could find help… I nearly fell trying to lean against a wall as 2 nurses struggled to figure it out… once they did a doctor walked in and asked me why I hadn’t opted for surgery the first time I was there to have my appendix removed.

I told them it’s because they informed me nothing was wrong other than a hernia… the doctor panicked, came back and told me she would schedule me for surgery in 3 days… I told them I doubt I’d live that long.

Another doctor came in and said I had to go to surgery immediately and rushed me down for an appendectomy.

After my surgery I was informed I could apply for short-term disability from work by my Surgeon. So, my wife printed a form and I just needed my surgeon to sign it… I handed her the paper and she said, “I will sign this once you pay $300”.

Not only did this place almost get me killed, they refused to sign a piece of paper to help me recover the 10 weeks mandatory time off they insisted without me paying them another $300.00 for a signature on top of an insanely expensive surgery bill.

This place is dangerous.

My cousin was hospitalized there just recently and the hospital had no equipment to accommodate her and wanted her to wait to be transferred till the morning. Every person we tried talking to during the night said there’s nothing they could do while also hanging up on us while we tried advocating for her. Worst hospital please don’t go there even if your dying

Garbage hospital told my brother he was dying with an abscess in his throat and needed immediate surgery, my brother left and Went to another hospital with actual professionals and got told he was fine.

I am giving 5 stars because of two particular people in the emergency dept. Dee, an LVN, was fantastic. Cheerful, accommodating and knowledgeable. And Tavis, awesome dude! Quick with a smile and a kind word. I was seen 2-13-23. In the evening. Also, the CT scan techs were awesome! Thank you!

Used to work here working here sucked but I've gotten stitches there and was there for other illnesses and they seem to get me right in there and have help me out not because I used to work there because it was their job remember people they don't have a magic wand they can't give you everything you want

I was just in the ER for a fractured leg. The staff was incredibly friendly as well as caring. They got me taken care of quickly and sent me on my way. Thank you for making a difficult visit go by so smoothly!

I had to visit the ER last night
The staff
the Nurse
and DR MEZEY
Professional service from check in to check out

I went here with an order from my orthopedic surgeon for an ultrasound on my leg suspecting a blood clot and they never submitted my results back to my doctor and lost the results when I called to follow up.

Best hospital between desert regional in Palm Springs. Hi desert hospital has them beat hand down. Palm Springs left me traumatized hope and pray to GOD if I have to ever go again it will be up here in Joshua Tree

One star because the people who answer the phones there are very mean I guess they're having a rough day maybe they're under stress but it lacks professionalism also I was admitted there recently and really didn't receive any help #update they got back to me very quickly after emailing patient experience and sorted mostly everything out I will still have to call back to smooth out everything else I do want to give more stars but I also have to be honest since I live here now I'm sure I will be more involved in helping the hospital make improvements for those who choose hi desert medical center for their medical care thanks for helping resolve things so quickly

Get it together! Made an online appointment for the ER and still waited 5 hrs for stitches. What a sorry excuse for a hospital in our desert community. You sure lived up to your bad reputation!

If you're going for something minor this place is good If it's something very serious I would recommend going down the hill as somebody that has worked at the hospital.