St. John's Rehab at Sunnybrook (SJRH)

Just like many others here I came for rehab (floor A3) after having surgery for cervical spine. After previous surgeries I am fully deaf and have speech issues. The moment I came in, my first nurse (Lori) wrote down some words (ex: pain, medication) on a paper and left beside the bed with more papers on clipboard for easier communication. From taking care of my surgical area to seeing if I have any new pains, all the nurses and doctors were great. I don’t remember all of their names as there were so many (Joyce, Dr. Chiu and Dr. Sreenivasan among many). The OT (Kala & Ali) and PT (Rosie) were excellent as they wanted to know your goals and work towards it. As for food it’s pretty good for hospital food as they put effort into making different dishes throughout. It does get slightly hot during night times and makes it harder to sleep through. Before I forget I should say thanks to those who clean the rooms and keep them tidy. Over all the inpatient care was good. They have helped me as much as possible before I wanted to be discharged and I’ll be continuing my rehabilitation as outpatient. And hopefully everything goes smoothly in outpatient as it was during inpatient.

I wish I could give a good review to this hospital but our experience was devastating and I have to be truthful.My mother in law had cancer. She went there for rehab post radiation.The attention from the doctor was awful.The attention from the nurses… she was bed ridden post radiation and on one occasion I was visiting I HAD to insist on the nurses to come take her to the bathroom.I witnessed the nurses on their phones, computer, and just chatting ignoring my mother in law’s call. I had to almost yell at them and got “the looks”.I felt the treatment was “inhuman” “detached” and “disconnected”I don’t care about food. It’s not a date or an outing when you go to a hospital.So I would never again want to have to stepIn that hospital.And she died.

Think about the staff at St. John’s every Xmas. 7 years ago they all helped me get back on my feet literally. This team of OT’s, PT’s, and all their assistants deserve GOLD medals and a lot more money than they make. Thank god for Sunnybrook and St. John’s and thank god I live in the best country on the globe.

My disappointment isn’t with the staff or the care but it is with the process, the lack of communication….today my dad after having a stroke 3 weeks ago gets a discharge notice incredibly for the end of the month without having any discussion with any doctors or occupational therapists!Just a week ago they tell me they have concerns with his memory and cognitive abilities to be able to live on his own , a week later it’s been determined he is good to go home in a few weeks and not a word no follow up from anyone on what the next steps would be and what care he will need .I don’t know but This is very different experience from other people whose parents have had similar circumstances with their parents and had much more support and compassion.After all the stress we have endured with my dad having a stroke to get a discharge notice handed to you …..well how would that make you feel?I can tell you its left me feeling quite angry …

Horrible service food is cold and expired most of the time when you open the packages it smells bad. Nursing and Dietary Aide are not helpful when you ask for food. There no activities to keep the patients distracted they are going crazy with all the meds turning them into addicts it’s very sad. Something needs to be done to help these patients staff needs to regroup provide better service for the patients.

Aside from hospital experience, when it came to discharge, their policy is NOT to wheel the patient to the door. Every other hospital complies with the law to prevent issues from a non-employee wheeling and potentially having an incident, causing harm.Totally unacceptable and unsafe.At discharge, the list of prescriptions did not include information pertaining to each medication. A simple step to lower risks of mistakes occurring.This refers to the St. John’s Rehab on Cummer.

I am writing to you today to say a BIG thank you to your team of dedicated professionals. During my stay here at St John’s everyone has been so compassionate, kind and giving in every way. There isn’t a request that is too big or small that is greeted with a smile. The doctors, nurses, therapists, admin, cleaning and kitchen staff are all passionate about what they do each and every day and it doesn’t go unnoticed.A few team members that I feel went above and beyond are as follows:Nurse Eileen - Eileen is a true angel in everything she does. Her kindness and her passion for what she does is truly genuine. Any requests were met with an enormous smile and even if I wasn’t her patient she would pop by just to say hello. And when she was my nurse she would even track me down to make sure I had my pain meds (even in the cafeteria). I will miss her dearly.Nurse Ellen - Ellen was such a gentle and caring soul who would always take the time to just talk to me about anything that might be bothering me. I never felt rushed with Ellen. A gentle gem.PT therapist Cheryl - Cheryl was my guiding light during my stay and helped me to reach my goals and beyond. She had me climbing stairs way sooner than I ever expected. I was delighted when she chose me to participate in the pool therapy program. It was a heavenly experience which unlocked all my muscles so I could move more freely.I wish her all the best in her studies as she continues on her career path.OT Therapist Billie - Billie was my ray of sunshine every morning. She was kind and compassionate and had an amazing gift of just listening and helping when I had my emotional days. She helped me navigate through my thoughts and fears and got me connected with some much needed sessions with Dr Boyle. She’s a true professional who’s a lot of fun to be around. A true asset to your department.In closing, words can’t express how truly grateful I am for living through the experience of being a patient at St John’s. Five stars all the way.Many many thanks to everyone.God bless ❤️❤️❤️❤️

The 2 star is a combination of 5-star for physiotherapists/occupational therapists + 0 star for some of the nurses there.I've been visiting my mother there for a little over 2 weeks now. The building is well kept; the therapists are both encouraging and caring towards patients. Very professional, very helpful.Nurses are a different story. I've been lectured many times by nurses that taking care of my mother is the family's job. I've witnessed so many times that nurses are just on their phones, socializing with each other or doing other things while a patient call is ignored. Some nurses are physically or verbally abusive towards patients. If I could categorize the nursing staff's behavior in 3 categories:A, Caring, nice and professionalB, Average, just collecting their paycheck andC, Aggressive, couldn't care less, rude, unprofessional, messes up with your medication then lie about itI would say, majority of the nurses at St John's fall under category A or B; but it's category C that can really create a horrible experience for patients. I wonder why some of them are still allowed to practice as a nurse.If you are a patient that can move relatively freely without too much assistance, this might be a great place for you because of the therapists. But if you're bed-ridden, need a lot of assistance, think twice before coming here.

7 years ago, I was transferred from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to this place. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital. Nurses was great and friendly.

Waited in hospital over week to get into St. John’s.. well worth it .. staff super nice, rooms clean big with large washroom and showers. Had courtyard view and from day one physio was excellent .. how can anyone talk about bad food ect.. piping hot half tray and cold other half so meals perfect and I’d say 7 out 10 .. but it’s a hospital and here to get better .. which I did with help from a great nurse Adriana ( floor2) Billie (OT) was helpful in many ways.