When your loved one gets sucked into Lutheran Medical Center - it's like they have entered a ""black hole"" and you have to do alot of work to get any info. They don't try very hard or make much of an effort, in my opinion and it gets very frustrating. God forbid you are not physically in Brooklyn to personally attend to things (like I was). When you are trying to do things remotely via phone it gets to be a quite a challenge. I had to have friends go to LMC to set up mom's bedside phone or nothing would get done. The doctors will sometimes call you, but very sporadically and usually they have a heavy accent, so you'd better pay attention (I wish I had recorded the calls) and listen closely! My mom died on 3/18 at 11am (she was rushed to LMC on the morning of 3/16). I got a call on that Monday (3/16) morning by a nurse who only said ""Your mom fell at home."" I did not find out until Wednesday 3/18 at 11:30am (when she was already dead) that she actually had suffered a heart attack either Sunday night or Monday (3/16) morning at home alone. Then the doctor tells me she choked on her food on Tuesday (the next morning, St. Patrick's Day) and that some food went down into her lungs (which then caused aspiration pneumonia)! I asked her why they didn't call me sooner and she (Dr.) says ""We couldn't find your phone number."" Give me a break, she was in that hospital from the end of January until mid-February then went over to the Augustana (rehab) Center (for about 1 month) which is right across the street from LMC and she was released on Friday, 3/13. I later found out that (conveniently) LMC and Augustana do not communicate with each other (they are ""separate entities"") and my idea of a social worker was all wrong ( I thought the SW was acting as some kind of a ""bridge person"" between LMC and Augustana) for the patient. I still do not understand the role of the social worker after this sad episode. I certainly cannot recommend Lutheran Medical Center. Having dealt with them over the last few years for my mother (she died at 72) - every time it was the same thing: little or no information (all oral and never seemed to have written important health related facts down for the family). She would go into that place in years past and we didn't even get a straight answer as far as what had happened. Maybe it is not just LMC, maybe it is a national problem with health care in general, but I never liked LMC and I will never go there for any treatment for myself. I had told my mother she should go to another hospital (I personally like Methodist). But in the end she kept going to the same place (LMC) - I guess from force of habit. I am sure there are plenty of good doctors working there but I have to say that every time mom went in there it was a struggle to find out (clearly) what had happened and I find their communication ""skills"" to be at a very low level.
Pros: That hospital was (unfortunately) the closest to mom's house
Cons: Not the greatest in communicating the status of a loved one
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