How can I create a list of hospitals along a driving route?

August 8, 2013 12:32 PM

I need to create a printable list of the best hospitals within reason along the route between Charlotte, NC and Detroit. Are there any tools/services that can help me to do this? Snowflake details inside.

A family member needs to get from Charlotte to Detroit, due to a sudden and unexpected family emergency.

Caveat: She's pregnant, and due in a little over two weeks. She's been in touch with her doctor, and the doctor thinks that the trip can be made safely, as long as a few precautions are taken. One such precaution includes compiling a list of hospitals along the route... just in case.

Ideally, we'd love to be able to weed out small rural hospitals, and unrelated businesses with "hospital" in the name, and only include regional medical centers.

Adding mile markers alongside the list would also be super-helpful. They've got access to smartphones and an offline GPS, but we want to be able to create a quick reference that says "If labor starts HERE, go HERE."

Many thanks in advance.

posted by schmod to Travel & Transportation (16 answers total)

Not exactly what you're looking for, but US Hospital Finder may help you to do this manually, if you can identify the cities she'll be driving through.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:44 PM on August 8, 2013

I'd approach this twofold - first, I'd create a driving map in Google Maps that includes stops in major towns. Then I'd copy the map (not familar enough to know how) and add in 'stops' at all hospitals along that route every couple of hours travelling time - as if you were travelling from hospital to hospital. Spend some time on the web ferreting out sizes of hospitals - just call them or the ask-a-nurse line if one, and explain that your family member will be travelling pregnant, are they able to handle it.

Takes a little look work and finger work, but will be buildable, I think, given a couple of hours.

Good luck.
posted by tilde at 12:52 PM on August 8, 2013

I wonder if this is the sort of thing AAA could help with? For decades whenever my parents traveled by car, they never left without going to the AAA office and getting a TripTych and TourBooks. Travel counselors would put ink stamps along the route indicating construction delays, attractions, hotels & restaurants. I bet they would know where all the hospitals were along a given route.

I don't know if she's a member or interested in becoming one, but as a longtime long-distance driver, I'd never be without it.

Here's the link to AAA Carolinas to find your local club and inquire about services.
posted by toodleydoodley at 12:58 PM on August 8, 2013 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Again, not an exact match, but to ID the largest hospitals with 24 hr access to specialists, you want a level I or II trauma center. This is a flash map maker but you can export information. I'd suggest changing overlays to Trauma I, II, and Pediatric for the best coverage, transport to 'none' to start, and under tools you can define resources in a custom area. This should limit you to larger hospitals at first, but you can expand it and fill in the gaps as needed.
posted by cobaltnine at 1:00 PM on August 8, 2013 [6 favorites]

Any hospital with an ER is legally required to have an OB/GYN department (not urgent care, but a real emergency department). I do not say this to harsh the great ideas here but it may be a good fact to tuck into the travelers' heads, in case an issue arises and they are distant from the best places you have already identified.
posted by holyrood at 1:18 PM on August 8, 2013

Does the car have a GPS? Both the in-dash GPS (in my car) and the aftermarket one (in our van) have a Emergency button that can direct you to the closest hospital, police or fire department.
posted by jquinby at 1:24 PM on August 8, 2013

Ah - looks like you can do this with (the old) Google Maps, too.
posted by jquinby at 1:35 PM on August 8, 2013

As an aside, I'd *definitely* focus on the hospitals with schanzy trauma centers. The whole *point* of giving birth in a hospital is ready access to OB surgeons and whatnot should the need unexpectedly arise.
posted by colin_l at 1:57 PM on August 8, 2013

If you want to focus on a hospital that is specifically great for giving birth etc, look for a level II or level III NICU rather than a trauma center, or the presence of an integrated birth center.
posted by KathrynT at 2:00 PM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

Make sure it is on paper and not trapped in some piece of electronics that will surely fail the moment it is needed.

What I'd do is buy a cheap atlas or state roadmaps for each state, and just mark the locations of the hospitals right on the paper. Then use a compass and online driving directions to figure out where the cutoff points are. (Based on time, not miles. How much time would it take to drive on to the next location, or drive to the next exit and backtrack to the previous one?

Or, print out maps with each hospital, and put them in a binder in order of geographic occurrence.
posted by gjc at 3:12 PM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

She might want to check in with her insurance company to see which hospitals en-route are in-network, if any. That might make the difference between a $1500 copay and a $30,000 bill.
posted by charmcityblues at 3:38 PM on August 8, 2013 [4 favorites]

Minor point: You don't need a trauma center for good maternity care. Hospitals tend to specialize and a well-regarded maternity hospital is not always a trauma center - I'm not sure you'd find much correlation except size. Birth is very different from trauma and a trauma surgeon, although they could undoubtedly pull off a cesarean if the need arose, will not be providing any maternity care to your family member.

Likewise a pediatric hospital may not provide maternity care at all.
posted by latkes at 5:46 PM on August 8, 2013

I know there's no need for a trauma center per-se, but the Level II and up centers are required to have Ob-gyn specialist surgeons on board, which is absolutely a 'worst case scenario' standpoint but that seems to fit the needs of 'backup hospital while on the road' better than 'a wonderful birthing center'. There may need to be some filling-in of smaller hospitals, which would require more research to find the more maternity-focused ones, depending on the driving route being taken.
posted by cobaltnine at 6:57 PM on August 8, 2013

Note: the comment above that says any hospital with an ER is legally required to have an OB/GYN department is incorrect. Many small hospitals have an emergency department but do not provide OB services. They would be much better than delivering alone, but not what the asker is looking for.
posted by Snerd at 7:55 PM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yes, i am partially wrong. According to federal law the licensing of emergency departments is done on the state level. Still, in California and Michigan, the two states in which i have lived, this is the law for licensing ERs. I have no idea for the other states.
posted by holyrood at 8:35 PM on August 8, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks, folks. cobaltnine's map was pretty much perfect for what we needed.
posted by schmod at 9:21 AM on August 9, 2013