Which hospital do you prefer and why? Fairfax Inova or Fair Oaks Inova? (Arlington: live, health)

[Fairfax Mom]

I have been told by many people that Fair Oaks is better but I was not impressed when I took my Mom there for an emergency -

[eastli84]

I too wasn't impressed with Fair Oaks when I took a friend there for an emergency last year. They seemed to be more into the "drama" of the story rather than actually treating my friend.

Fairfax hospital is much bigger, but still haven't heard too many great stories from there. IMO Reston Hospital (2 ER visits) and Virginia Hospital Center seem to be the most highly regarded in the area.

I'm definately curious what others think....

[LVMYDACH]

I've taken my daughter to Fairfax Inova Hospital ER several times over the last few years. She has always received excellent care.

[JfromReston]

I've had the same surgery at both hospitals and much perfered my experience at Fairfax.

[Caladium]

I've heard some good things about Fairfax, but all my personal experiences here in Nova have been at Reston Hospital. I just had kidney stone surgery in September, and Reston Hospital impressed me. Everything from the pre-op to the post-op was top notch. The only problem I had was my surgery was delayed by half an hour because an emergency patient came in and my doctor needed to assist in that situation.

BTW, parking can be hard to find at Reston Hospital. As a solution, they have free valet parking for patients. I strongly recommend using this service.

If you want to know more about Reston Hospital in detail, I wrote a lengthy report about my surgery on the Health and Wellness forum.

[alibaba1579]

Has anyone delivered babies at either of these hospitals? My friend who lives in Springfield has to choose between them (her dr. delivers at both). She's thinking Fairfax would be better just b/c it has a level one NICU, supposedly one of the best in the country. I've heard that Fair Oaks was more personal though, being so much smaller. I guess Fairfax just churns out the babies - I think they were 6th in the country for deliveries last year.

[athousandlogins]

The folks at Inova Fairfax saved my son's life. So I'm biased, but I'm a big fan. It is a huge hospital, though, and their nurses are terribly overworked, especially on the weekends.

As far as delivering babies goes, I've actually heard the most positive reviews from friends who have delivered at Arlington. If that's not an option, I'd go with Fairfax because of their excellent NICU.

[springfieldva]

I think it depends on why you are going to the hospital and what the nature of your emergency is.

Fairfax Hospital is a big and busy place. If you walk into the ER waiting area (child sick in the middle of the night, urinary tract infection, etc), you'll probably have a bit of a wait before you are seen. In situations like that, the Springfield Healthplex might be a better (and quicker) choice.

If you have a life threatening emergency (chest pain, trouble breathing, etc) and come in via ambulance the response will be much quicker. Overall, the diagnostic tools/resources/staff at Fairfax Hospital seem to be very good.

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by athousandlogins

The folks at Inova Fairfax saved my son's life. So I'm biased, but I'm a big fan. It is a huge hospital, though, and their nurses are terribly overworked, especially on the weekends.

As far as delivering babies goes, I've actually heard the most positive reviews from friends who have delivered at Arlington. If that's not an option, I'd go with Fairfax because of their excellent NICU.

This is one of the reasons I chose to deliver my babies at Fairfax Hospital. I wasn't expecting anything to go wrong during the deliveries (and nothing did) but if there was a problem I thought that Fairfax was the best place to be.

[LVMYDACH]

My neice delivered her baby at Fairfax Hospital several years ago. She travelled all the way from Prince Frederick, Maryland to deliver her baby at Fairfax Hospital because she was carrying a child that was going to need immediate NICU specialized care upon birth. Her child was a miracle baby - the staff at Fairfax Hospital NICU provided outstanding care. Today, as a special needs child, she is thriving in spite of the medical challenges she will face the rest of her life. If it had not been for the top notch doctors and staff at Fairfax Hospital, her child may have not survived.