Inverness, FL... crummy unit

[LifeOnHold]

I used to visit my parents in Dunnellon, Florida.  I was sent to a dialysis unit in Inverness, Florida... this place was the PITS!  Between the techs who were clueless and the lack of ANY doctors on the premises, this place had me worried from the start.

Other things I witnessed which clinched my decision to never go there again: 

Staff did not know what a pressure bandage was-- they just slapped band-aids over my sites and were bewildered as to why my clots popped off and I got blood all over their floor.  (The staff had never had to use a pressure bandage since all of their patients had catheters.)

Almost all of the patients had neck catheters... with the inevitable high death rate.  The fourteen patients from my 1999 visit had been replaced by fourteen new patients-- a 100% 'turnover'!  Not a place I wanted to be!

I witnessed a catheter hook-up taking place next to an open door that led out to the courtyard... where the trash cans were kept... and there were FLIES coming through that door and right into the unit!

I started passing out during my treatment and my tech had NO idea of what to do-- his cries of "What do I do? What do I do?"  intensified the anxiety I already felt about passing out!

My treatment sheet clearly stated that I was to have 16-gauge needles, and yet I was cannulated with 15-gauge needles, which hurt like HELL!  I was later informed that '15-gauge is the only size needle we have here.'

My dialysis schedule is Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, yet a mere three days before my arrival, the Inverness unit cut back its hours and I had to dialyze on Monday-Wednesday-Friday.  The short notice made it impossible to dialyze anywhere else, and also meant that since we returned to Massachusetts on a Saturday, I had to go from Friday to Tuesday with no dialysis.  I had severe shortness of breath and a large fluid gain, making that Tuesday's treatment really rough.

No visitors were allowed during treatment-- after what I saw there, that was no surprise!


Because this was the only unit in the area that would accept transient (traveling) dialysis patients, I had to quit visiting my mother.  I figure that giving up vacations in Florida was a better choice than subjecting myself to dialysis at such a poorly-run clinic.

[Epoman]

I had a terrible experiance just like this when I went with my wife to visit her mother in Oklahoma. I swore I would never go back. It was the most filthy place I had every seen. For example all the needles were OUT of the sterile packages and just in a bucket, also I asked for a pillow and they grabbed one from another patient who was a sleep, it was all sweaty. The floors looked like they hadn't been washed in weeks. Every chair had their own TV but I didn't even want to touch it was filthy even had blood stains.

This was in Miami, OK

It's been 8 years and I have not been back since.

[Black]

  I think this thread deserves revival since we have so many new people here.

LifeOnHold died almost a year ago but she was a wonderful assest to this group while she was here, and a big help to Epoman in getting this site going.  Part of her wonderful legacy is the humor she left here, but as you can see, her well informed critical eye will continue to give others incentive to use this place to pass along this kind of information which will save lives, and hopefully bring about change.

[kitkatz]

I have been to several dialysis units in the United States.  Mainly west coast areas and have found them to be clean and fairly friendly.  The two units I was really impressed with were in Reno, NV and in Washington state,   In Washington my pressure started dropping and they whisked oxygen on me pretty fast. The place was clean, clean clean! The staff was very friendly.
Nevada's unit was clean and had a view of Reno out of plate glass windows. Wow!  Very professional staff.

[goofynina]

I have been to 4 clincs since while on hemo and thank goodness they were all clean and courteous 

[Bajanne]

I have only been to one unit other than this one here, and that was last Christmas on holiday in Barbados, my home country.  It was very clean and professional, thank goodness.
I really appreciate seeing Life On Hold's post again. She pulled no punches.  I still miss her kind of humour.  What a time we would have been having with her here on this site these days!

[Black]

 

[thegrammalady]

the only place i have been besides my home unit is to visit my family in corvallis, oregon. the center there is small, 12 chairs, and connected to the hospital. it is clean, bright and everything in good working order. because they have the hospital laundry, they have blankets and pillows. in my unit you must bring your own. they also have an ice machine. yum, love ice chips. most of the techs are nurses and very knowledgeable. i think i'm very lucky. the best part are the patients. extremely friendly. when i left this last time, several of them said they hoped to see me again at christmas.