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DEL.ICIO.USAtlanta or Gwinnett: Where’s the best health care?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few months ago during dinner at home my 11-year-old son was suddenly unable to breathe easily.
At first I thought he was faking because he’s delivered many dramatic anti-vegetable acting performances. (One night he even vomited on cue at the sight of Brussels sprouts.)
So I said, “Is this about the peas and carrots? Because you’re going to eat those peas and carrots, and you’re going to like them!”
By this time, though, he was becoming more and more frightened at his inability to take a deep breath. Then I became frightened when I realized he needed medical attention.
Thus begins the tale of how we ended up at the Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville.
My son’s sudden illness made me ask myself what many inside-the-Perimeter residents who move outside the Perimeter” probably ask about health care: Should I drive to a medical facility downtown? Aren’t in-town hospitals better than suburban ones?
Personally, I like my health care to be high-end. I want my doctors to be studying the latest medical theories. I want their offices to be so technologically advanced that it’s like having an appointment at a NASA space station. I prefer they treat any illness I have with tactical expertise like an episode straight out of Battlestar Galactica.
So imagine how I felt that night sitting on the floor in the Gwinnett Medical Center emergency room. Me, my wheezing kid and a whole lot of other potential patients parked cross-legged on shiny linoleum because there weren’t enough chairs in the ER.
I learned that night that their emergency department stays busy seeing as many as 300 patients every day. Other stats on Gwinnett Medical System: More than 4,000 employees and 750 physicians with the primary hospital facility located on Medical Center Boulevard in Lawrenceville.
The third largest employer in Gwinnett County, the Gwinnett Hospital System also has several specialty clinics including cancer care and cardiac rehabilitation. They also offer specialized women’s health services and a variety of community health programs, all right here in my Gwinnett County backyard.
It was unbelievably crowded that night and the idea of sick people sitting on floors disturbed me. Still, my son received great care when he was finally seen by a doctor, great bedside manner and the same in-hospital asthma treatment he would have received had I driven 25 miles into downtown.
I know this because I asked one of our pediatricians the very next morning. The pediatrician with the high-definition medical equipment and the in-town address with the expensive parking kindly told me I did the right thing by not trying to drive my wheezing son all the way to his children’s hospital in Atlanta.
I’m glad to know I have quality health care nearby. And my son’s glad that since that episode, peas and carrots mixed together are off the dinner menu.
Do you select health care services based on expertise regardless of location? Or do you choose doctors close to home?
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Jacqueline Bullard
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By Ed
October 31, 2006 8:13 PM | Link to this
I live on the east side of Gwinnett County. I can tell you that you should look at Northeast Georgia Health System in Gainesville. Easy to get to and very good service. A lot of Doctors who practice in the ATL area also see patients there as well.
By InWonder
November 1, 2006 9:53 AM | Link to this
You are very lucky. I had severe breathing problems too and it took hours in a pretty-much empty emergency room just to see a room and a doctor at Gwinnett Medical in L’ville. They sent me home within 10 minutes with some medicine. The next night I ended up in the ER again with severe breathing problems still. This time I was sent to ICU - come to find out I had an infection and the croup (adult version). (I actually stopped breathing in my sleep several times and set off the heart-rate monitor several times too while sleeping.)Lets just say my husband was very upset…to the point of wanting me sent to the Emory Hospital. Honestly, it would be very hard for me to go back again. We were not pleased.
By Dot
November 1, 2006 10:14 AM | Link to this
I live in Gwinnett very near the DeKalb County line.
All my doctors and hospitals of choice are in the Dunwoody area.
I have been to Gwinnett Medical two times both with my son. Once was an accident and that is where the ambulance took him the second was a dog bite and it was close.
Both times I have sworn never to go to Gwinnett Medical again. Both times I have had to direct his care and take him the next day to our doctors for proper treatment.
Never, never will any of my family memebers that I have a say in will go to this facility.
So yes to answer your questions I choose my health care with the doctors/hospitals with the expertise no matter where they are located. You only die once!
By Amy
November 1, 2006 2:09 PM | Link to this
Interesting, after spending all day at Gwinnett Medical Center because I had chest pain (glad I didn’t have a real heart attack) I heard the same thing about Gainesville. We will drive.
By Amy
November 1, 2006 2:15 PM | Link to this
I did call the administration, because I got left in the hallways in between tests, had no clue what they were going to do next, and spent nine hours to hear them say maybe I pulled a muscle, and I got movie tickets and a letter!
By Ashleigh
November 2, 2006 3:23 PM | Link to this
Yeah, don’t ever go to Gwinnett Medical. I woke up with severe abdominal pain one night to the point that I couldn’t even move and if I did, it was the most excruciating pain I’ve ever experienced. I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, but had to sit in the waiting room for 4.5 hours, screaming in pain AND THE ROOM WASN’T EVEN CLOSE TO BEING FULL! And from what I remember the nurse telling me, the paramedics don’t even use the same IV equipment as the hospital, so they have to stick you twice for IVs. It was 2 more hours aftering seeing a nurse and getting an ultrasound done that I finally got meds for my pain. I couldn’t even lift myself off the gurney. What a terrible hospital.
By Done with them
November 3, 2006 3:49 PM | Link to this
I agree with the majority of the posters. I have been to Gwinnett Medical on a few occasions, and, like some, have sworn never to go again! I waited longer to see a doctor (for severe abdominal pain) than I waited at Grady. I spent endless hours in a most uncomfortable waiting room while people with cuts and scrapes went ahead of me. I was told that it was not first come, first served, but served by illness. I think severe stomach pains outweighed a scraped knee. (And most of the waiting room was filled with non-English-speaking Hispanics who brought their kids in with a cold!) Something needs to be done, or lawsuits could start flying!
By delois
November 4, 2006 2:32 PM | Link to this
One of the cardiologists who is on call at Gwinnett Medical Center did keep my husband alive long enough at Gwinnett to make it by ambulance to St. Joseph’s for an emergency angioplasty. Now when we have problems, we just tell the ambulance to head straight to St. Joseph’s because Gwinnett Medical is not equipped for any emergency heart surgeries. Until there is a hospital out here that can handle emergencies like this, we will keep going to Dunwoody and are actually hoping to move into that area once our house is sold. It might take you 30 minutes to get to St. Joseph’s but they will see you immediately whereas at Gwinnett, no telling how long it will be before you see somebody. But the Gwinnett ER doctor saved my husband’s life and he is still his cardiologist out here. You can find excellent doctors in Gwinnett just not an excellent hospital for heart related emergencies.
By Martha
November 7, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this
I hate Gwinnett Medical. My husband has a lot of problems and unforunately we go there at least 4 or 5 times a year. We hate it each time. We go there because we only live a couple of miles away and there is where he doctor is. He had back surgery there this past June. After the surgery on the way to the X-ray room an employee pushing him in the wheel chair dropped 2 monitors on him. Nothing was done about that except an apology.
By Marie
November 7, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this
I am new to the area in living in Sandy Springs. I read this article with great interest as I am looking for a high end Ob/gyn practice to deliver our baby. Any help is appreciated