CHUM Hospital: Notre-Dame Hospital

I recently visited this hospital yesterday for an abscess that urgently needed to be drained, and unfortunately my experience was extremely difficult from start to finish.nnI spent a total of seven hours in the waiting room before being seen. When I was finally brought to a secondary waiting area, the doctor offered to drain the abscess using only local freezing. I declined because I knew I would not tolerate the procedure awake and I preferred general anesthesia. I had a similar procedure in Ontario where they put me under with no problems due to the severity of my condition.. Despite explaining this, the doctor insisted four separate times, making comments like “you won’t even feel it” and “you don’t even want to try,” even though I was clearly within my rights as a patient to refuse.nnWhen I showed her the developing lumps on my neck, she applied excessive pressure despite me already being in pain. No bloodwork was done to check if the infection had entered my bloodstream. My vitals were taken six hours earlier and never checked again.nnAfter I refused the local anesthetic again, the doctor abruptly left. Thankfully, a nurse stepped in and said she would prepare me for the procedure under anesthesia without waiting for the doctor to come back. While getting ready for the procedure a male I’m guessing prep staff member came into the room, roughly opened the back of my gown without caution to expose my chest in order to stick the heart monitor instruments on frontal body and near my breast, to which he then stormed out when the nurse reminded him I needed to be weighed first. The nurse weighed me and then kindly informed me I could have requested a female nurse because the monitoring pads would need to be placed on my chest and close to my breast which I appreciated.nnOnce they began the procedure, the anesthetic was administered, but the doctor started cutting before I was fully unconscious. I felt pain and said “ow” repeatedly. The doctor responded by mocking me and telling me not to move instead of addressing the fact that I was in pain. I only passed out after they gave me more anesthetic.nnWhen I woke up, I told them I was still in pain. The nurses were compassionate and brought me heated blankets because my body temperature dropped, but the doctor continued to ignore me and seemed irritated by my presence.nnI was told I had to be monitored for 30 minutes because they gave me a medication that could cause an allergic reaction due to my allergy history. Nobody checked on me at all. After 50 minutes I had to go find a nurse myself, and when she called the doctor, the doctor spoke to me in the doorway, in front of other patients, dismissing the lumps and brushing off my concerns. She did not give proper wound care instructions and walked away.nnTo make matters worse, I discovered once I got home that the IV with anesthetic still inside was left in my arm. No one removed it before discharge, so I had to remove it myself.nnThis was a very difficult experience, and although some nurses were kind and caring, the overall care felt rushed, dismissive, and unsafe. I would not recommend this hospital for urgent emergencies based on what I went through.

Got hit by a car, so I came to emergency and rotted in an uncomfortable chair from 8pm to 5am with no sign of any progression. I wasn't even CLOSE to seeing a doctor, I just went home and gave up after waiting for 9 hours. What a sick joke the public medical system is.nnThe room was not super full when I first arrived so I was expecting it to not take so long. 5 hours in, I noticed every one that was there when I first arrived was still there, meaning that there was no progression at all and nobody was being seen by the doctor.nThere was somebody in a wheelchair, some elderly patients, and many of us were crying from the stress and from the pain.nnIf you know that we are going to be waiting here for hours, why can't you just give us an estimation of time, it doesn't make sense that you wouldn't even have an *idea* of how long it would take to see a doctor.nIf you know it'll take at least 10 hours, don't waste all of our time in this torture room and let us go elsewhere, call us on the phone when you're ready, this is 2025, we have the technology.nThere are no beds for you to lie down and sleep in even though you have to wait for over 10 hours. No TV to keep you entertained. Just the gloomy sense of neglect, and coldness from the employees.nnSome homeless man came in and was having an overdose right in front of me, about to fall onto me and was blocking the way for others, while security did nothing.nnBut I suppose since it is public, no staff feels any sense of responsibility and just want us to give up and go home after wasting half a day. All being left untreated.nnCalled 811 as well and they were useless toonn- fun final thing! There were bed bugs :nnPlease hire more doctors and fix your system because this is not okay.

This is a great hospital if you need urgent care. For less urgent care, you definetly have to put the work in to follow up and make sure you're accounted for.nJust to let people know, it seems that the admin staff for certain departments are spread very thin at the moment. I got a call saying that I had a surgery date , and to call them back to find out the date. I called the number and extension about 40 times over a one week period, at varying times of the day. I was able to get through to them eventually. French is also my second language so it may have been difficult to communicate the urgency of the issue. Once somebody offered to communicate in english, they very quickly got me in touch with who i needed to speak to.nnSo my advice to people in a similar boat is to enlist a francophone friend, and don't be afraid to call different extensions and departments. The staff is here to help, they're just under a lot of strain under the QC healthcare system.

People will need to really stop rating hospitals with one star because they have to wait long in the emergency. This is not the hospital's fault. If you have a problem with the service you need to blame the government on this. It is not the hospital's fault. The staff here have been wonderful to me although their English is somewhat lacking so either come here being bilingual or bring Google translate with you LOL

I rarely ever write reviews. I only do it when an experience leaves me truly disturbed, and unfortunately, my recent visit to this hospital did exactly that.nnThe staff felt cold and desensitized. There was very little compassion or warmth, and it genuinely felt like people’s emotions or suffering didn’t matter. Everyone seemed to be just going through the motions, without any empathy for the patients around them.nnWhile I was waiting to be seen, I witnessed a woman in the waiting room who was on the floor. She had peed herself and was clearly unwell, throwing up and unable to stand. Instead of helping her, the security guards told her to get up because she wasn’t allowed to lie on the floor. They said it in such a dismissive and unkind way. It broke my heart. I’ve been to other hospitals before, and I’ve never seen that kind of lack of basic humanity.nnA bit later, in the “urgence mineur” , I also saw another patient, a Black woman, being spoken to with clear attitude and disrespect by a few nurses. She wasn’t being aggressive, she was simply standing up for herself after being talked to rudely. When she left, the nurses started gossiping about her, laughing, and mocking her loudly in front of everyone. They also talked about other patients in the same way, making jokes and comments that were completely inappropriate. It felt so wrong to witness that in a place where people come for care and safety.nnAs for my own experience, I went in because I have celiac disease and had accidentally eaten gluten twice within eight days. My symptoms were very intense and completely out of the ordinary for me. I had severe cramps, dizziness, nausea, and extreme brain fog to the point where I could barely think or speak properly. I also had blood in my stool and fainting spells. My family has a history of colon problems and colon cancer, so it was really important for me to get that checked out.nnWhen I finally saw the doctor, she asked about my symptoms, and I told her what I was feeling. Her reaction made me feel really small. She said, “So you came into the emergency for cramps and dizziness?” in a tone that was completely dismissive and belittling. I was already scared, vulnerable, and disoriented, and that response made me feel even worse.nnI think it’s unacceptable for people working in healthcare to treat patients this way. It’s inhumane to gossip about people who are sick or to make fun of those who are struggling. Hospitals should be places of empathy, not judgment or ridicule. People come here at their lowest moments and deserve respect, care, and understanding.nnI’ve been to other hospitals, and I can honestly say that if you’re not feeling well, try to avoid this one at all costs. You will leave feeling completely dismissed, unheard, and worthless for even coming in, even if you were genuinely scared and just wanted help.