Devon General Hospital - Devon, Alberta

Anonymous U.

Please, please, please stay away from this hospital. I’ve never been more disappointed in the healthcare system until now.

I waited for 8 hours in the waiting room in excruciating chest/spinal pain and shortness of breath, crying because the pain was getting worse. (In every single hospital says that if you are experiencing symptoms of shortness of breath or chest pains or if you start feeling worse, you should tell them IMMEDIATELY!!.. (which I did))
I waited another 30 minutes in the waiting room to get taken to the back and wait another hour in a hospital room just to get an X-ray, and all they told me is that they can’t figure out exactly what is causing my pain. They gave me a shot of Tramadol, which did absolutely nothing for the pain, and sent me home after 9 hours of being in the hospital.

It seems like every single hospital in Alberta does not care about how you feel or the pain you’re in; they just care about getting paid for the shitty jobs they do.

Over R.

There are signs in this hospital that say "If you have chest pain or shortness of breath, tell the nurse IMMEDIATELY.

Arrived at 1-1:30pm. It's 7:30pm. The only thing that has happened is my girlfriend had an ECG and was moved into an emergency room bed.

There are other patients that have ENTERED AND LEFT, with FOOT injuries.

We have been waiting in this room for more than half an hour and have not been seen by the doctor once. Another man was put into a room beside us, laughing about something with the nurse.

My girlfriend isn't in laughing condition, he is clearly doing better than her. The doctor PERSONALLY went and did this patient's ECG - I know nurses can do them because a nurse did my girlfriend's ECG. Why is a doctor doing an ECG for someone that just entered

People could have life threatening problems and they're doing doctor's appointments, practically.

This isn't just this hospital, but it's been worst here. This is an Alberta-wide problem.

B L.

I had a very disappointing experience at this hospital. Very dismissive doctor (Dr. Wong) horrible nurses that hang up when you call (Sylvia) I went in at 21 weeks pregnant, experiencing severe back pain, and was shocked at the lack of attention to basic prenatal care. Despite informing the triage nurse that I was pregnant, no one took my blood pressure, which is a standard and crucial step during pregnancy.

When I finally saw Dr. Wong, the first question I was asked was whether I was on birth control—not something you’d expect to hear when you’ve already stated you’re 21 weeks along. To make matters worse, I had to wait nearly a week to hear back about my test results, which turned out to be quite concerning for someone in my condition.

The lack of urgency, communication, and proper prenatal care was incredibly disappointing. As an expecting mother, I expect to feel supported and safe in medical settings, but unfortunately, this experience left me feeling dismissed and frustrated. I hope this feedback encourages improvements for the sake of other patients.

Chloé C.

Decent wait times.
In my experience I have only had kind nurse staff and doctors tend to issue at hand.

Hopefully this is the case overall, as DGH is a nice place.

On the flipside;
Could use a bit more medical/facility updating and cleanliness.

Jess L.

I wanted to redo my entire review because this is EXTREMELY SERIOUS.

I came into Devon Hospital on September 30th as I was in early stages of pregnancy and felt something wasn't right.
I chose Devon Hospital as it said the wait times were 30 minutes.
I arrived around 8:30am

I was there for 7 hours.... 3 people in emergency waiting room for majority of the day... 7 hours..when I first got into emergency waiting, there were 6 people, but 3 had left due to the outrageous wait times.

Finally, I got admitted. While in an actual room waiting to be seen by a doctor. I noticed the nurses have a sign hanging up that says, "I'm here to save your a**, not kiss it."
Kind of ironic considering you aren't really saving anyone if they're waiting 7+ hours to be seen 🤷‍♀️

Finally, when I was seen, I was told it was nothing to worry about. They did 1 blood test and sent me for an ultrasound. Which, the ultrasound tech didn't even do the ultrasound that was requested(she only did abdominal instead of abdominal and internal)
She said I was too early in my pregnancy for her to see anything, so she wasn't going to bother with internal.

I ended up going to Sturgeon not even a week later and found out I had an ectopic pregnancy. If it wasn't caught when it was, my tube could have ruptured, and it could have been fatal. I ended up having emergency surgery to have my tube and unborn child removed. My baby had a heartbeat of 101 by then.. I was 6 weeks and 1 day along. My first child, after being told for YEARS it wouldn't happen naturally.

Again, it is VERY IRONIC that the nurses have that DISGUSTING sign hanging up when I could have died. You don't save anyone. You just waste everyone's time.

I'm glad I trusted my feelings and went elsewhere to get another opinion. Sturgeon made me feel cared for and attended to. Devon Hospital just filled me with rage. My surgeon that performed my operation did advise me she will be filing a complaint, as will I.

Armaan S.

My dad was suffering from a really bad sore throat for a week. He went to a bunch of clinics and got prescribed 5 different meds, but none of them worked. He was in so much pain, he couldn't even swallow. Last night, he woke me up at 2:30 am, saying he was in severe pain and feeling like he was going to pass out. I searched online for the hospital with the shortest wait time and found Devon General Hospital. We went there and waited for only 2 hours before seeing Dr. Ashton Kryzanowski. She was great! She quickly figured out what was wrong, did some tests, and gave him some meds. Within 30 minutes, he started feeling better. She also prescribed a gargle liquid that helped a lot. By 9:00 am, my dad was eating breakfast - which was amazing, considering he hadn't eaten in two days. We're really thankful for Dr. Kryzanowski's help and the efficient service at Devon General Hospital.

Jill G.

If you need emergency medical care and want an accurate diagnosis, I strongly urge you to avoid Devon Hospital. I arrived at the hospital on September 27 with an infected finger. That morning, my family doctor had swabbed it, prescribed oral antibiotics, and instructed me to go to the ER if it worsened. The infection was getting worse by the hour, so I decided to go to the hospital later that evening.

At Devon Hospital, they drained my finger, diagnosed it as a viral infection, and told me I did not need antibiotics. Instead, they prescribed an antiviral medication, despite the fact that I had no risk factors or history of viral outbreaks. However, the test results from my family doctor later revealed that it was a very severe staph infection, and it had tested negative for all viral diseases.

As the swelling, pain, and redness continued to increase, I returned to the hospital and was placed on IV antibiotics for four days. Despite this, the infection worsened. On the final day, I saw Dr. MACKENZIE CRAWFORD, who told me that “it doesn’t look worse to me”—even though I had photographic evidence showing that the infection was worsening daily and I had lost all movement in my finger due to the intense swelling. He insisted it was viral, not staph, and stated, “just because it tested negative doesn’t mean that’s not what it is.” He then instructed me to go home and “wait it out.”

Unsatisfied with this diagnosis, I went to Misericordia Hospital, where I was immediately transferred to the University of Alberta for minor surgery on my finger by the plastics team that same evening. The hospital’s Director of Infectious Diseases then took over my case. I’ve been on and off IV and oral antibiotics for three weeks now, and I could have lost my finger or developed sepsis, all because Dr. Crawford failed to do his job properly.

It was confirmed by the Director of Infectious Diseases that it was not viral, and that if a test is negative, it’s negative—the test is extremely sensitive. I strongly advise against going to Devon Hospital, but if you have no other choice, request a different doctor if you are assigned to Dr. Crawford. His negligence could put your health at serious risk.

Erik C.

Priorities seem backwards. 4:50 wait time almost 6 hour wait. Girlfriend has potential broken toes miserable in the waiting(toes were blue and purple one bleeding) Other people laughing having a good time like they shouldnt be here. I understand benefit of the doubt but seriously I thought emergency was for people who are genuinely hurt and sick.
Staff are nice people i understand they try there best.
Just such a crap shoot if you're going to get seen within wait times.