West Boca Medical Center

As a person with a disability, I have never felt discrimination as I did when visiting West Boca Medical center. A friend of mine was being admitted and did not want to spend the night alone. Her husband had to return home to take care of their children, so I arrived, service dog in tow to spend the night. At first, everyone was very nice with many nurses stopping in to see my dog. She remained in the down position despite the many distractions. Then Daniel came in and asked me what my disability was. Now for those who do notknow, this is illegal. You are not allows to ask a person why they need a service dog. Daniel left and returned asking me about my disability again then asking if I had her service papers. I’ve never been asked before, but I did show him her service card with registration numbers. He then asked if I had shot records, to which I replied not on me but in my car. He left saying that my service animal might not be able to stay with me. I was becoming stressed by the incident as well as my friend the patient. I told Daniel, that my dog is for my safety and, by law, is allowed to be anywhere I am. Daniel kept pushing and I said I wanted to drop the matter and would file my complaints later. My priority was my friend. Not my own anxiety about being without my service animal or the risk I was taking.
On his own, Daniel decided to return with his supervisor, Carol and the ordeal continued. She began to question, asking what my disability was and what the dog does for me. Again illegal. I would like to note that Carol refused to even make eye contact with me. She talked directly to my friend, as if I was invisible instead of sitting to her right. How incredibly RUDE! How dare you treat me with no respect as if I not even another adult! Are people with disabilities not worth your attention Carol? Carol mentioned on her first visit to the room that «there is no hospital policy when it comes to service dogs» and she would have to call her supervisor. I’m feeling hurt and embarrassed at this point. I tell my friend’s husband to just take the dog home with him. Before he can leave, Carol returns and says my service dog and I cannot spend the night. When I inform her that the dog is leaving and that only I was going to stay, she said that won’t me a problem. Mind you I was never given a reason why my dog wasn’t allowed to stay. She is extremely well behaved and had not moved from her position this whole time.
So apparently you are welcome in West Boca medical center as long as you DONT HAVE A DISABILITY!!!
I spent the night with my friend, thankfully without incident. I didn’t sleep at all afraid I would miss signals now that my dog was not there to help me. I had to
spend three days in bed recovering. My vertigo returned, along with vomiting, blurred vision, and extreme pain.
My life absolutely fell apart 2 years ago when I became sick. I lost my job, my relationship, and there was a serious question as to whether I would ever be able to work again. I have struggled horribly with chronic pain, and dangerous symptoms ever since. I am a teacher. It’s not just my career but my passion. A passion that has had to take a back seat to this disability. I also taught/​assisted in a martial at school. I can no longer train as it is a trigger for me. My academy was my family, a family I can rarely see because I can’t drive the long distance most nights.
My service dog has been the greatest blessing, but also a my curse. Thanks to her ability to signal
me of impeding attacks I’m able to drive longer distances, though I rarely take the risk unless necessary (such as visiting a friend, who has taken me into her home and family, my second mother, in the hospital). My service dog warns me so I’m better able to prepare, prevent and stay safe. And she is my best friend, never leaving my side even when I collapsed in a park. But having a service animal, it’s like a big arrow that tells everyone around me I’m sick. I’ve struggled to come to terms with my illness, to accept that I’m no longer as strong as I used to be, to understand and accept my loss of independence and freedom. And while I love my service dog like my own child, she’s a constant reminder of this struggle.
To be treated with no respect, to be treated differently because I’m disabled, frankly it’s been my biggest fear. It fills me with such shame. That’s what West Boca hospital did to me. Made me ashamed of myself, of my struggle, of my disability. They reminded me I’m less than a person and not worth their attention (and yes, I did call they comment line and have yet to hear back from Sylvia. Apparently I’m really not worth the effort). Their behavior told me I’m not entitled to the same treatment as anyone else because I have a disability.
I am a woman, a teacher, a loving and caring friend. I am not my disability. I have the right to be treated like everyone else. I have the right to be treated with respect.

Recently, my father had sweliing in his knees. Our primary physician took blood and ran tests. He told us to go to the emergency room to have his knee drained as there was a risk of Septic arthritis. When we got to the ER, they put him in robes assigned him a bed, and took blood. A few minutes later, a nurse told us to go see an orthopedic surgeon to have his knee drained. They did absolutely nothing to alleviate his pain, and refused to drain his knee. (He has great insurance) They are terrible!
A few weeks later, my mother fell and fractured her wrist. We found out when her primary referred us to get x-​rays. They called back at 5:05pm (their office had just closed) and instructed me to taker her to the emergency room. Once again, they refused to accept her and told us to go see an orthopedic surgeon. They didn’t put her in a splint, or take x-​rays. We had to get an emergency appointment the next day, which entailed additional x-​rays since she had slept without a splint. I can’t emphasize how crappy this emergency room is, or how little they care for anyone. (BTW: my mother had excellent insurance as well)

I have MANY URGENT CONCERNS with regard to the care being provided my 23 month old son at West Boca
Medical Center. On 2÷16÷16 he was rushed to the ER /​pediatrics unit Unconscious & Unresponsive. Ever
since, despite constant attempts to gather basic information about my sons care, I have been stonewalled, lied
to many times, given false & evasive information almost every time, & discovered several unethical practices as well as flat out incompetence by specialists. This is occurring from the Directors, aCNO, to specialists &
attendings. The defensive posture presented by Dr Ravi and aCNO Hall have been severely counterproductive
during most recent efforts to gather ACTUAL & ACCURATE data related to my sons condition. Said information
is being gathered in order to consult other specialists & is therefore interfering with patient’s right to care. I am repeatedly told, after many inquiries & requests, that they will get someone to bring me that info” & that they
don’t know why his glucose keeps dropping because ALL TESTS CAME BACK NORMAL. That not being
sufficient information for me, I inquire further as to specific data related to several tests one would expect to undergo in this situation. Unfortunately I am unable to get any straight answers to very simple & straightforward
questions.
Upon failed efforts to be informed of basic test results, & then discovering that my sons neurologist had
falsified documentation in his chart, I contacted admin for assistance. At the conclusion of my meeting with
aCNO Rana Hall, MSN, RN & Director of Patient & Family Experience Cecilia E Carroll, MS yesterday, they
were apologetic & assured me that I would be kept informed on my son’s progress, specific results of tests I have been asking for, & a call from Dr. Ravi later that day, as well as daily updates at a minimum & contact
from any physician that sees him.
We spoke of many concerns including the following;
After being told that the Neurologist has completed his evaluation of my son, I asked multiple times about
the findings and test results from said evaluation. I was told each time that after his FULL review, he was
cleared of all neurological issues. Upon further probing, I discover that the neurologist never even entered
the room after signing off on chart due to being distracted by patients in the next room. How could a Neurologist sign off on the chart of a 2 year old who came in unresponsive, that he never actually entered
the room of? (HAVE PROOF)
On at least 5 occasions, over a 3 day period, I requested the specific cortisol levels collected on 2÷16÷2016. I was told the following… (HAVE PROOF)
1^st: «Cortisol levels were fine. Normal range». I insist on a specific number but told «not available at the
moment»
2^nd time: Again I insist on a specific cortisol reading but told «don’t have that handy, and I know they were
good, but will get back to you.» But that never occurs.
3^rd time: I insist I need the accurate reading of cortisol, I’ll get the doctor to come talk to you about it.
4^th time: While in the meeting with Ms. Carroll, Ms. Hall, and Dr. Ravi, I ask why I haven’t been able to get accurate answers to questions regarding my son’s condition. When addressing cortisol testing, Dr. Ravi tells me they actually didn’t do the cortisol testing and now it’s too late.
After finally gaining access to the portal today, I see the following;
his Cortisol actually WAS tested and shows 4 X Average & almost DOUBLE the maximum
acceptable range! (36.50mcg/dl)
­ his TSH came back at 5 X Average & MORE THAN DOUBLE the maximum acceptable range!
(9.58miu/ml)
­ his BUN/​Creat came back at ALMOST 5 X THE MAXIMUM acceptable range! (95)
These are a few of the very disturbing practices I’ve encountered during this race to diagnose my son. While
again last night I was promised a call from the endocrinologist after never having receiving a call promised
yesterday. Last nights call never came either. Then promised again last night I’d get a call from Dr. Cossio this
morning, Nothing. Yet I’m told by RN that he will be discharged today even though they have no clue as to why
he was unconscious or why his levels are so far out of whack. The first question my ex was asked by Dr. Cossio,
before evaluating him, was «what insurance do you have?» I am disabled and my ex and kids have medicaid… Dr.
Cossio doesn’t take Medicaid and coincidentally she has been completelyunreachable since & they have wanted
to discharge us for the last 3 days even though tests were incomplete.
This hospital has serious ethical & procedural issues that make for a dangerous climate! Once a mistake has been
made, the defensive posturing & CYA attitude is so unified that it’s just too much to deal with as a concerned and
helpless father.
I have more info, documentation, & WHAT IF there were recordings of the admissions and lies told regarding care,
testing results, malpractice, admissions of false documentation of patient charts, & more?

Wow, checked into express ER on 441 and Winston park and that was fantastic. Unfortunately for me I needed surgery so at 4:30 yesterday I was transferred and wasn’t seen by a nurse until 7:15 to be given an IV. I needed pain medication and was becoming dehydrated from not being able to drink anything. Some of the questions the nurses were asking me I couldn’t understand due to language barrier. Finally around 12am I felt better and had medication and fell asleep. Once I woke up at 5am to my roommates beeping machine I called the front desk and somebody came in 20 minutes later. Obviously I couldn’t fall back asleep. Now I have been lying here since 6am with the machine beeping and once again I’ve called three times to notify them, they only answered once and it’s been an hour. The hour went and was gone, still no nurse to turn off the beep. Thankfully at this point it was time for surgery, the surgery nurses took over, wow what a difference. Wow the gentleman that took me to the OR even noticed that they were terrible and asked me if my experience was that bad. Once in the OR room the nurses were great, asked me questions, how I was feeling, did I need anything etc etc. Once surgery was over recovery and then back to my normal room to find a A+ nurse. Must keep them for the day because the night nurse was terrible. 5 stars for the OR team and post surgery nurse. –5 stars for night and admitting nurse.

We’ve brought our daughter here a few times to the ER and the experiences vary… we go to Joe DiMaggio now… my main issue is with billing… twice they coded the billing wrong and our insurance would not pay due to an «oversight»…ugh! We were actually sued once because the ER doc failed to write that our daughter was dehydrated… even though she was… it was a nightmare and we had to pay the 5K bill! The second time we fought it again… and the hospital fixed the issue which should not have happened in the first place… their billing dept is incompetent… caused us a big headache… twice! Go elsewhere…

Horrible hospital. I was one of about twenty patients waiting HOURS to be seen and only one doctor. They kept lengthening the wait time or i would have driven to another hospital earlier on.

If any other business was run the way this ER is run, they would be out of business. PART I: Brought my 9 year old daughter in a 11:00 PM with a possible broken arm. She had excruciating pain in THE MIDDLE of her arm. There was some clear fluid in the triage room on the floor — god only knows what the heck that was. After a FOUR HOUR wait, they X-ray’d her arm and said it was just sprained. Huh? What? The sent us home with that (incorrect diagnosis) and then called the next day after a radiologist looked again at the Xray again and decided it was in fact broken. So we waited FOUR hours to get the wrong diagnosis.
PART 2: On another visit, I personally had to go for dizzyness and lightheadedness. There was a bloody bandage laying on top of the reception counter and yet again, some clear fluid on the floor in the triage room — (this is months after I had the same experience with my daughter’s broken arm in the triage room). After some testing, it was determined that my lightheadness was due to Vertigo, and no heart attack and no stroke BUT they admitted me anyway. After 3 more hours, they finally found a room for me upstairs. When I got to my room, the on duty nurse asked how my chest pains were. HUH??? Did she even read the chart at all? I told her I had Vertigo and never did have chest pains. I wanted to run out of there immediately. I spent the night there was told a doctor would come discharge me in the morning but she never showed up until after 4 pm. I threatened to walk out unless someone came to discharge me as it had already been clearly determined I only had Vertigo. FINALLY a staff doctor came and discharged me. You should also know that the entire experience is a HUGE MONEY FEST. Every test, every doctor puts in for multiple claims for hundreds of dollars when they don’t spend more than 3 minutes with you. If the place was clean, competent and efficient, maybe you could justify the fees — My advice is to avoid this place at all possible costs unless there is just no place else to go for your particular emergency.

Took my infant with a fever and vomiting to the ER and waited an hour and was not seen

The operator refused to transfer me to the lab to make an appointment for a procedure that I had been there for before, ridiculous. Also, checking in is very timely and staff is just plain rude.

They are the most technically backwards hospital I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Had we have been in a 3^rd world country I would have had better service.
It took more than 45 minutes just to check in and they need the money upfront. The time it took was ridiculous.

brought my son to the ER for a possible broken wrist… after checking in we went be and my son was taken right away to get xrays. The doctor came 10 mins later with results… we were out the door in 30 mins all together… awesome people… great service

I have been in and out of the birthing center for the last month. For Nat’s to being admitted for fluid issues. Both of the ladies in registration are sweet and amazing at their job. When i was admitted, a nurse named Jeanina was the most genuinely sweet person and she went out of her way to make me comfortable. I cannot for the life of me think of the other nurse i see regularly. She has short blonde hair, she has taken care if me four times now. She did my steroid shots and she does my nst’s. I have had nothing but Good experiences so far. I deliver soon and look forward to seeing these people there :)

I’m updating my review as this is where I did indeed end up giving birth. There were two nurses of the maybe 8 I had over my three day stay that made this review something I wanted to change.
I went into labor and didn’t know it, so I went to get checked — the nurse in triage was great… And the delivery nurse, Lisa Lopez, was absolutely amazing… I don’t know what we would’ve done without her and I don’t think that my delivery could’ve been any better with anyone else! We even dropped off a thank you gift.
My son was in the NICU for 10 days, we (I) drove the nurses in there crazy… Some were nice, honestly most were pretty iffy and some rude… I’m sure they get fed up of needy parents coming in and hindering their job… But I was there for every single feeding — no way I wouldn’t be.
Overall I would recommend thanks to those two nurses (who I would rate 5 stars), the cleanliness, and the newly renovated rooms which were very nice. The food was also much, much better than expected.

Emergency is not the best. I was in there for 2 days with my grandfather and basically had to be his nurse. Not enough staff or not enough staff working for the paitient.

As for myself… my ER experiences have been okay… I stayed here once and it was awful… the nurses were not good… but…my daughter has stayed in the pediatric section numerous times and it was fine… the nurses there are attentive and nice… no extra amenities though for kids like joe dimaggio… but its

I fell off a bike and totally shattered my left hip. Couldn’t move without excruciating pain. My husband took me to the Emergency Dept where we sat for 90 min. People who arrived after us (and not severely injured) were being seen before I was. In fact, one guy who walked in was called after 15 min and I heard him say «already? You guys are great!»
When my husband complained about the long wait, a nurse finally came over and told me I was sitting in the wrong wheelchair. My feet were down and I should be in the wheelchair with the elevation for legs… duh, you think the staff could have said something when we registered in emergency for a possible hip fracture.
Pain was so bad they had me on morphine once they brought me back to Emergency. X-​rays revealed a bad left hip break. Never saw a doctor, although the nurse practitioner keep me informed of what was going on. Finally at midnight, after 6 hours of being in the Emergency Dept. I was admitted.
Shared a room with someone who just had surgery and at least 3 – 4 times that night, various staff checked on her (and they monitored my blood pressure, heart rate and temp. I was given the impression I would have surgery in the morning. B
Finally the orthopedic surgeon decided to grace me with his presence at 8:00 am only to tell me he couldn’t do anything until the admitting doctor transferred me over to him. At 11:00 am the admitting doctor showed up to say, she had given the orthopedic surgeon the ok the night before. She was surprised he couldn’t schedule the surgery (apparently he had electives all that day) and wanted to do surgery the following day. To her credit, she found another orthopedic surgeon who performed my hip replacement later that day
For the most part, 20% of the staff cares about the patients and seem to like their job. The rest of the floor staff was condescending and had attitudes. They acted like it was a big imposition when you asked for something ((ie my pain meds after surgery). The physical therapist was great (Alyssa you were a bright spot).
West Boca Hospital is a beautiful facility, but when the staff admits «you feel through the cracks» and «apparently, the doctor doesn’t feel you’re a priority… he has 24 hours to schedule surgery» doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. If I ever had to have elective surgery, I would go elsewhere. For the staff who clearly were rude, you shouldn’t be in nursing. To the few that were wonderful, you made the 4 day stay bearable. Overall, My recommendation is avoid this place.

I had a terrible experience at the Birthcare Pavilion. Their bedside manner was the worst I’ve ever experienced. Half the time I questioned if they even knew I was there. Also, don’t bother reserving the private Princess Suite — we called 2 days prior to checking in & they told us it was «no longer available» AFTER we had already been through the labor/​delivery process. The first postpartum room we were in didn’t have a working TV and no cushion on the guest pullout chair so we requested to be moved — they moved us but not for a full 24 hours. Then they wanted to move us AGAIN but I refused. I was there for 4 days and came in contact with several of their nurses — the 2 labor and delivery nurses were wonderful but nearly every postpartum nurse made my stay miserable & uncomfortable. They were not the least bit friendly & never seemed like they were happy to be there. They barely checked on me & when they did it seemed like I was an inconvenience. Thank goodness the arrival of my sweet baby boy erases all the bad memories I have of this hospital.

I had a procedure done that I have to do annually due to medical history. I normally do it at one of the free-​standing «surgery centers», the ones that a group of doctors share (seems to be common in South FL)…but this year they had a flood and the center was unusable on the date of my procedure, so they made a last minute change to W Boca Medical Center. There are always a list of fees related to this procedure: facility, doctor, anesthesia & pathology. Each year the surgery center charged ~$ 2300 for the facility fee and my portion has been ~$ 90. I was just notified that this time at W Boca Medical Center, they charged $ 6350!!! So my OOP is ~$ 400!
The most important thing to note here is that even though this is for the exact same procedure, the experience at W Boca Medical Center was night and day with the normal surgery center I’ve used the past six years. Reception is absolutely terrible, no one has any idea what is going on, which is their job. Once I somehow found my way to the correct waiting room, things went downhill from here… it’s very difficult to believe the ppl who work there and get you prepped for the procedure are real nurses, I was actually afraid to let them put my IV in… and they don’t even hide that they have no idea what they are doing, constantly asking each other questions that were terrifying to hear that they needed to ask. The bathrooms in the procedure room were FILTHY. In short, I was sitting there praying I didn’t get a disease, or some other huge medical mistake did not happen while I was there… almost like being in a hospital in a third world country.
When I saw the bill I laughed out loud, since I already had it in my head it would be lower than my normal bill for this procedure as the care was exponentially worse. They should be ashamed to run a hospital in this manner. I will never consciously set foot in this hospital again.

Terrible terrible hospital. In the future, if I need medical care I will be going to the hospital in east Boca.
There’s nothing worse than being sick, being misdiagnosed and being charged an arm and a leg for all of it. If you have a choice — go elsewhere!!!

I had a great experience at The Birth Care Pavilion at West Boca Medical Center. I have not been a patient at this hospital for services other than those offered in the Birth Care Pavilion, so I can’t speak to those.
I was sent to the hospital after an appointment with my obstetrician to have some tests run. I ended up being admitted to the hospital and delivered my twins 5 weeks early.
I originally chose West Boca for their NICU rating, but thankfully never needed it. My girls were fine, but it brought me peace of mind knowing it was there in case we did need it. I had a private room with a private bathroom throughout my stay, at no extra charge. They do have their «Princess Suites» if you want to splurge a little on your own dime, but it wasn’t something we had to do or felt the need to do.
The staff was always very accommodating and my nurses were lovely. They doted on me, took wonderful care of my girls, and offered very helpful advice. I would recommend the Birth Care Pavilion at West Boca to friends and family.

My experience would have been a lot better if not for a few things.
The worst one being that the company (kids medical) that does their billing made a mistake and were not cooperative or willing to listen to find out that they did something wrong. After numerous times of trying to contact them, finally getting someone (don’t even bother with email. they will pretty much ignore you) and getting dismissed, and our account being sent to bill collectors, I finally had to have my husband call our insurance and had a three way call with them to tell them exactly what we had been telling them and forward to them the same documents that we sent them. So far so good, we have not received anymore collection notices, but I am still paranoid that they might.
A second reason is during labor, one of their anesthesiologist tried to rush me through getting an epidural. He was not clear at all about explaining it to me because he was in a hurry and made me feel very uneasy and afraid. It was a good thing that the rest of the staff noticed and did not try to push me into it. Later, the anesthesiologist that finally did do my epidural, sat down and took his time to explain to me and it was a much better experience from then on.
Another reason was when I was also in labor and they have to check dilation, put in the inducing drugs, etc. Some assistants to the nurse practitioner made it painful and did not take my complaints seriously. The pain from their checking was actually more painful than my labor contractions which apparently i should have been in great pain from already so you can tell that my pain tolerance is actually not low. I could tell that they were doing something wrong because when the nurse practitioner did the same things, there was much, much less pain.
It took a long time for my IV’s to actually work and stay working as well. The one who finally did it right, and right the first time was this nice middle eastern? lady.
I’ve had other visits to this hospital that went well enough. As with most hospitals, the wait time can definitely be less. Also, if you come from the east, it can be a pain to get to this hospital as there is no direct freeway.
Overall, my labor experience could have been much worse, and even with that I probably still would have given them three stars. If I was just considering billing, I would have given them less than two stars definitely which was an even bigger headache and which could actually ruin your credit and get people to harass you in your home if it does not get resolved.