Mercy San Juan Medical Center - Carmichael, California

Sara

I was referred here for an MRI with my then 7 year old daughter who needed to be put under due to the length of the procedure. My daughter is ND, and in my efforts to explain that to the nurses, they were dismissive and downright rude to her. After that, there was no way I was leaving her alone with any of the staff while she was awake, so I insisted I be with her as she fell asleep and as she woke up. Thank God for the anesthesiologist who listened and told the nurse it wasn't her call. He allowed me to walk all the way down with her and hold her hand while she fell asleep. Unfortunately, I was not called in as they woke her, and she was pissed as expected (funnily enough, that's actually a normal reaction to anesthesia). The nurse who was with her was upset because my daughter wouldn't talk to her or smile for her. As I walked in, I caught her asking my daughter over and over, "Why are you so mad?" I told her because that's a normal reaction to anesthesia and asked her to leave. Thankfully, she did without a fight. The whole experience was traumatizing for my daughter, and it took a long time for her to understand that experience wasn't the standard. If only they'd, I don't know, offered Child Life services or not allowed a child (who was having her first experience with scary medical procedure away from her parents) to be around nurses who clearly don't understand children or bedside manner. The only upside is watching people's reactions when she tells the story. The professionals we worked with at Shriners were horrified and happily took the opportunity to slowly and gently introduce her to what quality care actually looks like. So, 10 stars for the anesthesiologist, -9 for the rest of the staff.

Terra S.

MSJ has always been my preferred hospital. Recently, I went in for what we assumed was a miscarriage. They took care of me, and supported me. I came back 2 days later, and it turns out it was an ectopic pregnancy, and they had to do emergency surgery. The got me in extremely quickly once they diagnosed the problem. It was my first surgery and they were excellent.

I only have one complaint. I was brought out of anesthesia, I was immediately dressed, and then taken to my ride. I was given no time to sober up, to ask questions etc. Even the nurses were worried because they weren't allowed to keep me as long as they like.

They saved my life, and I will always go to Mercy San Juan if I have a choice.

Leah M.

Horrible. My first stay here I was so sick they kept transferring me to different ICUs with a sodium of 111 and 40 lbs. (gastrooparesis). Can’t believe how many times I heard hippa violated and patients care practically screamed across the hospital room. 1st experience I was so sick they kept going up and down on my sodium and potassium. Giving me tons of potassium (yes it was low) but was causing severe diarrhea. Oh, and if you are not admitted to the ICU don’t expect to get you to not have to physically wheel yourself to the nursing station asking for meds an hour late. My hemoglobin dropped to 6.9 requiring immediate attention for blood. They left my BLOOD bag empty but still in the BATHROOM with food that had been sitting out since 5pm the night before. Unless you ask for your medications not in the ICU you won’t get them.Lastly, they discharged me with a blood pressure of 75/55. Second admission, was a tiny bit better but that’s because I only allowed myself to stay in the ICU. They were giving me a TON of potassium (yes, it was critical at first) but they kept giving me bag after bag causing severe diarrhea that lasted until I left today after a huge fiasco this morning. They promised me I could leave and just kept saying that my boyfriends son had a seizure, I felt physically better but obviously should have stayed. They switched around my meds. Tried to HOLD ME AGAINST MY WILL by telling you to take all prescriptions with you. I am chronically ill, and take different narcotics. THEY TRIED TO HOLD THEM FROM BEING RELEASED TO ME is that even legal. Luckily, my nurse today KENDEE who was so sweet got a psychiatrist who said I did NOT lack capacity and said I understood everything very well. Had things I needed to take care of. And again, thank you KENDEE for taking such good care of me today. Thank god I got myself out of there because again my blood pressure was not too low but discharged again with a blood pressure of 79/58. Yes, it was my choosing. My I see nothing but unhappy nurses. Unwelcome “hellos” by staff bashing past patients. 1 star oh and PS if you have a PICC line don’t forget to have to ASK your nurses to get MUSTARD off their gloves and ask them to please use safe sanitary measures. 🙂

Karen K.

I had good care. The staff were knowledgeable and paid attention to the patients needs. The process was smooth from admission to discharge and easy to follow. The hospital security was good with visitors checking in at the front, obtaining badges to go into the hospital . All staff were friendly and acted like they liked their jobs.
The two downside issues were cleanliness and noise.
The waiting areas, my room, floors , under the chairs, corners had dust & debris …. Some of it looked long term.
The nightshift on my floor never answered the constantly ringing phone. It rang without stopping from about 9:00 pm until 6:00am the next morning. Earplugs, white noise, the TV etc. did not diminish this sound. This added a layer of difficulty to trying to rest post surgery..
I spoke to the staff who just said they were too busy to ever answer it.. seems like there should be some sort of resolution for this problem .

Mareka C.

I was seen pretty quickly and the service was good. Attentive to my health issues. I had shoulder blade pain so bad that my blood pressure was off the chart! They ran multiple tests to rule out what the issue might be. After I was admitted, the doctor sent in specialists to help with diagnosing my condition. I was there for 12 days, in which I was constantly checked on and medication given on time. I now have the right followup appointments to stay healthy.

carole T.

Just had hip replacement there also had knee replacement there couple years ago. Both were positive visit. With hip replacement surgery the staff was wonderful had more nurses waiting to help me than I needed. They were very friendly and more than helpful. Always asking if I needed anything bringing me warm blankets. After surgery they informed me of all options for home care asking me or giving me medical supplies and aids to help me at home. They sent numerous staff to explain things to me. Made sure I didn’t want for snacks or drinks. Made me sandwich to eat on way home. They made everything so pleasant and uncomplicated for me. At 79 years old it was a great help.

John S.

I cannot say enough good things about every one of the ER and main hospital staff i came into contact with during my Feb 3-6, 2025 stay at Mercy, my very first time actually being admitted to a hospital. Yes, there was a four hour wait from the time i checked in and took a seat in the ER waiting room, but this was a monday evening, and they were literally overrun with cases of the flu, so pretty understandable. I was admitted with a blood clot, and once i got into an actual ER room, ER2, around 11pm, thats when their motto "hello human kindness" really took over. ER physician Dr. WONG was very comforting and explained my situation, condition, and the ER treatment procedures that were going to be performed very thoroughly and thoughtfully. In addition, as many reviewers have said, the ER nurses i came into contact during my overnight stay in ER2, were absolutely wonderful! Attentive, truly caring, and super quick and efficient. A big shout out of my thanks and appreciation to JOSH, JOE, and ERIN!!!
And that caring, attentiveness, and "hello human kindness" continued on when i got transferred into my actual hospital room, #4120. Dr. EVURI was also very comforting and informative about my condition and the treatment, procedures, and tests that were going to be performed during my stay. A great personality and super "bedside manner". And as before in the ER, all the nurses and staff i came into contact with during my stay there were fantastic! Every one of them were again, super caring, very attentive, great personalities, had great "bedside manner", never had that negative "just a job" attitude, and made my stay there, under the circumstances, really comfortable. More big shout outs of thanks and appreciation to nurses Cile, Theresa, Jon, Liz, Mary, and patient care tech Gyanu. In addition, a shout out to Nuclear Medicine Tech Tiffany who performed a lung CT scan. She really took a lot of time to explain exactly what was going to be done and was excellent in letting me know what to do and when during the exam. And in addition, a male ultrasound tech, name unknown, who performed a heart ultrasound exam in my room. And if I've missed anyone, my sincere apologies, but please know that you, like all the named staff above, were totally appreciated for all that you did during my stay there in room 4120 from Feb 3 thru Fed 6. Thank you, one and all, again. You are all great assets to the Mercy San Juan/ Dignity Health organization.

Jennifer M.

My son came in for flu like synonyms and there was nooo testing ordered I was so surprised. No flu test, no covid, no strep. She checked his heart and lungs but did not care to check throat, ears, or feel his tonsils.

I also took my daughter here in October 2024 when she was 6 weeks old for fever. They had us wait for about six hours with a high fever.