Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center

My 8 month old son had surgery here. We arrived at 6am, got registered, and was back in pre-op by 6:30. He was taken back into the OR at 7:30. We left at 10am. Everything went very smoothly, all of the nurses were incredibly caring and friendly. Our first nurse, Erika, was especially kind! I can’t remember her name (Kristy?) who took my baby back to the OR was so comforting and did her best to keep my son (who fell asleep before handoff!) comfy and asleep to help ease the separation. I got text updates and there is a status screen in the waiting room; we knew exactly when he got to post-op. Dr Fitzgibbon explained everything very thoroughly and helped put us at ease! Overall, we are very happy with our experience and how they cared for our baby! They do require half the payment up front during registration, but they called me the week prior to let me know that amount.

We arrived at 10:00 AM as instructed for my son’s scheduled surgery to have a rod removed from his arm from a prior procedure. We were the first family taken back to pre-op. While we were sitting in pre-op waiting, another family was brought back about 30 minutes after us, yet they were seen by the surgeon and taken back for surgery before my son. When I asked why this happened, I was told the surgeon was “running ahead of schedule” and chose to take her last patient early instead. Regardless of scheduling differences, it is not acceptable to leave a child already in pre-op waiting without explanation while another patient is moved ahead. It was now past the time we had been told to expect activity, and we still had not met the surgeon, the procedure had not been reviewed with us, and no one had communicated what was happening. Staff interaction was unfriendly and dismissive, which only added to an already stressful situation. Surgery days are stressful enough for families—especially when it involves a child. A lack of communication, transparency, and basic courtesy is unacceptable. If schedules change or patients are being taken out of order, families deserve to be informed rather than left waiting without answers. This experience was handled poorly and was upsetting not only for us, but for other families who were also left waiting without clear communication.

Our nurse, YAZ, in the recovery side was terrible. You’d think the nurses there, especially on the recovery side, would have a little more empathy. YAZ was so rude from the moment we met her to the very end. She was quick to kick us out. I had to ask her several times to give my screaming child pain medicine after surgery but she was too focused on trying to get her iv out and to kick us out of there. The anesthesiologist that did the surgery even walked by and checked on my child making sure she was okay because she heard her screaming. YAZ seemed irritated every time I asked a question. Was very forgetful and didn’t want to seem to help us when I needed something. Our experience was great up until we had her as our recovery nurse.

Dr Fitzgibbon and his team of nurses were so amazing and so informative. My 14 month old had surgery and they were so kind and supportive of all our concerns and questions. They went out of their way to make sure my toddler, me and my husband were all comfortable. The office staff is just as nice. They understand people are anxiously waiting for their loved ones to come out of surgery and really show empathy to that. They had cute little pumpkins to vote for a winner which was a nice thing to get our minds off the reason we were there. Overall such a great experience. Surgery was quick and staff were so friendly.

Based on other reviews I was nervous about bringing my son here for surgery but we had the best possible experience and I’m so grateful to all the staff and doctors who made him and I both feel comfortable and safe the whole way through the process! Everyone was friendly, attentive and professional and they even got us an earlier surgery time the day of and got us home much sooner than planned! If you’re feeling nervous especially if you’re bringing a child here just know you’ll be in good hands!