Dignity Health – Dominican Hospital - Santa Cruz, California

Maureen W.

I went to emergency by ambulance in the evening.I had x-rays and was told I broke my wrist and my patella. The doctor on duty asked if I could go home by taxi. I could not walk and was afraid to go home alone. This was around 10 or 11 at night. I laid in the hallway on a gurney For 24 hours. The ER was very busy and there was no room for me. The ladies from the x-ray department as they got off shift, checked in on me and wished me well. I pretty much was on my own all night. It seemed very busy and they were shortstaffed. The light of my experience was the next morning when a nurse came in and saw me in the hallway. She constantly checked on me all day to make sure I was comfortable. Her name was Heather And I want to thank her for being so compassionate.

Tom M.

I was a patient at Dominican three times for two different issues in roughly a month — from the end of September through early November. I know that the doctors, nurses and technicians saved my life twice. From the caring, skillful treatment in the ER, to the OR, to post-op recovery, everyone performed their tasks skillfully with kindness. I especially want to highlight the nurse in recovery who had to deal with my several post-op issues and got me through a few concerning moments. Almost 4 months later, I’m doing great!

Mackenzie G.

Do not go to the Emergency Room here. I will not return and i don't think you should either. My nurse was the only positive thing from my entire experience. I waited hours for a room only to be given the wrong medication and sent into a full blown panic attack. They knocked me out with Benadryl and sent me home. They didn't even fix the actual problem i was having. I woke up two days later in the same amount of pain i had gone to the ER to fix.

Michelle D.

Truly one of the worst medical experiences EVER! My son hit his head, fell and had a brief LOC. He could not recall the event. He was brought in by ambulance, however we waited in the waiting room for a total of SEVEN hours!!! We never saw a physician and the PA (David Wall) was the rudest human ever. He insisted on asking my son questions—who could recall nothing and then would not listen to the facts I knew from bystanders at the accident. The triage nurse was nasty and snippy, the radiology tech was not enjoying her job either. Every single staff member acted in the FURTHEST way from Human Kindness you can imagine.
In summary: staff is rude, wait times are extremely long, and quality of medical care is abysmal! Seek care anywhere but Dominican!

John A.

Dignity should not be a part of their name as they treat many patients with the complete lack thereof. I would expect better treatment and more professionalism were the hospital Dominican Republic. The cardiologist, Dr. Victor Ochoa, treated me with a complete lack of respect and compassion. While in his care I declined, was told I would die. Initially I believe the "medical professional" told my family my diagnosis, causing them unnecessary worry and stress. Had I not left against their advice I would have died.

Thank God for the amazing doctors at Stanford University for providing the treatment I should have received in the first place. Not only am I not dying, I feel better than I have in years. Since this experience I have had dozens of people share their horror stories about Dominican, enough that it has earned the nick name "the Killing Hospital."

Damon W.

Every aspect of my surgery went as good as it possibly could have. From the front desk staff to my surgeon...I never once felt as if they weren't putting 100% effort into my care, and for that...I am very grateful. Thank you to all!

Allan R.

I had open heart surgery there. I didn't have any problems with the surgery. I did have a lot of edema, post op, which kept me in the hospital for a total of 3 weeks. The edema caused monster blisters in my feet. When they burst it left deep wounds. I was told the wound department would make recommendations. Neither the attending medical doctor nor any of the nurses followed up. The nurses would just wrap my feet. The doctor would check it and tell me she won't release me. This went on for 2 weeks while I suffered with these very painful wounds. My heart behaved about as you would expect after this surgery. When I was finally released I had Sutter home nursing come to my house. They followed up with their wound department. It took a collagen pad over the wound to rapidly heal my feet. I was able to walk after that with little to no pain.

Dominican totally blew it by nobody following up. As for the heart surgery all the care I received, Dominican was dynamite. Fantastic. I was just one of those few patients with post op complications.

Now comes the facilities. My surgery was in November. The beds were horrible. They caused much pain to my back. The noise was ridiculous and my room was freezing cold. I might get 2-4 hours of sleep that took 12 hours.

The management at Dominican should try to sleep in those awful beds for a week.

Ray K.

I went to Dominican for a blood draw and EKG thinking I's be there for several hours sitting in waiting rooms. Much to my surprise I spent more time giving my insurance and other information than waiting for both procedures. The nurses and receptionists were very pleasant and everything went smoothly and they even walked me to the next location that I needed to be at.