Does anyone go to a pediatrician at NCMC (National Children's Medical Center)?

[Anonymous]

I'm new to the area and searching for a pediatrician for my 9 mo. old. I'm considering signing her up with a doctor up on 111 Michigan Ave NW at the NCMC (National Children's Medical Center). I just called the number and was directed through a maze of automated lines. After waiting on hold I was told they are booking appointments only for August, four weeks out. Is this normal?

Is anyone happy with their pediatric care at NCMC? Do you have trouble reaching an advice nurse during nights and weekends? Overall, would you recommend the care at this facility?

Thanks for your help!

[Anonymous]

Don't do it! Childrens is notorious for being difficult to deal with. (and i know people who work there). If you need a specialist, they are the best but there are many good ped's probably closer to home and much better to work with. Search for recommendation on pediatricians.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. That was definitely my first impression. Just navigating the phone system was a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

I actually work at Children's and I am sorry you had that experience with our phone system. We are definitely working to address the issues.

To find a pediatrician, we do have a resource on our web site though that helps you find pediatricians affiliated with Children's National through Children's National Health Network. Visit www.ChildrensNational.org and Click on Find A Doctor. We also have a subsidiary called Children's Pediatricians and Associates, with locations in DC and Maryland. Visit www.ChildrensNational.org/CPA for more information. Each practice has its own phone number for appointments.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I work there too. the best way to schedule is 202-476-2123 option 2.

Yes, we are scheduling in the beginning of August - you'll fine many pediatricians are since so many people schedule summer physicals because they need forms for school.

Give us a try...we're not so bad.

[Anonymous]

My chid had an procedure with a pediatric ent when she was 8 months old. Two years later we are still waiting for the written, Report. I would never go back to child CNMC.

[Anonymous]

We take our 3 year old to Lang and have had some of the same frustrations described in another thread (long wait times, impersonal service). We decided to try CNMC for our second baby, who's now 19 mos. We love our doc (Lee Beers) and in some ways the system is much better than Lang's. It took some time to figure out how it works, though. If you book with just anybody, you will get a resident. (Our first visit was with a resident who was incredibly uninformed about very basic things, like the average weight of a newborn.) We haven't had many sick visits but they're a mixed bag--wait can be very long, and after hours our insurance charges $50 just for the visit.

We try to get the first appt of the day which usually means very little waiting.

CNMC seems to have some excellent, very experienced docs as well as very green ones. If you can't get on Beers' schedule, there's one who has been there the longest--can't recall her name, but I liked her.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. In the end, I decided to not go with NCMC. I had actually found a doc that looked good, and tried to book an appt with her. But the operator told me that people who use NCMC for primary pediatric care usually don't book with the same doc, but just see who's available. I really didn't like that. I wanted one doc to be familiar with my child's health over the years. Maybe the operator gave me wrong info. But either way, I was unimpressed with the customer service from the very start. Decided to go elsewhere.