HCA Florida St. Augustine Emergency

I had to make an unexpected trip to the ER today after a run-in with a very sharp pair of kitchen shears 😳✂️ and I just wanted to say how impressed I was with the Emergency Department at HCA Healthcare in St. Augustine. From the moment I walked in, everyone was friendly, compassionate, and efficient. I was in and out in less than 40 minutes, received great care. A special thank you to nurses Brittney and Colton, along with the physician who treated me — you all were amazing and made what could have been a stressful experience so much easier. Your kindness and professionalism truly stood out!

I was under stress for days on end, in a period when I should have been happy. I had slowly lost some weight over the previous few months, not on purpose, and I didn't have many lbs to lose either. So this stress caused me to drop an additional 5 lbs in 2-3 days. Seeing this I knew I needed help, I looked sickly skinny at this point. My health insurance lapsed in December so I have none. I went to CVS minuteclinic to get a 'general checkup'. I was in that room under 10 minutes with a very attentive man that was so worried he; A) made sure my phone was already navigating me to this ER, B) asked if I was okay to drive, and C) made sure I was driving directly to this wonderful HCA ER. Bless you kind sir! The lobby was completely empty when I arrived at this HCA ER, so I'm sure this helped the pace. But from the moment my foot landed inside this ER, to when I was laying in a bed with 2 techs attending to me, was under one minute. And if it was 1.5 minutes it's only because they asked me to get on the scale on the way to the bed. The nurse Michele was absolutely amazing; helping me fill out forms, diligently doing her job while being so kind and patient, and even laughing at my dumb jokes. Me- "well I'm 5'8" but 6'2" on my dating profile". Ask about their heavenly warm blankets, almost put me to sleep. Dr. King was incredible, just perfect. He told me he's been an ER doc for ~35 years? Wow hat's off to your service sir! They got blood and urine and did all the panels on the spot, they were worried about electrolyte levels, at a minimum. The CVS doc had said my amount of weight loss per time was 'alarming (?)' maybe, not sure of the exact wording. He must have called the ER and that's why they weighed me, etc, bless the CVS doc and his good judgement!! After 10-15 minutes the panels were done and in walks Dr King. 'Well the good news is you're fine'. Only one minor issue that he had little immediate concern over. Him - so tell me about this stress. Me - I'd love to and started blabbing cause I'm good at that. haha. But I'm like, why in the heck is this good doctor taking the time to sit alone with me in this room and listen to me drone on like he's my therapist?? I later guessed that after my clean panels, nothing was really explaining my weight loss, and all I mentioned was stress, and the doc is like 'time to find out about this stress'. He was a patient listener and I believe interrupted me only when he - understood that I wasn't lying about this stress, and that I was spooling up into my anger/stress from retelling the story. Bottom line I have never experience health care that was this expedient, caring, and incredible in my whole life. If people could only once a year give a SIX STAR review, this ER would get my 6 stars for this year! If I was literally the nurses (or Dr's) father or uncle, I'm not sure I would have gotten better treatment. I am not someone who cries a lot (ever), but thinking about how amazing everyone there was, it brought an actual tear to my eye. Read Christy's review - this is what I experienced. Read Wendy's review - and maybe consider: right at the top (she) admits the ER was open less than a week. While a detached retina seems really serious, I'm just guessing that ophthalmology is not a common ER concern. And I'm also guessing if it WAS an ER concern with your eye, that Dr King could have managed whatever you needed. You know... with his 35 years of ER doc experience. Just guesses tho. While I do use AI some, not one word of this was written or assisted by AI. At least maybe you'll believe the 'I'm good at blabbing' part of this review lol.

I cannot tell you how wonderful this place is! I got very courteous immediate attention as soon as I came in by Kareece & Mechelle at front desk. It probably only took 10-15 minutes to get seen. Mechelle ER nurse and Dr. Forster are the most the compassionate people! I have PTSD anxiety disorder and panic attacks and I have the White coat syndrome (fear of doctors and hospitals). I usually have to take anti-anxiety meds to even consider going to an ER. Because this was a small unit just as capable as regular ER and only 5 mins from home in St Augustine I came here. I have had the worst experiences at the Flagler St Augustine and Ponte Vedra Baptist South ER. THIS HCA WAS ZERO ANXIETY AND TOTAL RESPECT & CARE FOR MY DIAGNOSIS I HAD NO ANXIETY OR PROBLEMS THEY WERE SO WONDERFUL!