As a counterpoint, my experience with my dad being in the ICU was great. They saved his life a couple times when he needed to have his heart paddle-started. And they managed to stabilize him and let him get sleep as much as possible so he could be transitioned out of the ICU. I never once got the impression that anyone was incompetent, or that they were having trouble remembering strategies, reactions to medicine, etc.
But this was Kaiser. Other hospitals may indeed be a shit show.
I wonder if there's a selection effect where on the one hand particularly demanding people avoid Kaiser because of the somewhat impersonal policies and practices, and on the other hand as an HMO Kaiser enjoys a much lower percentage of indigent and high-risk patients, which altogether permit Kaiser to build a system around the 80% instead of the 20%.
But this was Kaiser. Other hospitals may indeed be a shit show.