I have Celiac Disease and have to be gluten free, but I order from the general menu instead, ordering only items that are gluten free. The food from the general menu is pretty good. If you don't order from the general menu, the kitchen will automatically send you Amy's brand frozen gluten free entrees that I personally don't like at all. You can find these at local supermarkets and try them ahead of time if you want. Basically they just put the whole cardboard container, lazy as I see it, in the microwave and heat it up. Waalaah! Breakfast or Dinner is served! If you order from the general menu itself, you must do so before the time that meal session begins as noted on the front cover of the menu. Or else your automatic gluten free entree is already being processed and on its way to your room. read more

I was in the clinical research area only so I can't speak as a patient. I was participating as a control in a study on kidney function, and it involved drawing blood and urine samples every 40 minutes for 5 hours! I arrived at 5:30 AM and met with the research assistants and the nurse that would be dealing with me, Colleen. She was professional and supportive. The room was small and clean, with a tv and comfy chair. I got breakfast at 9:30 and it was ok. Everyone was helpful and friendly. I have stingy veins, so there were multiple attempts at finding one that would work. They were apologetic and I took it in stride. The worst was going to the bathroom, having to take the IV stand with me, and 'collecting' the urine for analysis. She reminded me cheerfully and asked if I was ok multiple times. The only glitch was I went to have another test done, so I ordered lunch in advance, but due to a new catering company or something there was a big delay (45 min) because I came back earlier than anticipated. I had planned to have lunch at home and I kind of wish I had done that. read more

Bernard Mitchell Hospital - Hospitals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Granted, my role at this hospital was "concerned family member", but hearing about my sister in law's experience made me think this is a pretty damn good hospital. It's a part of the University of Chicago Medical complex, which is quality right there. My SIL had a medium-serious surgical procedure done today, and they seem to have fixed her up quite nicely. So much so, that she was able to leave the same day and walk out of the hospital under her own power, to go home and convalesce. My brother was happy with the surgeons explanation of everything, and his worst complaint was that one of the nursing assistants was a bit stupid. In the big picture, not bad. When I learned she was going here, I felt secure that she'd be well taken care of - after all, as the U of C's marketing materials say, they are "at the forefront of medicine". read more

This is a clean modern hospital. There is way too much monitoring the patients. I was really glad to get out of there:

Place is s joke. We've spent several stays here, have to be over 100 days total. All they want to do is stretch out your stay, if you have insurance. Then they rotate the doctors so you have to start all over again, stretching out your stay even more! Now, after 5 days here they tell us we can't get a test done because they are updating the software. Why wouldn't they do the updates over the weekend? We had to stay the weekend because they don't do tests on weekends! Not sure who's running this place but they need to find s new career. Today's update: sitting here in my wife's room with the IV alarm sounding for 15 minutes now with a blockage message. Apparently nobody cares about it. After 25 minutes I went out and asked someone to check it. 5 minutes later and still nobody. Found them all having fun at their desk. Just to be clear, there are some excellent doctors and nurses here as well. It's just frustrating when the care drops drastically from person to person and the simple things to increase the patient experience are ignored. Spoke to soon! Just when you think it might be you and not them, they reassure you they are in fact clueless. The "U of C" (University of CLUSTER......), after telling every person (attending, fellow, resident, nurse, student, janitor,...) here that she can only lay and sleep sitting up, wanted to give her a local "twilight" sedative while she lays on her stomach for 90 minutes. When they told her she'd have to roll over she said she couldn't. Now they will need to give her full anesthesia to do surgery. Of course they don't do that type again until Friday. It will be over a week in here now waiting for a 90 minute biopsy procedure. Either they are clowns, or, their plan to extend your stay and suck all your, and the insurance company's, money dry is working to perfection. There are some great people here in pre op trying to help us out. Sounds like it's all up so some anesthesia Attending to OK the test tomorrow. read more

The Adult Hospital at University of Chicago. This is not Northwestern, in so many, many ways. Let me illustrate a couple of them: 1.The doctors, nurses, and assistants are top notch,many of the Doctors train the staff at Northwestern. 2. This is part of the University of Chicago system- affiliated with Pritzker School of Medicine- one of the top in the nation 3. They focus on patient care and top notch medical care, currently not so much on the packaging. They are working to build a new hospital, but do not let the look of the facility fool you- you cannot receive better care- in my opinion and experience- anywhere else. 4. They serve their immediate community- the south side of Chicago, as well as international patients, and patients from around the country with the same exact level of care- it does not matter if you have insurance or not. I have spent waaay too much time here this year, but if you have to be sick, this is a great place to be. I spent a couple weeks in the Neuro -intensive care unit. I do not remember much- thank GOD- but I do remember great nurses and care. I had my own, quiet, private room. I was checked on at least every 15 minutes- in addition to the monitors, and had all tests brought to me, except for the CT machine- but hey, they did not scrimp, I had 7 CTs in 2 weeks- the hospital did not worry about costs- very unusual these days!! I have also spent some substantial time in the neuro unit- I think it is 4 SE- they have a great nursing staff and assistants on this floor. They have won multiple awards, are caring, compassionate, and remember you if you are a repeat customer! This unit is quiet, just one long hallway with single and double rooms. I have always been able to get a private room (remember- the priority at this place is getting the best doctors and top treatments, not Waldorf Astoria quality rooms) This unit is located where you can hear the emergency helicopter. It is used frequently. On my better days, I began to wonder if they were doing pizza or McDonald's runs- they were really speedy (it could have been the morphine). The ER has served me well also. I have taken taxis across town to be seen here vs. other places. If you have to be ill, I do suggest trying to get yourself here! read more

I've had a cardiologist at this hospital for over ten years. Love this man. He saved my life. Dr. Allan Anderson is one of the top cardiologist/surgeons in this country Highly recommend him for heart failure patients. You never have to wait longer than 15-20 minutes after u arrive forgour appointment. He is very food in seeing his patients in a timely manner. The hospital is very clean and orderly. Staff is very helpful. Parking with accessibility to hospital is available. And you receive a discount coupon toward your parking fee from the hospital after your appointment. read more

I had a biventicular pacemaker and defibrilator fitted this month and had to stay overnight. The care I received was top notch. Yes the facility in U of C is not as nice as Northwestern or Evanston hospital, but it is very clean organized and well run and maintained. I had my surgery done in the electrophysiology lab. The surgery was postponed due to a previous surgery taking too long due to complications. These things happen. The nurses were really nice, kept my family informed about the delay and offered me to watch TV. Since there is nothing to watch on TV they even brought me a magzine to read from the family waiting area. As soon as the first surgery was done, the surgeon came into my bed and talked to me and apologized for the delay. The procedure went very well. The care in the hospital was great and compassionate. Communication to family members was excellent. The room was nice, didn't pay attention as I was well drugged. Pain management was great. Food was not too bad and you can select from a menu and order what you want. The next morning they did the follow up and got me out of the room even before lunch. No complaints. Overall top notch quality of care, excellent doctors (Dr Knight is great) and nurses. I feel better already and cannot remember when was the last time I have felt so good. Worth while trip to Hyde Park. Many of their cardiologists now see patients in 150 east Huron in downtown. The only complaint I have is that it is a pain to find parking there. read more

Has a few of the best doctors in the country (e.g. Dr. Ho), but everything else about the place is terrible. They will bill you hard and will not work with you. You WILL wait 5 hrs to be seen in the emergency room, where they will give you an advil and send you home with a $600 bill and no explanation of what is making you sick. This is the definition of for-profit medicine, where patients are treated like widgets, and even when the good doctors do want to take time to get to know a patient and make the appropriate diagnosis for the right reasons, they are reprimanded. Horrible, horrible place. On the bright side, there's an Au Bon Pain in the building that's open 24 hrs a day, 265 days a year, so that's nice. There is really no reason to go here instead of many of the other great hospitals in Chicago (with the exceptions being that there's a specialist here that doesn't exist anywhere else --in which case, good luck getting an appointment.) Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. read more

The best of the best - no doubt. I was in cardiac ICU for 2 months waiting for a suitable donor heart. The care I received was beyond words. I was really sick and weak. I felt as I was being cared for by family. I felt that the staff really cared how I felt. I never felt ignored or postponed. As said so eloquently above, if you have to be sick, this is the place. Food was always what i ordered, delivered hot with a smile. The food servers were always very pleasant and always asked if I needed anything. The Doctors are world class. The folks I met in Cardiac ICU after my operation were incredible. Talk about world class. Caring, smart, encouraging and professional only begin to describe the staff, students and doctors. I was sitting in a chair the day I woke up and walking the next. My family was very well cared for. They were well informed, constantly updated and had quiet, comfortable places to wait and worry. The staff and physicians laughed and cried with us - we really did become family. Without the care and expertise of the staff and physicians of U of C I would have missed the last 19 months of my life. God's blessings on you all. read more

This has excellent, caring and professional staff, nurses and Doctors. Don't fall for overrated other hospitals in downtown area if quality of care matters. I speak from experience at other famous university hospitals in downtown vs this one and my vote is for this one for overall quality, care and experience read more

I am so sorry to hear of your experience at this U of C hospital. Between my husband and my son, I have been spending too much time in Chicago area hospitals over the last 2 years. While some of the "exterior" aspects of the hospital were initially off-putting, I found the staff, nurses and physicians to be amazing. Palpable loving kindness. There are numerous stories of the lack of bedside manner of "surgeons" in general, so don't let this color your impressions too much (I know it is hard, but there are enormously talented surgeons at U of C who are also excellent in their communication skills). I have to go to there next week, and will take a copy of your comments to them. Hopefully, it is an exception. Based on the hospitals I've been to, they are great. read more

I chose to be treated here for rectal cancer over Rush and Edward Hospitals, and am glad I did. The care and treatment I received both before and after the surgery was top notch. Before surgery I had radiation for five weeks and had to be hospitalized for dehydration. They did every possible scan and test on me they could think of, so they completely knew my medical status. Residents spent a lot of time questioning me which I welcomed. I was hospitalized again a couple weeks before surgery and given a couple units of blood to build me up for the surgery. It had been discovered I had very enlarged ovaries also, so two surgeons worked together - Dr Fichera, a rectal cancer specialist, and Dr Lengyel, an ovarian cancer specialist. What a fantastic team! Both were as caring and skillful as surgeons could be. The surgery went beautifully with no complications. All three times I was hospitalized I had nice quiet private rooms. The nursing staff spent a lot of time with me and were prompt and warm with their care. I might also mention my radiation oncologist Dr Liauw, his nurse Denise, and my oncologist Dr Polite gave me their full caring attention. The teamwork and communication of the entire staff treating me was terrific. This has to be one of the top places in the U.S. For medical treatment. read more

The U of C Bernard Mitchell Hospital is the finest hospital with the most dedicated staff one can ask for. My husband spent months there over a 3 year period being treated for end stage congestive heart failure, and I was with him every step of the way and we don't have a single complaint. The care provided on everything from scheduling appointments, billing, housekeeping, food service, technicians, nurses, doctors and surgeons was superb. I would especially like to thank the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Dr. Allen Anderson, Dr. Valluvan Jeevanandam, Dr. Jonathan Rich, Dr. Hemal Nayak, Dr. Savitri Fedson, LVAD Coordinators Becky and Tracy, and Heart Transplant Coordinator Catherine Murkes. These talented and compassionate professionals, plus so many more staff whose names I can't recall, have touched our lives deeply. They helped our entire family through a desperate, soul-wrenching experience and we are forever grateful. We recently attended an Open House for the new hospital, the Center for Care and Discovery, and were incredibly impressed by the care put into the planning of the Center, and the many more advanced therapies that will be available there. The U of C Hospitals care about people--patients, family, staff and each other, and it shows in their dedication to their work. For those of you who may have had an unpleasant experience at U of C, I must say that is a rarity. I know many other people who have sought care there and they all rave about the care they received. In addition I have had experiences at several other hospitals in the Chicago area, both for myself and with loved ones, and U of C is far, far above the rest. You can't get any better than U of C Hospitals, and we are very fortunate to have the finest healthcare in the world so close to home. read more

I thought UC Hospitals were supposed to be the best? Not the case for my family. My father went to have surgery for liver cancer and the doctors and nursing staff were less than caring. The doctor may be talented, but when it comes to dealing with real people, his skills were nonexistent. The nurses we dealt with were also less than eager to help. He asked for an antacid for his heartburn, and 3 hours later, had still received none. The doctor gave him very little information about his post-surgery condition. He also removed his gall bladder and never told him, or anyone in the family that he had done so. What kind of doctor does that? If I had to choose another hospital, it would certainly not be at UoC considering that my father is back in the hospital after only 2 days at home. Why? There were no antibiotics prescribed, and considering the length of his incision, and the severity of the surgery, one would think that this would be an automatic thing. The staff at the hospital seemed cold and indifferent. If I ever have to have a surgery, I hope I never have to go to Bernard Mitchell hospital. Not only for the staff, but for the whole experience. The parking was ridiculous, the cost of food was ridiculous. This is just taking advantage of families in times of crisis because they have no choice but to pay the $20 for parking or the $10 for a hamburger. So much for the people, they seem to care more about the almighty dollar than anything else. Care is just a word they use to make you think they do, because they certainly didn't seem to in our case. read more