OnSite Medical Access Program Offers Personalized Service

Vacation plans to the Nation’s Capital included visits to the monuments, tours of the museums and sightseeing around the city. What was not planned was the illness of one of the family members, after traveling hundreds of miles across the country, developing an illness which almost landed them hours spent in an emergency room. Instead, they called OnSite Medical Access and a GW physician promptly responded to the call for help with a personal trip to the visiting tourists’ hotel room, conducted an exam, prescribed the appropriate treatment and, within hours, the healing had begun and the family was able to continue to enjoy its much-anticipated vacation.

Affiliated with the GW Medical Faculty Associates Department of Emergency Medicine, OnSite Medical Access is a unique program which provides services of local certified GW physicians to hotel guests, corporate events, offices and nationally recognized entertainers visiting the District, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “The physicians on call are the same physicians who work in our Emergency Department,” says Jim Marinucci, marketing director of the program.

Through the OnSite Medical Access program, physicians conveniently treat the same non-life-threatening illnesses for which patients would otherwise seek treatment in a doctor’s office or emergency room. They conduct comprehensive exams and will diagnose conditions in the comfort of the patient’s office or hotel room. If necessary, the emergency medicine specialists help the patient get to the nearest emergency room and coordinate their care.

“The program transforms urgent care services to onsite care,” says Neal Sikka, MD, GME ’03, “and offers additional options for healthcare services while helping to de-compress the strain on the emergency rooms.” Dr. Sikka is co-coordinator of the program along with Chris Lang, MD, GME ’05. “Our physicians are board-certified emergency physicians who can handle anything from pediatrics to geriatrics.”

“We have adopted an ‘old school’ approach of house calls with an innovative way to provide medical services to those visiting our city. When people have 48 hours or any limited amount of time to spend in DC, they don’t want to spend that time waiting for medical care and treatment.” 

The group has averaged between 100 and 200 calls each month, traveling from Dulles to Silver Spring , in addition to service within the District. They are looking at relationships with additional hotels as well as with tour groups who bring tens of thousands of tourists to the city annually. Information about the OnSite Medical Access program is available by calling 202-741-3911 or emailing gwonsite@mfa.gwu.edu or www.gwonsite.com.