Thank you, denali, for yet more useful information. On another note: I'm sorry to hear about your family situation. I hope things improve quickly and you can return home soon.
Just found this forum, so it is a little late for my comment, but I hope you went with Brass Beds of Virginia. I recently went through the trying to choose the right bed (I wanted a specific style) and I found it on Brass Beds of Virginia. I choose the "welded" bed category bed model 315. I love the "hospital bed" look and this fit the bill perfectly. I chose one of the white colors, and they painted the entire bed including the frame. I did want an iron bed (I like #160) which I plan to buy somewhere down the road. What convinced me mostly was the heavy duty angle steel they use in their frame, and the quality of their metals..iron, brass etc.
They actually answer the phone when directly when you call them and will go over any concerns and give you options if you want custom features for the bed. I do not have a store that sells them in my area, so they arranged the delivery, and it went very smoothly.