Foothills Medical Centre

January 3^rd of this year my family received a phone call to go and wait at the Foothills Hospital as a kidney might becoming available for my Dad. He was entering his 8^th year of being on hemo-​dialysis.
In the early hours of January 5^th he received a kidney transplant at this location. This hospital performs kidney, pancreas, skin, heart and lung transplants (liver are done in Edmonton).
Due to issues involving immune suppression & rejection a standard of extreme cleanliness is required. This was met!
The Doctor’s and Nurses were extraordinary. Hard-​working, kind, competent and patient. There is a lot of information the family needs to absorb in a short amount of time (while tired) and the staff was friendly and accommodating.
The food was what you would expect from a mass-​serving situation but better than other hospitals we have experienced.
Visiting family: There is a pharmacy, café, gift shop available on the main floor of the Tom Baker Building. If your «person» is in for long, it makes financial sense to bring your own drinks and snacks. It is like a small city and can be confusing to get around initially. Calgarians are friendly and will gladly help if you ask to be pointed in the right direction.
I am taking one star off for two reasons: 1) The bathrooms inside the patient’s rooms could be kept a little cleaner. 2) A conversation overheard next to us — where a social worker treated a man who had recently moved to Calgary and had a heart attack — very rudely. I regret not speaking up at the time on his behalf.
I have accompanied my Dad to this hospital for transplant purposes, dialysis, check-​ups, ER visits… and think highly of it. It has literally saved his life twice and the Transplant Team are living Hero’s.
Calgary should sleep safer knowing health care like this is available.

I went to visit my bf at the special services part of the foothills hospital it was so clean in that part of the hospital more clean than rocky view and the nurses that took care of my boyfriend did a good job keeping up with changing his iv and making sure he was okay the only problem is the nurses in unit 46 like to stand around and talk when your trying to find rooms either than that cleanest hospital I’ve been to in calgary

I am reviewing the «Kicking Crab and Corn Chowder» which was one of the two soups of the day today. And oh boy! Whattasoup! I enjoyed every spoonful of this yellowy, creamy, deliciousy tangy spectacle-​in –styrofoam! So much so that I only remembered to photograph it after eating a chunk or two, and finished the whole lot before I could crumble my saltines. Whilst the kicking was there like a distant struggle, I poured in a packet of Louisiana Hot Sauce to take it up a notch — that did the trick! $ 3.95 for a bowlful. Worth it. Especially if they get bigger bowls.

Wow. See pics.

Empathetic staff, hygienic facilities, timely service and lots of parking. What more can you ask for.

I’m normally really understanding, but the Foothills Hospital has pissed me off. To start, majority of the 8^th floor nurses are clueless about where anything is, are extremely rude and unwilling to help. My sister and I wandered around for 45 minutes trying to find the office of a doctor who was consulting with my dad on his heart surgery with my mom, our support in that room was wanted. The only helpful people were nurses on the other floor who tried hard and confirmed that the other nurses were wrong g, like we knew. We never got to the room in time.
The worst part, my dad has been waiting for a hip replacement surgery for over a year and is in extreme pain. They found d out he needs a triple heart bypass, how long he’s been waiting, the doctor says that is terrible and shouldn’t be happening, assures my parents that he will be in ASAP for it bc he can’t have his hip done until a few months after to make sure his heart can handle it. Comes time for them to call and say what day his bypass is on, my dad has to call them, and find out it’s CANCELLED until the FALL!
The stress of all of this has put my mom out of commission a month ago and now this!!! He has been made to wait for so long. Now he can’t get his hip until after the new year. This is ridiculous. If he had money he would be helped right away. The doctor even said the wait he has already had is inexcusable. And now they’re adding about half a year?! They told him his heart was serious and he needed to get in quick and soon to repair it and then to be able to have his heart surgery. And all of a sudde now he has to wait. So now my parents are forced into being off work longer, while avoiding feeling any stress bc they could both suffer bad heart attacks.
The only reason you have two stars is because when I got bit by a dog badly on my hand, the student doctor who helped me was amazing and everyone in emergency was kind and helpful. But how my Dad is getting is treated… so insanely ridiculous. They are out of work and house bound trying to avoid stress to keep their hearts okay and he is INTENSE pain. On 1 – 10, he’s a freaking twelve. My mom is stressed to the point her heart is in danger over this and she has started to suffer panic attacks from all of this. I’m restraining myself from cursing this hospital right out. I’m pissed. This is so unprofessional and never how anything should go. I’m so sorry my parents can’t afford to encourage you to do your job and fix him!!!

Treatment at the Tom Baker is great, no complaints. BUT, the parking lot and handicapped parking is so icy someone is going to fall and break something. Was at the hospital Nov 4^th with my mother and was shocked at all the ice with nothing on it to make it melt. For the money they charge to park the parking lot should be maintained.

OMG never waste your time with emergency here, unless you’re not that sick and have 8 hours to wait.
I came here Wednesday night due to a medical emergency. We got here around 11:30pm, was relatively quick through triage, and then I was transferred to another area to wait. There was a couple people who were definitely in a worse situation than me, like missing appendages and some who merely had a cough. Finally after 3 – 4 hours I couldn’t take being in a pain anymore and being stuck in this gross waiting room, asked the nurse how much longer and told me there was still 9 people in front of me, so we left.
I ended up back in emergency the next morning at Sheldon Churmin and had a much better experience.

I can’t believe we have to pay taxes to support an arrogant bureaucracy who can lower themselves to return a phone call to resolve a problem.
A friend of mine, and also my employer from Oyen, Alberta experiences chest pains while in the Calgary area. He drove himself to the Foothills Hospital and parked his vehicle north of the emergency department. As soon as he went into emergency, he was assessed and placed on electronic monitoring, then admitted relatively quickly to the Cardiac Unit 91. He managed to get a message to me the next day, and I went in to retrieve his vehicle. There was a parking infraction notice on the windshield. I went to the information desk and was given a phone number and was told the office hours for parking were from 0800 — 1600 hr on weekdays. As it was later than that, the next morning I phoned the number to get a message machine telling me to leave a phone number and they would return my call. After three messages left, I contacted the regional parking office, who said they would contact the Foothills office and have them call me. A day later, nothing has happened. Oyen, Alberta is 327 km from the Foothills Hospital. There message now says I must attend in person at their office to resolve parking issues. Isn’t bureaucracy wonderful?
Third call placed today, They still haven’t returned a phone call.

Having just being released from there, I have to comment on the treatment that I received. It was was excellent. I have taken my relatives to several American Hospitals in Ohio and California, and the treatment I received was certainly equal if not better. The staff of unit 37 were very professional, and worked very hard to save my life, so I must give them a big thank you and hope that they know how much I appreciated all their hard work to help me get well!

I feel I need to write a review of my treatment at the Foothills hospital as emergency departments get such bad press. Although I am a generally healthy person, I was sent to the hospital on January 30^th, 2013 with an irregular heartbeat. Right from the reception in the emergency room and throughout my 5 hour stay, I felt like I was getting first class treatment. While in the waiting room, I witnessed concern and caring. To my surprise, there are «greeters» in red vests who were keeping concerned love ones abreast of testing and care, comforting those in need of medical assistance; specifically a woman in labour, and generally asking if everyone was ok. I was dealt with promptly, efficiently, and professionally by the staff in the department. While I was waiting for test results during every stage of the procedures, I was attended to by nurses who kept me informed and continued to monitor my heart rate and blood pressure even in the waiting areas. I found the staff to be kind and caring throughout the visit. The waiting areas, treatment rooms, and bathrooms were clean and sterile as it should be in a hospital setting. The doctor I saw was thorough and informative, even giving me a card to try and find a family doctor. I received a call the next morning to schedule an appointment for a heart monitor which attests to the efficiency of all involved. Overall, I felt that my health was top priority during and after the visit to the emergency room at the Foothills. We are so fortunate to have such a top notch facility to go to when the need arises and caring professional people to help in medical crises. My sincere gratitude to the emergency staff of the Foothills hospital!

I feel a need to write a review to counteract some of the things being said in other reviews. First, there is no way nurses and/​or the pharmacy would fail to track the distribution of narcotics, and there are numerous safeguards in place to ensure this. Second, wait times are a function of the government, not the civil service employed at the hospital. Finally, drugs would not be administered prior to meeting a nurse or doctor, so that is not a failure of this hospital specifically.
In my recent experience, Foothills has helpful nurses and doctors willing to take the time to explain things. Notwithstanding my injured family member, I had a great experience with the staff at Foothills.

I worked here for a year. Riding the elevators was the bane of my existence. And the removal of Good Earth Café was probably the worst thing that happened to me in 2011.

We are extremely fortunate to have such a top notch hospital in Calgary.
Even though I am a relatively healthy individual, I had a tough run-​in with my health in 2005, which had me in the Foothills hospital for 11 days. Yep. 11 days. (no ooo‘s and ahh‘s. I am FINE now. :)
However, I do speak from experience when I say that the doctors and nurses in that facility that I dealt with, genuinely cared about my well being. I was often informed what was happening, and never had to track someone down to find out what was next. Quite frankly, whatever was next, was generally, ‘proactivelly‘ happening to me. lol!
Also, during my 11 day stay, I had a lot of problems, but luckely, none of them were around my stomach. Like a true ukranian girl, my run of being sick did not affect my appetite, so I mostly waited for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What I didn’t expect, was that every morning, I got a little checklist, where I could choose what I wanted to eat based on what they had available. I wouldn’t have expected that in a million years! I’m not saying that the meals that came were fancy by any sort, but considering where I was, they were good! Whoever was preparing them cared enough to add some flavor.
The staff were amazing. Between the care I received and the fact that the meals were palatable, I am quite impressed with this facility.

The elevators are crap. Only 2 of the 6 are usually running. Most people press ‘down’ to ensure they get a ride that eventually goes up. Stupid.
The staff are great at this hospital, but the facility in general needs updates, maintenance… some desperately needed love and attention. Where is the funding for healthcare???

My aunt was admitted to emergency the other night at Foothills and although she was treated with extreme care and thoroughness, I need to make a comment about the place in general.
When we came to visit, I thought I was fighting for a parking spot at the Chinook Centre. Are illnesses on sale today? The lobby was full of people I swear there was hardly any room to manœuvre past the lobby space, there is also a huge area of very old used wheelchairs when you enter the building, I really thought I was at a flea market or something but in the 1970s.
Getting to the floor was fine but each floor we passed was like visiting hospitals out of my childhood, just a very old facility with dirty tiled floor and again aged mobile beds. When we got to my aunt’s room as much as she had a killer view of the city, her room was cramped and the bathroom that she and her roommate shared was being visited by other patients from other rooms. I was like where am I?
I guess I have been spoiled by the super sleek Chumir and the newest freshness of the Rockyview Hospital’s new additions where my mother had a room that was huge and akin to a Best Western Hotel room and I am not exaggerating.
But in the end, my aunt is now resting, and is well taken care of; after all her health is all that matters. Foothills is great on service but low on moderness.

I may be a little biased considering this is where I made my grand entrance into the world, but if you ask me, Foothills Hospital is the best of the best.
With some of the most highly trained doctor and nurse personnel around, Foothills Hospital is leaps and bounds above other hospitals I’ve visited.
Plus a couple of years ago, I had wrist surgery and the #1 surgeon that was recommended to me was based out of Foothills.
I never look forward to visiting hospitals because more times than not it marks a sombre occasion, but knowing the level of expertise that constitutes the staff at Foothills, it definitely helps ease the tension.
Thanks for looking after me since day 1.