Which Hospital is Preferred? Memorial or St. Joseph (Savannah: home, school)

[Dixie Dawg]

If a member of your family was going to receive treatment from a medical center in Savannah - Which would you choose? Memorial Hospital or St. Joseph's Hospital in Savannah. Also, which hospital has the physicians you would prefer? Thanks for any input.

[Padgett2]

St Joseph or the Candler/St Joseph complex? St Joseph is located in an area that would be inconvient for a lot of people. Candler is near Memorial.

I would choose the doctor first, and then the hospital that he/she reccomends as would be the one where he has the most of his practice. Many of the doctors only practice at one hospital. If I were going in for surgery, I would especially want to go where the surgeon was comfortable and used to the operating room staff.

At this time, Memorial is the only teaching hospital. It is connected with Mercer University School of Medicine.

Patient care in any hospital will vary from floor to floor and from shift to shift. One week it can be great and the next week the b*tch from hell comes back from her vacation.

[sjk554]

St Joes is good my wife got sick one week after moving here from los angeles via NY. We did not have any idea where to go,ended up at st joes(closest by ambulance) she was there a week,and was diagnosed with m.s. by an excellent neuro. St.Joes made us feel at home and took excellent care of her,they got me a bed so i could stay there and helped us anyway they could....Even the food wasn't bad for a hospital. That was two years ago and both of us have been back there a couple of times still a good hospital.

[Sailor24]

I would definitely recommend Memorial (Memorial Health University Medical Center) especially if you are really sick like cancer or need a major operation. You will receive excellent top notch state of the art care from very well trained doctors. St Joe's/Candler is ok but can't compete with Memorial's quality although they constantly advertise differently....I suppose because they have to....anyway...most Savannians would tell you if that if you are really SICK go to Memorial!

[mrsnespy]

Here are my two cents, since this thread was revived:

Memorial is a teaching hospital, which means there are more speicialty services and treatment centers. There are also a lot of students around. Of course all students are supervised by attending physicians, so I'm not doubting the quality of the care there. However, if you don't want your procedures witnessed by a room full of people, Memorial might not be the place for you. I personally do not mind and will be having a baby there in just a few weeks.

Now...word from a good friend of mine who was a PA student at Memorial and now works at St. Joe's...

Memorial ER is where a lot of people go who want medical care but are uninsured and don't intend to pay for it. Therefore, the ER seems to be used as an after-hours clinic. I've been told that if you want a better chance of being seen without a lot of waiting among people who should really be a doctor's office rather than the ER, they St. Joe's or Candler is the place to go. Personally I've never been to any of the ERs, but this is what this medical professional told me.

That was a little longer than 2 cents, wasn't it? I've never been accused of being lost for words.

[tigafan]

Memorial is the only Level 1 trauma center in the area. If you are in trouble, you need to be there. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else.

I have been to the ER 3 times (2 for me, 1 for the kid) this past year. I was in and out since they have COMPLETELY revamped the ER. I did not have sit there for hours like my husband had to 15 years ago. It is a totally revamped hospital now.

When I was admitted for abdominal pain 9 years ago late at night, in the morning I was snet down for an ultrasound, then back to the room for doc after doc checking me out (maybe had 3 rotate through). Last lady was going to discharge me until I could find a more specific point of pain ....grrr. 10 minuts later Dr.Senkowski came through with about 6 students (?? I was on pain meds) and said "oh, yeah, this is a classic case of appendicitis. always so difficult to diagnose b/c it looks like everything else and is never the exact same signs" I was in surgery in 15 minutes, he did a bang-up job with 3 tiny, tiny incisions and pain GONE! Just think how those students learned. I would rather have 15 heads thinking than just one doctor. I had the best care. And for each surgery that I've had there since, the nursing and doctor care was outstanding.