Hershey vs. Pinnacle

marianatorrente

Hi everyone,

 

I'm 10 weeks pregnant and  trying to decide if I want to switch over to Woodward and Associates (with the subsequent delivery at Harrisburg's Pinnacle) or if I want to keep going to Hershey's Women's Health. I've going to Hershey for a couple of years for my gyn care, and though I have no issues with the docs and residents, I've having some issues with some of the nurses, the difficulty in getting appointments/talking to the doctors and the lack of "personal" relationship. I've dealt with a few other specialties in Hershey and I'm sad to say OB-GYN is the only one I've been unhappy with so far. Has anybody had their prenatal care at Woodward? Is it any better/more personal? How is it delivering at Pinnacle? Thank you so much for any help! 

ntnylizard

Both of my sister-in-laws go to Woodward and love them.  And one of those SIL and a good friend of mine had fantastic labor experiences at Harrisburg.

I'm partial to Hershey, but I have a good relationship with my CRNP (OBGYN).  With Hershey you never know who will be there when you deliver (there's like a 1-in-14 chance it will be your doc or one of the docs you've seen for prenatals), but the person who showed up for the last few hours of the experience didn't make a hoot of a difference for me.  I figure they're all experts in delivery, so it really didn't matter if the people I'd seen through the prenatal experience were the ones who delivered the baby or not.

marianatorrente

Thank you for sharing!!!! I'm also somewhat partial to Hershey because we're very familiar with the hospital (the hubby goes to school there), but I'm VERY turned off by the way the ob people handle your concerns on the phone? It's my first pregnancy so I'm very paranoid about everything! and I've bleeding so that doesn't help! 

 I'm expecting to have a scheduled Cesarean due to other medical issues, so hopefully I'll be able to know ahead of time who will be delivering my baby! I Thus I'm definitely more concerned about the prenatal care experience than the actual delivery itself. I'm gonna try Woodward and see how it feels and make a decision then?Thank you again for your help!!

phillyfan929

There's also a chance with Woodward that the person who delivers may not be one of the docs you saw for your regular visits- they 'partner' with another group, I think it's Women First but I can't remember off the top of my head. It depends who is on-call at that time. 

I haven't heard anything negative about Pinnacle but I only know of my SIL who delivered there.  

spunkielexis196

I delivered at Hershey, had a C-section and the nurses at L&D were wonderful.  They were professional, answering any and all questions I had.  My DS was in the NICU for 11 days and they kept me apprised when I couldn't get out of bed for the first 24 hours. 

 

I have no experience with Pinnacle so I cannot give any advice on that. The nurse at Women's Health were always wonderful.  Sometimes the office staff when you call in seem dismissive, but please know usually you not talking to nurses unless they call you back.  I had 2 miscarriages and both times went to Hershey and they were so helpful. 

 

We had a bad experience with Dr. Ambrose at Hershey, that he was awful and I to the nurses that I absolutely refused to have him deliver my son, I was told that if I was dead set against a certain doctor they always have more than one on call, luckily, he was not on when I delivered, Dr. Botti was and I cannot say enough positive things about him.

kelsgreeneyes

I went to Woodwards for my pregnancy.  I LOVED THEM!  There is a chance that you will deliver with a doctor from a practice that they share on call times with.  I met several of the doctors from the other practice while I was in for my first induction (for low fluids) and they were all super nice and answered any questions I had.  They took as much time as they needed with me. All the doctors from my practice were willing to explain and take time with me as well. 

The hospital staff was also great.  I did have one nurse during labor and delivery that I wasn't fond of.  But she looked to be about 8 months pregnant and very uncomfortable.  So I gave her the benefit of the doubt- I knew how she felt.  Nurses on the postpartum floor were very good as well.  I was sooo hungry after moving to that floor (hadn't eaten in 24+ hours) and the cheeseburger that was waiting for me wasn't going to cut it.  My MIL ordered a pizza and they allowed her back in after visiting hours to deliver our food and eat with us.  

psuash7

I had a not so good time with Pinnacle.  I LOVE Woodward, but had a terrible experience with the hospital staff.  I have heard that it may have been partially due to having DD on a Friday and gettign weekend staff that aren't as good.  At this point I would rather deliver at Hershey but since Woodward only works with Pinnacle, my only option would be to leave Woodward.  However, I have been going to them for 12 years and 2 of my BFF"s mothers work there so it's like family, and I would never leave my family!  However, I do fully intend to utilize a doula next time around to make sure my needs are baing met etc.  Also, I had a C-section and my plan is to avoid the weekend and schedule the next one at the beginning of the week.  So we will see....