University of Alberta Hospital

Too big to explore all the area
Need a proper map system so that people can know. Where they are going exactly.

This hospital provides excellent service. With many specialties offered and an excellent library within the building, this hospital is affiliated with the University of Alberta, an excellent research and teaching institution in Alberta’s capital city. I’ve visited this place primarily to use or visit the library, but I’ve also seen specialists, had lab work and exams of various types done, visited friends and family and all-​in-​all feel like this hospital is world-​class.
It is well connected by the LRT and has several parkades nearby as well. Parking is the issue most people get frustrated with at the hospital, but using the LRT allows you to avoid some of that on occasion. The cafeteria options are actually rather decent in general. Additionally it has several bank machines, lecture halls, an art gallery, and some wonderful seating areas.

Conflicted about my experience. Definite highlights and low lowlights during my 10 hour visit to ER Saturday.
Highlights: Triage desk (super fast, awesome folks), Registration, the two Paramedics assigned to F-​Pod, MD assigned to me & nurse Nikki who discharged me. (Two big thumbs up.)
Lowlights: nursing staff, (two thumbs down), communication between Diagnostic Imaging & ER Doc.
I arrived on a Saturday around 2:30pm. Seemed quiet enough, but as expected there is a wait. It’s no picnic when you’re hurting, but it seems even the healthy didn’t really want to be there.
It must be a seriously horrible environment to to work in if the nurses hate their jobs so much that they feel so little about their patients that they avoid eye contact, interacting or even treating their patients unless confronted. After the Paramedics left at the end of their shift, I was only attended when my IV alarm went off, which seemed to annoy the nurse who came to shut it off. I believe she was irritated and didn’t put the line for the new bag back into the pump so it wouldn’t alarm next time it ran dry. Next bag, she did put the line in the pump, but didn’t bother to plug it in, running on battery. If I hadn’t gotten up and plugged it in, it would have run out of juice by the time I left.
I’m not a difficult patient, even BEFORE being treated for the pain. It’s not their fault I am there. As a matter of fact once drugged and given anti-​nauseant, pain meds and blood work, (by the Paramedic — no nurse attended to me), I was feeling ok and just in a holding pattern until test results came back. I wasn’t a difficult case or patient, none of us that night were. But, if it wasn’t for the MD looking in to report tests back to me and discuss treatment options, I wouldn’t have seen anyone at my chair that night.
Over the course of 5 remaining hours (after 5 hours of waiting & primary treatment), I watched the nurses in my Pod do absolutely less than minimal essentials for the patients (there were 5 of us), and not once, not ONCE did they check on anyone in the recovery chairs unless they HAD to for treatment or discharge. I had to approach the desk 4 times to have my needs looked after, empty IVs swapped etc. They were not impressed that I interrupted them. The 5^th time I gave up. Several times after that, I tried to get the attention of one of the nurses that whipped in to deliver something for one of the patients, and my mouth was so dry I had trouble speaking. Even the other patients noticed they were ignoring us and my attempts to get attention. I finally squeaked out «Excuse Me!» she turned around and said «YES?» and she wanted me to holler the 25 feet across the row of carts at her. Which I couldn’t. I waved her over — it’s NOBODY’S business what I need, and when people are in ER, they aren’t there for a picnic and don’t need me disrupting their issues hollering across open space.
You shouldn’t HAVE to yell at anyone to get attention in an ER — EVER, and they shouldn’t be yelling down the hallway at each other either. It was a gaggle parked at the station. I blame AHS for the crappy lack of care, but I’m really disturbed that the nursing staff wore no name tags, nor introduced themselves at all. The only nurse to do so was Nikki who was responsible for discharging me and removing my IV. She sounded surprised when I exclaimed how please I was that she was the FIRST nurse to introduce herself to me in 10 hours that night.
Every shift is different, but I’d recommend if you have to go, try to go during the day when the Paramedic is on shift. They give a hoot and will treat you like you mean something. Cleanliness… Um, wash often with soap.
A letter is forthcoming however… Poor nurses.

My son had a double lung transplant between the University and Mazankowski hospitals. Rehab was at the University. We do NOT have a negative word to say about our experience while he was there. Everyone, and I Do mean everyone was the most pleasant and caring people around. From housecleaning to nurses to doctors to rehab staff. All was 100 plus percent.

As far as hospitals go I think the U of A speaks for itself with it’s world wide reputation as being a leader in medical research. It definitely makes me proud to be Edmontonian when I see them on the news making breakthroughs in cancer research and treating children at the Stollery.
As far as the staff goes I find them to be pretty amicable for how busy a pace they keep there. The emergency room wait times like alot of hospitals in the city can get a little long. I think the longest wait I have had personally has been close to five hours. I have received compassionate and timely care though once I did make it past the doors and in to see the doctor. My cousin is currently staying at the hospital recovering from an amputation and I have been really impressed with how on the ball they have been in terms of getting her her meds on time as well as keeping her comfy with frequent water refills and warm blankets. You can get phone and television service in your room as well but these things do cost money. I wish they would find some way to lower the cost or make it free as being able to connect with the outside world is an important part of keeping patients in good spirits which I firmly believe helps in the healing process.
Like many reviewers have mentioned before me this is the last place you want to be making frequent visits to but if you do find yourself here you can rest assured you will receive good quality care

While the people who work at the UAH are siloed … that is, one group of people rarely interact with another, you wouldn’t notice it as a customer/​patient.
Every time a family member has been to the UAH, we’ve been happy with the care.
Most recently, my mom was in a two-​bed room which had three beds in it. This made things cramped. We were really lucky that the middle bed never had someone in it. There are times when rooms have to be co-​ed which seems even more awkward.
I think you can trust the UAH to take good care of you and yours.

Reviewing the U of A Hospital is like reviewing the dentist. I obviously didn’t like going here, but the staff tried their best to make my experience as good as it could be, so it’s kind of hard to figure out how many stars to hand out for this one.
I last came in when I got pretty banged up in a car accident. Like, arrived by ambulance type of car accident. Which meant that I got taken into an emerg room pretty quickly and seen by a whole team of medical staff. The entire group of doctors and nurses were kind and patient. I was pretty upset and disoriented but they took their time with tests, etc. No pressure to try to move parts of my body that were in pain. The staff that administered the tests were also top notch. And finally, the nurse who cleaned up my wounds was totally OK with me screaming my head off about how much it stung.
In terms of patient service, I was very grateful for the kind and knowledgeable medical attention from every staff member I encountered. I just can’t give 5 stars to a place that you only visit when things aren’t good.

I’m surprised that I’m the first one to add the U of A hospital as a business on Unilocal.This is my hospital. It’s close to where I live, close to where I work and my specialist resides in this hospital. Also, the pharmacy I go to is in this hospital as well. I know a lot of people who work here and you could often find me wandering the halls of the main floor in an attempt to find a shortcut from 114^th Street to Whyte ave and 112^th Street.
I come here roughly every six weeks for blood work and I must say that the services rendered here are as quick as they can be. I’ve also done a few x-​rays, an ultrasound and even met with the physical therapy department here. Since it’s a teaching hospital, they seem to be interested in quality and efficiency, which is something I haven’t seen in too many other hospitals. However, when it came to my ultrasound, they took about one hour for something that shouldn’t have taken long because they were using my body as a specimen while teaching students. Scientist that I am, I sure enjoyed it!
While the cafeteria is lacking in quality food (which is, interestingly, the case in most hospitals), there are plenty of options nonetheless. Also, it’s important to note that the Timmies on 112^th St, across from the hospital, is 24 hours. In general, the location of this hospital is great. Parking is a little expensive but certainly what is expected for and not alarming.
I’ve been in the emergency room once and as always the case with the ER, service is a little slower but I was taken good care of. All in all, I have no complaints with this hospital (yet). Efficient model, well executed.