St. Michael's Hospital Emergency Room

Ridiculous! Made my parents wait for 9 hours and the waiting rooms were empty! Plus took 2 hours to take out simple IV we couldn’t leave till then. They keep their patients starving for hours. No concern or nothing. Somebody should sue these ers

The Canadian health care system is pretty much none existent. If you have a spinal cord/neurological injury that is exponentially getting worse over 7 months since the workplace injury that caused it first occurred St. Michael’s is going to do nothing for you except make you wait to see their neuro department 9 months later if you are lucky which in our case we had to fight for right from the beginning. You have your family doctor and telehealth telling you that you need to go to emergency due to the rapid progression of your symptoms and the unimaginable pain you are in and yet every time you go to emergency you wait 10+ hours only to be told by emerge staff that you have to wait to see the neuro department and that they can’t expedite you despite the agonizing neurological pain you are in and all the other disturbing symptoms that accompany it. If we had $70000+ we would pay a neurosurgeon in the USA to fix the problem but we don’t and WSIB refuses to pay to have the problem fixed out of country so we are literally at the mercy of the broken Canadian health care system. The longer the spinal cord/neurological injury is left untreated the more likely it will cause irreversible damage. All the bandaid solutions like pain clinics have failed and yet my partner is suffering neurologically and rapidly deteriorating and yet St. Michael’s is refusing to take it seriously. What a messed up system.

I received good care here. There has been a significant improvement in how the ER is run since I last went there in 2019. Do not let the 2.6 star review discourage you to go there for an emergency. They have a screen showing the wait time in the registration area. When I went in the screen said it would take 3hr 15 min for patient to see a doctor. I actually saw a doctor in 2 hrs. They completed all the nessary bloodwork within an hour of triage. A big factor of quick service could be the fact that it was a weekday morning. The nurses and doctors were very supportive and took great care to assess and advise about my situation. I was going through a personal tragedy yet I left the ER feeling well cared for.

I came in this July and was seen and processed quickly by friendly and efficient staff.
Staff are professional, caring and kind despite all the curveballs of being a downtown central hospital. It took time to be seen a doctor but I didn’t feel ignored as nurses performed their duties and regularly checked in.
Don’t let the 2.6 rating posted for the hospital deter you.

I got misdiagnosed twice and prescribed the wrong medicine then suffered through a week so I just went to a different hospital and got better in a few hours. I was honestly disappointed.

Went in yesterday around 10: 30, was seen and had blood work by 11: 30. The doctor when they finally saw me. Laughed when they saw me. Thinking it was funny to see me in pain as well as uncomfortable. This was very unprofessional. My husband had to push and advocate for me as they weren’t going to do anything. The staff made me wait 6 hours to say I needed to see a dermatologist. This was after the fact my husband had politely asked about it and said for me to try not to eat…. I’m 19 weeks pregnant for possible further tests: They said nothing appeared on my blood work. The doctor discussed nothing with me just gave me a piece of paper starting where to go. They gave me nothing to help with my rash that is continuing to spread on my body. It also seemed like they were waiting till after husband husband left for a brief moment to let me know what was happening.

Do not go here if you’re pregnant or have a skin rash. They are of no help

Well. I went to ER at 3-4am because I got horrible pain from pneumothorax while sleeping. The hospital looks like the one in the 3rd world countries. Probably other hospitals in Toronto might look similar but this one is a bit worse. The ER was full of homeless people and there were some arguments between homeless guy and security guard from time to time. I waited in the waiting room for 3 hours without any check up or treatment. (I thought people who got a serious problem could just die sleeping in the waiting room.) and then I was moved to another room. It took 4 hours to meet up a doctor and I could finally go home in another 2 hours just because the symptom got better by itself OR I was too tired and exhausted to feel the pain anymore. It was a very interesting experience to think about public health care system in Canada.

Imagine the extent of my mixed feelings that I feel obligated to express my experience at the St. Michael’s Hospital ER on Saturday, March 12th from 4: 15pm to 9: 45pm. I strongly believe in feedback as it helps us to improve if we are lacking or stay on track if we are meeting the expectations.

Worst ER in the GTA. What a horrible place it was. It can be any patient’s nightmare.

Nurses were extremely rude, frustrated, depressing, bitter and impatient. Little did I know that around 8: 30pm, I made a big mistake of asking a nurse named Sandra about the further approximate wait time? She was unexpectedly unsympathetic. Not sure who forced her to be a nurse. If she is that unhappy then she shouldn’t be in this profession. She was unpleasant and insensitive. Hard to tell which was making her more angry i.e. Nursing profession or St Michael? Another regrettable character to reinforce the impression was Sofia. A very uncanny attitude was also observed by another nurse. What a strange culture she was promoting? She was an Asian descent nurse (knowing her name was beyond the approach as she was very unfriendly but she was the one who was told to remove IV later on). Bizarrely, she was watching patients grappling to pick up the stuff from the floor, looking up/around for help, struggling to get in and out of the washroom, etc but she didn’t bother to offer any help proactively. Not sure how she would have reacted if somebody dared to request. Family members of other patients were more helpful to others. If Sandra was the epic of callousness then these two nurses were the true flag bearer. All of these nurses were sharing the laughter and phone texting but they had cold faces and hostile attitudes for outside the realm of scrubs. I hope these nurses were getting paid for their clock in/out as I can’t imagine how angry they might be if they were there purely for empathy and philanthropy. What a tragedy and helplessness for the patients who have to rely on these people. Unfortunately the shortages of nurses have made these people even more autocratic and opportunist than ever. If St. Michael has no choice but to hire these nurses especially for the graveyard shifts over the weekend then St. Michael must know that they would be the Achilles heel. Hard to imagine how worse they can get at the end of their shifts when they began their day with so much abhorrence. I wish Google had allowed me to remove even one star but may be it is worth due to two exceptions - Triage nurse named Saleema who treated us with respect, care and diligence. Dr. Nolan who was thorough and caring.

The competency of Saleema was awe inspiring, and we couldn't have been luckier that Saleema was the Triage nurse on duty. I know that Saleema probably saves a lot of lives in a given year, but I wanted to let her know that my whole family is forever grateful. She excelled at her work in every way possible, thank you, RN Saleema. Moreover, I can't thank Dr. Nolan enough for the care and attention. He was very busy so when he became available, he was prompt in consulting. His words, attitude and care were comforting and convalescing. We are in debt to his services and empathy. Thanks again, Dr. Nolan.

I understand that St. Michael is a trauma hospital and delay is expected but St. Michael management must realize that these nurses were the actual trauma cases. What a bad rep few people can project to the entire organization. If it weren't for RN Saleema and Dr. Nolan then I might have considered St Michael for having the worst ER in the Canada. I guess St Michael is a good hospital, regrettably, got stuck with few bad apples to ruin it for everyone. This is so unfortunate that some of the health practitioners don’t realize that their words, attitude and even the body language can heal or worsen patient’s confidence and condition. I completely understand that not all of our days are equal but it is imperative to realize that the prerequisite of this line of work demands benevolence, requires patience and expects compassion beyond the horizon of personal mood swings.

The staff were nice BUT the ER registration and triage area and pretty much the rest of the hospital is so dismal and rundown looking that it makes the experience of having to go to emergency in the first place all that much worse. How about installing a proper floor, paint the space, and install new seating. Not a pleasant place to be. For a first world country the government should be ashamed of themselves for letting hospitals fall apart and became dilapidated.

And nurses are hero’s they say?
Maybe a handful … but at this emerge. Grumpy, rude, if you ask for water.it’s like pulling teeth! Hey nurses if you don’t like your job, beat it, go clean? Maybe!

AvantDerm is not a true Walkin clinic, you need a complete referral letter! Triage attendant are ruin!

Wait time was surprisingly quick given the increased emerg wait times across the GTA. Despite the wait time displaying 2 hours and 45 minutes, we got into a room after half an hour.

However, Dr. Brian Steinhart should not be a doctor. Incredibly condescending and rude when asking questions about health history. I’m sorry you hate your job but that’s none of your patients fault.

UPDATE: He checked my boyfriend’s x-rays, told us nothing was wrong, and were sent went home with nothing only to receive a phone call today to inform us it was, in fact, not nothing.

The ER needs to be improved.
The triage and registration department are awesome.
However, I was there on 22nd October, 2022 for immediate medical help. After waiting for more than 6 hrs.a doctor showed up for a single minute and someone called him, while I was expecting to get immediate medical help, he lasted talking with them for more than 45 minutes. The conversation was basically about his family members; which has nothing to do with the nature of his job.
Poor me I was waiting for almost 7 hrs to be told I look good and need to follow-up with my family physician as I look good physically; according to him. No physical or medical assessment was done for my condition. Never confronted in my life such unhelpful physician. I will update his name at a later date.

Everybody was super helpful and understanding. I am really lucky to be treated at this hospital. Many comments made me feel really nervous at first but my experience here was just perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

I could run a better hospital system being half conscious from my breathing issue I was facing when I visited the ER here. 5 hours wait for the emergency room in a "developed" country, I didn't know whether to laugh or feel pity. Countries with human rights issues have better health care than this ER, at least the doctor is available within 10 minutes to tell you that you're probably not choking to death.

Today, I went to the emergency room. My general feeling is that the doctors and nurses are very nice and patient. While waiting, there was an elder who did not speak English, and a nurse who could communicate with him came to inquire about his condition. Later in the ward I heard the doctor speaking to him patiently through a translator, and then another doctor called the translator. Process without the slightest impatience. Finally, the doctor told the elder to thank him for coming and he can come back again if there were any questions. My doctor is very nice, too. From the time I went into the hospital to the time I came out it was like 3 or 4 hours, playing video games all the time and not feeling the passage of time so I'm not sure, but it's very common in Canada. The floor in the waiting area is a little old, but it is cleaned all the time and I feel good about it. Very satisfied in total!

Registration and triage and bloodwork staff is extremely friendly and caring and accommodating. However the wait is just as slow and long as in other Emergency rooms. The floor in registration room is really needed to be re-painted or something, it’s too old and looks not comfortable for patients’ mood.

Worst medical care ever. Dismissive and negligent. I went with a bad cough that restricted my breathing and was almost about to pass out. Was told to self isolate by doctor and given zero treatment for my condition as ‘you don’t qualify for testing’. I was told to come back if the issue persists. Useless doctor and the entire trip was a waste of time. Now I’m still suffering but will be better if going to a walk in clinic.

Real disappointment.
This is not in a remote area of a developing country. This is St. Michael's hospital in the downtown of the most populated city of a G8 country.

All the doctors and nurses here are really nice, attentive and helpful. I went to so many ERs before (Toronto General, Mount Sinai, Humber River, etc) but none was this caring.

Went to the ER and ended up leaving after 5 hours and still no doctor. Homeless and drunks taking up space. If you have an emergency DO NOT go here!

This is the worst experience i ever got.my husband accidentally cut his finger and it was bleeding and they didn’t treat for 3hrs.fo 3hrs we were just sitting there waiting for the doctor.they didn’t even pit bandage.rather i would have treated him home.emergency room is not useful at all

St Micheals Toronto Emergency Triage is one of the worst places to find oneself when you are sick and in need of help.

We were repeatedly asked by the triage receptionist, 'Do you want to see a doctor 'YES OR NO'? 'YES OR NO'
Not one of those people we tried to talk to in triage in order to figure out if we were in the right location bothered to even read the referral given by our Ophthalmologist to see a specialist at the retina clinic for a detached retina.
We were lucky that the specialist's secretary called to ascertain if we were on our way,
None of the Triage staff could be bothered to take a look at this referral though we repeatedly tried to show it to them and explain the situation to them.
The Triage staff at St Michael's  hospital need to be better trained!

Maybe think outside the BOX once in a while.

I need to thank everyone at, ST Mike's ER, for saving my life on 25 January.afternoon from 1pm-8p, I was treated, fed, attended to, and taken care of by the amazing staff, from reception to Drs Hicks & Kodama. THANK YOU. And endless gratitude to the Federal, Provincial, and Municipal governments for providing this level of care & treatment free of charge.

Arrived at 10PM and waited till 7AM with no doctor. These chairs are brutal, at least they should have comfortable chairs.

I visited the emergency department yesterday (16Jul2021). I needed a tetanus shot due to a cut, (the family hospital was closed, needed shot within 24houts of the cut). St Michaels emergency said it is not an emergency so I needed to wait as patients are treated via triage. Patiently waited from 8 PM to 4 AM. Upon which the nurse visited, took my history, the doctor came after nearly 40 mins and was not so well behaved or happy to see me at 4 AM. Still ok. Due to the long wait my legs were paining so I started walking when I heard the nurses speaking how they just want the patients gone n the other things in a very unprofessional tone.
After another long wait, the nurse came. But she passed by my ward with an open injection to the next ward. She came back to me and she still had the injection in her hand, with which she went to another patient's ward. When I asked her to show what injection I m been given or if a new injection can be opened in front of me, she SHOUTED back so much that I got scared. In the moment I just took the injection coz I was already exhausted to speak up for my patient right that every patient has the right to know what n how they are being injected with if they don feel safe n seeing the unprofessional behavior there, I certainly din feel safe. No patient needs to get this behavior from the medical staff. If the doctors are exhausted in emergency thats upto the hospital management n also that the doctors n nurses need to rethink about their career choice. Night shift n emergency pressure is a professional hazard in this important profession, nobody asked them to become docs n nurses, they have signed up n therefore they have no right to vomit their frustration on patients by unruly behavior n questionable protocol. Never going back to risk my life again. Called patient relationship to report this, no one picked. If anything untoward happens to me related to the injection given yesterday (hoping this as a rare case n will not occur), this incident should certainly brought up for future investigation.

Very nice doctors and nurses … but the time for waiting is ridiculous I’m still here after 8 hours of waiting, is this Mexico or what?

I was there back in the’70’s because I have Crohn’s and Dr. Prochipchuck a specialist took real good care of me, TY!