I went to Ascension's St Alexius Hoffman Estates hospital in Sept 2025. I had a heart attack and they did a great job in the E.R., I want to say that up front. But I can only give 1 star because of how they addressed my needs as a disabled person. That weekend, my aides were unable to help (one was out of town, the other's car was in the shop). I am extremely isolated due to disability, but the nursing staff was apathetic to my needs.
The nurse attending to me sent my scripts to a mail order pharmacy (not mine and I had to spend a week to get removed from their system).The nurse also didn't know the hospital provided rides home.
The nurse and charge nurse were untrained in how to work with disabled people who face challenges upon release. Even after I told the nurse how to request a car, she ordered the car to arrive in an hour even though I said I wasn't sure I could be ready by then. I was right, but no one canceled the ride. So the driver arrived at the hospital and was sent away.
Also, this hospital seems to have no way to provide a couple of days of medication under any circumstances. They told me it is illegal for them to do so. I am checking on that with the Governor's office.
I did reach out to the hospital (Patient Relations and Risk Management) after my experience. It took over a week and an escalation to the head of the Risk Management to get a call back. They promised follow-up, but none was received until I escalated again. I did get a call from the head of that ward's nursing staff, and he felt he had addressed it with the nurse. But he also said I could meet with some people to look at how they could serve people with disabilities more effectively. I never heard from the hospital again about the issue, so their level of concern for disabled patients (perhaps all patients) is clear to me now.
Though I appreciate their talking to the nurse who attended to me, the issue is systemic. They have not addressed the overarching issue. For example, on a visit to the ER in April 2025, I passed out waiting before they rushed me to ICU. Once transferred to the general ward, I encountered a nurse who vehemently argued with me regarding dosage of insulin. It took 20 minutes back-and-forth, for her to call the Dr to confirm the dose. It turned out the dose she was about to inject was double the proper dose. I was grateful she finally checked, but horrified I had to argue with her. I was so upset I had the door closed and called a friend to help calm me down. Someone, I'm thinking that nurse, came and stood right outside the door until my call was through. I know because the door has about an inch or more room under it and I could see the shadow of their feet near my door. They stayed until moments after I hung up.
That same ward had several people with dementia on it. Bed alarms rang regularly when these patients would try to get out of bed. I would guess they were disoriented being in an unfamiliar place at night. One patient apparently wanted to eat after food service had ended. I only know this because that same nurse spoke sternly (in my opinion even yelled at times) at the patient telling them they couldn't have any food. My mom had dementia, and if anyone had ever treated her the way that nurse treated her patient, I'd have had her moved out of that hospital right away.
I also have back problems and live in severe chronic pain, but on the visit in April they put me in a room with a broken bed. The bed was tilted causing my pain to flair. I expressed this after discharge to my pain doctor who feels this increased pain will last at least six months to a year.
I wish these were the only issues I have had with this hospital, but it's not. Years ago I was there and they sent a physical therapist in to work with me. But I didn't feel well. I was dizzy, achy, in severe pain and nauseous. I told the therapist more than once I didn't feel I could exercise. She insisted and put a strap around me to make me sit up and exercise. I tried. After she left I vomited. The nurse came in and saw the situation, but left me with vomit on the floor and in my bed for two hours. Horrific experience. The doctor came in later and said in addition to the condition which brought me to the hospital I had the flu.
At least then someone I expressed concerns to after discharge was willing to discuss it and follow-up with me. No one has been willing to address my recent concerns as a systemic issue.
Then there's the 6 hours I spent sorting out the billing, merging accounts because they admitted me under the wrong name, etc.
Sadly, I have no options to avoid this hospital which are not overly expensive for me on my fixed income. It will take time before I will dial 9-1-1 again. To me, odds are too high I will receive care from someone who doesn't understand or care about people with disabilities. I cannot express strongly enough that this hospital is dangerous for people with disabilities. Avoid it if you can. read more