Difficulties at Children's Hospital
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Anonymous
| My son is an established patient at Children's in the Endocrinology dept as well as the Genetics dept. We called yesterday to make an appointment and were told that two of the doctors "had no calendar" available, whatever that meant, but that we would have to see a doctor he's never seen before, and that it wouldn't be until the end of September. My child has a time-sensitive condition that is changing quickly, and this is insane. I can't get a hold of the doctor, everything is gate-kept by the receptionists and nurses, and the doctors have barely responded in the past when we have left urgent messages. In addition, the people answering the phones seem to have no idea of the field they're in, which is very scary. For example, techs in the blood lab had no idea what we were talking about when we had called to ask a super-basic question. Is this a department problem or a doctor problem or have other parents experienced similar difficulties at Children's? In contrast, the radiology department has been spectacular. |
Anonymous
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yes- I have experienced similar problems. In fact, it took my 6 weeks of calling multiple times a week to even get an appointment scheduler who would schedule an appt. Every time they would say to me 'we are not scheduling for __ right now, call back tomorrow or next week.
If you have an urgent need to get in I would suggest enlisting the help of your pediatrician. |
Anonymous
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Yes! I have had the same problems. The cardiologist said to come back in eight weeks for a follow-up but they hadn't made up the calendar yet for eight weeks out. I called every day to see if they had them available and when they finally did they'd switched to a new scheduling system and couldn't make any appts.! Needless to say the eight-week follow-up is now pushed to ten weeks, which I don't feel great about. Oh, and when we showed up for the initial appt. they had no record of it! They squeezed us in but because the regular sonographer was out and the machine was acting up, what should have been a half hour appt. turned into three hours. Awful. We had the same thing done at CHOP in Philadelphia a couple years ago and it was so, so much better.
And don't get me started on the insane parking garage or check-in procedures at Children's Hospital here. |
Anonymous
| Contact your pediatrician and ask them to help. |
Anonymous
| CHMC is awful and we switched to Kennedy Krieger for exactly this reason. Doctors being unavailable despite our having seen them for years; doctors retiring without our being prepared or switched to another service (despite my child having an ongoing serious illness that required treatments every 3-6 months, and a 2 year wait to see another specialist). Can't imagine they haven't been sued. |
Anonymous
I would jump straight to the hospital social workers and patient advocacy in this situation. Please bring your optimism with you and calm concern. Work with them without carrying anger or frustration into the effort. There are supports in place that should help you. Also, don't be afraid to use the ER. Sometimes this is the only way to access the care you need. I recently did this to address a blood pressure issue. No one had time, until I went to the emergency room. Only then did the calendar open up. Going in person is often the best way to get what you need. No, it's not supposed to be this way. Sadly, it typically is necessary. Good luck! Keep your eye on the long view. Establishing relationships now will reduce issues later. It's an investment. Call the social worker today. Stop by the office if you can. |
Anonymous
| I hate children's. It is a pit of inefficiency and rudeness. The offshoots in the suburbs are better, and at least the staff is not rude there. |
Anonymous
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I just had flashbacks. When my child was a new born they thought she was hypothyroid, which will/can basically cause permanent brain damage if not treated right away and monitored closely.
I tried daily and talked to people for hours and never got an appointment. The only way I was able to get her in was going through my pediatrician. It was seriously traumatizing, since I was postpartum with this scary potential diagnosis that was urgent, and could not get anyone at children's to even listen to me let alone schedule an appointment during the period of time we needed (I think they offered one finally three months out) |
Anonymous
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No calendar available means that the doctor has not given any hours to the reception/phone people. Don't blame them for this problem. We see a highly credentialed doc there who also spends spend at another facility doing research. She decides when she sees patients and is very limited in this respect. Usually only one or two days a month and it's worse in summer--I've been trying to get an appt scheduled with her for a few months now and she simply hasn't released her schedule. We are actually going to see someone else I'm interested in getting a second opinion from for the moment. Luckily, my kid's issues aren't time sensitive.
The best thing to do is find out the name of the nurse/genetic counselor the doc works with and directly email her/him for an appt or to find when apps will be released. Also ask for business cards from everyone you see at your appts for this down the line. I have found that people are responsive by email. Also ask about appts at alternative locations. |
Anonymous
I'm the cardiology PP. At least in our instance that was not the case. I was standing with the schedulers and the cardiologist. They had his schedule and were telling him what days/weeks he'd be out (e.g., the week of July 4th), but they could not schedule an appt. for me because the calendar was not made up in the system. Apparently they only do that one month in advance. I tried booking at another location, too, but that was a whole other can of worms. I feel bad for anyone who has a sick child and has to deal with this hospital. |
Anonymous
| While we live in DC we head to the Rockville facility due to scheduling and the parking. We see Dr. V in the endocrine department there. |
Anonymous
| We've had the calendar issue, too. I wonder if enough of us complained by letter to the hospital administration if something could change. It's ridiculous to not be able to schedule something 2 or 3 months out. I'd at least like to know the hospital's rationale for such short calendar management. |
Anonymous
| PS we like our docs so much, which is why we've stayed. Just the lack of scheduling bothers me. |
Anonymous
| I echo PPs. Cnmh is awful! We had a terrible time with the GI department and getting timely responses. I am much happier at Georgetown!!! |
Anonymous
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I have heard that if you just show up or head to the ER you will be seen that day.
Otherwise I would ask about appointments at the satellite offices. Very different schedules but same doctors. |