Altus Houston Hospital

I had surgery at this hospital on Feb 16 2023. The surgery was a mess, but that's on the surgeon. As for my experience with the hospital, recovery and discharge were a disaster. I woke up from knee surgery with no ice on my leg, my DVT device wasn't on, and they had no crutches for me. They called my friend back who was working from home at the hotel (there's no cafeteria/comfortable lounge for visitors to wait) and said I was ready to be discharged....even though I had no crutches. They had my friend call an uber and I questioned the nurse on why she did this since I still had no crutches. In the end, I was there for a few more hours as they had to drive someone to Sugarland TX to get crutches for me. My surgeon's nurse had escalated this all to the director of the hospital who came rushing out to apologize as I was getting into an uber a few hours later. Crutches are a necessity after knee surgery. It was in the post-op orders. They should have been prepared.

Side note: one thing I will say is that the anesthesiologist I had at this hospital was absolutely wonderful. Very caring, and worked hard to tailor the anesthesia to me based on my past medical history. I usually always get nausea after surgery. This is the first one I've had where I didn't throw up once post surgery.

Fast forward to today I'm now getting a diagnostic arthroscopy with a new surgeon to try and figure out what went wrong with the Feb one that left me significantly worse off and with more damage. His office has been sending requests for my surgery records from Altus since April 13. It's now May 24 and we still have no records. They faxed 3 requests and left numerous voicemails. I've been following up with voicemails and emails and keep getting shuffled around from person to person. Most of the time though, I get no response at all. I have another surgery on June 5 and we need those records before it. I'm convinced that the medical records department at Altus does absolutely nothing.

I finally escalated it today by speaking with the operator/front desk representative, Antur (sp?), who has been an absolute angel. She doesn't have access to the medical records herself but she spent a half hour helping me by gathering all the information, summarizing the issue in an email and cc'ing everyone and their manager. I'm now hopeful that after 7 weeks, I'll finally get those records faxed today...but trying not to hold my breath because at the end of the day, it has to be someone in the medical records dept who actually sends them.

Maybe my disastrous experience in the recovery room and with discharge was a one-off fluke? But if you are ever in a situation where you are getting surgery/care somewhere besides Altus, I would strongly recommend you think twice before getting anything done at this hospital. Because the chance of you ever getting your medical records is low. And that's with multiple people spending lots of time on phone calls/emails/following up. My surgeon's office left numerous voicemails with the medical records dept, as did I, and it might as well have been a black hole.

The staff at Altus are the best! Caring, empathetic, and very professional. Dr. Li, Dr. Del Rio, Nancy, Neva, Cynthia and I apologize if I am leaving out some others but everybody there are just amazing! Thank you!!!!

Best staff in town and very polite beautiful bedside manner and quite professional indeed! Went in for a 10 min procedure and they went beyond the call of duty for sure!!!!?

Altus Staff is amazing. I literally just left from having my procedure and wanted to write my review. From my preop call to discharge everyone was friendly and welcoming.Even Greeting me in hallways as they walked by. Roslyda, Roman, Nancy, Dr.Oshi, Mama, Tess, Lashonda, Dr. Li and the ladies at the front desk made my experience today very comfortable and eased my anxiety. Thank you all for your hard work, being a trusted staff and your tender care. Keep up the good work!!

I had surgery at this hospital on Feb 16 2023. The surgery was a mess, but that's on the surgeon. As for my experience with the hospital, recovery and discharge were a disaster. I woke up from knee surgery with no ice on my leg, my DVT device wasn't on, and they had no crutches for me. They called my friend back who was working from home at the hotel (there's no cafeteria/comfortable lounge for visitors to wait) and said I was ready to be discharged....even though I had no crutches. They had my friend call an uber and I questioned the nurse on why she did this since I still had no crutches. In the end, I was there for a few more hours as they had to drive someone to Sugarland TX to get crutches for me. My surgeon's nurse had escalated this all to the director of the hospital who came rushing out to apologize as I was getting into an uber a few hours later. Crutches are a necessity after knee surgery. It was in the post-op orders. They should have been prepared.

Side note: one thing I will say is that the anesthesiologist I had at this hospital was absolutely wonderful. Very caring, and worked hard to tailor the anesthesia to me based on my past medical history. I usually always get nausea after surgery. This is the first one I've had where I didn't throw up once post surgery.

Fast forward to today I'm now getting a diagnostic arthroscopy with a new surgeon to try and figure out what went wrong with the Feb one that left me significantly worse off and with more damage. His office has been sending requests for my surgery records from Altus since April 13. It's now May 24 and we still have no records. They faxed 3 requests and left numerous voicemails. I've been following up with voicemails and emails and keep getting shuffled around from person to person. Most of the time though, I get no response at all. I have another surgery on June 5 and we need those records before it. I'm convinced that the medical records department at Altus does absolutely nothing.

I finally escalated it today by speaking with the operator/front desk representative, Antur (sp?), who has been an absolute angel. She doesn't have access to the medical records herself but she spent a half hour helping me by gathering all the information, summarizing the issue in an email and cc'ing everyone and their manager. I'm now hopeful that after 7 weeks, I'll finally get those records faxed today...but trying not to hold my breath because at the end of the day, it has to be someone in the medical records dept who actually sends them.

Maybe my disastrous experience in the recovery room and with discharge was a one-off fluke? But if you are ever in a situation where you are getting surgery/care somewhere besides Altus, I would strongly recommend you think twice before getting anything done at this hospital. Because the chance of you ever getting your medical records is low. And that's with multiple people spending lots of time on phone calls/emails/following up. My surgeon's office left numerous voicemails with the medical records dept, as did I, and it might as well have been a black hole.