The real faces behind the medical statistics plaguing our area
By Eileen Metheny Carlton / Photography by Jonathan Timmes
The Hospitals
A survey of five hospitals in the Northern Virginia area reflects a medical microcosm of the nation. The hospitals were Inova Fairfax, Inova Loudoun, Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Fauquier Hospital (a Planetree affiliate) in Warrenton and Potomac Hospital Corporation of Prince William in Woodbridge. The hospitals were asked to break down their most common ailments into three categories: men, women and children. No two hospitals’ lists were exactly the same, but there were some commonalities, as well as some surprises.
MEN
• Septicemia or virulent bacteria in the bloodstream { Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Arlington }
• Esophagitis and gastrointestinal disorders { Loudoun, Arlington and Fauquier }
• Heart ailments (treatments required anything from inserting a stent or tube to hold the artery open during diagnosis and repair to a bypass, to a PTCA or angioplasty) { Fairfax and Arlington }
• Psychoses (organic brain disorders such as delirium, mania, drugs and alcohol poisoning and schizophrenia) { Fairfax and Loudoun }
• Cellulitis, a skin infection caused by bacteria { Fauquier and Loudoun }
• Major joint replacements { Fauquier and Loudoun }
• Alcohol and drug dependency rehabilitation { Loudoun and Arlington }
• Strokes { Fairfax }
• Open wounds, head injuries and syncope (fainting) and collapse { Arlington }
WOMEN
• Uterine problems { all hospitals }
• Antepartum (during pregnancy) problems including depression, preterm labor, premature rupture of the membrane, pregnancy-induced hypertension, bleeding and diabetes { Fairfax and Loudoun }
• Esophagitis and gastrointestinal disorders { Loudoun, Arlington and Fauquier }
• Major joint replacements { Fairfax, Arlington and Fauquier }
• Psychoses and septicemia { Fairfax and Loudoun }
• Chest pain, syncope, collapse and headaches { Arlington }
CHILDREN
• Bronchitis and asthma { all hospitals }
• Pneumonia (simple pneumonia, an inflammation of the alveoli inside the lungs, as well as pleural pneumonia, an infection of the body cavity that surrounds the lungs) { all hospitals }
• Esophageal and gastric digestive disorders { Fairfax and Fauquier }
• Nutritional disorders { Loudoun, Arlington and Fauquier }
• Earaches and upper respiratory infections { Arlington }
• Kidney and urinary tract infections { Loudoun }
• Orthopedic and cardiac problems { Fauquier }
• Chemotherapy { Fairfax }
• Head injuries { Arlington }
• Treatment of newborns { Arlington and Potomac }
{ part one: Reconstruction Era }
Vertebral Construction
Joint Procedures
{ part two }
Internal Affairs
{ part three }
The Next Generation
Building Life
