Mary Washington Hospital WLS Program closing

I just heard that Mary Washington Hospital, in Fredericksburg, is closing their bariatric  surgery unit down and will no longer be doing any more weight loss surgeries, RNY or Lapband there.

Did you or anyone else you know anyone have surgery there?  I would like to open up our support group to them if they need support.

Also, if anyone wants to talk privately about their experiences there - good or bad  - please feel free to IM me and I would be happy to talk with you. If anyone feels they need help right now because of this news please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.....

And of course this board is always here for support at all  times too......... please use us!

Jackie

Jackie, do you suppose they'll try to move it to their newer facility opening up in Stafford next year? 

They have no plans to do that as they have no surgeon either...... it will be in all the local papers soon.........

Jackie

Interesting.  Much of my family lives in that area and my mother was hospitalized there in August for quite some time.  I have had some very interesting conversations with her doctor about that hospital group.  I was not impressed with the hospital when she was there, and it will be interesting to see how things go when the new hospital opens up on Spotsylvania in 2010.  It is NOT part of the Medicorp network.   Several of the doctors have already moved or are in the process of opening up offices out in the Cosner's Corner area.   Maybe they will have better luck getting a WLS surgeon or even getting their Certificate of Excellence.  I feel bad for the folks living in the Fredericksburg area who want to have WLS.  I suppose they'll have to suffer the inconvenience of travelling further north to Potomac or even Fairfax County or go south to Richmond.

I live in Stafford and I will not touch MWH with a 10 foot pole.  The experiences there have been horrifying.  I either go to Potomac or Fairfax hospitals.  I am not impressed with Potomac Hospital's ER but more confidence in them then MWH.  I wonder why they are closing down.

My Mom's pastor told me that he dislikes MW so much that if he ever needed emergency hospitalization that she was to drag him south to MCV.     He comes to see members of his congregation when they are sick and hospitalized very often, so he has first hand knowledge about the way they handle things there. 

I think Jackie said one of the reasons they are closing the bariatric unit was they no longer had a surgeon, but I doubt if that's the only reason.  These days, most insurances require that the hospitals get the Bariatric Surgical Center of Excellence qualification.  If not, they won't pay.  Perhaps they didn't want to go through that certification process..... who knows.

Funny you mentioned MCV...I live in Richmond and won't go there unless it were for a trauma or some speciality...like my nephew when he had a brain tumor.  I hate being down there and I despise having to pay to park to be seen or visit someone.  They do have good doctors down ther.  My mom sees several specialists but for ER care...it is NOT for me!

Better to have the inconvenience than to have a half hearted surgery - their whole attitude I think is what killed them - they are claiming there was not enough interest but I absolutely refute that. Dr Halmi has many many  patients from around Fredericksburg way. I think their whole attitude and approach to this is what failed them - and this is the second time they have tried a bariatric program and failed - mercifully this time no-one died.......

Just my 2 cents worth.........

Jackie

Jackie, it sounds as though your opinion of MWH isn't any higher than mine.  It's a sad state of affairs, isn't it.

This is a copy of what a Medicorp employee sent me:

BARIATRIC PROGRAM at Mary Washington Hospital
Our Bariatric program will be closing at the end of the year. We have an excellent bariatric program, thanks to our dedicated and talented physicians and staff and their tremendous efforts. Unfortunately we have not been able to achieve the volume that we had planned when we started the program three years ago. Bariatric programs in our surrounding areas have continued to grow.
We are working on our transition plan as we are responsible to ensure that our bariatric patients have a bariatric program to continue to meet their needs. We hope to have these transition details completed in the next two weeks. In the meantime, our bariatric team will be available to our patients for all necessary follow up and care.
As the bariatric program closes, our bariatric staff will be supported in obtaining positions at MediCorp. This is an excellent group of talented individuals who we want to keep within MediCorp. Their tireless efforts and commitment to developing an excellent program are greatly appreciated.



My reply to her was that they need to talk to people like me to find out why it didn't grow.  The staff was close to rude as I called with questions after attending their seminar.  That is once they decided to call me back; it took three calls from me and about 2 weeks.  I had of course submitted to them the information from the packet because I was ready to jump in with both feet.  They charge a program fee, are vage about what is required by the insureance company and the first "consult" is a 3 hour group meeting.  Nothing I heard from them after the seminar was enough to make me want to use them.  I wasted about 3 weeks trying to work with them.  Had I started somewhere else I might already have my band.