St. Joseph’s Hospital – North

I am continuing my review from three weeks ago. This stay I was admitted for surgery. What clearly stands out about my visit is the patient care. I realized that I was actually sleeping and comfortable in a hospital. The night nurse, Mike, was very caring and pleasant. He timed his visits with the tech that checks vitals as well as the lab tech for drawing blood. Therefore I was only interrupted a couple times during the night. This hospital is like a visit to the Ritz Carleton. When the staff leave they always close the heavy door, thereby blocking all outside sound. I have been hospitalized about ten times in the last year in different cities, so I feel I have experienced enough visits to give a good review. St. Joe’s North is the place to recover comfortably!

My daughter recently gave birth at St. Joseph’s Hospital North and considering our circumstances it was a positive experience. The nurses were fabulous and kind just as you would expect from a hospital. The hospital food was surprisingly good too. The rooms were very nice and clean. The staff was helpful and informative.

Its never a good day when you have to go to the ER, but should you have to go, and you’re in the area, I recommend St. Joe’s North. Granted, I came in on a Tuesday evening around 7, I was pretty much the only person in the waiting room. Once I sat down, I was called back almost immediately.
From Triage, everything was smooth, except the one nurse who was efficient if not friendly, and didn’t give me her name, everyone else was friendly, warm and caring. Much nicer than most of the other hospitals I’ve been too. Usually ER’s are harried and horrid places, where the Nursing staff is running 4 ways to Sunday and don’t have time to really think about what they’re doing. These Nurses, Especially Nate, the RN and Former Marine who had my room were caring and friendly. I liked them all.
After a urine test, a blood draw, and a bag of fluids, I was seen by the doctor and her consensus was the same as Mine was, my previous medication wasn’t working and while I didn’t have a full blown kidney infection yet, it was working that way. So new RX, and I was out the door in less than 3 hours. All in all a fairly nice experience.

The absolute worst health care experience you could ever ask for (save death). From start to finish everything about this ER facility is just bad. We took our 11 month old in because he was ill over the holidays. The male nurse wrecked the IV and pumped our kid full of fluid, but not in his vein – just under the muscle in the arm. My kid ended up with an arm that looked like Popeye The Sailor Man without any of the strengthen (if it made him strong like Popeye I would have been ok with it).
They slated him for multiple tests and then made it IMPOSSIBLE to get the results once we left town (we were on vacation). When I say impossible, I mean absolutely impossible. My kid is still sick, I can’t get any results of the blood-​work in under 30 days without me being physically present for them to do a 5 generational genealogy chart to find out if there are any red flags in his blood work. KEEP IN MIND WE TOLD THEM WE WERE FROM OUT OF TOWN MULTIPLE TIMES. So now my kid needs to do all the tests again because the bureaucracy of this hospital not letting me know the results.
One star for quality of the care
One star for a feckless process making it impossible to use anything you pay for.

Overall, this is my favorite hospital! I’ve been admitted thru the ER 3 times and it was done quickly and professionally. Their ER rooms are private. The rooms and staff are the best! My only complaint is that 1 time I went to the ER with extreme neck pain and they more or less ignored me. They did an x-​ray and said there was nothing they could do. I was hoping for some type of injection or med for pain until I could go to my doctor. I think the issue there was from people who abuse pain meds and they figured I was only there to get a quick fix. Otherwise this is the hospital I choose for my care and I try to only use physicians who work in that hospital. Perks are nice, large, clean private rooms with wi-​fi and room service at any time, choosing off their menu.

So rating a hospital isn’t my first thought when you end up in the ER, but after having been here as a patient and then also bringing a family member here as one, I consider it to be the best option in the bay area.
The staff has been outstanding each time. Engaged, personable, informative, helpful, etc. This goes for the doctors, nurses, and everyone down to the attendants who come to clean the rooms. For an ER visit they are remarkably fast. Part of this is that they are located a bit far out to get some of the people at other hospitals who use the ER instead of a regular doctor’s visit.
The rooms are on par with a decent hotel instead of what you normally associate with a hospital room.
Not that you would «want» to go to the hospital, but if you are on the north side of town I would strongly recommend St. Joseph’s North.

Been a patient at St. Joseph’s Hospital North several times and have always had a good experience. Nurses are friendly and polite. ER times are hit and miss and dinged them 1 star for that. Sometimes they call you back before you get seated, and others your can be waiting a bit. Granted, wait times are an uncontrollable thing, because it all depends on what’s going on within the community. My feeling is though, they should call more staff in to meet the demand as they have plenty of rooms available for treatment. If you’re admitted, private rooms are very nice and comfortable. You have your own TV, with internet access, private bathroom and shower, recliner and pull out sofa, and closet space. Hospital is about 5 years old now and still looks very new. I believe that is a testament to the hospital employees who care for the place daily. Staff has always treated me with respect and courtesy. Never encountered a bad person who worked there. Some employees have even remembered me from previous visits, which is nice to see that they’ve remembered you. Brings a further sense of compassion and caring. Overall, you won’t be disappointed if you visit this hospital!!!

I just read the other reviews here and I have a remarkably similar story to the guy who told of his friend that came in through the Emergency Room with terrible back pain. My story is almost exactly the same. I came in unable to walk with severe back spasm and hideous pains in my back, chest and right leg.
Once they ascertained that it was not a Cardiac issue, even though I was unable to walk they decided to immediately send me on my way with instructions to call an Orthopedic doctor in the morning. After some begging, they did give me a painkiller and a script for Vicodin, but that was it.
As it turned out, I had a badly compressed/​herniated disc that needed surgery soon after and ignoring my condition could have had disastrous results if I suffered further injury.
So when you combine my story with the other review here, it looks like this Hospital has a VERY clear policy that anyone with «back injury» is to be essentially ignored and shipped off to an orthopedic specialist without actually taking the time to research the injury properly. It would appear that they have ZERO interest in treating Spinal Trauma and will do everything in their power to get rid of you as quickly as possible.
So why do I give them 2-​Stars instead of 1-​Star? I was in and out first and it’s really neat and clean… so if you’re there to visit or just hang-​out, you will enjoy the experience… but if you are actually INJURED this place does NOT qualify as a Medical establishment.

Wow. Everything about my experience at this hospital far exceeded my expectations. I came to the ER at 2am Monday morning with what I thought was an out of control GERD attack. I was quickly taken to a private ER room, and met the triage nurse who said it sounded like my gallbladder. Over the next couple of hours I was attended to by my own nurse, had an ultrasound, met with a doctor (who said my gallbladder was borderline, and when I told her I needed to get it taken care of now, because of some scheduling things coming up, she met with the surgeon and I was admitted promptly), and admitted and in my room by 6am. By 11am I was in surgery. Every person I met along my journey was kind, competent and demonstrated the utmost professionalism and care for me, and also for my family’s experience while I was there. Every room is private and has a pull out couch and a recliner, a TV and Internet. Room service will bring you toast, chicken noodle soup, and plain pasta, or whatever other crazy combination you think might settle your upset stomach after anesthesia. My surgeon came in, sat on the edge of my bed, and talked to me like a real person about my options. The woman who wheeled me down to surgery popped her head in right as my family was beginning to pray– and she asked if she could join us in our prayer! The nurses were kind and patient, and everyone included my family members in the discussions. And the technology! Everything is digital– they scan your wristband, ask your name and date of birth with everything, and there is hand sanitizer at every doorway. I can’t say enough about how pleasant they made something so difficult as an unexpected surgery! I will go back to this hospital for anything as long as I live in Tampa!

I recently had to take my partner to the hospital with severe back pain. The doctors thought he may be having a heart attack and decided to admit him. While we were waiting in the ER. I was a little concerned after overhearing a cardiac specialist talking to a doctor about complaints that test results were not being processed in a timely manner. Almost like someone was not doing their job and he wanted to bring it to the doctors attention. But I blew it off.
The facility is very nice and the nursing staff is wonderful. However, I thought it was strange that in the 2 days he was there he never once saw a doctor. Then once the test results all came back and they realized it was not a heart attack they released him the same way he came in… with severe back pain. When we asked if they were going to address the back pain the nurse told us they only handle emergency situations. They advised us to schedule an appointment with a family physician to have further testing done. We even had to ask if they would prescribe something for the pain.
When we were finally able to see a doctor, the doctor actually laughed when he looked at what the doc at the hospital prescribed and wanted to know the doctor’s name. He also said he could not believe they did not even x-​ray Mark’s back to find out the root cause of the pain. When we finally got into the doctor’s office and had more testing done on the spine. The doctor scheduled an appointment first thing the next day. We were advised Mark needed surgery immediately. One slip or quick jerk of the head could cause paralysis from the neck down. Three doctor’s later and a spine specialist confirm this is what needs to be done. They also say the severe pain could have been what made it appear Mark was having a heart attack and very well could have caused one. I am still in shock that a hospital could overlook something so dangerous.
If you are looking for a pretty hospital with a nice cafeteria then this is the place. However, I am not so sure about the medical procedures here.

I don’t make a habit out of reviewing hospitals, but St. Joseph’s North is a world-​class facility that deserves a lot of credit for the effort which went into designing this spectacular healthcare operation.
St. Joseph’s North is a part of the BayCare Health System which is a common ownership and management firm, responsible for St. Anthony’s in St. Petersburg, the Morton Plant hospitals in Pinellas County, and the St. Joseph’s hospital chain in Hillsborough County. St. Joseph’s North sits in northern Hillsborough County near the intersection of N. Dale Mabry Highway and Van Dyke Road in Lutz.
The hospital opened to the community in February 2010, so they’re not quite 2 years old. They very proudly announce that they are an all-​digital, state-​of-​the-​art facility to make patients and visitors as comfortable as possible during their hospital experience.
According to the brochure I was handed when I checked in this morning, «Our patient care team designed the facility so technology and advanced medical care blend harmoniously. Calming, cool tones on the walls, sophisticated artwork, bamboo floors, and warm lighting, all create a healing, comfortable atmosphere for our patients.»
This three-​story hospital looks like a 5-​star high-​end hotel, and I had to constantly remind myself that I was at a full-​service community hospital in order to have some routine medical tests. Honestly, the registration desk looks like what you would expect at the Ritz Carlton.
The staff carries tablets and has roll-​around carts with computerized access to your electronic medical records, real-​time access to patient results, radiologic images and transcribed reports, and electronic registration /​admitting with biometric palm scanning. This place is a heaven for a serious geek!
If you should happen to live on the northern end of Hillsborough and find yourself in need of medical services (either hospital emergency care, outpatient procedures, or visiting a doctor in their adjacent medical offices) then I highly recommend that you take a look at St. Joseph’s North.