Eastern Maine Medical Center

Monday, September 16, 2019 I went to Northern Light on a referral from their walk-in care, which was great. I wanted a Lyme's Disease test, but they found I had atrial fibrillation and sent me to Northern Light Emergency Room. At the end of a long day, I reflected on this 2.5-rated hospital. This morning I had been to their walk-in clinic where I saw two outstanding people, Deb and Rebecca. At some other location, I might have just gotten what I asked for, a Lyme test. At the ER, they took me right in. I saw an excellent nurse, a Lyme’s doctor, an excellent ER doctor and two physician’s assistants. Not usually doing Lyme’s in the ER, they had done mine and reversed my atrial fibrillation. I don’t know how many rooms they have, but I know they had a lot of people with a lot more serious problems. I give them top ratings.

Disgusting and horrific. I came here a few months ago because I had a very bad reaction to a new medication, I was incredibly dizzy, light headed and nauseous. It was so bad I fainted trying to walk from the parking garage to he hospital. They saw me in very good time which I was thankful for and they took a small amount of blood (I think to check for an allergic reaction I do not remember) but as soon as they did my nausea doubled I become more disoriented and I heard a loud ringing in my ear. Up until this point the care I received was 5 stars and I was thankful..then I met this nurse and everything went very bad. She came up and said that she needs more blood, I told her no and I explained that it made everything so much worse and I was already feeling very weak. She told me: "If you do not let me take blood you HAVE to leave" I was still incredibly dizzy and light headed but I said okay but I need to collect myself so I can walk. I passed out not to long after that and was awoken in my horror to the nurse grabbing my arm and trying to DRAW my BLOOD. Not only did I not give consent but I explicitly told her NO I do NOT want my blood drawn. I am pretty sure this alone is a crime but I am no lawyer. I have never been so afraid, I got up (shaking and stumbling to get on my feet) and hobbled over to the nurse's desk and told them I demand to leave. They gave me the typical "if you leave we are not responsible if something happens to you etc" and the head nurse advised me to stay. I told her that I am NOT SAFE in this hospital and I will take my chances on my own. Shaking, stumbling; light headed and terrified I managed to escape the hospital and my fiance drove me home. I can understand how this might sound dramatic to someone who was not there but never in my life have I ever been afraid of a doctor, nurse or etc. I have always blindly trusted and had faith in them but after this I now have this nagging doubt in the back of my mind. I hope I never need to go to this hospital for an emergency, I am truly afraid of this place and I understand if others may find that silly. I have never had a medical "professional" intentionally and maliciously go against my decision and it honestly shook me to the core. I do not blame the entire hospital for these nurses actions (the nurse with her did not grab my arm but she supported the other nurse) but I do not trust this practice anymore.

Caught a nasty case of C. diff that caused me to lose 30 lbs in 3 weeks after I went here for an emergency delivery of my preterm baby. No one warned me of the dangers of c. diff as a postpartum mom who'd been given prophylactic antibiotics and then stayed in NICU with son for 3 weeks. Now I'm stuck with this bacteria that will jeopardize my medical treatment for the rest of my life and affect my health forever. Still not cured of the disease and the antibiotic treatments range from $800 to $4000 per treatment. This has ruined the first months learning to care for my child and sent me into a tailspin of postpartum depression/anxiety. Be aware this bug is floating around this facility. Touch nothing, don't eat in cafe. and get out of maternity as fast as you can.

Truly a giant behemoth of inefficiency and poor service. The bigger they get, the worse they get. When you call, expect to be on hold for long periods of time, expect to wait several months to be seen for routine care, expect to have messages go nowhere, expect dropped, missing, and incorrectly communicated prescriptions, and if you have a doctor's form that needs to go to your employer or insurance company- just forget about that right now. They will simply lose it or not send it, no matter how many times you politely call and ask them to remember to do so. Meanwhile, your employer will be leaning on you for the form and you'll be stuck in the middle. I'm still waiting for the office at Husson Internal Medicine to send a form that was due two weeks ago. My mother was a patient at Northern Light Inland. Same thing- long wait times, messages and prescriptions dropped, and referrals that were never made. Her new office at Northern Light Family Medicine in Orono- same thing. A referral to a dermatologist for an acute, red, raised rash she had all over her face and hands took five months to come through. Five months! I can't tell if these people are completely incompetent or if they just do not care about an elderly person's health problems, but if you plan on becoming a patient at a Northern Light practice, expect to fall through the cracks at every opportunity. Unfortunately, Northern Light is acquiring so many medical offices and hospitals in the area, that it's getting to be impossible to avoid them. Something really, really needs to change. At this point, I'm willing to drive a long way to avoid these folks and I'm actively seeking a practitioner who is NOT affiliated with Northern Light.

I broke my leg and had no choice but to go here. Absolutely the worst hospital experience I have ever had. No one would tell me what was going on, and I was so uncomfortable and in so much pain.