Everything happened fast..I received some bad news about needing a thoracic surgeon on a Friday…read moreafternoon..did some research online and chose Dr. Roberts for my surgeon as I was too nervous a driver to drive alone to downtown MUSC where I was referred to...I was confident in his credentials and experience to handle my rather difficult situation. I believe there may have been an assistant surgeon as well, but I was not advised of his name and I was out before reaching the or. I was conveniently able to book an online appt. that Tuesday and was in surgery within 48 hrs. at Trident Hospital which is very close to my home and convenient for my son from out of town to travel back and forth from my home where he had my pets to care for. I received excellent care in this life threatening situation...the chest scar doesn't look like it will be as bad as I thought. For what was involved, i felt relatively little pain afterwards. I'm getting by on just some tylenol. The office staff, both admin. & physician assistant are very professional, but friendly....wait times are not long.. I don't care to have to visit them again in the future, but I will if I have to.. feeling grateful!

From the owner: Cardiac, Vascular and Thoracic Surgery…read more When you need heart surgery, you want experienced and respected surgeons. Each year, our board certified surgeons perform over 850 cardiac and thoracic surgeries. Board certification requires extensive training and a rigorous review of a doctor's knowledge, experience and skill in a medical specialty. James Benner, MD, and Charles Roberts, MD, are board certified in cardiac and thoracic surgery, and are recognized by Healthgrades, the most trusted, independent source of physician information and hospital quality.

I don't envy being a doctor as the stress can be unbearable; however they're life savers and more…read moreoften than not, we're eternally grateful for their sacrifice. This brings me to my mother and her years long fight with AFIB and her ailing heart condition. She's been doing poorly so I took her to her doctor of many years at Charleston Heart Specialists in North Charleston. Dr Cuoco and his NP Kristen Laudati are located at the Medical Plaza in Charleston in an easy to navigate suite of offices. I'll first add that they don't open their doors before 8:30am so if you have an early appointment please factor that into your schedule. Next the office is very clean with a few amenities such as coffee, water and magazines with plenty of seating. Filling out the paperwork online will save a lot of time however they can accommodate those who chose to do it in the office. Our appointment was at 8:30 and I believe we were called back within 5 minutes of said time. As far as I can tell, they're efficient with attending to their patients. The nurses are decent in doing their job however they used the electronic cuff, which I observed is wrong 25% of the time anywhere it's used. That said after doing a manual BP test my mothers' vitals got closer to normal which was reassuring. The NP Kristen Laudati was very informed before she even came in. I can't express how valuable this is as most will just review information in front of their patients. Her dialog had confidence in not only her knowledge but that of drug interactions and her concerns therein as well as laying the ground work for the doctor. In short, I felt confident that my mother had good care as apposed to a conveyor belt mentality. As for Cuoco I rather enjoyed his demeanor. He had all the angles figured out before hand while going over our situation in great detail. Moreover, while outlining his plans he made it clear about the success rates for each option and the backup plan along with his confidence in each one. In other words "we'll try this and if it doesn't work which might be 50% success rate, we'll look at these two options." There was no attempt to give a warm fuzzy as the variables, ie my mothers age and preexisting conditions, since the first solution had potential for failure. However, knowing the plan had factored in these points comforted my mother. In summary, I think Dr Cuoco and his staff give the best care that can be expected, without compromise. Even the staff are intelligent, well-seasoned in health care for the heart and strive to focus on the patient's quality of life. For any new patients I think you'll be well served considering Dr Cuoco for all of your heart specialist needs.

As we end this holiday season and think about what and who we are most thankful for I'd have to say…read moreDr. Sidney is by far the top of my list. This amazing, confident, and gifted doctor has given me my life back. I had suffered with a-fib daily and terribly for years; not living but only surviving from day to day and feeling like I could die. It's a debilitating and scary condition. Dr. Sidney and his staff were extremely caring and patient with me, easing my fears and helping me along the way. There's no way I could ever re-pay the kindness he has showed me. I'm 46 and feel like a new woman! Dr. Sidney gave me my life back and that's something that me and my family are forever grateful for. If you want the best heart care for you and your family, Dr. Sidney and his incredible staff is THE BEST you'll find. I highly recommend! Thank you, Dr. Sidney, so very much. -Lisa Boggs

FIRST OFF, RESIDENT DOCTOR JESSICA KRANDAL TOLD MY MOM WHILE SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL TO JUST DIE,…read moreNO ONE WANTS HER ALIVE!!!!! MY MOM TOLD ME THIS OUT HER OWN MOUTH. THEN SHE TELLS MY MOM'S FIANCE HE CAN STOP COMING TO THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE MY MOM ISN'T MAKING IT OUT THERE ALIVE. HERE'S THE STORY BEHIND ALL THIS. I will start off with the latest occurrence when my mother died. My mom was diagnosed with double pneumonia (both lungs) back in July 2024. She went to Trident and they treated her. They sent her home a week later. The nurse that came by her home checked her hemoglobin levels and it was at a 0 a few days later. She told my mom to rush to the hospital asap or she could die shortly. Since she lived about a mile from Trident she went back. She kept complaining about the IV they gave her in her arm. She said the IV kept hurting. Apparently, they put the needle in her arm, into the bone. I have attached a photo of how bruised her arm was when they finally removed the IV the next day, and many calls to the nurse. After about two weeks, they sent her home. None of us knowing , they never cured the pneumonia. One day at home she said she couldn't breathe, so she went to Roper in Summerville, they moved her to the downtown Charleston location. She stayed there for about a week. They sent her to rehab to get her strength back for walking. While at rehab she started having chest issues, and they sent her back to Trident. While there, they said the pneumonia was not getting better, or worse, it was stagnant. We thought they got rid of the pneumonia this whole time. One day she would do good, the next day she would do bad. They put her in ICU and called us and told us to come see her because she only has hours to live. We had the whole family there to see her. The next day, she was laughing and talking. Another doctor we haven't seen before said she has about 48% lung capacity left, due to COPD and Emphysema, and of course, the pneumonia. He said his goal was to have her breathing on her own so he put her on a nasal tube to have her breathing. She would talk to us and use her phone. The next morning, we get another call from a different person stating she isn't doing well and she will likely pass that day. We went to see her and stayed with her for hours. For two days she was on the mask to help her breathe. The next day, she was back on the nasal tube. Laughing and trying to talk, but her voice was weak. We kept getting calls in the mornings saying she isn't doing well, but the night time, she would do well. We couldn't understand it. One doctor said she is moving in the right direction, and the other doctor would say the opposite. One day while I was there visiting my mom a resident Dr. named Jessica Krandal came in. She was staring at my mom weirdly. I didn't understand why. A day or two later my mom tells me the Resident Dr. Jessica Krandal told her to, "just die, no one wants her alive!" We told the nursing station about the situation and they said they would not allow her back in my mom's room, and contact her boss. A day later, she's back in the room, telling my mom's fiance that my mom is not getting out the hospital alive and he can stop coming. The day of my mom's passing, a few days later, the doctor calls me on the phone and tells me to come down there because she's not doing well. Then she proceeds to put Jessica Krandal on the phone, after all this, they put her on the phone. This was a slap in the face. ....another incident involving my then 16-years-old son. He woke us up at 4am saying he can't breathe. We sent him back to bed and again, he woke us back up, saying he can't breathe. We took him to Trident, and they said he has anxiety. My wife argued about what does he have to cause that much anxiety. They did a test on him and found out his heart was beating irregularly. They rushed him to MUSC where he was diagnosed with myocarditis. Please, avoid this place if possible.

Having to deal with a hospital, a LOT more often than not will evoke a feeling of anxiety or worse…read more That's why it's important to know up front the type of care and facilities are abundant and their reputation. For the record, I've had to deal with hospitals in six states for 13 surgeries, 10 procedures, 8 ER visits as well as having to attend to family members who were in critical or relatively bad condition so I have a pretty large sample size to draw comparisons. That leads me to this review for Trident Medical Center which isn't very good. I'll be factual and leave emotion out of the review as it's important to be fair and balanced. First off when I drove to visit my family, there was a huge pothole in the main road leading up to the hospital. It took weeks to fix and when I asked the nurses about that and they giggled as if it's an ongoing joke. It has since been repaired but it gives pause that a hazard at a hospital isn't repaired in expedited fashion. One of my loved ones was transferred from their satellite facilities to this one located on Medical Plaza during an emergency situation. The records and/or information either wasn't fully documented or properly received thus slowing down the treatment at the main center. I'm very disturbed how the first hospitals findings can summarily be waved in favor of restarting the root cause efforts of a critical patient. Next the doctors without consulting my mother called in a specialist doctor for more input. The next of kin are required to be consulted when bringing in other medical professionals. Moreover, this doctor only reinforced what the initial satellite facility had originally suggested. I completely understand the effort to give fast and quality care however if an initial doctor makes a diagnosis based on tests why redo the same efforts? As for the nurses they were great in almost all aspects of their respective jobs. They gave us good communication, were accurate with their needles (trust me, I've had really bad experiences will less than stellar nurses) and attentive to the patient. As for their demeanor they were pleasant but worked with efficiency to ensure the comfort of the patient. There is one small issue as another loved one had a do not resuscitate order and this was made clear in the paperwork and my brother. The acting staff then encouraged my family to keep him alive "and all he had to live for." The severity of the situation dictated otherwise; thus these needless conversations only make the process inconvenient for the family and prolong the patients suffering as care was and wasn't administered until this was resolved in the eyes of the hospital. Finally, I'm not sure who cleans the hospital as every time I've stayed at a hospital, the rooms are cleaned daily. This hospital wasn't and I'm not sure why. Therefore, my mother would often clean the room while she remained with my dad. As far as records are concerned, there is a level of deceit that is being practiced here. After my father died, in accordance to law, copies of the records are to be handed over to the next of kin, spouse, etc. For more than 2 years Trident has refused to hand over any info stating the records now have to be filed with a judge. This leads one to suspect there were issues that they don't want the us to know about. Overall, my two prolonged experiences at this hospital were less than stellar when compared to, well any other hospital. Doctors tread over each other's test results, they aren't quick to release records of a patients stay, the upkeep both outside and inside the hospital isn't a high priority and a family's desires aren't always considered. If one is to have a choice, I would advise continue looking however in the unfortunate situation should arise and this hospital is where you end up, make sure you have informed loved ones taking charge on your behalf. While I don't believe the doctor and staff are incompetent, they don't inspire enthusiasm.

I have been going to this office for years as a faithful and understanding patient. The one I go to…read moreis Alliance Drive in Goose Creek but they are all the same greedy and could care less about the actual health of their patients. If insurance doesn't pay or fix something quick they refuse to see you unless you pay all the money due. But wait even if you do they still won't see you the time if you give them more. Then after they take all the money and insurance finally pays it's like pulling teeth to get the money back. Some PA's are nice since you can't actually see a doctor but have to pay for one and the office staff is rude and not trained well at all. I personally wouldn't recommend this place to my enemy. BEWARE oh and if you do decide to go anyway don't get to comfy with who you are seeing the turn around is awful as well.

I've never had a PCP before and would always go to an urgent care. Since being seen at the Spring…read moreHall location by Rachel King, I've loved every minute of it. I feel like I'm being heard when I voice my concerns about my health and she has suggested some really great alternatIves to help me. I truly look forward to my visits and a huge plus is the wait time is very short!