Mary Bridge Children's Hospital & Health Center

My son has had problems with breathing since he was six months old I took him to urgent care last week and the urgent care doctor barely gave him an exam I took into Mary Bridge two days later because I knew that he wasn't right on to find out that he had pneumonia. I have never felt more at ease than with the team of doctors that they sent to me for my son. The doctors trusted me when I said that I knew the air infection my son had wasn't causing what his symptoms were so they ordered tests and they found out what was wrong with him. Had I not come to Mary Bridge I don't know what would've happened to my son. The IPS team helped me so much and I'm so grateful. If your kids are sick Mary Bridge is the place to go. more

My kids are, unfortunately, no strangers to ERs and hospital stays. They have breathing issues (Reactive Airway Distress) with colds and bronchitis. So when my youngest son had another flare up in 2005 (it happens once per year, like clockwork, right after Thanksgiving and before Christmas), I took him to the Mary Bridge ER in the middle of the night. We had to wait a while with his breathing being pretty harsh, which we never had to wait that long up at Children's Hospital in Seattle or Valley Medical Center in Renton. So I thought that was pretty stressful, but it all worked out fine. They admitted him upstairs, where they were quite full with RSV patients. The staff was terrific to my son and my family, so I really appreciated the homey feel versus the over-medicalized feel at others (like Valley). They sent specialists in and worked with us, gave us treatments that were never recommended to us before, and set us up with appointments with really awesome local specialists (ENT and Pulmonology). I SO appreciated the extra mile they went to for us to get us on track and the very detailed instructions as to what to do. They even called the American Lung Association to have them do a free environmental assessment for my home! Even a hearing and speech test for my little guy was set up for us. Children's, Valley and Swedish combined didn't give us these steps to take to help my son, after all the years and visits there. I am SOOOOO thankful for Mary Bridge!!! They really cared about his welfare, his future, his education (speech and hearing can have a profound effect if not caught early), and most of all, our status as a divorced family who lives a distance apart from each other, etc. My son is so much healthier now because they referred us to the right people and gave us the consistent, right help for his particular malady. Only wish I had known it sooner, and as a parent, I wish someone would have told me these things to do way before this. GREAT CARE! Oh, and they are really close, easy to get to and free parking! more

Even if you have to pass a regular hospital on the way, Mary Bridge is where you need to go if your kid is sick enough to need a visit to the Emergency Room. Since it's a children's hospital, they are well-accustomed to the special problems and issues of children. You will ALWAYS be treated by a pediatrician. The only down side is that it shares a waiting room with Tacoma General and the layout of the E.R. can be kind of confusing -- just walk in and ask and you'll get good directions. The E.R. is located at the back side of the hospital and there are good directions to get to it. more