Bethesda North Hospital

To be clear, this rating is not for the hospital, but for the ER department at Bethesda North. The incompetence of the staff there nearly got my husband killed. I drove him to the ER for severe pain. They said they would give him some medicine at home, and an injection for pain while he was there. If I had known anything about this pain shot (Dilaudid) at the time, I would NOT have let them give it to him. Here’s what happened:

They didn’t check his medications for interactions, despite us giving them a physical list.

Had interaction reactions with his other meds AND an allergic reaction, to the pain shot.

He fainted, and had convulsions twice. The second time happened when the doctor tried to make him sit up.

No one would respond when I screamed for help. Not in a hospital room, just a big room with patients separated by curtains. There were plenty of nurses walking past. Doctor could not be bothered to interrupt his conversation to help me keep a seizure patient from falling out of his chair.

When he finally could be bothered to help, just stared at him, then blamed my husband as if it was his fault, just saying “It’s all in his head, or he’s tired.” Yelled at him. Also denied that he was having a seizure.

Once he came around, had trouble breathing, throat was swelling up, they moved him to a room. Would not give him oxygen. Nurse said that he’s just anxious. Note that my husband was unconscious when she said this.

They would start to take his vitals, but then half the time they would leave before they were finished so they never knew the results.

He was overheated and sweating excessively. I asked the nurse for a cool compress. She told me to find some washcloths and get them wet. Refused to do it herself.

Asked my unconscious husband if he wanted Benadryl, “just in case it might be an allergic reaction.” I asked them to give it to him.

No Benadryl thru IV, or liquid Benadryl even. Made him swallow a pill with a swollen throat. No fluids given, despite probable dehydration from overheating and sweating. He felt like the inside of an oven to the touch.

When I asked for all these things they didn’t give him, I was either ignored, or told “No, he doesn’t need it.” There wasn’t much else I could do. Asking for different nurses did not help.

My husband miraculously pulled through. I do not know how.

This was the worst negligence I have ever seen. We ended up being there for several hours (and basically received no medical care for the duration) all because they didn't check medications, and were too lazy and cruel to fix THEIR mistake and help him. I am going to read up on how to do CPR, how to help someone having a seizure or choking, because I no longer trust the medical community to take care of my loved ones. I advise others to do the same, no matter what hospital you choose to go to... you might just save someone you care about when you are stuck at a bad place like this. Avoid Bethesda North ER if you can help it.

The visit started out with her being in emergency for 23 hours. She went by ambulance for dizziness . She couldn't walk after she left. . Theft pushed hospice care at her which she didn't want. She wanted to be transferred to Christ but was told she'd have to pay for transfer. She was given medicine even after she had refused . I personally watched them put it in her port after she was sleeping ., they didn't clean her up and was causing her to hurt. . If call the nurse several tunes and noone would cone to help move her. Once they knew she was going home in hospice care it was even worse . It was as if it didn't matter to them cuz she was gonna die anyway . The transport they sent her home in had no air in 84 degree weather !!! She was already in ixygen . She dies a day in a half later. In my opinion the poor care she received from them contributed to her death

My dad had lung cancer- he went thur 6 chemo treatments and 33 radiation treatments. They stopped his treatment due to his heart racing. He saw a cardiologist who changed his medication. He seemed to weaken and get sick. He ate very little and was drinking little but he tried to eat something and drink when he could. He got very sick, throwing up ect. We rushed him to the hospital. They said he was in heart failure. Hospice came in and said he could go to incare for help the remaining time of his life. The doctors never spoke to us about what was happening to dad. We are thinking cancer then his heart it was a confussing bunch of crap. When he got to his room we were asked why we bought him there??? really ??? why do you bring a loved on to the hospital?? to help them!! They took dads IV out and said it was backing fluid in his lungs but he was sounding better. They lead us to believe dad would make it out to hospice. NOONE took us in the room to tell us he was dying, NOONE told dad he was dying!! No sympathy, empathy for family nor a good, loving man. His family doc came in and talked to the ER doc bur he too never stepped in to talk to his Patient of 15 yrs, or the family. We deserved the truth so we could make better choices, like not leaving him that night to go sleep. I am angry at the treatment. We may have been in denial { family often are} but I feel we deserved some Empathy and truth Do not take your loved ones to this hospital , they just don't care.

IF I TOLD MY BEST FRIEND ABOUT THIS PLACE......I WOULD TELL THEM TO NEVER EVER EVER GO TO B.NORTH. HORRIBLE TREATMENT. i HAD TO ASK TWICE FOR THEM TO CHECK MY DAUGHTER'S HEAD WOUND, THEN WHEN THEY DID, THEY PULLED A 1/2 INCH PIECE OF GLASS OUT OF HER HEAD. THEN WHEN WE GOT HOME, 2 WEEKS LATER, WE FOUND ANOTHER PIECE OF GLASS THEY HAD NEGLECTFULLY LEFT IN THERE!!!! AND, THERE ANSWER TO THE INVESTIGATION???? THEY SAID THEY DIDN'T DEVIATE FROM THEIR STANDARD CARE!!!! WELL OF COURSE, BECAUSE THE STANDARD OF CARE IS BELOW AVERAGE AND UNACCEPTABLE IF YOU LOVE THE PATIENT YOU'RE TAKING TO THIS HOSPITAL!!!

Were sitting in the ER right now as I write this review. This place is aweful !! It doesn't matter if u are a crackhead or a professional buisness executive you be treated the same way..like CRAP !! What a nightmare..I would go as far to say keep driving to another hospital even if its an hour outta the way. Stay far from here! !

They've gone down hill so has Jewish since Mercy has taken over I used 2 love Jewish had my gallbladder removed there excellent care that was in 1996.I was just here 2x in 2012 horrible they used me as a guinea pig blew my veins 6 times w/an IV.One of the Dr.s was real arrogant & I had 2 keep repeating myself.I had 2 wait for my medicine.So has West Chester hospital.The only hospital that has great reviews written is Christ & I have been there 2 & they've always done me right so far.I trust them w/my life not the other 3 listed.

No Good neither is Jewish & West Chester stay away from them.Jewish used 2 be great til they got with Mercy.Looks like Christ is the best out of all of them

Find another health care provider. During an emergency visit I received care that showed a lack of attention to detail, a failure of the staff to use resources effectively, poor communication among the staff health providers and an overall lack of care for me as a patient. After admission to the emergency department, the staff member working with me told me that it would be much faster if I gave her my history than if she looked it up on the computer. So while I writhed in pain, my husband called up records on his smart phone and read them to her. An ultrasound was ordered immediately. It was 18 hours before I received the ultrasound that showed what we already knew was the issue, according to my records. Apparently no ultrasound technician was in the hospital (according to them). I was left unattended in a hallway "lost" for 45 minutes. After emergency surgery I did not have contact or any follow-up from the surgeon. They discharged me without even telling me the nature of the procedure. While I was huddled in a wheelchair, my husband demanded an explanation and finally was heard out by a floor nurse supervisor. Follow up with customer care was completely unsatisfactory. I will NEVER trust the services in this facility again.

my daughter was delivered in bethesda north and we had a terrible experience there.



1) right at the time my wife's water was broken and the my baby was born, the doctor was still handling other emergency. therefore, my daughter was delivered by a resident. this is ridiculous.



2) the mother / baby unit is an awfully tiny room and extremely uncomfortable. the air condition was awful. both my daughter and i were allergic to something and kept sneezing during our stay.



3) the vaccine and lab tests for the baby were not given in a timing manner. The doctor gave the order 24 hours after the birth and then we need to wait for another 24 hours to get the vaccine and lab tests right before the discharge. do they have any clue about the timing of vaccine for the baby?



this is not a good hospital with patient in mind but very cost driven. we use it because it is close to our house. it turned out to be a terrible experience for our family.

On Thanksgiving 2010 I had a positive experience in Bethesda North emergency following a hand injury from a broken glass. The visit lasted a few hours, the staff was caring and it was nice to have x-ray, stitches and billing all brought to our room.

In December of 2010 we had a positive experience at the Bethesda North outpatient surgery. Our son's surgical procedure went very well and the nursing staff was very supportive and professional to my son as well as my husband and I. The recovery nurses answered our questions, made sure our son was comfortable, made sure he was assisted while getting up and dressing prior to discharge. Very different experience from Mercy Anderson Hospital outpatient surgery in July 2010.

In addition Bethesda North has been proactive in the billing department - by offering to combine multiple accounts caused by pre-surgery testing, emergency visits, etc. so one monthly payment can be made instead of several smaller payments. We have found this hospital over the years to have provided consistant good caring professional service to us as patients and our family in general.

Well let's see here how i should start off what i should state about this hospital first.

Well first of all my dad died in that hospital , because he was not taken care of , they couldn't do no liver transplant. But whatever thats not what i wanna say. Okay so i have my first baby i did NOT deliever there , well anyways after having my son i got gallstones, they did not do nothing about it when i went there having terrible PAIN! They were very rude! Instead of doing tests they just told me i had bronchitis! I had gallstones for almost a year! Because everytime i went there they kept saying it was acid reflux! So yeah that hospital is NOT the place to go. The nurses are all stuck up bit**** , and the doctors are rude, and act like they dont have the time for you. Then one time i took my son there, and they told us nothing was wrong with him! And he had 102.3 fever for two days, we couldnt get into the doctor (BTW) and they told us to go home which my son wasnt eating or drinking so the next night my son got worse so we took him to childrens, and they diagnosed him with ulcers in his throat! Which bethesda didnt even check his throat! NEVER GO THERE, OR HAVE A BABY THERE! THERE RUDE, AND DISSRESPECTFUL, AND THE QUACKS DONT KNOW ANYTHING YOUR BETTER OFF RESEARCHING YOUR PROBLEM!! NEVER GOOO THEREEEE!!!

A friend of ours is in your hospital - and I'd like to e-mail him a "thinking of you" message - our hospitals here

in Grand Rapids, Michigan have this available - and having just recently been a patient in on of those hospitals - it certainly cheered my day to have the encouraging notes delivered to me daily - Thanks - Janilyn O'Donnell

janilynod@comcast.net