Royal Columbian Hospital

Dr Jonathan Braunstein was the Doctor I had and wish I had gone to another hospital this guy was all smirks and under his breath comments and laughs like we are all scum. Dr Jonathan Braunstein laughing at his patients and a rude little man, arrogant like a new cop on patrol he must be a recent graduate. Even my 10 year old thought he was creepy and he was like talking to a clam.
Otherwise the girls were fantastic but Dr Jonathan Braunstein takes the hospital from hero to zero!

Horrible service. All of the nurses had a rude attitude towards patients. They don’t care about you when you’re in pain. Nurses are not helpful at all. Had a terrible experience here.

This hospital needs to be shut down completely. Upon your entrance before even going through the doors you’re greeted by East Hastings style population of people doing drugs in front of the entrance, bloody gauzes on the ground and vomit in the parking lot. At any given moment the ER is full of people and looks like a Red Cross camp. Staff are completely incompetent and have the most demeaning attitudes you can imagine. Don’t work in health care if you don’t give a damn about helping people. While the herds of people are sitting there in screaming pain the doctors and nurses are seen chatting away sipping on their coffee and eating doughnuts. Nice! Glad to see our tax dollars go to such deserving and caring people.
I feel sorry for Canadians and their crappy health care system.

I only chose 3 stars due to the overcrowding and lack of resources. I would give the staff at this hospital 5 stars. I was recently in emerg with cardiac symptoms and I was terrified. The nurses, doctors and admin staff were excellent. I was assessed and treated quite quickly considering the emergency dept is basically in a hallway due to severe crowding. I commend the staff for helping me with calm compassion in the conditions they are forced to work in with no real privacy for the patients, juggling us in and out of the few spaces they had for assessments.

In summer 2015 I was here after I attempted to adopt a cat. It was probably one of the most deadly things I could have done but didn’t know it at the time. I had the cat for approximately 3 – 4 weeks before having to surrender the sweet animal to a shelter. I later found out through volunteers that the cat was rehomed with a wonderful gentleman also in New West and asked if I wanted to touch base with the new owner but declined to give them their privacy of course.
I had a violent reaction to cat dander and saliva as it turns out and ended up in the ER twice. The first time my eyeballs blew out of my head and they gave me steroid eye drops and the female doctor in ER said to take oral antihistamines and monitor and see if I could live with the allergens. I wanted so much to keep this sweet cat but about 1 week later I was not only getting blinded again from over swollen eyes, my lungs started to seize up and stop functioning as well and was again in the ER, and this time they told me I had to make a decision about the cat but they were very compassionate. Even if I washed my hands thoroughly after coming in contact, I was also very allergic to the airborne particles. They gave me a strong steroid puffer for my lungs, more steroid eye drops and strong prescribed oral antihistamines.
I desperately looked at all the options even allergic shots but my health was deteriorating rapidly and I couldn’t even walk to the bus stop. I was gasping for breath and even sitting down I was hacking and coughing deep shattering coughs. I was sleep deprived because I gasped for air even trying to lie down. I had to prop up 3 pillows and sleep almost upright. I even purchased a $ 200 air purifier hoping that I could clear the air and still keep my cat. Nothing worked. I had to give up the cat. The people here at the hospital were kind and did all they could to help me. Beside me in the waiting area in the ER, there were others waiting for treatment or surgery for stage 3 cancer so you know what? I consider myself very blessed. The second doctor warned me that my difficulties breathing could continue for another 3 to 6 months because the airborne allergens were already in the house. They advised to clean the carpets, wipe down the walls and clean as much as I could. I did the best I can but true to what they said, I continued to gasp away for several months. Occasionally, I’ll reach under the couch to pick up something or clean a hidden spot where the cat might have been a year ago and then accidentally touch my face and my eyes will blow up again. I just take Reactine and try to sleep it off and flush out as best as possible. They gave me blankets too because I was shivering from the cold in the hospital and reaction to the medications, and I accidentally walked out with the blankets but don’t remember anyone stopping me. I still have the blankets as a reminder of that summer!

The nurses and doctors are overworked and probably underpaid but they are the nicest people you will have the misfortune of dealing with. Having visited the ER on several occasions I have nothing but admiration for their patience, tolerance and dedication.

Was admitted to the labour and delivery area for my wife who had early bleeding in her pregnancy. The staff and care was excellent.

For the most part, every time I’ve come to this hospital, I’ve been treated well, and the staff do their best to accommodate their patients. It’s not perfect, but it’s not fair to expect that. I’ve had 3 surgeries so far here and the staff are very supportive.

I’m not going to speak on the ER or the fact that beds are now lining the hallways of the various wings. I’ll just say that this hospital is in serious need of some sort of support. On the other hand, the doctors are very thorough and the nurses (on 5B) are great.

The staff are awesome! The entrance to ER and dropping off someone sick (especially elderly or needing a wheelchair) is a cluster-f*k.
Should have an orderly waiting there with wheelchairs, and a valet for dealing with vehicle. And another exit to the parking because its damn near impossible to turn left on Columbia. Don’t upgrade this hospital until you 1^st fix this!!!

Great nurses and staff, ER staff, very friendly. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the ER admittance. Thanks to RCH!

Other than last night, I have only every been to the hospital one other time in my life: the day I was born. Needless to say I am one of those people who will avoid medical attention at any cost unless it is an absolute necessity due to my Nosocomephobia.
When the pain in my ear/​jaw became almost unbearable, I had no other choice and went to the Emergency at Royal Columbian. Surprisingly the waiting area was quiet and they were able to register me right away. After a quick check up in Triage they moved me to a second waiting area for non emergency patients.
The nurses and doctors were very friendly which put me at ease. Due to the low priority of my illness I did end up being there a total of 2 hours, but honestly I was expecting to be there much longer. They gave me pain medication and a prescription for antibiotics and sent me on my way.
Oh, and while I was waiting a crazy person bolted for the front doors and tried to escape but five or six security guards where on her in about three seconds. So yeah, the security there is really good too, in case you were worried about that.

A couple of weeks ago had to come here for some tests. As far as hospitals go it’s not too bad. The emergency was quick and painless for me and usually is whenever I have had to come here.