Inova Heart and Vascular Institute

A family member recently had cardiac bypass surgery performed here, and so my review is from his words and experience, as well as my own time visiting the hospital.
Pros:
— The surgery was a success. No complications, no issues.
— So many of the nurses and doctors are so friendly and caring. One of the pre-​operation nurses remembered my name days after the prepped my family member for his surgery. Other nurses took the time to listen to concerns we had, especially nurses in the ICU.
— The hospital itself is very nice and well kept. It never smelled bad or strange and was always clean. That sounds like a weird thing to say about a hospital, but honestly, this place is really nice. It was almost like being in a hotel and not in a hospital.
Cons:
— Post surgery, as we waited to hear how the operation went, the little buzzer they gave us when we were ready to consult with the surgeon never went off. We literally waited around for an extra 90 minutes to find out whether he was alive or not!
— When you are a patient in the hospital, it’s the little things that count. Like, my family member complained that the knots tied on the back of his gown dug into his back all night as he laid in bed, and no nurses helped him shift or remove the knots. Also, some nurses are more «rough» than others when drawing blood, checking IVs, etc. These subtle variations do make a difference to patients.
— The food, as my family member described, was horrendous. He literally couldn’t eat any of the food he was served for 5 days, with the exception of broth and cereal. Eggs, sandwiches, salads, roast turkey– all were inedible for him.
— He got very little rest while in ICU, even at night. Someone was constantly waking him up by drawing the curtain loudly, and it interfered with his recovery process.
— One scary night, he found himself short of breath and laboring for air. His nurse literally did not know what to do. They had to consult with others before they chose to place him on a higher level of oxygen. It’s kind of scary to think that this nurse didn’t know just to give him more oxygen!
Overall, I think this was the best place for his surgery. Although never really pleasant, this hospital stay and visit was probably as good as it gets.

Help ! Got here Monday 5÷18÷15. Tried to do balloon or stent in leg, no go. Tuesday ⁵⁄₁₉ had a bypass done. Cut from ankle to above groin 1 slice all staples, looks like great work but I can’t walk, pain is out of this world, Now they cut my pain meds and want to send me home ??? I have no insurance so I guerss that’s why. But I can’t walk ???

I recently had a Cardiac Catheterization — which was performed by my Cardiologist Dr. Preston Perrin of Carient Heart & Vascular — at the Inova Heart & Vascular Institute at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
I was a little stressed about the procedure, but Dr. Perrin was awesome, and he and the medical staff that assisted him, as well as those that took care of me pre and post procedure were professional, thoughtful, caring folks.
I had to spend the night for observation and then was discharged the following morning.
There are a few things I will ding Inova Heart & Vascular Institute about, but I am not going to dock them any stars because the Doctors, Nurses, and staff were fantastic — and the issues I am about to raise have nothing to do with their performance.
(1) The room I stayed overnight in was way to warm. I asked about cooling the room off. The Nurses contacted Engineering several times — but to no avail. I found it very hard to get any sleep in such a warm room. Afterward the next morning, I found out from one of the Nurses that this has been an ongoing issue with the HVAC system — at least in their department — since all of the construction and renovations have started at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Please, please, please Fairfax Hospital — if you are listening, fix this problem — and consider providing temp. controls for each room! It’s really hard to get healing restful sleep when it’s to warm!
(2) Hospital Bed — the bed was to short. I used the controls to elevate the bed a bit so I could sit up — and my feet were jammed against the footboard on the bed, I had to stick my feet through holes in the footboard in order to stretch out — which also made it hard to sleep.
(3) Food. While staying here overnight — I did not have an option for specifying what I wanted to eat. A hotbox was close by — with a bunch of pre-​made plates with tilapia and rice — who knows how long it had been sitting there. The special diet I am on precludes me from eating carbs — such as rice. So I was given a very spartan salad: Romaine lettuce, two slices of tomato and a few slices of chicken, and the most disgusting salad dressing I’ve ever tasted.
Fortunately, my Nurse took pity on me and made a call and got me some no-​name brand of Ranch dressing. I was famished after going all day with no food. So a tiny salad was not going to cut it. She went beyond the call of duty and bless her heart she procured me a grilled chicken breast and some steamed green beans. The next morning, I could not eat the default breakfast they provided due to the potatoes in it (more carbs) — so she got me some scrambled eggs and turkey sausage — which I am allowed to have. It did not taste so great, but I appreciated the effort!
(4) TVs. This may sound trivial, but when you are in the hospital, there is not much to do. They have these tiny, flat panel TVs mounted on the wall — it’s hard to really see anything. With flat panel HD TVs so cheap these days — there really is no excuse! They need to rip these micro flat panels out and replace them with at least 40 inch HD TVs.
In the end, I got about 3 hours sleep overnight due to the room temp and bed issues. And I had a tiny TV I could barely see to try and occupy me the rest of the night when I could not sleep.
In summary, fantastic Doctors, staff, nurses, and medical facility. Patient care rooms and conditions — not so much, leaves much to be desired!