NorthShore University HealthSystem
Reviews and Complaints

Northshore University Health has closed all but one infusion center. This center is located in a Swedish Covenant facility in Niles. This is extremely unfair to patients and not about patient care but the almighty dollar. My elderly mom lives over an hour away from the infusion center and does not drive. If I were not retired, she would not have a way to get to the center to get the vital treatment she needs. Hours are not convenient as well. It makes no sense to have one location for all patients regardless of where you live. I have spoken with patient advocates to no avail. They have no power. I was told by an employee that infusions are not money makers. They have only so many appointments and are booked solid. People have to wait weeks to get the prescribed infusions. I asked to speak with the President and CEO of Northshore, JP Gallagher and was told the only way to communicate with him is to write a letter and mail it to Evanston Hospital. Also ridiculous.

I was following through on contacting my medical doctor this morning, as he had advised me to do. When I spoke with him last night, December 25, he asked me to call him back about obtaining an antiviral prescription because he thought I was a good candidate. When I called the number [protected] after 9:30 am, as instructed the answering service person told me she could not help me because I was calling about a prescription. I told her I was following my doctor's instructions and that he wanted to talk with me. She adamantly would not put me through and then blocked my phone from being able to get a different operator. I tried twice and was cut off. When a non-medical doctor rules out what the M.D. has requested due to rigid procedure it is an insult. When a non-medical doctor feels it necessary to inquire as to the nature of the call, only to block your ability to contact your doctor, it is really bad. Fortunately, I had my doctor's cell phone and could bypass this mess. Do something about your answering service provider, absolutely abominable.

On Dec. 14th I tested positive for Covid. I tried calling Dr. Anderson Parks but spoke to someone who said she would send a message. I also sent a message through northshore connect. I explained my situation along with my symptoms and stated that I simply would like to know if I should be prescribed paxlovid. Finally, I received a message back asking me about my symptoms, which I had already explained and was told to go to immediate care. I replied I did not want to go I just wanted to discuss with my doctor if I should take the medicine. I never heard back despite sending 4 more messages. (Interestingly I see that the communication from that day has been deleted!). At 5:00pm I sent the following to Dr. Parks:

I’m just trying to find out about possible meds for Covid that I have. Could you please get back to me.

I received a message the following morning saying it was sent to her and they were waiting for a reply. I never heard anything.

I don’t understand how a doctor can just ignore someone who is obviously sick and only wants a possible prescription written let alone telling me with Covid to go to immediate care!

Dr. Joseph Raviv is a dangerous criminal that performs unnecessary surgeries on patients for additional insurance money. I visited him on July 24th, 2014, and all I needed was endoscopic sinus surgery (where the surgeon widens the sinus passages to create better drainage). However, when I was sedated, he threw in an unnecessary septoplasty that severely narrowed the right side of my nasal airway.

For people reading this, I have included x-ray images of the inside of my nose, before and after my surgery with him. As you can see from these images, my nasal airway was equally open on both sides, before surgery, and the septoplasty didn't need to be done. By performing it, he severely narrowed the right side of my nasal airway.

He performed this unnecessary surgery to collect that additional insurance money. There is no other explanation for this. Furthermore, when I later contacted him, and told him that my breathing was worse, and I suspected it was a problem with my septum, he told me that he wouldn't be able to perform the revision septoplasty (make the septum way it was before). Therefore, not only is he greedy, by performing unnecessary surgeries, but he is incompetent, for not being able to fix his mistakes.

This unnecessary surgery has caused me to suffer for 8 years. Since I can't really breathe out of my nose, I don't sleep well at night. I am then exhausted all day, not able to function well, and there is nothing that can be done to fix it. I have lost friends, and jobs over the years, and I am not able to pursue some of the career goals that I wanted to when I was younger. The only reason I can't sue him is that my statute of limitations for medical malpractice has expired.

In addition, he is also a coward. As soon as I started talking about my negative experience online, instead of apologizing or trying to remedy the situation, Raviv hired a corrupt, unethical lawyer (who now, ironically, works as the head of Northshore Legal affairs). This lawyer sent me a cookie cutter "Cease and Desist", informing me that I would be "sued" if I didn't stop talking about my experience. What a joke! That was 4 years ago, and I haven't stopped anything.

When that didn't work, he went to the Northbrook Police Department, hoping they would scare me into not sharing my story. That was now 2 years ago. Well guess what, I am not going to stop talking. I am going to keep spreading the word until everyone connected to Northshore knows about this. This doctor absolutely devastated my life, and the hospital did nothing about it. Please share this information with other people in the Chicagoland area.

I was in Skokie NorthShore for a RIGHT Total Knee Arthroplasty from October 24th until discharge on October 27th. This is my second visit to this hospital during the 2022 calendar year and I had a lot of concerns which were not addressed by anyone I spoke to about them before this visit.

I have been having problems removing false information for YEARS - I do not have essential hypertension (average blood pressure reading for over 5 years) nor do I have vitamin D deficiency (it was resolved years ago). I have not worked at Bridge View School in almost 20 years. I am currently unemployed.

1. On 10/25/22 at 0711 someone named Crystal V, put in my chart that I had problems with knowledge and self-care deficits.

2. THREE Physician Discharge Summaries mentioned that I had a discharge diagnosis of Right Total Knee Arthroplasty AND had had the procedure or surgery done a LEFT Total Knee Arthroplasty.

10/25/22 0951 Laubabatou Bouzou PA-C

10/26/22 1222 Matthew Ptack PA-C

10/27/22 1249 Rebecca Fehling PA-C

3. Progress notes changed my diagnosis and surgery to a Right Total HIP Arthroplasty.

10/27/22 1117 Isaac Pimentel PA-C

I would never had thought northshore would have done this to anybody in skokie! My son has been sick off and on with a chronic sinus infection and keeps getting sick. I decided to take hom to northshore in skokie emergency room. October 17 2022 at 6:30 pm and so many people went in front of my son and now its 11:42 and still not seen by the doctor and still sitting in waiting area! This is so ashamed of this hospital and I gaurentee you im reporting this to the bbb!

My physician has been my doctor for 30+ years. The 1st or 2nd day of october, 2022, I called to get an appointment with her, as I felt I had had bronchitis (for a week before I called).

I was told she was unavailable the entire rest of the month of october, 2022. Nor could I see the stand-in (any other physician), the whole month.

I have been ill 28 days now. My only communication with her has been via text (24-48 hours after I text her). She provided an antibiotic 4 days ago.

How is it acceptable that I cannot see a physician when I am ill, and am told there will be no appointment available for a month? What has happened to this health care system?

Urgent care refused to give me a bandage to fit my wound. This was in Skokie in 2018 summer. I fell off my bike and bad scape/wound. Carried my twisted bike and myself to urgent care. Obese male "nurse" refused to give me a bandage to fit my wound. He tossed me a bandaid. I said get me a bandage to fit my wound. He said they are out of them. I didn't believe him. I started filming him on my phone and said "I'm at urgent care Northshore in Skokie and.." and I filmed myself and my wound and him. He went ape [censored]. HOWEVER HE DID GET ME A PROPER BANDAGE FROM THE CABINET! I'm sure he was just feeling evil to people because he has to live in that pile of fat, and took it out on me.

Another doctor DANIEL ROSENTHAL prescribed me medication that gave me C-Dificile. I was having massive diarreha and called to say I'm having reactions to the meds, and I think I may have CDif as I looked it up online... Rosenthal, from his big pig head didn't want me to be call the shots or be smarter than him so he immediately denied I had C Dif and said keep taking the meds!
I didn't think so. I knew he was wrong. The after hours medical doctor told me I am correct, I am having symptoms and to stop the meds immediately. I was then stool tested and I had C DIF. DANIEL ROSENTHAL should be fired.

Northshore University Health System Complaint Board,

After several calls, unreturned voice mails for the last several months; I have decided to formally submit my complaint against your Round Lake Beach urgent care clinic medical staff.
On July 25th, 2021 I took my four-year-old son A. Fuentes to the Round Lake Beach urgent care clinic to be treated for a laceration on the back of his head.
Based on the initial medical assessment, the injury required three staples according to the Carla Brioni's (APN, CNP) recommendations over the medical grade glue that we had initial requested.
Assisted by a staff nurse, Carla proceeded to place three staples on my son's laceration and discharged my son with instructions to have the staples removed within the following two weeks.

On August 5th, 2021 at approximately 10 a.m. I arrived at the Round Lake Beach urgent care clinic to have my son's laceration staples removed. Upon my arrival I was informed by the receptionist of the long waiting time of approximately two and a half hours to be seen and mentioned that the Mundelein urgent care clinic had a shorter wait time based on a call the receptionist had made earlier to that clinic.

Then I decided to drive to the Mundelein urgent care clinic and as I arrived to the clinic, the receptionist informed me that there was also two hour wait time and at that time decided to stay at this location to be seen since the last clinic also had a long wait time. But there were two patients in line in the waiting room, and I was actually called within fifteen minutes and placed in a room with my son.

Soon thereafter, my son was seen by Beata Krupa (APN, CNP) who mentioned the staple removal is a simple and painless procedure and should only take a couple of minutes.
For half an hour Beata tried to remove the staples but was unsuccessful and inducing a lot pain and trauma to my son in the process.
After two failed staple removal attempts and further assessment of the situation, Beata mentioned that she believed the staples were not properly applied and that they were wrap inside the skin, and that needed to take him to the nearest Emergency Room.
I called the nearest Emergency Room and talked to the personnel and explained the situation and recommended to take back to a different Urgent Care facility.

The very next day (August 6th, 2021) I took my son back to the Round Lake Beach urgent care clinic, upon my arrival I explained to the receptionist what had occurred the day before at the Mundelein clinic and she said that my son would be seen and they will try to remove the staples.
My son was seen by Jaimie Salise (APN, CNP) who mentioned that it would only take a few minutes to remove the staples, the same comment stated the day before by Beata Krupa at the Mundelein clinic.
With the help of a nurse assistant, Jaimie tried to remove the staples from my son's head but after several attempts, she was unable to remove them. My son started to bleed a lot and was in much pain, and we noticed that the staples were bent and twisted making a full circle shape. She tried to remove them with different instruments but they were just being rotated inside his scalp skin.
She mentioned that she needed to numb the area around the staples since she could notice my son was in excruciating pain.
After several failed attempts of the staple's removal and being given a shot of lidocaine, my four year was allowing anybody to touch his head and therefore needed to be strapped to a table so Beata could work on him.

My son was strapped to a table by Beata and an assistant nurse, then Beata proceeded to forcefully remove the staples from my son's scalp. This procedure ended up tearing my son's scalp skin and therefore defeating the purpose of having the staples placed to begin with at your Round Lake Beach clinic since this cause a lot more bleeding, pain and trauma than the original injury.
After the staples were removed, I proceeded to inspect them and noticed they were completely curled.

This procedure has extremely and negatively impacted my son as he was traumatized by the way this procedure and treatment was handled by both of your Round Lake Beach and Mundelein clinics. He is unable to go to a doctor's office for a basic routine checkup without crying, screaming and uncontrollable trembling, and any enclosed spaces.
He had always been very cooperative with doctor's and dentist visits up to the date he was treated by your staff, and now he has this anxiety that will not go away.

In addition, we have incurred medical bills for additional and unnecessary services that should never been required if your staff would it done the job right the first time.
It is obvious that the initial equipment used to treat my son was faulty and not verified prior to being used on my son which I believe was the original root caused this entire regretful event.

I'm asking for a written response to this letter and waiver of any additional medical charges due to the reasons explained on this letter. I do not understand why patients should be financially responsible for the medical staff mistakes due to lack of what should be a standard procedure of verifying proper operation of medical equipment or devices prior to use.

Sincerely,
Hector Fuentes
[protected]@gmail.com

My cardiologist Dr. Marmor is moving out of state, so he recommended me to see Dr. John Ervin. I called many times to cardiologist department and every time I called they assured me that they gonna call me back from doctor's office to set up an appointment. No one calls me back. I called 10 minus ago [protected]) and man told me that all he can do is send them another massage. I ask him to give me their phone and he said that they don't have one (very strange). I also requested appointment online with same result : NO RESPONSE. Please respond to this complain and tell me what are my options.
My name is Alexander Plutov
Day phone :[protected]
I am registered with northshoreconnect.org.

Thank you.

My complaint is regarding Dr. Joseph Raviv, NorthShore HealthSystem, Division of Otolaryngology. Joseph Raviv is a very dangerous, unethical doctor. I visited Raviv in mid 2014, when I was suffering from sinus congestion. Looking back on things, most of my problems could have been resolved with antibiotics, and refraining from Afrin use. I did not know this at the time, though.

Anyways, Dr. Raviv immediately offered me sinus surgery, without elaborating on any of the risks, or discussing any alternative treatments. At the time, I thought this would help, so I accepted the surgery. This was the biggest mistake of my life.

Dr Raviv performed two surgeries on me: endoscopic sinus surgery (where they widen the sinus passages), and septoplasty (where they straighten the septum). The septoplasty, however was completely unnecessary, and severely narrowed the right side of my nasal airway. For people reading this, I have included x-ray images of my sinuses, before and after my surgery with Dr. Raviv. As you can see from the surgery, my airway was much more open, and equal on both sides, before my surgery with him.

Dr. Raviv performed this unnecessary surgery just to collect the additional insurance money. There is no other excuse. I also visited him multiple times after the surgery, telling him that my breathing was much worse, and I suspected that it was a problem with my septum. And every time I visited him, he laughed in my face at this idea, and told me it must be because of something else, like allergies. I told him I had been tested for allergies just the other year, and it couldn't be because of that. However, he still never considered my theory about the septum.

Also being person that he is, he charged me $500 for each of these post follow-up meetings. He charged me $500 to tell me I might have allergies. For these reasons, I stopped seeing him in early 2015. Eventually, in early 2017, I got a second opinion from a doctor that looked at my x-rays, pre and post surgery, and told me that my airway was much more open and equal on both sides before the surgery with Raviv. When I called Raviv, and told him this, he told me too much time had passed for him to perform the revision septoplasty (make it the way it was before). You can imagine how furious I was upon hearing that.

Since my surgery with Raviv, I have also had several additional procedures from other doctors, including vestibular stenosis (bracing collapsing nasal valves) and turbinate reduction in efforts to breathe better. Yet this did nothing to help alleviate my problems.

This surgery was almost five years ago, and it has had catastrophic effects on my life and health. Since I can't really breathe out of my nose that well anymore, I don't sleep well at night. Because of that, I am exhausted all day, and not able to function well. I have lost friends and jobs over the years, and I am not able pursue some of the career goals that I wanted to. And since there is nothing that can be done to fix this doctor's negligence, this is how I will have to live the rest of my life. I hope people take heed of the seriousness of my posts, and how it has affected me.

I am submitting a complaint about Dr. Joseph Raviv, who works for NorthShore HealthSystem, Division of Otolaryngologist. Joseph Raviv is a very dangerous, unethical doctor. I visited Raviv in mid 2014, when I was suffering from sinus congestion. Looking back on things, most of my problems could have been resolved with antibiotics, and refraining from Afrin use. I did not know this at the time, though.

Anyways, Dr. Raviv immediately offered me sinus surgery, without elaborating on any of the risks, or discussing any alternative treatments. At the time, I thought this would help, so I accepted the surgery. This was the biggest mistake of my life.

Dr Raviv performed two surgeries on me: endoscopic sinus surgery (where they widen the sinus passages), and septoplasty (where they straighten the septum). The septoplasty, however was completely unnecessary, and severely narrowed the right side of my nasal airway. For people reading this, I have included x-ray images of my sinuses, before and after my surgery with Dr. Raviv. As you can see from the surgery, my airway was much more open, and equal on both sides, before my surgery with him.

Dr. Raviv performed this unnecessary surgery just to collect the additional insurance money. There is no other excuse. I also visited him multiple times after the surgery, telling him that my breathing was much worse, and I suspected that it was a problem with my septum. And every time I visited him, he laughed in my face at this idea, and told me it must be because of something else, like allergies. I told him I had been tested for allergies just the other year, and it couldn't be because of that. However, he still never considered my theory about the septum.

Also being person that he is, he charged me $500 for each of these post follow-up meetings. He charged me $500 to tell me I might have allergies. For these reasons, I stopped seeing him in early 2015. Eventually, in early 2017, I got a second opinion from a doctor that looked at my x-rays, pre and post surgery, and told me that my airway was much more open and equal on both sides before the surgery with Raviv. When I called Raviv, and told him this, he told me too much time had passed for him to perform the revision septoplasty (make it the way it was before). You can imagine how furious I was upon hearing that.

Since my surgery with Raviv, I have also had several additional procedures from other doctors, including vestibular stenosis (bracing collapsing nasal valves) and turbinate reduction in efforts to breathe better. Yet this did nothing to help alleviate my problems.

This surgery was almost five years ago, and it has had catastrophic effects on my life and health. Since I can't really breathe out of my nose that well anymore, I don't sleep well at night. Because of that, I am exhausted all day, and not able to function well. I have lost friends and jobs over the years, and I am not able pursue some of the career goals that I wanted to. And since there is nothing that can be done to fix this doctor's negligence, this is how I will have to live the rest of my life. I hope people take heed of the seriousness of my posts, and how it has affected me.

Joseph Raviv is a very dangerous, unethical doctor. I visited Raviv in mid 2014, when I was suffering from sinus congestion. Looking back on things, most of my problems could have been resolved with antibiotics, and refraining from Afrin use. I did not know this at the time, though.

Anyways, Dr. Raviv immediately offered me sinus surgery, without elaborating on any of the risks, or discussing any alternative treatments. At the time, I thought this would help, so I accepted the surgery. This was the biggest mistake of my life.

Dr Raviv performed two surgeries on me: endoscopic sinus surgery (where they widen the sinus passages), and septoplasty (where they straighten the septum). The septoplasty, however was completely unnecessary, and severely narrowed the right side of my nasal airway. For people reading this, I have included x-ray images of my sinuses, before and after my surgery with Dr. Raviv. As you can see from the surgery, my airway was much more open, and equal on both sides, before my surgery with him.

Dr. Raviv performed this unnecessary surgery just to collect the additional insurance money. There is no other excuse. I also visited him multiple times after the surgery, telling him that my breathing was much worse, and I suspected that it was a problem with my septum. And every time I visited him, he laughed in my face at this idea, and told me it must be because of something else, like allergies. I told him I had been tested for allergies just the other year, and it couldn't be because of that. However, he still never considered my theory about the septum.

Also being person that he is, he charged me $500 for each of these post follow-up meetings. He charged me $500 to tell me I might have allergies. For these reasons, I stopped seeing him in early 2015. Eventually, in early 2017, I got a second opinion from a doctor that looked at my x-rays, pre and post surgery, and told me that my airway was much more open and equal on both sides before the surgery with Raviv. When I called Raviv, and told him this, he told me too much time had passed for him to perform the revision septoplasty (make it the way it was before). You can imagine how furious I was upon hearing that.

Since my surgery with Raviv, I have also had several additional procedures from other doctors, including vestibular stenosis (bracing collapsing nasal valves) and turbinate reduction in efforts to breathe better. Yet this did nothing to help alleviate my problems.

This surgery was almost five years ago, and it has had catastrophic effects on my life and health. Since I can't really breathe out of my nose that well anymore, I don't sleep well at night. Because of that, I am exhausted all day, and not able to function well. I have lost friends and jobs over the years, and I am not able pursue some of the career goals that I wanted to. And since there is nothing that can be done to fix this doctor's negligence, this is how I will have to live the rest of my life. I hope people take heed of the seriousness of my posts, and how it has affected me.