"My surgeon's office is in the same building as the hospital.
The pre-check in was interesting. One goes to a kiosk in the lobby, signs in and goes through the process.
On the morning of surgery I was shown to a small private room (not a curtained off area) where I met all of the surgical staff that would be attending me during surgery. At some point I was given a few minutes of privacy to get into a surgical gown. Then I was given a "special cocktail" in my IV.
The recovery room is a bit of a blur but I do remember seeing my sister-in-law and my priest.
All rooms at VHC are private. There is a dry-erase board in each room where the name of nurse on duty is listed, the times for pain meds are posted and daily objectives for the patient are shown. The entire staff was very attentive and I noted that EVERYONE washed their hands before they left my room.
Checkout was a breeze. It was done in my room and then I was wheeled out to my waiting ride home.
The only down side was that in the two days I was on the floor do one offered me a washcloth for my face or a toothbrush or other "personal hygiene" option.
Overall: an excellent hospital and staff. "
"Dr. Salameh was very careful to make sure that I understood all of the ramifications of my upcoming surgery. It was kind of weird to discuss the fact that there was a small chance of death, a small chance of leakage and a small chance of having to convert from laproscopic to open surgery.
All of my pre-op questions were answered before I even asked them.
Post-surgery: Dr. Salameh talked with my sister-in-law (my health advocate) and explained how everything went to her. I saw my doctor within 24 hours of surgery and he reviewed everything with me.
I would (and will) recommend him to anyone in the DC area considering yhis type of surgery."
