I didn't want to Yelp this place. I didn't want anyone I knew to see this. But I've realized that it's not my fault. People should know. This is my responsibility.
We picked CWCC because of it's reputation as THE best. So I guess we looked past the over-pretentious waiting room, ridiculously long wait times, and overall feeling of being just another patient. I wish I'd picked up on it sooner.
I chose this office after finding out I was pregnant. We were a cash patient as I had no insurance at the time. We were assigned to Doctor Beard and she was a pleasure to work with. This review has no bearing on her personally, and I really want to stress that. She was very sweet, and an all around pleasure. Her PA was also amazing although she is no longer with the practice due to a relocation.
However, towards the end of my pregnancy, things were misconstrued with the billing department and I started receiving alarming phone calls about very large bills being due that were completely untrue. I was told that the doctor would simply not do the delivery if it wasnt' taken care of. We had to schedule a SEPARATE APPOINTMENT with the billing manager to try to straighten it out. I've worked in medical offices before and insurance stuff can be confusing, but we were paying CASH. It is not that hard. At all. It wound up being a string of miscommunications between staff members.
That's the small stuff though.
I went into labor on Memorial Day. Being a holiday, I was assigned to the Doctor on call, Dr. Hardwick-Smith. I labored for hours in the ER until she responded to her page so I could be admitted. I went in the early morning/afternoon and that night I received an epidural. Shortly after, I received a call from Dr. HS that she was on her way to perform and emergency C-section. I went into immediate panic as there was no sign pointing to needing such a thing, it was completely confusing.
She marched into my room without so much as introducing herself and proclaiming that we needed to go into surgery immediately. I was so upset, and with an oxygen mask at the time, that my fiance was doing most of the talking. She had the audacity to imply that he was speaking "for" me and taking over. When I questioned her on her intentions, rather than being rational, she proceeded to tell me that I was being selfish and going to cause my child brain damage if I did not immediately acquiesce. She also made it a point to let me know she had rushed in ASAP to respond without even so much as putting on makeup. I'm sorry, but I don't at all care about your eyeliner, and isn't that kind of what you signed up for, being a doctor and all? We asked for a moment to discuss everything, which was severely frowned upon. I had done my research, and I knew about the pressure put on women to have unnecessary C-sections so I wanted to be sure. We declined the surgery, to much disagreement.
The next morning, she delivered my son without any emergency surgery needed.. In my gut, I knew the C-section was unnecessary. She will, I know, say I am "lucky", but that is not so. Had I known as much as I do now, I would have opted for a completely different birth plan.
I never saw Dr. Hardwick-Smith again. She disappeared and I guess didn't care or was too angry with us to check in. Oh, but the doctor we needed to come by and discharge us? No worries, she was only like 10 hours late and someone we never met before. NBD. My followup appointment after delivery? A physicians assistant and none of my delivery issues ever even addressed. But you're welcome for the 3K (Oh! But I did receive an email after my Citysearch review asking me to reconsider the one star rating).
I get it, we didn't agree and there is the issue of liability, but she was just so very, very nasty. I didn't feel like a person who mattered, just another patient to be delivered.
Honestly, the whole entire experience has kept me from entertaining the idea of being pregnant and delivering again, and THAT is the reason I chose to write this review. For shame, Dr. HS.
Don't be fooled by the pictures of the doctors holding up the babies they just delivered and boutique photos in the waiting room. If you desire a true personal experience, go elsewhere. read more