Our mother presented to the Emergency Department with acute altered mental status. While basic labs…read moreand a urine drug screen were obtained--and returned unremarkable--no imaging was performed. Despite her significant cognitive and behavioral changes, the team prematurely concluded her symptoms were psychiatric in nature and attempted to admit her directly to Oceans inpatient psych facility. As a family with medical knowledge, we were appalled. Altered mental status requires a thorough differential diagnosis, including--but certainly not limited to--UTI, metabolic derangements, intoxication, and **intracranial pathology.** The ED ruled out only the most superficial possibilities and astonishingly skipped one of the most critical elements of any altered mental status workup: brain imaging. We refused the psychiatric admission and sought care elsewhere. The new provider ordered imaging which revealed multiple brain masses, including a 14 mm lesion in the left frontal lobe. This finding explains her symptoms far more plausibly than the dismissive and lazy label of "psych." The fact that she was almost institutionalized without appropriate medical evaluation is outrageous. Her insurance--Medicare A/B with a supplemental plan--was not a limiting factor. This was not about resources. This was a gross failure of clinical judgment and basic diagnostic protocol. Had we trusted the ED's premature and reductive assessment, our mother would be in a psychiatric facility right now, receiving zero treatment for her actual diagnosis while her condition worsened. The consequences of this kind of negligence are catastrophic and unacceptable.

Never on my life have I had to wait 2 hours for them to even come see me while I was there. Been…read morehere a week already and the only good service it the lunch lady. I can't sleep been up all night and they REFUSE to give me anything to help sleep (not a sedative) just sleep and the nurse didn't even ask the DR if he would give me something she just straight up said "no" it's not 3:30 am and still NOTHING GO TO LONGVIEW REGIONAL less time, better tests and faster results. Never again