Best Hospital for Children

My son has CHARGE Syndrome and that includes many medical issues. He sees many ped. specialists and has been to almost every lab and hospital in town. We avoided Presbyterian because 5 years ago when I moved here, BCBS didn't have a contract with them, so all Pres. doctors and hospitals were out of network. I don't know what the status is now. We also have BCBS.

There is a fantastic pediatrician at UNM Children's but he dedicates his practice to kids with disabilities. His name is Stanley Handmaker. I would recommend him to anyone with a kid with a disability. He even schedules his own appts and you get a direct line to his office. Awesome!

My other two kids have a wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Upplegger, on Montgomery near Jefferson.

I really like Lovelace Hospitals, especially the Westside Hospital. They have always been wonderful and the emergency room is quick and efficient. We've been there several times.

UNM is good. We have all our out-patient procedures done there. They can be somewhat slow so plan on taking awhile, but the nurses are great with kids.

I am sorry I can't tell you anything about Pres. I just loved Lovelace and UNM that I saw no need to go to Pres.

Good luck,
J.
www.livetotalwellness.com/janislanz
I show people how to earn money doing something they've always done for free. Let me show you know.

My son is also 16 months old and we have had two short hospital stays. UNMH childrens hospital is wonderful. The facitly is new but we have stayed in both the new and old. They provide a real bed for a parent to stay and facilities/fridge to keep food for parents. The Child Life center staff come around a couple times a day to check about toys and activites for your child, mother goose came the visiting dog came. These extra's does cost more but are availbale depending on why your child is there. IF you are nursing they provide moms with meals too. We have had no problem with the bill as we also have BCBS. When my son got sick the first time we took him to a Lovalace Ugent care and they trasfered him to UNMHCH for the best care. I just took him there to start with the next time. You are seen by a ton of docotrs as it is a teaching hospital but I find the explinations and the care great they were wonderful with my son. Hope you don' t need it but always good to be prepared. Would love to set up a play date since our sons are the same age. Please contact me.

My rule of thumb, is if it is nothing too serious then go to Presbyterian, but anything serious go to UNM, they have a lot of Dr.s and everytime I have taken either one of my kids there they have been able to tell me what was wrong within a few minutes and the Dr at presbyterian could not. I would however stay away from Upplegger, if anyone would like more details please let me know.

Hi Sara,
For our "emergency" and overnight stay last fall, UNMH was pretty good: better than acceptable. It's also good to go to the hospital where your kids' Pediatrician works, whenever possible (like, non-emergency situations), for the best "continuum of care." Then, if you have any issues, you know who to go to for help right away.

And, for goodness' sake: I strongly suggest everyone avoid the Urgent Care at Lovelace, and I can give details about why, if interested.

T

I have never been there but I have heard from many people that Presbyterian(sp) is a very good hospital. I had surgery at UNM hospital last year and had a very good experience. We also took my toddler son there last year to the ER b/c he was having trouble breathing and they were very good. Even gave him a toy to take home with him. Hope this helps.