Northwest Community Hospital - Physician Referral

Wonderful experience with nurse Nina V. at NCH in Arlington Heights, IL. She was professional, kind, nice and had steady hand when she was taking my blood. I had no visible veins and yet she was able to see it, and draw blood quickly and efficiently. Very nice experience.

My wife delivered our first child at this hospital. We would give them more stars if possible. The nurses were fantastic (all of them). Camile was our delivery nurse and we were very encouraged throughout the process--all while keeping a smile on her face. Camile is a key asset for the hospital. I have never quite seen the level of service in a healthcare setting as provided by her. We would recommend this hospital/staff to everyone for labor/delivery.

I was having a heart attack and went to the closest hospital, that was my mistake. I have to say that the cardiac team and cardiac surgical team was great, but everything else just came apart. No communication with nursing staff, never saw the same attending doctor over the 4 days and 2 cardiac procedures I had while there. My meds that are very necessary are still not submitted to my pharmacy and it's now been 2 days with out all meds prescribed to me and that I was instructed that had to be taken.

My after care summary was all kinds of wrong and they at the same time tell me to take a med. then on the next page tell me to stop taking the med., they seem to have never reviewed the notes section of the MyCart portal they want everyone to use. I have had to call everyday about my meds and nobody cares to even call u back or cares to straighten out the problem.

Management apparently does not believe or follow their own mission statement. Several nurses plain out said the hospital is grossly understaffed and patient care is suffering. Sanitation at the hospital is not very good either as they changed my room when I was in surgery for my second procedure of the 4 days I was there. The change was to a worse room and when the floor head person came to talk to me about the conditions I had rightfully complained about and apologized, asked me if I wanted a job.

All I could think was bad form and how unprofessional. It's now the end of the second business day after I was discharged and I still don't have access to the meds a cardiac surgeon prescribed me. I guess they don't care about their patients but I have to believe he is u aware of my issue with the medication. Do not use this failing hospital! I have attached pictures of the room conditions.

The only reason I gave this 2 stars is because my husband left alive. No discharge instructions. No follow up appointments, or even names of doctors to contact. He left with stitches and never told when or who would remove them. If I wasn't there every minute, taking notes, speaking to doctors on his behalf, and Googling, he would have left the hospital needing a kidney transplant with NO information about what was next.

Went to the ER today for a severe headache and stiff neck. My neurologist suggest for me to go due to the severity and requested a MRI. I waited 3 hours until I walked out because they didn't take me back to be seen. They take you back for 5 mins to take your vitals then send you back in the waiting room. My blood pressure was 180/115 and stroke runs in my family.

Apparently no care in the world. I called the on-call neurologist and he apologized and urged me to turn around and go back. I'm going back to a different hospital/facility the next morning. This hospital was great when I had my daughter years ago. That's no longer the case.

It pains me to give this hospital one star because I have been going there for some time and I like the doctors who are affiliated with the hospital. Problem is their customer service is terrible in trying to escalate an issue. I received 3 stress test orders from my doctor to allow me to compare cost. When I called patient services, we went over all 3 of his orders and the cost associated with service.

I believe there are laws now that protect people from having excessive charges if they work in advance to obtain procedure quotes. We decided to do the middle procedure, that went fine but when I received the bill it was 4x more than what I was quoted. I asked to have my call reviewed when I called the hospital for these quotes (as they say calls are recorded) and that should have been clear. 4 months later and a patient advocate group assisting and all I get is my procedure was coded correctly and I have to pay the higher cost. Had I not done all I did in advance with my doctor to ensure my costs were affordable, I would not be upset but where is the responsibility of the hospital when a patient has 3 different tests he can choose from, calls your estimate group, goes through insurance info with your agent and then orders the test that was quoted.

At what point do you have to accept errors and not overcharge a patient for what you quoted? This has now happened again on my recent Covid treatment. When I called my insurance agent I was told the hospital did not code treatment for covid and when I contacted hospital I was told my treatment was not covid related. I had to politely ask them to double check as it was only covid treatment (monoclonal) when I tested positive and now I have a huge bill again I have to go through this review when they provided a quote before I went in that it was covered in full being covid related. What ever you do get everything in writing because even though calls are recorded, they are conveniently not provided even after a freedom of information request is done.

So, a family member of mine just got her surgery done at the hospital and the service at the day-surgery was not so amazing. The blonde lady at the front desk was so sweet and thanks to her sense of humor, my mother wasn't so scared of the whole surgerical procedure. However, I'm sorry to mention this but another lady at the front desk with dark short hair was so ignorant.

I'm aware that the whole covid-19 pandemic is making it harder for accompanies to stay in the waiting rooms but was I aware of that? No. She could've just told me that sincerely and I wouldn't have a problem leaving but she went on telling me I'm not following what's on the guidelines and that I could be in big trouble for that. Well sorry that I'm just so worried about my family and her not knowing English is what worried me even more.

Then I had to leave so I waited for a phone call from the doctor after the surgery. The doctor told me to go pick her up but didn't state where so I went back to the front desk. I should've received a text message stating me where I had to go but because of miscommunication with the front desk, they weren't sending me anything. So of course I went back to the front desk and the blonde lady told me very politely that I had to go to the pick-up curve right next to the building but the other lady told was so disruptive and stated "You shouldn't be here.

I don't understand why you came back". Uhh Excuse me? Does she think I'm an expert knowing the place or is she just being mean because I'm taking her time? Whatever the case may be, I was so disappointed. Someone should tell her that it's very difficult to stay calm knowing your family member can go deaf if anything goes wrong during the surgery. Thank you for your service anyways.

I wish I could give zero stars. Twenty five years ago I had my children at this hospital. It was a great hospital. My father still sees doctors that are affiliated here. He went in Monday for an angiogram. He was discharged by a nurse that rushed him out to my sister's car and couldn't wait to be rid of him. He complained that he was dizzy. She ignored this, rattled off some instructions and sent him home.

Next morning I called to check on him and he had double vision and was still very dizzy. Dizziness was listed as a symptom to call the doctor about. I call the doctor's office and the nurse said to bring him to the ER. They admit him. He had a mini stroke from the angiogram. He should have never been discharged on Monday. They admitted him and kept him overnight.

All day long we are calling to try to get updates from doctors. No doctor ever called us back. The nurses tried to answer our questions Then all of a sudden at 4:15 pm I get a call that he is being discharged. They gave him an eye patch to help with the double vision, that's it! No instructions, no call from any of the doctors that saw him that day. Nothing. Ridiculous to treat people this way. If value your life go someplace else.

If you value your life or your love ones life DO NOT COME HERE! If you ever trust a review trust this one! They are rude, ignorant, lazy, and they don't value yours or your love ones life! Please DO NOT go here if you can avoid! The Dr.s are just as lazy as the nurses. They have a few nurses that actually care but the rest don't! I'm happy I got the phone call that a transfer was being made to another hospital!

Who ever made that happen thank you! Northwest you should really make your staff watch Patch Adam's they might actually learn something! They made a bad situation into a worst situation! Which the information was given to them to prevent it! PLEASE AVOID!

This hospital is having issues. They do not seem to care about their patients anymore. They have made numerous mistakes in the past few weeks. Patients are not #1 anymore. When I spoke with the patient advocate about my concerns, she didn't even take my name, address or phone number to contact me back with any resolution. She made it seem like my brother's unexpected death was normal for that day. I don't ever want me or my family to come here again. So disappointed.

Beware! Slow and long on hold if u call, no doctor call backs just nurses. Suggest driving to a hospital or clinic thats not NCH. Some nurses like Maria for doctor Bakkan have additude when you make a request to check your blood pressure on both arms! Doctor also had attitude so bye bye got a new doctor something we can do

The absolute worst front office. Rude, no follow up, no communication and when you ask them to do their job they make it seem like you are bothering them. Had to call three times to get my lab results to another doctor, and every time got attitude like it was my fault it was not sent. They still aren't sent & no one from the "care team" cares.

With so many options, I would avoid this place at all costs unless you what to deal with a headache. Front office staff needs an attitude adjustment to realize that they are there to assist the patients and treat them like they are nuisance.

This is an excellent branch of a good hospital. They accommodate drop in patients and their staff is smart and proficient. It works when you're sick and when you're getting an annual physical.

This address was on top of the list of labs in my stool testing instructions. In the instructions and the envelope was clearly stated - hand-delivered personally or mail. Tried to drop-off the specimen. The personnel in the lab refused to accept the specimen - they stated it should not be delivered to them. Asked them for additional testing equipment (my primary physician instructions were do deliver the specimen for blood and take another bigger equipment for parasites), they refused providing me with. Made me look like my place is not there - no sympathy, no assistance - even though their printed instructions were wrong, I was late for work because of them, and on top of that could not deliver the specimen, neither getting the rest of the equipment. Nice building, but with the wrong personnel.you will just get avoided. This happened today about 8:30 am at 1450 Busch Parkway Buffalo Grove laboratory

Update: I received a letter from a "Patient Relations Specialist" with the practice's spin on events that caused me to leave. They "thoroughly investigated" my concerns and wrote a letter with their version of my experience. I was a patient for many years but my "patience" has worn thin with the way the practice is run. Bye Bye!

I had to get a bunch of specific medical documents turned in for nursing school and Kim helped me with everything and was very understanding. I went back and fourth with her a lot and she made sure to get me all of the right paperwork. Her and Dr. Marcus are the best!

I really like the doctors that I've seen so far in this practice but some receptionists are awful and act fishy. I was trying to make an appointment with Dr. Ziemann (who is a female doctor I prefer) at the beginning of August, but was told by an unfriendly receptionist that the earliest available appointment with her will be in the middle of October. Really?

Then the receptionist was trying to push me to make an appointment with a male doctor, who would be available in the next week. Otherwise, I had no option, even with another female doctor, who also would not be available till October. I didn't want to wait for two months to get the appointment with the female doctors who I prefer, so I went ahead to make the appointment with the male doctor.

Right after I made the appointment, I realized that I would feel very uncomfortable to have a male doctor to perform certain exams on me (which I mentioned to that receptionist already), and decided to cancel the appointment and reschedule with a female doctor, even I had to wait until October. Then I called back right away, another more friendly receptionist picked up the phone and offered me a couple of DIFFERENT appointment options with Dr. Ziemann AT THE BEGINING OF SEPTEMBER!

I was really upset that the first receptionist lied to me. Obviously, Dr. Ziemann had much earlier appointments. This earlier availability could not be due to the cancellation from other patients because I called back almost right away, and I was given different options by another receptionist! I guess the first receptionist was really willing to sacrifice the patient's wellbeing in order to fill up the male doctor's schedule. Don't get me wrong: that male doctor could be a great doctor, but I just prefer a female doctor to perform certain exams. I wish I could get the name of the first receptionist and bring this issue to their patient's advocate. This to me sounds very unethical!

I was referred to by my GP who I adore to Dr. George Thott an Endocrinologist for my Parathyroid problem. First off, I will admit I was late. I apologized when I arrived. I was yelled at. I was late by 10 minutes and was told the Dr may not want to see me. I started to cry. I had to quit my last job because of this appointment. I'm very sick. I'm under a time crunch since I'm trying to get this fixed before I start my new job Aug 7th. Luckily, I get to see this guy since His Highness allows me in.

The nurse yells at me and said, "The Doctor says if you are late again, he will refuse to treat you." Anyways, Dr Thott comes in, asks me my symptoms. Accuses me of making them up. NO! I told him, my numbers aren't lying. Tells me I'm in a time crunch. Wants me to do tests and doesn't believe I can get my shit done. (I did). He drops me like a bad habit and told me to find an ENT. Don't go to him. He doesn't listen to his patients. He is rude.

I went to this hospital because of the physician. I never had a great experience with NCH in general, but this branch was by far, the worst. While the front desk personnel is friendly, the technician was incredibly rude, the instructions were unclear, she talked to me like I owe her something and used inappropriate language. I never had such a bad experience in a medical office.

I sent a complaint via their "mychart" system, no response. One month later, I called the customer service, they promised to call me back and never did. When it comes to billing though, they were prompt enough. And when I tried to split my co-pay of $1,500 to monthly payments, I had to spend all my lunch break on hold, talking to different people, who didn't know the reason I was transferred to them. Do yourself a favor - choose a different hospital.

Beware of lab and diagnostic procedure charges! I scheduled a spinal MRI at the Buffalo Grove NCH facility, and at the time of scheduling gave them my insurance policy information and the identification of the procedure prescribed. I was told that they could not give me an estimate of the procedure costs, despite repeated requests for that information.

The day I arrived for the procedure, within one minute of sitting down and giving the procedure identification and my insurance information, was told that my co-pay/deductible would be $1,050.17. What changed between my intial phone call and when I showed up at the office and it was too late for me to reschedule elsewhere? Illinois Bone & Joint, in the same building, would have done the same procedure at a cost to me of slightly over 1/2 of what NCH charged me, according to the Blue Cross on-line price comparison listing. NCH does not appear on the Blue Cross list. Now I know why. NCH is very competent medically, but do not go there unless you want to be over-charged, by a large margin, for diagnostic procedures.

I have a great doctor (Kibrit) here who really spends the time and doesn't hurry through appointments, answering any of the questions that I have and is very personable. He has also provided some great referrals for both me and my husband (who isn't even his patient). The only thing I don't like about this place is that it can sometimes be a bear to schedule an appointment.

If I have an acute issue and want to see the doctor soon, it can sometimes be difficult to get in (though sometimes they are able to find a way to squeeze me in) and if I'm trying to schedule a regular checkup I need to do it well in advance to get a desirable time.

I've been here 3 times for Ultrasounds and each time its far easier than going to the main Hospital, with its seemingly endless hallways. Here, just enter via the east door and turn right. The Imaging front desk staff was efficient, but acted a bit like I annoyed them by coming in on a couple of those visits. The tech who did the test was apparently competent, but a little hard to understand. Cost? It varies apparently by how they feel that day! Overall, just "A-ok"

I have been seeing Dr. Heidi Wehlus for over two years now and have never found another doctor that I like more. She is truly smart, compassionate and helpful. I have never had to wait to make an appointment with her, and she is always right on time, no waiting around. She has also provided me with referrals to other great doctors in the practice when needed. I feel like I can talk to her about anything, and she gives me honest feedback and advice on how to correct any health issues I'm having.

I was recently at a work meeting for a week and had developed a severe sinus infection/cold/respiratory condition slightly before that. Two weeks into the symptoms, they had not subsided and I was concerned that due to being asthmatic, that I was going to develop pneumonia. I went to this facility due to the fact that my physician is over 40 minutes away and I was unable to take off a complete day of work.

The wait wasnt too long, but when I finally got in, I saw a physician's assistant (not an actual MD) for five minutes. In that time my lungs were listened to, my sinus passages were checked, my throat and my ears. The PA said that I just had a severe sinus infection that was causing additional symptoms and then went on to ask if I could take ammoxicillian or augmentin - I let her know that I could not take one of those due to a sulfa allergy, and she said, that it was ok, that the pharmacist would flag it. Here's the kicker.

I have great insurance - A low deductible PPO through United Healthcare. They billed UHC $475 for the services rendered. They classified me as a "new patient" even though I had been in the system and charged me for level III physician care (meaning I "consulted" with a physician and received a called in script). The "physician" received another $175 of that billing for the 5 minutes of her time.

This is a complete scam. I would have been better off spending the 3 hours to get to and from my actual drs office and spend time in the waiting room and have a $15 copay than a bill of over $200 out of pocket. Heck - you're better off going to CVS because you would probably get more attentive care with better knowledge than here. Do not go here unless your limbs are falling off.

I would highly recommend Dr Cacioppo. I came across his name on the NCH Medical Group website after being referred to another Neurologist who couldn't see me for over a month. His office was able to schedule an appointment for me the following day, I waited about 5 mins in the waiting room and then another 5 after meeting with the nurse. Dr Cacioppo was kind, friendly and compassionate, but also was very thorough.

After he evaluated my symptoms and examined me, he determined that he was not concerned, but ordered an MRI to ease any doubts I was having, which I really appreciated. What really impressed me was the fact that I went for an MRI at 8am and by 9:30am the same day, he had reviewed the MRI and his assistant Donna was calling me to tell me that everything was totally normal.

I sincerely thanked her for calling so quickly, and she responded that she always likes to call as quickly as possible so her patients are not thinking about their results any longer than necessary. Very impressed with Dr Cacioppo, Donna and the NCH Medical Group!

-Just a quick update: Dr. Cacioppo recommended I see two other doctors in the same suite -for my thyroid and liver (us MS folks sometimes have other issues too). I saw both Dr. Michael Hersh (Gastroenterology) for my elevated liver enzymes and Dr. Maria Justina Villano (Endocrinology) for my thyroid. Both doctors were super personable and made me feel at ease as I deal with additional medical challenges.

I really liked that Dr. Villano had an ultrasound machine in her office so I didn't need to make another appointment to get this done. She was able to check out my thyroid mass (or lack thereof now -hooray!) right there! This is a great facility and these are great doctors so it is worth the trip out to the burbs to have all my issues checked out at once!

I see Dr. Heidi Wehlus and she is awesome. She is a fantastic doctor and really listens to her patients. I saw her on Thursday when I finally realized my ear was not going to stop hurting on its own. I have never had an ear infection before. I called in the morning and she was ale to get me in the same day. The office even called two days later to follow up and see how I was feeling.

When I said my ear was still hurting they told Dr. Wehlus. She calls me back shortly after to reassure me that it might take a but longer for the antibiotics to kick in. I loved the follow up!