I am absolutely appalled at the overt lack of care and concern demonstrated by this practice, and…read moreany parent currently using, or considering treatment at Ellenton Pediatrics should be aware. My son has been treating here and only here since he was born almost 8 years ago, and has been seen routinely every three months for the last 2 years as outlined in his ADHD treatment plan. When I called this morning to schedule, I was told that my son had been expelled from the practice due to consecutive missed appointments. I explained that this must be a mistake, and that in 8 years, I have missed one appointment without notice, which was due to a family emergency. I have never been notified of any missed appointments, nor have I been charged the $25 No-Show fee, outside of the once prior incident, years ago. I was then transferred to another staff member who rattled off three dates which were apparently listed as No-Show appointments, explained that a certified letter had been mailed to an address we are not associated with, which of course was never received by my family, and that my son was expelled from the practice in September. Blindsided, I again explained that this absolutely was a mistake. The staff member was unwilling to even hear my perspective. I then asked to speak to or have a call from a provider. I was then told that not only would a provider not be willing to speak to me, but that because my son was expelled in September, the practice was only responsible for my son through the month of October, and it now being November, they have no obligation to my son or his continuation of treatment for his ADHD medication. In shock, I explained that trying to schedule a new patient appointment with another pediatrician, especially right before a holiday, and establishing a treatment program elsewhere before he runs out of medication would be impossible. The staff member's response, verbatim, was "well, we did our part."
Conveniently, this comes off the heels of a frustrating conversation with another staff member about 2 weeks ago. There are ADHD medication shortages with many pharmacies. After being told from three different pharmacies that the prescribed medication was not available or on back order, I called the practice to try to see or speak to a provider to discuss alternatives. At that time, as was repeated to me this morning, that a provider would not be willing to speak to me and that I just needed to "give them a call when I get it figured out." I had never been spoken to in that manner in my many years working in healthcare, or especially as a patient or guardian of a patient. Because of the medication shortages, I have record of 6 different phones calls to the practice, trying to use a different pharmacy or find a solution, all in the second half of October. I finally found a pharmacy that could fill the prescription, and it was filled on October 31, 2023. In all those phone calls to the practice, not once was I informed that we had been expelled from the practice, that we had ever missed an appointment, or that the very day following the medication renewal, the practice would no longer be responsible or even willing to continue his treatment program.
The practice has been put on notice that I was never made aware of their intent to expel us from the practice, they have been made aware that my son will now go without medication that is necessary for his daily function and education, and refuses to even make an exception in refilling his medication one time to allow us time to develop a treatment plan elsewhere. These procedures are dangerous to innocent children whose lives and education depend on medication. It is negligent, irresponsible and an example of Patient Abandonment. The "no-show" dates they provided me, can only be the result of medical record manipulation. The disregard for a patient they have treated since birth, the disrespect for a parent concerned about their son, dismissive tones from staff and the unwillingness of the doctors to even speak to a concerned parent is an absolute shame. Take the care of your child elsewhere.
