Memorial University Medical Center

What can one say about a Medical Center?
I have been to much better but not worse.
I have read some things about this place and hope I am never an In Patient.

I have to update my review and advise that the Mother & Baby Staff are great! Janie has been incredible with my stay and Wendy has been amazing with my lactation issues.

My son and his family live in a very small town in Southern Georgia without access to great healthcare that my grandson needed so the doctors there instructed my daughter-​in-​law to come here so they could test to see what was causing this weeks long illness he’d had.
This hospital not only correctly identified the very serious issue (seriously, boo to small towns) that could have killed him, but they treated it immediately, effectively and kindly. I can’t ask for more from a hospital than that. He was ready to go home a week and a half before they predicted he would. While I’m sure some of that was the strength of my grandson, I have no doubt that it was also due to the incredibly and highly trained doctors and nurses at this hospital. I’m forever grateful to them.
The pediatric ICU (PICU) nurses were stellar. They were certainly meant to deal with cranky, sick babies as my grandson was (his screams can paralyze you). They handled him with sweetness and kindness while being ever efficient and excellent at their jobs. They were also so nice to our family. It was a relief just to be here.
I had never heard of this hospital before, had been to Savannah only once before, but if I am ever back in Georgia and need medical care I’m heading straight here. They have my undying loyalty forever. Thank you, Memorial, you were literally lifesavers!

Been sitting in the ER waiting for over two hours with my wife, who had her gallbladder removed and now having complications. They took a junkie back to be seen who just came in to the waiting room. I will never return here by choice. Staff is not friendly either. At least the place is clean.

I was taken there by ambulance after complaining of severe lower back pain, weakness in my legs, and my inability to straighten up. I was put in a wheel chair, made to sit in the waiting room, then taken back and asked for a urine sample. After I left the bathroom they took my right to discharge, a doctor came in for less than a minute, pushed on my lower back, which was painful, listened to my breathing, and said I’d have to go see someone else. He said that there was nothing they could because this was an emergency room.
I told him that I was in Savannah going to school and that to see another doctor and my insurance pay for it, I’d have to travel the 7 hours home. He couldn’t have cared less. He left and a nurse came in with meds that would help my symptoms and said I had been diagnosed with sciatica. I have experienced sciatica before and I had told them I had two herniated discs in my power back caused by a car accident 6 years ago and that I was born with spinal stenosis. I wish they would have at least done an MRI to make sure the discs hadn’t shifted and were pinching a nerve, which could cause permanent damage if not treated in time.
After the nurse told me to get dressed, she left. I had trouble getting dressed and she came back and told me that they needed the space so I need to hurry up. Another lady rolled me out to the waiting room and left me somewhat by the door, not caring I could barely walk, let alone the distance I’d have to walk to catch the bus or a cab.
***UPDATE***
When I returned home in December and was able to see my doctor, tests revealed the «sciatica» they had diagnosed me with had actually been degenerative disc diseases and a possible torn disc or pinched nerve (he couldn’t really tell except for traces of scar tissue since it had been more than a month since the episode. He was shocked that the ER doctor did no testing.) resulting in swelling which put more pressure on my spinal cord since that area is already thinned due to my congenital spinal stenosis. My doctor told me I was extremely lucky that there doesn’t seem to be any lasting nerve damage. I was also told that I will be needing to have disc replacement surgery for both herniated discs as soon as I am able to commit to the recovery time.
What makes this worse is the $ 1200 bill I have for their misdiagnosis and completely uncaring attitude. Thought someone got into the medical field to help others not to perpetually hate their jobs and screw with people’s health.

Went to the ER after having been violently ill for over 12 hours, including a fainting spell that was the last straw.
Pulled up to the valet, who didn’t look up from his phone. When we asked if he was the one who would be taking our car, he acted like we were idiots, laughed, and said, «uh, yeah…» Once we signed in, we were sitting down and could see another valet stall our car twice. My husband had to go out to the car, finally, after seeing him grind the clutch half way across the parking lot. When asked if he knew about to drive a stick, he laughed and said, «Nope.» My husband parked our car for us.
Once we were admitted, Dr. Williams came in for about 30 seconds, and asked me what was happening. I got about ¼ through everything I thought he should know when he interrupted me, stating that he was concerned about atopic pregnancy and appendicitis. He left before we could point out that on my chart it very clearly said I had my appendix out 12 years ago, and that there was no way I could be pregnant.
I went through an EKG, may be standard for them, but I was not complaining of chest or shoulder pain. When I returned to the room, we expressed our concern with the doctor’s brief «visit», one nurse explained to us their process… which we had just been through… and defended the doctor, stating that he looks at the triage notes before coming in. When we asked her, then, why he hadn’t noticed that I had had my appendix out 12 years ago, she had no answer, left the room with an exasperated look on her face, and never came back to our room.
The doctor finally came back in about 25 minutes later, poked at my abdomen and tapped my lower back twice. He said, «Well, you’re not pregnant, so that’s good…» which I thought was callus, so seeing he wouldn’t really know if we thought that was a good thing or not. He again started talking about appendicitis, to which we finally interrupted him to notify him that this was not possible. He laughed it off and just said, «well, there you go.» He left again without any further details as to what he had ordered or was looking at. When the nurse came back in, she asked if the doctor had come in again PER HER REQUEST.
He finally came back in about an hour later and told us what he was prescribing and what we should do… three out of seven of the blood tests he had ordered weren’t even back yet. He said that my white cell counts were elevated, but that this could be because I couldn’t eat all day… or could be due to infection. He prescribed nothing for infection.
I left the hospital 3.5 hours later without having received a diagnosis, and without having the results of my last three blood tests completed. I was prescribed an anti-​nauseam and a pain killer. Woke up this morning still nauseated and with worse lower back pain.
The service was so unhelpful that when we left, my husband asked if I wanted to try another hospital. Was so disgusted with what we were shown about the health industry that I declined. Will be treating it as a kidney infection and utilize the anti-​nauseum to sleep through it.
Will never return to this ER again, despite that it is right around the corner from our house. Will be writing a letter to the hospital.

Or first bicycle ride, at 7am, in Savannah ended when I tried to cross the cobble stone street where the trolley runs. My tire got caught in the groove and I flew over my bike across the cobble stone. Hurting, Cut up, swollen, and crying, we made it back to our hotel. I slept a good part of the day in pain. I read reviews of emergency centers on Unilocal and was not encouraged to go. By 7pm I decided I needed them more than the bad reviews. Our only option was Memorial University Medical Center. I signed in at 7:48pm and with prescriptions in hand, we left a little after 10. Not a stranger to emergency rooms, this was probably the best experience I’ve had. Southern hospitality, compassion, smiles, caring — you name it, they had it. Patients were lining the hallways in beds (including me), and yet, the nurses, techs, and the doctor was thorough and even apologetic for my pain and discomfort. The xray technician saw how much pain I was in and said, «I’m not going to make you get up, I’ll bring the portable xray machine in. «Who does that? ?? 18 xrays later, i was discharged. This was the busiest emergency room, yet the fastest, most comfortable, kindest and efficient place to be when you’re hurting.

An update… My one visit for x rays has turned into a financial mess. The hospital billed me, the ER doctor billed me, and the Radiology billed me. Inefficient and stupid, but fine. I provided my medical insurance to the hospital on checkout… They said good to go. My insurance held off on paying one of the bills because this was the result of a traffic accident where the other driver was at fault, and they wanted the amount reduced.
Long story short, even though my lawyer has contacted this hospital numerous times, and I have given my insurance info several times, to several people been different staffers who keep losing it, they sent my bill to a collections agency. They also put a negative claim in my credit report, the first I’ve ever gotten in my life, and dropping it almost 100 points.
This is horrifying and unethical as they have been given my insurance info time and time again. Avoid this awful hospital like the plague, the people who work in their billing department will not treat you like a person.
Once again, they have my insurance info however the bill cannot be paid because the legal claim process is not finished. Sending a bill to collections and harming my sterling credit is absolutely despicable.

Memorial used to be the best hospital in the Savannah area, but I’m afraid it’s not anymore. My experience over the past couple of years specifically, has been terrible. The ER is one of the worst parts of the hospital. Average wait time is minimum of 3 hours, and most times that turns into 4.5. They even give you a pamphlet that tells you the min wait time. It is always packed, with people sometimes sitting on the floor because there is nowhere to sit, and they are understaffed. When you finally get taken back, many times there is no room available, so you get pushed up next to a wall in the hallway on a stretcher until a room opens up. I know this because I have been through this, and I have taken family members there who have also been through this. You might wait an additional hour in the hallway before ever getting a room. Last fall, I took my friend there who was experiencing severe chest pain and nausea. After waiting several hours of waiting and also waiting in the hallway on a stretcher, the nurses needed to access her port (she had one put in at Emory earlier in the year). Well, a nurse messed with it for 15 minutes and could not figure out how to access it. She called another nurse who also could not figure it out. she said «we don’t use that kind here». Well, shouldn’t you be familiar with ALL types of ports and other devices? Eventually, we had 4 nurses hovering over her trying to access it and all were dumbfounded. My friend finally had to help them figure it out. They accessed it and injected air into her chest, exposing the port to everything in the air. She was writhing in pain and begging to just go home because she thought they were going to kill her if she didn’t die first. I was crying, not knowing what to do… Finally, after a night of horror and she was stabilized… It takes about an hour to stand in line to even check out at ER. Ridiculous. And that’s just my experience with that department. I could write a book on the incompetence of the nursing staff on several visits to the hospital. I was recently admitted to the cardiac unit for an illness of my own. The heart rate monitor beeps loudly if your pulse drops below a certain number of BPM. I watched the nurse lower the number of BPM to 40 BPM just so she would not have to hear it constantly beep when my heart rate dropped. I don’t want to go back, but unfortunately they are the only hospital in network with my insurance in Savannah. If I had the extra money, I would pay out of pocket to go elsewhere, but I don’t.

For the hospital itself, its not welcoming, not friendly, and the staff and everyone has gloomy faces, clearly unhappy.
My daughter (13) had brain surgery, after driving for hours (getting up at 3am) and waiting in the waiting room, her sister was told she was not allowed to lay down with a blanket– that this was a waiting room, Now im already in major Mom mode. with my youngest having brain surg, but then you come to my other child, who is tucked away on a long stool (looks like a cot. for resting) and talk to her like she is trash… you have just very highly pissed me off. Trust me thats hard to do :)
Not recommended unless you have no choice!

The weather changes in Savannah clearly don’t agree with my immune system. I have asthma, and was experiencing a lot of chest pain and wheezing – instant signs to go to the hospital. I asked a friend to take me to the ER because I didn’t have a doctor in Savannah yet. Mistake one. We chose the closest hospital to us. Mistake two. Memorial’s layout isn’t the easiest to navigate, especially because they’re doing major renovations. I’d just suggest they place the Emergency Room in plain sight when they finish laying out the new facility! After the loops and turns to get inside the ER, my breathing got worse and my nose bled in the waiting room. A nurse seemed mildly interested, but didn’t offer me any tissue or assistance to stop the bleed. I am grateful for the experience though. If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t know that I had the flu as well as complications to asthma. I’d rate the overall experience as slightly helpful. The nurses, doctors, and hospital professionals were very helpful. Keeping in mind that ER’s are usually packed and pricy, Memorial wasn’t as expedient or attentive in their admittance procedures as I would have hoped for. I’d suggest finding another longterm solution for health needs in the city!

If I never see this place again n it will be too soon. The emergency side is great, attentive and took great care of my daughter when she was in a car accident, but the urgent care side is ridiculous. Went here just to have staples removed. Two hours before she even got called back, another 30 mins in the room waiting for the doctor (while listening to him talk about a personal fax with the nurses). Then another hr and a half waiting (while again listening to doctor and nurses waste time discussing personal issues) to be sent to billing area where they expect you to wait even longer. Sat there for 30 mins until finally gave up and left. Unreal!

Venue: Memorial University Medical Center
Décor: a Hospital
Service: OK, fair
Environment: A hospital
Food: Has a café area for coffee, not bad
Prices: Affordable whether guest or patient
Conclusion: When approaching this place, this place is weird. If you are not from the area, the directions or even following the signs can put you on the opposite side of where you need to be. I think if you are from the Savannah area that you will have a better idea of knowing exactly where to go but if you are from the outside looking in, it can be a head scratcher at first. Facility seems ok, fair, and clean from what I saw. Covered garage parking as well as outdoor parking. Not overly crowded. Serves its purpose.
Overall: C

This hospital routinely and knowingly overbills. They repeatedly send bills for many thousands of dollars over what they clearly know is owed. On the telephone they’ll say «oh that’s an «estimated» bill. However, each bill clearly states that the inflated amount is the «amount you owe» «pay this amount» and that the bill is due now.
It takes months of repeated conversations to get them to send the correct amount, clearly in the hopes that you’ll overpay prior to straightening out the «error.» When I finally got them to send a bill in the correct amount, a measly 10 percent discount was agreed upon for payment of the balance in full. After which they then fraudulently billed for the 10 percent balance.
The billing practices of Memorial Health are predatory, inflated and fraudulent. Do whatever you can to use another hospital.

Went for an ER visit. Was extremely distressed going in, but the doctor was very patient with me and my anxiety over stitches! My follow up was also very good. The other doctor came in and worked with me to make sure I did not get too freaked out. I am clearly not a good patient (being such a sissy and all) but they made my experience better than I would have thought!
Very kind people.

If you need to go to the ER, go elsewhere!
I had to go in ¹²⁄₃₀ thanks to on post not being able to see me and referring me to the ER (that’s a rant for another day though). We sat in the ER for HOURS before being seen. 2 hrs before going into triage, another 2 before I was taken back, another 3+ in the back. By the time we’d left we’d been in there almost 8 hrs!
There was absolutely nothing to do in the waiting area. No magazines (understandable with the germs) and the one TV was only playing Health Info Commercials. A news channel with closed captioning would have been appropriate and welcomed.
While there we got news that there were 115 ER patients… It’s not that I’m not sympathetic to sick people, but I do think the ER should be able to turn away people for things that are clearly not medical emergencies. Sorry a perfectly healthy person with a slight cough is not a medical emergency. According to the staff the overcrowded ER is very common.
Once taken back to the ER room, it was small and dirty– there looked to be dried blood on the counter.
I waited 7 hrs to be told I was going to lose my pregnancy and there was nothing they could do about it despite me suspecting low progesterone due to thyroid issues (which could have possibly saved the pregnancy if prescribed in time).

Worst hospital experience ever!

Great with kids, nurses, Doctors were all awesome. However I do feel Anesthesia should listen more before surgery not agree you were rite after.