Suburban Hospital
Suburban Hospital’s emergency department cares for 45,000 patients a year, and every so often, Dr. Barton Leonard runs into one he has known for years.
“I really think that’s why I like Suburban so much. I grew up here and definitely consider myself a hometown doc. I love caring for the community that I grew up in,” says Leonard, director of the Bethesda hospital’s emergency department and a 1987 graduate of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.
Leonard, who has worked at Suburban for more than 13 years, says the hospital offers several services that make it stand out from competitors. The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems designated Suburban as Montgomery County’s only Level II trauma center, which means surgeons and anesthesiologists are on call 24 hours a day.
The Suburban emergency department, a four-time “Best of Bethesda” winner, is also a Cardiac Interventional Center, which means it’s specially equipped to diagnose and treat heart attacks caused by sudden, total blockage of a coronary artery.
Suburban offers the first certified stroke center in the area and works closely with doctors at the nearby National Institutes of Health (NIH) to treat patients. “We work hand-in-hand with the NIH stroke team,” Leonard says. “They allow us to give world-class care to stroke patients.”
8600 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, 301-896-3100, www.suburbanhospital.org
