Trinity Hospital of Augusta Hospital

DR. BLANEY.......VERY VERY VERY NICE GUY. ME AND MY HUSBAND WENT TO MEET HIM THE FIRST DAY I TALKED TO HIM I TOLD MY HUSBAND THAT I LIKE HIM. HE PORVIDES ALOT OF INFORMATION FOR YOU AND KNOWS OTHER PROFESSENALS THAT PROVIDE OTHER INFORMATION SUCH AS THE BEFORE AND AFTER SURGERY MEALS, AND CARE OVER ALL. THE OFFICE STAFF VERY NICE, BETH WAS A VERY BIG HELP FOR ME. HE REALLY EMPHASIZE ON THE RISKS OF THE SURGERY. I SEE IT FROM HIM THAT IF YOU DO ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE REQUIRED, YOU WILL BE OK. NOT TO SAY THAT SOMETHING WON'T HAPPEN BUT IF IT DOES, HE WILL BE THEIR TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. I FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH HIM. HE MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE HE IS YOUR FRIEND THAT YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IN A WHILE...LOL...REAL NICE.

My first impression of Dr. Blaney was that he is a very relaxed and caring individual.
Over time I came to recognize him as open interested and caring Dr. Very impressed inded!
His office staff is very helpful, kind and patient and the atmosphere is war and accomidating. Hie has a great personality, is easy going and listens to what you have to say or question and ask clarifying questions to get the whole story. I have found nothing to dislike about him. His primary type of surgery appears to be laproscopic. Aftercare appears to be a priority for Dr. Blaney. He does not have a structured aftercare program but requires frequent office visits to check-up and discuss any issues you may have.He is very careful to go over the risks associated with the surgery and answer any questions you may have. I am cosnidered a very high risk patient and we discussed what the risks are so that I could make an informed consideration while he was deciding whether or not to accept me as an acceptable candidate for this surgery. I would rat Dr. Blaney as excellent++++. Of course surgical competence is of utmost importance. You don't want an incompetent doing this surgery on you!!! Dr. Blaney is highly competent in this form of surgery. His bedside manner si very reassuring and relaxing.

My first impression of Dr. Blaney was great. I have worked in the medical field for 20 years. I had and still have a very good feeling about him. His office staff has been really great. I don't have any complaints about them. Dr. Blaney is overly informative and in the case of this surgery, that is what I would expect from a doctor. I was very impressed with his approach to this life changing surgery. My dad told me several years ago that I could not do this surgery until he died. Well, he is still alive and after meeting Dr. Blaney and learning about the surgery, my dad is accepting of my decision. My mother, my daughter, my son, as well as my dad and myself all met one evening for the "Family" visit. Everyone was impressed. He covered all the pre-op stuff, the post-op stuff, books to get for reference, signs and symptoms of problems that may happen and how the surgery is done. My kids thought his visual aids were very helpful in understanding what was going to happen during surgery. I would rate Dr. Blaney at the top of any chart. He has both surgical competence and bedside manner. I feel very comfortable with him as my doctor and making this decsion to have surgery. I would refer anyone to this office. I realize that no person can be the "best" in all aspects, but so far I have not experienced any problems. My primary care doctor worked with me to get all the necessary tests done that my insurance company required and I went into Dr. Blaney's office with my approval letter and all my tests done (except for the EGD test that he likes to have done). So I guess I didn't have to deal too much with anything other than establishing a doctor and scheduling a date.

I really like Dr Blaney, he seems very concerned and upfront. He spent alot of time talking with me about this surgery which is rare for any Dr to spend more than 10 minutes with you. His office staff is very pleasant with the exception of the person handling the insurance, she is very ummmmmmmm well let's just say I believe she never has a good day. Maybe she's going through the change??? permanent PMS I'm not sure but she is not a people person.

My first impression of Dr. Blaney was very nice. Dr. Blaney, my husband, and myself hit it off very well. A couple of off the topic conversations really made me feel more relaxed with him. My impressions did not change over time with Dr. Blaney because he stayed the same informative doctor he has always been. Dr. Blaney's staff is very nice and easy to work with. I would definetly recommend Dr. Blaney to others. He did not leave anything out when it came to the risks of the procedure. He layed everything out flat on the table and was not biased to one perticular procedure. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate Dr. Blaney a 10+. I prefer surgical competence and bedside manners and Dr. Blaney instills both qualities.

My first impression of Dr. Blaney was not very good, I am afraid. My surgery had been cancelled that morning (for the next day) and I was upset and I was angry at whoever.
The next time we met, I was very pleased with him and was glad that I had gotten him after all. He is great. It was meant to be for me to get him as my surgeon, now I hav eno doubt about that. He talks to me and my husband and is very caring and concerned about his paients. I would recomend him to anyone needing a fgeneral surgeon.
The office staff is wonderful. They are all very nice and helpful and are never ugly to you. They are all great!
There is nothing I dilike about Dr. Blaney, it is true!
He will try to talk you out of surgery. He says that is his job. I think he is testing you. He has to know that you really want it.
The office is set up to give great before and after care with the help of a nutritionist and psychologist.
Yes. See above.
Yes. Dr. Blaney is very thorough in explaining all the risks and benefits and everything that could happen. He was very explicit!
I would give him two thumbs up, a ten out of ten and 5 stars. He is great!
Both, without a doubt. I am a nurse and all of these things matter to me!

I met Dr. Crist for the first time after my pre-op tests 10 days before my surgery. He was very nice and very thorough. I am very excited about the surgery and very excited about Dr. Crist being my doctor. He said he's done 65 surgeries laparoscopically on patients from 16 to 65 years old. He also said the worst complication he has had is one case of pneumonia. He has had NO leaks and said he will NOT leave the operating room if he even suspects he might have a leak. I told him I had read from other patients that he was a perfectionist, and he laughed and said it drives his wife crazy. I told him a perfectionist husband might drive you crazy, but a perfectionist surgeon is exactly what you want. So far, Dr. Crist gets an A+ in my book.

Met Dr. Blaney at my one year check up. Not really enough time with him to tell much about him - he seems nice. I guess I can tell more about him over time.

It was the first time I have used this hospital but it will not be the last time. I had a wonderful experience. The nurses were terrific and the other staff was wonderful. They were sensitive to my needs and very caring.

Many of the staff were rough after my surgery, causing me more pain than I think was necessary, particularly the radiology staff and some of the nursing staff. I remember the recovery room nurses talking over me "I know the doctors tell people this is going to hurt, why do they seem so surprised??" and the first nurse in my room never gave me the demerol my doc said I could have. I was in such pain I locked out my morphine (PCA pump) and i needed more but she said 'well, I can't give you more, this is a lot of morphine' and I said 'and I'm in a lot of pain!' but i wasn't coherent enough to ask for the demerol. Guess they can't give it unless you can ask for it but I suffered for no reason. And when my pump ran out (I didn't lock it out, it actually ran out) the day after surgery I begged them to come put some more in and then I begged them to give me a shot. it took 3 hours to get pain meds. The first nurse I had (this is from the family members in my room, I was out of it) was mad at the pump and threw down a bottle of morphine on my stomach...family says I screamed in pain and she didn't even apologize. Later in my stay I was in bed and a nurse came in with a piece of paper in her hand, lay it on the pillow I had on my stomach and slapped it. It hurt so bad and everyone in the room gasped. She apologized but I was ticked. I said 'I am NOT a table, put that on the table!'

The first night after surgery I had a scary experience with my heart. The machines started going off, waking me up. I thought it was the PCA out of meds again but it was the machine that monitored my heart. It was at 147 when I woke up. I called the nursing staff and watched my heart rate rise to 186. I was scared to death (which probably didn't help my heart rate) and the nurse was lackadaisical and she said 'you must be in pain' and pushed my morphine pump. This after I had told her 3 times I was not in pain and I was awakened from a deep sleep by the alarms! She piddled around with the PCA machine while I watched my heart rate continue to rise. Finally I said "are you going to call the doctor??" she said "well, I will but I can't stay here" like I was being demanding and unreasonable or something. I was so mad. Finally another nurse and a man came in (the man pushed the "staff emergency" button on the wall) and I was so sure I was going to die I begged the new nurse to not let me die. She was very sweet and I felt like she was actually checking things out and talking to me. She took my BP, answered my questions about tachycardia and leaks and was very soothing. She's the one who finally called the surgeon while the other nurse stood in the corner doing nothing. It wound up being a fluke but I didn't find it was handled well at all.

St. Joe's has some great nursing assistants and some fantastic nurses (love Esther!) but there are some uncompassionate, rough, unresponsive ones, too. Just make sure there is someone there to advocate for you.

Also, after my heart incident I called my dad & his wife back to the hospital in the middle of the night. Once it was all over everyone wanted to sleep. Dad had to sleep in a chair and his wife tried to sleep in this chair-cum-"bed" that was horrible. Converted it was about the size of a loveseat cushion and it was clear down on the floor. It was horrible for them. Just keep that in mind when family comes to visit.

St. JOseph is a small hospital si I didn't feel lost in the shuffle like I have in a bigger hospital. My room was at the very end of the hall--so it was quiet and the nurses were great. They were in & out to check my vitals--to see if I needed anything--to make sure I was getting up to walk--and to ask if my PCA pump was keepingmyn pain under control. No one was rude or disrespectful. They were all very noce to all of the visitors that I had, including my 4 sons (ages 17, 20, 21 and 22).