Ambulance services need to call their central dispatch to get permission to send patients to Sibley. Sibley is not an automatic destination for patients picked up in Cleveland Park, and close by zip codes. If a particular ER is very busy at the time of the ambulance call, central dispatch will tell the EMT to take the patient to a different hospital.

Ceil

- from previous message -
Given the negative experience so many are expressing about Georgetown Hospital, my question is whether Sibley is any better? [snip]

Yes and not quite.

Once the EMT calls the dispatcher with information about the patient, the dispatcher will tell the ambulance to take the patient to whatever hospital is less crowded or has bed capacity, including Sibley. This is the case even though you may request/ask to go somewhere else.

Since not all hospitals are equipped or staffed to treat all kinds of cases, I would assume and hope that there may be some instances; i.e. Trauma 1, where the gravity of the case takes precedence over how crowded a hospital may be. Then again, bear in mind that if you are dispatched to Sibley and were to need a cardiac procedure, Sibley does not have a cardiac care unit and you would need to be transferred (likely) to Suburban as they are now both part of Hopkins.

Rosa

- previous message -
Ambulance services need to call their central dispatch to get permission to send patients to Sibley. Sibley is not an automatic destination for patients picked up in Cleveland Park, and close by zip codes. If a particular ER is very busy at the time of the ambulance call, central dispatch will tell the EMT to take the patient to a different hospital.

Many decades ago, a prominent Washington lawyer, Edward Bennet Wiliiams, observed that the first thing to do if you get sick in Washington is go to the airport. Amtrak will take you to Baltimore, and I highly recommend Johns Hopkins. Suburban is not a bad choice either.

Alfred

- previous message -

When I had a traumatic ankle break two years ago, I asked to go to Sibley. Initially they said fine, until they looked at my ankle and then announced that I would need a trauma hospital and I was going to GW. They took me there and I had the break set by a trauma orthopedist. Who knew there was such a specialty, not me, but I was so glad they took me to GW where I was cared for with utmost care.

Kathi Sullivan

- previous message -
Yes and not quite.
Once the EMT calls the dispatcher with information about the patient, the dispatcher will tell the ambulance to take the patient to whatever hospital is less crowded or has bed capacity, including Sibley. This is the case even though you may request/ask to go somewhere else.
Since not all hospitals are equipped or staffed to treat all kinds of cases, I would assume and hope that there may be some instances; i.e. Trauma 1, where the gravity of the case takes precedence over how crowded a hospital may be. Then again, bear in mind that if you are dispatched to Sibley and were to need a cardiac procedure, Sibley does not have a cardiac care unit and you would need to be transferred (likely) to Suburban as they are now both part of Hopkins.

I’ve been treated at both hospitals over the years, including recently. I had major surgery at Sibley in November and an in-and-out procedure at Georgetown in January. Overall, I would rank Georgetown better than Sibley. he reasons for that include:

-  A physician at Sibley missed something major, which a physician at Georgetown caught in a follow-up procedure;
-  Both times I was admitted to Sibley for major surgery on an emergency basis, I had to share a room following the surgery, which, for reasons I won’t go into, made it impossible to sleep. (I likened it to being in Grand Central Station — not a good place for recovery);
-  Each time, I had to wait hours before seeing a doctor, despite being admitted on an emergency basis. (On one occasion, they told me there was only one ER physician on duty);
-  A nurse forgot to hook back up my intravenous medical lines in the middle of the night and it was several hours before he responded to my efforts to contact him.

As others have noted, much of the problem is the result of understaffing and overwork. I blame the hospitals themselves more than the staff, as the former seem to elevate profit over care. In my opinion, this is much more evident at Sibley. With two exceptions (one at each hospital), I had excellent doctors and the nursing and other support staff members at Georgetown were uniformly exceptional. I was surprised how attentive and professional they were in light of the length of their shifts. Most of the staff at Sibley was also very good.

As we all know, some people are just better than others at their jobs, so a lot rides on the quality of individual care givers at both hospitals.

I would still give Georgetown higher marks.

Nancy Langworthy
Langley Court

This past summer, my young daughter was badly burnt by our Solo backyard stove. On the advice of our pediatrician’s call service, we took her to Children’s. It was our first time in 11 years of parenting that we’ve experienced that ER! We waited from 10 pm to 5 am to be taken out of the ER waiting area… her burn blisters popped and she was in/out of sleep. It was very painful and an excruciating night. When she finally was taken back for care, it was absolutely excellent (she then was given a narcotic for the pain of 3rd degree burns). The follow-up care we received at the affiliated Burn Clinic was amazing and she was able to enjoy her summer camps with sunshine precautions. In telling this experience to her pediatrician, we were advised to call for an ambulance for future ER care needs! Hopefully, we won’t have any but definitely will be feeling fortunate to afford the ambulance copayments our high deductible plan charges…. It shouldn’t be this way.

Rachel Fenton
28th St

After quite a few terrible experiences at both Georgetown, Washington Hospital Center, and physicians offices, I can say that it’s the MedStar system that is abysmal. They have taken over so much of the area’s healthcare and are doing a failing job.

Vicki
Sedgwick St

- from previous message -
Something has changed radically at Georgetown Hospital since 2015 -- for one thing, Medstar took over. No idea if that could have created the kind of deficits in responsibility and communication I've described. Many of them seem to be due to excessive silo-ing, a form of organization in which the parts don't relate to each other. I'm disinclined to blame it all on staffing shortages related to the pandemic. I described my experiences at Georgetown to my internist and she specifically veered away from the staffing shortage explanation. She leaned close and said, "If there's good communication at a hospital, it actually takes fewer staff members to run things."

Consider an alternative. Needing a heart valve replacement, I went to Cleveland Clinic. Short, cheap flight on Southwest. Flawless experience.  --