Children's National Hospital

Wow I really wish I had read the reviews before deciding to take my 9 yr old son in as advised by a Kaiser doctor after informing my son didn’t look well from having not eaten or drunken much in a few days and vomiting. I had other options and should’ve went with another ER hospital one closer but I assumed Childrens would suit better being as though it’s a hospital whom specializes in the care of children. 35 minutes away from home, waited 2 hrs in the waiting area of the ER and then 2 more hrs in the back absolutely no test run forcing us to have to leave because staff disappeared including the doctor who was supposed to have been monitoring his high heart rate of 145 bpm. This is just sad for a hospital ER for children. My sons father told me the wait was horrible but that was 30 something years ago and you mean to tell me that things haven’t changed since. There is no ER…. they move worse and slower than urgent care. Lord help them!!!!

Tienen departamento de gastrolojia súper malo tengo 4 meses de espera de una doctora CoHen ARIELLA para un seguimiento de la condición médica de mi hija llamó y me dicen que no hay doctora con ese nombre doy un Cero de calificación

Absolutely the worst care I’ve ever received for my premature infant son. Did not treat him as a priority as he was gasping for air while we were sent there from another hospital because the pediatricians at the prior hospital were extremely concerned. Doctors told me word for word “we aren’t concerned with his breathing”. Finally got discharged from this filthy place, took him to his primary pediatrician for a follow up, and he’s been seeing a pulmonologist for future care. I requested a transfer for 3 days and was disregarded (because I’m a new young mom it seemed). Passed to “I’ll let the next doctor know”. I have his patient profile printed out, has false statements from me on there concerning his well-being. If you care at all about your children I would stay far away from this hospital.

My granddaughter was born 5/3/23 @10:30 am. By 5 am the next morning she was being medi-vaced to Children's with breathing problems and more. She was cared for in the NICU and her parents taken care of as well. Just an update baby girl finally came home 5/16/23 doing amazingly well. Thank you all at CNMC for assisting my daughter with eye surgeries and now her daughter in the first hours of her young life.
Post stuff like this telling how God's grace and mercy saved your loved one VS. Having to pay for parking or had to wait a few hours to be seen.

Adding 2 pics ...turning 4 months on 9/3/23... Thanks for helping my granddaughter live....

A wonderful hospital that provides high-end medical services, and may God have mercy on the builder of the hospital, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan..

Terrible and rude nurse in the ER. I was so shocked the way they talked to the kids. Will only go here for appointments for my child. Never to the ER!! It was so bad. I had to leave and go all the way to Annapolis MD children’s. I could not take the rudeness any longer. Get better nurses that actually really care for sick children, the ones that was there seem like they care about the money only. They lack empathy and patience. Sad

We arrived and checked in at 11am to address an ankle injury. We didn't get x-rays until 12:45pm , and were not seen by a Dr. until 5:12pm. There was no communication from the staff as to the process and how long the wait would actually be. As a result, we didn't have the option to leave and go to the cafeteria, because we would essentially risk losing our place in the waiting room. Although my daughter and I ate before we left home and packed a few snacks, the waiting time was so long it didn't even matter we came prepared. We began experiencing headaches and dehydration symptoms as a result of not eating. Not too mention dizziness and loss of balance because I take medication that requires me to eat. After we saw the Dr. I explained my concerns and complained. She graciously gave us food, but then we waited an additional 2 hours just to get crutches. We don't leave the hospital until around 7:30pm, 81/2 hours later. This is RIDICULOUS and it's an unsafe practice to compromise patients' health with these absurdly long waiting times. It didn't seem as if our health was a priority at all. Except for the pediatrician who treated us, the staff seemed irritated when I asked for answers. Since this was not the first time we waited so long at this ER. In the future, we will go to a different hospital or Care First Center.

These negative reviews are garbage. One claims this place is racist of people of color but I see people of color giving 5 star reviews. Another is more concerned about getting free food rather than their childs health. WOW just wow. This placed saved my sons life. Had he not been sent here he would not be with us today. This place is ranked 5th in the nation for a reason. Humble yourself people. Teach your kids better.

I drove 30 plus minutes to this hospital because of the reputation it has. When we arrived, the front desk lady completely ignored me when i greeted her, and her colleague took over and signed me and my daughter in. Then when someone else walked up, she greeted them with a warm welcome which in my eyes was discriminatory.
When we went to be seen, the nurses and doctors were nice but did NOT take any swabs or tests claiming it to be too EXPENSIVE and they’re treating all viruses the same. They wrote a prescription for a steroid for my child but never gave it to me. I’ve been on the phone with them all morning trying to reach someone to help me with this matter and the front desk clerk in emergency has been non-chalant and rude. So now I’m never going to children’s again. Not to mention, their customer service was terrible when trying to log into the portal. I told her that i needed to be transferred to the front so i can get an invitation to log in the portal. She transferred me to medical records which isn’t open at the time i called, which i mentioned in the beginning of the call.. all in all the worst experience I’ve ever had at a hospital for my child. Will never go again!!

Sitting in the ER as I typed this…. It’s beyond unacceptable for wait times to be 6hrs…. When I first got here at 5pm it was a wait time of 3-4 hrs. It is now 10:36 and my child still haven’t been seen. I only come to this ER because his doctors are here and they instruct me to bring him he when he needs medical attention. Yes I agree with another post about the racist people here. I witnessed a lot of people come in after us( and not looking sick at all) to be seen before my child. I wished it was another hospital in DC that caters to children because I WILL NEVER COME BACK TO CHILDREN NATIONAL!!! Worse of the worse!!! And most nurses here are rude !! What’s the point of having a fast track and ER side when it’s still a long wait! Then when u get to the back you still gotta 1-2hr wait… to witness the doctors and nurse sitting around laughing and talking instead doing there job! I HATE IT HERE AT CHILDREN NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER!!!!!

I arrived at the emergency room at 10 a.m. and waited until 4 p.m. and still no doctor came to see my child. My child suffered from Mesenteric lymphadenitis and was crawling on the ground in pain. Later, we had to leave here and go to another hospital for treatment. Help, the people behind us came later than us, and after several groups of people changed, it was not our turn. This is a hospital that discriminates against people of color!

I was sigh my baby and the doctors were really kind with me, always brought an Interpreter for me and they understood that I need to get all the info in my mother tongue! If you breastfeed your baby you have one Boucher for free food, and in the day there are people that give you all that you need. (Shampoo, chargers, toothpaste, etc)

I’m typing this as I have been waiting for 4.5 hours to have my child seen. The wait time is ridiculous and it’s a shame! I truly feel that many patients were seen before my child due to their race. I understand that this time of year causes and increase in patient visits to the ER but this is unacceptable. You are severely short staffed when it comes to the ER! Hire more physicians!!!!! What is the issue?

We were sent to the “FAST TRACK ER” where there were several patients ALREADY ahead of the group of us sent to this area and I am still WAITING!!!! My child is NOW experiencing anxiety on TOP of the primary reason for this visit.

It’s ironic that I’ve seen more SECURITY and SPECIAL POLICE officers than I have seen FAST TRACK ER STAFF or the TWO PHYSICIANS supposedly treating patients in this area!

It’s almost midnight and no one has provided an explanation or update! I will not bring my child here AGAIN!!!

If I could give negative stars, I absolutely would. The staff there is lazy, incompetent and they just don’t seem to care. It has truly fallen off from how effective and efficient it used to be. In the past, when you came in, they treated the patients & parents as if it were their own family. Now, not at all. My fiancé and myself brought her daughter in for what we thought was RSV, the nurse in triage claimed it wasn’t. We waited in the waiting room with about 6 other patients/ parents for about 3 hours until we gave up and came home. We went to her primary care physician the next day and she stated that the baby did have an ear infection and RSV and prescribed antibiotics to treat it. Do Better!!!

Personal muy amable en recepción, fui por primera vez a cita con mi niña y me atendieron de lo mejor en la recepción y me llevaron hasta el área donde iba a ENT luego paso mi niña y la enferma y el otorrino fueron de lo más amables, gracias.

I was childre’s hospital in Nov 6 at 9pm. And my infant falls off from sofa and hit her nose area on glass table. She had a cut on her nose.. I went to NURSE reception area and told the nurse what happened and SHE DIDNT CARE AND HER ATTITUDE WAS EXACTLY RUDE AND NASTY! Nurse WAS LIKE I HAVE TO WAIT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE! SHE TOLD ME WAIT IS 6HRS! HER BEHAVIOR IS UNACCEPTABLE AS A NURSE! SHE NEEDS A TRAINING WITH HER ATTITUDE OR SHE NEEDS TO FIND OTHER CAREER!!! After 1hr later I saw a nurse.. She didn’t do much and then I have to wait 6 hrsssss to see a doctor?!!!! WHAT A SHAME! Child’s hospital YOU CAN DO BETTER! I left there’s no way I will wait 6 hrs to see a doctor!

I have been reading so many negative reviews, but I find them to be petty, from long ER wait times and not getting free food. I used to be one of those parents that took their child to the ER for things I was super concerned about, but wasn't necessarily an emergency, such as the flu, ear infections, stomach aches.
The emergency room is for EMERGENCIES- like life threatening stuff, but they get flooded with flu, RSV, COVID, breaks and sprains (though some breaks are an emergency but not all) much of this stuff is better treated at a primary care or even an urgent care facility. When the ER is flooded with non-emergent patients it prolongs those wait times. And the staff does prioritize patients, not because of race, but because of severity.

I would love to give this place a 5 star review but there are a few things that has made our stay here a bit more stressful than need be, but in the grand scheme of things, the staff is amazing. It's more policy stuff that I have an issue with and not being able to accommodate extenuating circumstances and the high priced parking for parents who will be here foe extended periods of time. Though the $100 30 day parking pass wasn't terrible.

My daughter was brought to the ER, but not as a first option. We started out with our primary, then led to urgent care, who told us to come here. She was able to walk in, and probably looked very similar to the symptoms of the other patients who may be getting seen for the flu, or RSV. But you cannot judge a book by its cover, inside her body, her white blood cell count was astronautally high, and she had a quick ER visit to admission in the PICU. Her prioritized visit wasn't because of race, but because she had a life-threatening circumstance happening inside her body.

If you are giving a negative reviews because of long wait times (especially during flu season), maybe you should reevaluate why you are here, is it really an emergency?