Group Health Cooperative/Central Hospital is a healthcare provider that has received mixed reviews from its patients. While some patients have praised the excellent medical and nursing care they received, others have expressed frustration with the pharmacy services and the scheduling process. One patient's husband spent 30 hours in the emergency room with a throat abscess and was given the option to stay in the ER overnight or be transferred to another hospital. The conservative treatment at Group Health/Kaiser worked well, and the patient was impressed with the care provided by the otolaryngology doctor, as well as the entire ER staff. Another patient, however, had a negative experience with the pharmacy services, reporting long wait times and a lack of communication between the different locations. The patient felt that the pharmacy could improve its customer service and hire more pharmacists. A third patient, who underwent a robotic hip replacement surgery, had a positive experience overall. The patient's surgeon, Dr. Foster Chen, and his staff were highly competent, and the patient's recovery exceeded their expectations. However, the patient also noted that the scheduling process could be improved, as it took some time to receive a diagnosis and get the "ball rolling" on the surgery. Overall, Group Health Cooperative/Central Hospital seems to provide a mixed level of service, with some patients reporting excellent care and others experiencing frustrations with the pharmacy and scheduling processes.
My husband spent 30 hours in ER last weekend. Had throat abcess, couldn't swallow (very stoic, when he woke me up at 3 am to drive him there I knew it was serious). Bad airway. The otolaryngology doctor, as well as all the ER staff was amazing! Brandon Kim was on call for the weekend and took very good care of him (as well as all the other staff. Night nurse was Mark that was amazing, as all Mark's have to stick together, my husband's name). Anyhow, Dr. Kim gave him the option of staying in ER overnight or being transferred to Swedish ER and ICU and possibly being intubated, or getting treated with steroids, antibiotics and humidified oxygen at Kaiser ER. The conservative treatment worked great, sometimes sticking stuff in people causes more problems in my opinion.. Can't say enough about all the staff there from security, check in at the desk and the level of medical and nursing care that was given to my husband. Sorry I can't remember all of the staff's names, but everyone was amazing and excellent care! Been a patient at Group Health/Kaiser since I was 14 (now 68!) always excellent service!
Just allow 30-60 minutes if you need the a prescription from the pharmacy. Went to Northgate (where I was told my med was in stock), was told they don't have it and was referred to Capitol Hill and they'd call ahead and have it ready. Waited 15 minutes for my number to be called at Capitol Hill only to be told they never got the notice to fill the script. Was told to wait another twenty minutes for it to be filled. Twenty five minutes later I had to leave for another appointment. Come back an hour later and wait again for 20 minutes for my number to be called. Can't you hire more pharmacists? You are for sure collecting plenty of premiums. How many millions do you have to make til it's enough to provide a little better customer service. You are great in a lot of ways, but I dread going to the Kaiser pharmacy anywhere.
I am 2 weeks post op from robotic hip replacement surgery and I feel great. My surgeon Dr. Foster Chen and his staff are very competent. Honestly I couldn't ask for a better team. They far exceeded my expectations. Before surgery I could not straighten my leg, lift my leg to get in a car or walk. Yesterday I walked one mile. I haven't walked that far in months. I have seen many hip replacements done without robotics. The recovery is so much longer than what I am experiencing with robotics. One negative factor is the scheduling. I saw several healthcare providers before I got in to see the surgeon and received a diagnosis. It seems to me that when an x-ray shows bone on bone arthritis someone needs to get the ball rolling sooner. A lot of healthcare dollars and pain and suffering could be avoided to improve the quality of care.