Anonymous wrote:I work at Children's National and a colleague sent me a link to this discussion. I am very sorry for the troubles you all have experienced. We do have an Ombudsman's office to help parents who experience difficulties, and I wanted to post the number for you to have -- please reach out to them to assist with resolution of issues at any time. That phone number is 202-476-2625 or 202-476-2064 (ask to speak with the Ombudsman on call).

While this is good to know, it's hardly a resolution. I don't have a dog in this fight, but I think it would have be more satisfying to hear that these concerns would be brought to the attention of a supervisor or someone w the power to make changes.

Anonymous wrote:I work at Children's National and a colleague sent me a link to this discussion. I am very sorry for the troubles you all have experienced. We do have an Ombudsman's office to help parents who experience difficulties, and I wanted to post the number for you to have -- please reach out to them to assist with resolution of issues at any time. That phone number is 202-476-2625 or 202-476-2064 (ask to speak with the Ombudsman on call).

Thankyou so much for posting this! I am one of the PP's struggling to get an appt. Our pediatrician just gave us several more specialist referrals and I was ready to cry! I am definitely going to call the ombudsman.

Has anyone been to the allergy clinic at your Northern VA location? I made an appointment for my nephew to be seen in a couple of months. My sister and her family are only going to in town for a couple of weeks and have an insurance with high deductible. Therefore, if the Allergy clinic at Children's is bad, I'd like to make an appointment somewhere else ASAP. Thanks.

I work at Children's National and a colleague sent me a link to this discussion. I am very sorry for the troubles you all have experienced. We do have an Ombudsman's office to help parents who experience difficulties, and I wanted to post the number for you to have -- please reach out to them to assist with resolution of issues at any time. That phone number is 202-476-2625 or 202-476-2064 (ask to speak with the Ombudsman on call).

OMG! I have been trying to get an appointment for 2 weeks now. No one will call me back. I gave up and am driving to Baltimore.

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1 I think the satellites are better.

NP here. I've had good experiences in the ER, but very bad experiences for routine appointments - it is truly an embarrassment for a place that is supposed to be recognized as a leader in pediatric care. I really don't know how they get away with it, since so many people seem to be unhappy.

Last week I spent 45 minutes ON HOLD just trying to make an appointment. Their appointment scheduling is ridiculous.

For what it's worth, I once went to the patient advocate in a fury, and she was excellent. You absolutely should go to her, and see what you can do. Another time I called the main line and asked to speak to the hospital administration, and I got patched right in to someone who was responsive and helpful.

People should be speaking up about this, loudly, and often. If you just complain on this message board, nothing will happen. They must be held to a higher standard. You are talking about them not meeting basic standards of care. It's especially painful since we're dealing with care of children.

I feel your pain! Had a nightmarish experience trying to get an appointment with a GI for my son many years ago. He was in really bad shape and needed to be seen quickly but they told us it would be 4 months. In the years since, it's been a mixed bag. We've had some good doctors in various departments but scheduling is always a pain and communication is nonexistent.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had better luck with Hopkins? My dc has a unique condition and there are specialists at Children's or Hopkins. It it worth the 45 minute drive?

Hopkins often has very long waits for first appointments and often has specialists who are not taking new patients. I got my child into one of the latter through a referral from a doctor who personally knew the specialist and we are scheduled for appointments every two months even though this doctor is very busy. We have hit a problem with scheduling the summer appointment, but I think that just comes with this time of the year with vacations etc.

My goodness, OP and PPs, this sounds truly awful! I'm so sorry. My child has been seen at Children's but his issues were not time-sensitive so I didn't know about all these problems.

I have a friend who does clinical research there. I'll ask her what the doctor side of the issue is.

Has anyone had better luck with Hopkins? My dc has a unique condition and there are specialists at Children's or Hopkins. It it worth the 45 minute drive?

Childrens is the WORST. Ugh. Have had so many issues with them. Especially with their medical coding/billing. Several time s I have been assured by both Childrens and our insurance that a doctor is 'in network' but the Childrens bills the visit with a code that
the insurance doesn't cover and then its just back and forth.

We waited EIGHT months for an appt with a developmental pediatrician, drove all the way to Laurel MD from Clifton VA. The doctor we were scheduled to see had taken vacation that week, and they "forgot" to call to reschedule the appt. There were two other families in the waiting room they had also not called. I think they just didn't bother calling anyone. They told me to go home and call the main CNMC appt line to reschedule. I refused and said I would not leave my spot in front of the window until they found a doctor to see us that day or rescheduled our appt for the next two weeks. It was ridiculous. Ugh. I hate Childrens!

My son sees cardiology, nephrology, thrombosis, plastics, immunology, pt, radiology , ent and countless lab visits. We average several visits each month. I have email addresses for all of them and have been extremely happy with the care. Parking is tight but when it's full they valet your car for free. If you visit often ask for a permanent check in pass valid for 6 months so you don't have to register. Sorry you're having issues but it's not fair to slam the whole hospital.

This surprises me. I too have a child who is an established patient - endocrinology and cardiology. The doctors all gave me their cell phone numbers and I've never had a problem reaching them.

Anonymous wrote: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.

I am in the same boat. I have an 8 year old who is very medically complicated with several life threatening conditions - Neuro, Neurogenetics, GI, Cardiology, Ortho, Pulmonary, and more and have come to despise CNMC. We have been to and in over 15 different children's hospitals across the country and CNMC is hands down the worst. I've moved a lot of our care to other facilities because I simply couldn't deal with their ineptness any longer. While the doctor's, if you can even get into see them, are usually not bad, everything else about the place is awful. OP - I would seriously suggest considering another facility. It's like a breath of fresh air.