My Loyalty to Waterbury Hospital Was Unwarranted

There have been a few instances in my life where my loyalty for a certain brand or product has backfired. This is one of them. I don't think that I'll ever willingly go to Waterbury Hospital for treatment again.

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I was born in Waterbury Hospital, my mom was a nurse there, I've been treated close to a hundred times inside those walls. When an ambulance crew asked "Where to?" My answer was always Waterbury Hospital, never St. Mary's, Mid-State, Yale-New Haven, or Charlotte Hungerford. Not anymore, I'll be saying "Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington" from now on. Why? Compassion, and empathy.

I've made three trips to the Charlotte Hungerford Hospital Emergency Room over the past month. I'm battling kidney stones, and it's the worst pain that I've ever been in. Each time that I went to Charlotte Hungerford for treatment, I've encountered superior service, compassion, and empathy. Something that I've rarely encountered while being treated elsewhere.

I get it, overworked and understaffed, but is it really? Here's my experience - Every time that I've been in Waterbury Hospital's ER, it's taken over an hour to be admitted and seen. So many reasons for the delay - A room wasn't available, there were 35 patients admitted right before I got there, etc.  Priorities? Maybe? Waterbury Hospital has to take in victims of violent crime daily, so you get bumped down the list for a gunshot victim, I understand that. What I can also put my finger on is employee training, I felt like just another number in Waterbury's ER, but not in Torrington.

Employees at Charlotte Hungerford intently listened to every word that came out of my mouth, I noticed it immediately. I wasn't back-burner'd when a fellow patient started acting out, they closed my door so I wouldn't have to listen while I was in agony. Nice touch, huh?

Because of a scheduling screw up on Charlotte Hungerford's end, I showed up a day early for an examination last week. I was in agony, but I managed a "Oh no, it's tomorrow?" before I burst into tears of frustration. You know what they did? Made me sit down for 3 minutes until the PA could squeeze me in. It's funny to say that I've never experienced customer service like this in an ER/hospital setting, but here I am.

I expressed my gratitude in person, but I hope that this open letter is a good way to help you make an informed choice when you have to decide where to go for treatment. When I moved to Torrington, we asked what our neighbors thought of Charlotte Hungerford's services, and were typically met with "That place sucks", "Go to Waterbury', or a horror story about a family member contracting something from the dirty floor. None of that was true. I understand that people have different levels of expectation, and you can't make someone see it your way, but it's my truth.