I do not recommend Central Ohio Women's Health to anyone. They always say that one dissatisfied customer will go out and complain to 10 other customers. That is TOTALLY what I am doing.
Avoid this practice. Avoid them as if your health depends on it (no pun intended...well, maybe ;) ).
After three trials of trying to get in for simply an annual physical, they have failed to cater to my needs and make me feel welcome. Especially as a first-time patient, who needs to start building a comfortable, working relationship with their doctor.
First, I had an appointment all scheduled and set up for myself over my 4th of July shutdown. That way, it would not pull me out of work (a MAJOR no-no in Honda Land), and I could take my time and lay low after the appointment occurred.
Three days before the appointment, the doctor called because SHE had to reschedule. Unknown as to why, but I politely agreed. This meant I had to schedule something during the week around work, after all.
The only time they could squeeze me in, was on a Monday 20 minutes after my shift gets done at work. With Honda traffic and the traveling time of 40 minutes to just get to the town where this hospital was, the only way I could make it to the appointment, was if I shifted my hours to start a half hour early, leave a half hour early.
A few days before this, I speak with my supervisors, and they grumpily agree - but not without giving me a stern talking-to that it is NOT company policy to incorporate personal time off, and it is stringent that we stay for the primary facetime hours of the work day: 6 AM to 3 PM. Me leaving at 2:30 PM was causing some trouble.
I bit my tongue and took the rap, because I knew in the end I was taking time off for a legit reason: my health!
The day comes - I get out of work early, AGAIN after receiving static about adjusting time off to tend to personal needs, etc.
I have a hard time finding the place - turns out it is in a CLINIC, not a hospital. I only find this out after parking at the hospital, winding my way inside to the 4th floor, talking to some receptionist at the help desk there, who told me to rush up the street about a tenth-mile. She helpfully telephones the clinic and tells them I'm on my way. She asks if they'll still take me - at this moment, they say yes. I smile a thank you to her, as I alread have one foot down the hallway on my way to the clinic. Of course this involved me flying back down to the ground floor, out to my car, into traffic, and up the street.
Mad kudos to the entire Ohio Health website for informing me of this in any of their many 'Locations' webpages. Argh.
I arrive 15 minutes late - agreeably, something that made me cringe. I flew into the office, all out of breath, and checked in with the receptionist.
Instead of even saying, "Hi," she gives me lip service about, "having a hard time BEING on time today, aren't we?!" She purses her lips closed and looks to me for an answer.
My eyebrows shot up, surprised that she would treat me this way without knowing at ALL what kind of day I might have just had. I defend myself by quipping, "Yes I know - I even took off of work early to be here, but had a hard time finding the place. I'm sorry. Can you check me in?"
She huffs, spins around on her office wheel-y chair and says, "The doctor is VERY strict on keeping her appointments on time. I will go to the back room and ask her."
I should have seen this coming. The broomhilda receptionist comes back and says, "We're gonna have to reschedule."
My heart sinks. ALL of that running, this HUGE trip out here, JUST being told down the street at the hospital on the phone that I'd be accepted, and now, turned away. For a SECOND time. And of course tomorrow back at work, I would probably have to follow-up with my inquisitive supervisors about my doctor appointment that I made such a fuss about...and turned out to never happen. GAH!
Broomhilda and I reschedule my appointment for a THIRD time. I remember heatedly tapping my foot on the tile floor the whole time, already knowing this just didn't feel right, and that it shouldn't be this hard to just see a doctor to get checked out. I knew I was going to take my business elsewhere. A patient has a right to choose their care.
I was just too much of a chicken to lecture them and back out. We complete the rescheduling and I hustle out the door to the sanctuary of the Beetle. As soon as I sit in the driver's seat and exhale, I pick up my cell phone and call the receptionist desk, just inside the building. They answer and I shortly state that I was displeased with their service, not even having had the chance to be a first-time patient, and I wished to withdraw my medical records and take my business elsewhere.
The receptionist did not apologize and did not even try to retain my business. She just canceled that appointment, and let me go.
Just to add insult to injury, I ended up having to go alllll the way back out there last week to sign a release form for them to send my medical records to my NEW hospital - one that already has proven to be much more approachable.
Why couldn't they just fax/email it to me?? We're almost in the year 2010, COME ON! You're going to make me haul out there one last time to sign a little piece of paper? And after that, I have to trust you'll accurately send my records off to the new place?? GAH again!
I know I'm on my soap box here, and I know the sky is not falling just because I had to schedule an appointment three different times. It's just flabbergasting to me that so many annoyances could stack up in this encounter.
It's enough for me to walk away and never look back.
Ask my dad. He told me he thought he had to grab a spatula and scrape the melted plastic from his work phone off of his desk after he got off a call with me after all of this!! I was HEATED and vented to none other. :-)
Now, I'm actually excited to get to my new doctor and hospital (next week)! It's at the Dublin Methodist Hospital - I have been very impressed with it. It's closer to my town. It is a new building, with a lot of money and research stuck into it, and friendly staff with plush facilities. I visited a friend there when she had her baby and remembered walking down the corridors mouthing, "WOW!" to myself as I was exploring and looking around. I secretly wished to be taken there if anything ever happened to me and I needed help. I felt comfortable there.
So now, I'm pleased to say I am a new family member to the Dublin hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment