Dr. Joykutti came very highly recommended to me by coworkers and a fellow healthcare professional…read moreof hers.
Unfortunately, I experienced the following horrific experiences with the Park Lane OB staff AND emergency answering service, that I will be seeking care elsewhere.
I first attempted to make a new patient appointment here in Jan via the patient portal, it confirmed the earliest I could go was JULY. SIX MONTHS OUT. The portal confirmed my appointment but a week prior to my appointment, I hadn't received any sort of instructions or confirmation, I call the office for the lay of land and THEY DO NOT HAVE AN APPT under my name but go as far as to condescend that they do not accept new patient appointments online. Um ok, maybe my bad? I try again, earliest appointment FEBRUARY 2024. Now I'm thinking, ok so that tracks with the first appointment, maybe I'm not insane. I do express to the front desk that my spouse and I have diligently TTC and haven't had success and would like to see a doc soon and would like to come in as soon as possible. She tells me to repeatedly call to see if there are cancellations. (????) No offering to get lab work, no waitlist...? Okay. Fine. Now we're officially on the calendar. Side note: never received any email confirmation.
Fast forward a few weeks, I get a positive pregnancy tests, I call to see if I can get my appointment pulled up. Series of questions on timing etc etc, 30 minutes on hold and I get a 'the nurse will be in touch to schedule you, we don't do that'. Click. Again, no offered lab work for a blood confirmation pregnancy test. After a week of no one reaching out, I call back. 'Oh, you have an appointment 11/9, the nurse called you.' They most certainly did not, I removed my 'silence unknown callers' option and everything. I expressed as much, the response 'Well the app would have notified you.' WHAT MOTHER EFFING APP??? I say 'fine, I'll take the appointment' even though I will need to move three mtgs for this appointment the phantom app confirmed for me. Not 5 minutes later, the nurse calls me back, asks me to confirm the appointment. I express my concern at waiting so long before my first appointment. She replies this is totally normal. Hangs up.
Fine. We're on the schedule, if I'm that nervous, I'll get lab work done at my old OBs office that fell out of my insurance network.
A couple weeks go by and I'm bleeding. Out of nowhere. Sheer panic. Knowing the service level I'll get out of Park Lane OB, I try google (information range is wide and frightening), I try the TeleDoc (they don't take any pregnancy topics, period), I call Urgent Care (honey, you need to call your OB). *expletives* So I call Park Lane OB, what I assume is my OB. It's the weekend so I have to call the after hours service, where they inform all callers if you are not a patient, they will charge you a 20$ service fee. I explain my situation, they take my information and say 'you only have an appointment, you are not a patient, you cannot utilize the doctor on call here'. They. Hang. Up. They turn away a patient.
So, I call my old OB's answering service, I explain my situation, apologize that I haven't been into the practice for awhile etc, she stops my tearful rambling says 'I'm paging the Dr. on call right now'. 30 mins go by, she calls back 'have you heard from the Dr?' 'No ma'am' 'I'll try her other number'. 15-20 mins go by the service calls me again 'Any call?' 'Not yet' 'okay hold on' she keeps me on the line, the doc calls so I flip over to answer it. The Dr. on call listens to everything asks me some questions, gives me instructions and what to look for either way. Reassures me that this must be so scary but to remain as calm as I can be. Tells me I can COME IN FOR LAB WORK on Monday for a bloodwork pregnancy test. (Btw I can hear this doc's beeper going off, twice during our call) I hang up, shook. A minute later, the answering service calls me, again! 'Did the Dr. call you, honey?' 'Yes, ma'am, she did!' 'Okay, good!'
DO NOT go to Park Lane OB. Try Swiss OB, they'll treat you like a patient.
