Not one to go online and complain about small details but I had an idea things may not go as smoothly with my colonoscopy when my initial office consultation had me waiting for an hour and a half. Seems they just "overbooked" for the day.
Dr. Ellis was apologetic when I explained that my time was every bit as valuable as his. Being a business owner for over 20 years in the area I too am always in a time crunch and expressed my disappointment at waiting so long for a 10 minute consult. I felt like a number and that my time was not appreciated. Things happen and I took it in stride knowing it was just an office visit to discuss my upcoming procedure. What happened next was not only disappointing but a gross disrespect for my time and the time of my family who had no idea what was happening as the situation unfolded.
The day of my procedure I was Dr. Ellis' first patient and therefore was at the location for my procedure at 5:00 AM. I had prepped for the prior 24 hours and was ready to get this out of the way, not to mention anxious. When I was wheeled into the area where my colonoscopy was to take place they told me Dr. Ellis would be in soon. My procedure was to take place at 6:00 AM and when Dr. Ellis was not there and they had begun to sedate me I started to worry. Here they are putting a sedative in my I.V. and assuming the Dr. would be in at any moment. 6:30... no Dr. Ellis, no phone call and staff said the could not reach him on his phone. 7:00, no Dr. Ellis, no contact. At this point I am worried that something has happened to him as even his staff cannot find him. My family is calling thinking I am and should be out of the procedure and all they can say is things have been delayed. I am lying in a smock with three staff members around me, partially sedated and we are still waiting. 7:30... No Dr. Ellis and we are now faced with having to possibly postpone because no one can find the Dr. When they do find Dr. Ellis he is still half an hour out.
When Dr. Ellis I arrived I was naturally curious if everything was okay and he said "my office booked me at the wrong location and I had two procedures booked at the same time, different locations" Is Dr. Ellis for real? Is it even possible to have such gross oversight and lack of organization to have a patient sitting in the procedure room for two hours while he waits on you to arrive, only to find out his office made a mistake? WHAT? Seriously?
I believe he blamed his office when in fact Dr. Ellis did not find himself on the right side of the alarm clock or something happened that he was not willing to own up to. There is no way with staff calling him over and over, cell phone, office phone, home phone, that he did not know of a pending procedure at his Wyoming Springs location. This is gross misconduct if you ask me. I cant' imagine this happening to anyone else but the initial office visit for consultation now speaks volumes about Dr. Ellis' commitment to the patient. "Don't blame your staff Dr. Ellis, take ownership of the situation that you created". After the fact not so much as a phone call or an apology.
Things happen, life is full of twists and turns, but I cannot recommend Dr. Ellis and would ask that anyone considering his services thinks long and hard before signing on the dotted line. There are plenty of great doctors out there and I believe your time would be respected if you went elsewhere with your business. What happened to me was not right and people should know about it.
In defense of the staff at the Wyoming Springs location. They were nothing but professional, kind, and in the end could offer nothing but "he's not answering his phone" for nearly two hours while I lay there waiting on him to arrive for a procedure that takes less than half an hour. My only advise to Dr. Ellis before the put me under was "please don't be in a hurry".
Signed: "Disappointed in Round Rock" read more