Washington Hospital Center: A Review

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Are there any area hospitals with decent food? Genuinely curious. I've delivered at both Holy Cross hospitals and Shady Grove, and all of them had sucky food. But I was on a liquid diet due to having to be induced, and so as long as it was FOOD, I didn't care, I was going to snarf it down in milliseconds as soon as I got the all clear to start eating. That gross hospital pizza might as well been manna sent from heaven after a 48-hour induction and labor! At least Shady Grove was close to better food options right over in the Fallsgrove Shopping Center.

My husband and I both liked the food at Inova Alexandria. I’ve delivered there twice (and will deliver there again in another 2-3 weeks).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I recently delivered a vaginal birth at Washington Hospital Center (WHC). Here's my review:

Cons:
-Food isn't great
-There are a TON of residents. Many are first years. Some are great, others are a bit immature.
-Labor suites aren't great. Some broken lights, uncomfortable chairs, a few blood splats on the floor (from a previous patient). Outdated bathrooms.
-Mobile fetal monitoring was not available (out for recalibration, apparently)
-Postpartum rooms are like prisons. Small, cramped, steel doors, outdated, walls painted drab white and grey. I struggled not to bang into our infant in these tiny rooms with everyone coming in/out. I was desperate to get out of there, ASAP.
-Baby friendly to the point where you really can't use their nursery.
-It's a high volume labor and delivery practice so the nurses do not always explain things that you need to know. They seem to take it for granted that you "know" things about the care of your infant.
-After 8 PM or so, you have to use the Emergency Department to get into the hospital. WHC is major trauma center so this place is packed w/ a lot of activity at night. It was a bit scary to my husband, tbh.

Pros:
-It's a teaching hospital. So, everyone is explaining out what they are doing to everyone else. Nurses are explaining things to residents. Residents are explaining your case to the chief resident. The chief resident and residents are discussing your case with the attending, etc. More eyes on you = less likely someone makes a mistake. Also, more opportunities to advocate for yourself at key decision points.
-My attending was phenomenal. When in doubt, ask to see the attending. They will come (because they have to). My attending has been doing deliveries for 20+ years.
-No pressure for c-sections. Staff kept telling me their goal is a vaginal birth.
-I found out attendings at WHC work on shifts and they all work for Medstar. 24 hours twice a week, then off. They have no incentive to push you into a C-Section. There is someone else who takes over for them after the shift is done. A nurse told me that at places like Sibley, the physicians work for private practices where they all share the on-call time. Let's say you're on call, have to go to a delivery, and your kid's got a recital in a few hours, you're incentived to get the delivery done ASAP (re: c-section).
-Nurses in labor and delivery are really top notch. Attentive, knowledgeable, and great bedside manner. Never seen anything like it. Seriously.
-WHC is a labor and delivery machine. They have everything done to a t and they have seen most everything - babies whose mothers are on drugs, extreme premature babies, complex c-sections, etc. When things get bad, they know what to do. Me and my little girl were facing some serious issues during delivery and it was clear when things got bad for us, WHC staff knew exactly what to do.
-National Children's is right next door. If things REALLY get bad, they can easily transfer your infant to Children's. They also can call in consults very quickly.

WHC is nothing to call home about as an experience, but if things go bad, this is the place you want to be. My little girl is about turn 1 mo. now and is happy/healthy.

A hospital is not intended to be a 4 star hotel. You and your child received the care you needed. Personally, I would be grateful and stop complaining

I guess, but places like Inova can do both. Are you a crummy doc or nurse from Howard or united medical center or pg hospital by chance? Crummy providers love to define down expectations for pts. -nurse @ Inova

Neither. Just sick of the constant complaining.

Yeah if only women would shut up about subpar facilities while their insurance pays thousands for the delivery, that would be great? What a weird take.

You chose the practice and you know which hospital they use. No one to blame but yourself.

And if people like you shut down informative and useful posts like the OP, how are people supposed to make that informed choice? Hospital tours are very late in pregnancy and often digital (and edited) now. You should be appreciative of the OP, not dismissive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If things go bad, you want to be at WHC.

+1. We did end up needing to bring in specialists from Children's and then transferring DD to the Children's NICU. Before DD was transferred, they were able to take her over for tests and have the specialists come to our recovery room. Made the entire situation SO much easier. Never did I expect we'd be one of those rare situations, but I am so glad it was there when we needed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I recently delivered a vaginal birth at Washington Hospital Center (WHC). Here's my review:

Cons:
-Food isn't great

Are there any area hospitals with decent food? Genuinely curious. I've delivered at both Holy Cross hospitals and Shady Grove, and all of them had sucky food. But I was on a liquid diet due to having to be induced, and so as long as it was FOOD, I didn't care, I was going to snarf it down in milliseconds as soon as I got the all clear to start eating. That gross hospital pizza might as well been manna sent from heaven after a 48-hour induction and labor! At least Shady Grove was close to better food options right over in the Fallsgrove Shopping Center.

VHC hospital food has superb food. No exaggeration.

[Anonymous]

Also VHC has huge single rooms on certain floors with huge windows overlooking trees.

[Anonymous]

Georgetown/WHC:
True they have some immature residents. Does have a gritty hospital and the patient population can be problematic.

GW:
Also gritty, but a more violent and troubled patient population which the MFA ranks as their top priority. That's not us! The OBGYN doctors will not hesitate to disparage you and lie on your medical record if you have a serious dispute with the hospital. The General Counsel is a thug whose only concern is the "special population" they are committed to serving. Not very equitable across the entire patient population of DC. They should just open their very own hospital for themselves, this way they won't have to serve the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown/WHC:
True they have some immature residents. Does have a gritty hospital and the patient population can be problematic.

GW:
Also gritty, but a more violent and troubled patient population which the MFA ranks as their top priority. That's not us! The OBGYN doctors will not hesitate to disparage you and lie on your medical record if you have a serious dispute with the hospital. The General Counsel is a thug whose only concern is the "special population" they are committed to serving. Not very equitable across the entire patient population of DC. They should just open their very own hospital for themselves, this way they won't have to serve the rest of us.

what is mfa?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If things go bad, you want to be at WHC.

+1. We did end up needing to bring in specialists from Children's and then transferring DD to the Children's NICU. Before DD was transferred, they were able to take her over for tests and have the specialists come to our recovery room. Made the entire situation SO much easier. Never did I expect we'd be one of those rare situations, but I am so glad it was there when we needed it.

Same here. My MFM at WHC was fantastic. The facilities aren't the nicest but the nurses were kind and my child was able to be admitted to Children's within an hour of being born.

[Anonymous]

I had a good experience at WHC for the whole pregnancy and delivery. It was uneventful except for being the biggest event of my life and everything.

You do need to advocate for yourself for appointment scheduling, etc.

[Anonymous]

To the person who said they would rather die than go to an Inova hospital…why? Curious.

I haven’t seen anyone do a GW list so here goes. I delivered my first at GW during the height of COVID and second at VHC. Much preferred VHC.

PROS
-l&d rooms are truly massive, felt clean
-l&d nurses are wonderful, doing the lords work.
-all of the doctors at MFA (in 2020) were nice
-supportive of low intervention births if that is your thing.
-very supportive of doulas being present
-blueberry muffins are legit good (other food was very meh)
-there are several wonderful postpartum nurses. Amazing.

CONS
-I had serious complications here that were a direct result of many doctors not taking my concerns seriously
-the residents here leave a lot to be desired and they generally are the ones with you until the last second for vaginal births.
-you see a zillion different doctors and there wasn’t great continuity of care - I found myself explaining the same things over and over
-postpartum rooms are TEENY and hell on earth. Truly no room.
-no one ever answers the phone or returns calls even from the emergency labor and delivery/MFA lines
-wait times can be insane

Tried to be objective as I had a horrible experience at GW but understand it’s a good hospital for many.

[Anonymous]

omg more horror stories. I had my 2kids in the comfort of my home in a warm tub and fabulous food that I ate until I was about 7 cm, about 2 hours before delivering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I recently delivered a vaginal birth at Washington Hospital Center (WHC). Here's my review:

Cons:
-Food isn't great
-There are a TON of residents. Many are first years. Some are great, others are a bit immature.
-Labor suites aren't great. Some broken lights, uncomfortable chairs, a few blood splats on the floor (from a previous patient). Outdated bathrooms.
-Mobile fetal monitoring was not available (out for recalibration, apparently)
-Postpartum rooms are like prisons. Small, cramped, steel doors, outdated, walls painted drab white and grey. I struggled not to bang into our infant in these tiny rooms with everyone coming in/out. I was desperate to get out of there, ASAP.
-Baby friendly to the point where you really can't use their nursery.
-It's a high volume labor and delivery practice so the nurses do not always explain things that you need to know. They seem to take it for granted that you "know" things about the care of your infant.
-After 8 PM or so, you have to use the Emergency Department to get into the hospital. WHC is major trauma center so this place is packed w/ a lot of activity at night. It was a bit scary to my husband, tbh.

Pros:
-It's a teaching hospital. So, everyone is explaining out what they are doing to everyone else. Nurses are explaining things to residents. Residents are explaining your case to the chief resident. The chief resident and residents are discussing your case with the attending, etc. More eyes on you = less likely someone makes a mistake. Also, more opportunities to advocate for yourself at key decision points.
-My attending was phenomenal. When in doubt, ask to see the attending. They will come (because they have to). My attending has been doing deliveries for 20+ years.
-No pressure for c-sections. Staff kept telling me their goal is a vaginal birth.
-I found out attendings at WHC work on shifts and they all work for Medstar. 24 hours twice a week, then off. They have no incentive to push you into a C-Section. There is someone else who takes over for them after the shift is done. A nurse told me that at places like Sibley, the physicians work for private practices where they all share the on-call time. Let's say you're on call, have to go to a delivery, and your kid's got a recital in a few hours, you're incentived to get the delivery done ASAP (re: c-section).
-Nurses in labor and delivery are really top notch. Attentive, knowledgeable, and great bedside manner. Never seen anything like it. Seriously.
-WHC is a labor and delivery machine. They have everything done to a t and they have seen most everything - babies whose mothers are on drugs, extreme premature babies, complex c-sections, etc. When things get bad, they know what to do. Me and my little girl were facing some serious issues during delivery and it was clear when things got bad for us, WHC staff knew exactly what to do.
-National Children's is right next door. If things REALLY get bad, they can easily transfer your infant to Children's. They also can call in consults very quickly.

WHC is nothing to call home about as an experience, but if things go bad, this is the place you want to be. My little girl is about turn 1 mo. now and is happy/healthy.

Thank you! I'm delivering there via the midwives and maybe I'm just dumb, but I've struggled to find good reviews of it and have only met maybe one other person who delivered there. Everyone else seems to be at Sibley or GW.

My big hangup about it all though is the baby-friendly status. If it weren't for the proximity/chance to use nitrous (I'm not holding out)/midwives that seemed more open to an epidural if necessary (versus GW), I'd absolutely go elsewhere. Could you elaborate more on the situation you found yourself in? And would anyone else be able to explain how their delivery went w/r/t baby-friendly at other hospitals? A friend of mine delivered somewhere else (can't remember where) and told me the worst part was being trapped in a room with the baby, so I've been telling myself it might not be much better elsewhere. But I've also told my husband to expect that we'll feel like we are being tortured.

Also, regarding the lack of mobile monitoring--this may be different for midwife patients (since part of their shtick is movement during labor), but did you try to decline continuous monitoring? Or was your situation not suitable for that?

[Anonymous]

I delivered at WHC twice (2020 and 2023). It’s nothing fancy but I felt super supported and well taken care of both times. The first time was a straightforward birth, the second ended in an emergency c section and NICU stay. Things unfolded rapidly and I still get goosebumps thinking of the team of 15+ people in there in the final minutes before the c section and the care that my baby and I had afterwards. So grateful to them. It’s true that the meals are subpar and the PP rooms aren’t fancy, but my god I wouldn’t deliver anywhere else again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I recently delivered a vaginal birth at Washington Hospital Center (WHC). Here's my review:

Cons:
-Food isn't great
-There are a TON of residents. Many are first years. Some are great, others are a bit immature.
-Labor suites aren't great. Some broken lights, uncomfortable chairs, a few blood splats on the floor (from a previous patient). Outdated bathrooms.
-Mobile fetal monitoring was not available (out for recalibration, apparently)
-Postpartum rooms are like prisons. Small, cramped, steel doors, outdated, walls painted drab white and grey. I struggled not to bang into our infant in these tiny rooms with everyone coming in/out. I was desperate to get out of there, ASAP.
-Baby friendly to the point where you really can't use their nursery.
-It's a high volume labor and delivery practice so the nurses do not always explain things that you need to know. They seem to take it for granted that you "know" things about the care of your infant.
-After 8 PM or so, you have to use the Emergency Department to get into the hospital. WHC is major trauma center so this place is packed w/ a lot of activity at night. It was a bit scary to my husband, tbh.

Pros:
-It's a teaching hospital. So, everyone is explaining out what they are doing to everyone else. Nurses are explaining things to residents. Residents are explaining your case to the chief resident. The chief resident and residents are discussing your case with the attending, etc. More eyes on you = less likely someone makes a mistake. Also, more opportunities to advocate for yourself at key decision points.
-My attending was phenomenal. When in doubt, ask to see the attending. They will come (because they have to). My attending has been doing deliveries for 20+ years.
-No pressure for c-sections. Staff kept telling me their goal is a vaginal birth.
-I found out attendings at WHC work on shifts and they all work for Medstar. 24 hours twice a week, then off. They have no incentive to push you into a C-Section. There is someone else who takes over for them after the shift is done. A nurse told me that at places like Sibley, the physicians work for private practices where they all share the on-call time. Let's say you're on call, have to go to a delivery, and your kid's got a recital in a few hours, you're incentived to get the delivery done ASAP (re: c-section).
-Nurses in labor and delivery are really top notch. Attentive, knowledgeable, and great bedside manner. Never seen anything like it. Seriously.
-WHC is a labor and delivery machine. They have everything done to a t and they have seen most everything - babies whose mothers are on drugs, extreme premature babies, complex c-sections, etc. When things get bad, they know what to do. Me and my little girl were facing some serious issues during delivery and it was clear when things got bad for us, WHC staff knew exactly what to do.
-National Children's is right next door. If things REALLY get bad, they can easily transfer your infant to Children's. They also can call in consults very quickly.

WHC is nothing to call home about as an experience, but if things go bad, this is the place you want to be. My little girl is about turn 1 mo. now and is happy/healthy.

Thank you! I'm delivering there via the midwives and maybe I'm just dumb, but I've struggled to find good reviews of it and have only met maybe one other person who delivered there. Everyone else seems to be at Sibley or GW.

My big hangup about it all though is the baby-friendly status. If it weren't for the proximity/chance to use nitrous (I'm not holding out)/midwives that seemed more open to an epidural if necessary (versus GW), I'd absolutely go elsewhere. Could you elaborate more on the situation you found yourself in? And would anyone else be able to explain how their delivery went w/r/t baby-friendly at other hospitals? A friend of mine delivered somewhere else (can't remember where) and told me the worst part was being trapped in a room with the baby, so I've been telling myself it might not be much better elsewhere. But I've also told my husband to expect that we'll feel like we are being tortured.

Also, regarding the lack of mobile monitoring--this may be different for midwife patients (since part of their shtick is movement during labor), but did you try to decline continuous monitoring? Or was your situation not suitable for that?

OP here. I had excessive bleeding. WHC was able to immediately address the emergency, NICU was there, and specialists from Children's were called in right away.

[Anonymous]

If you need extra monitoring at WHC, you get to walk to the end of the earth and enter a secret doily lamp room where the friendliest nurse ever will chat with you about the today show. So that is fun.