The definition of insanity (they say) is repeating the same thing and expecting different results. So I must be crazy. Or rather, Huron Valley Consultation Center has driven me crazy. Which is kind of circular, because said condition led me to seek help from HVCC in the first place.
I have been trying to resolve what should have been a minor issue for over 6 months now. This review is my final surrender. Well played, HVCC.
The saga began when my original psychiatrist neglected to send in a supplementary prescription to counter-balance an undesired side-effect. He had written it on a post-it note, at the end of what turned out to be my final session with him. I even called attention to the oddity of that method, asking if he'd really remember to call in the post-it-note prescription.
He did not. Nor, it turned out, did he even remember what he had written after being indirectly reminded. I then spent months trying to get him to follow up on that commitment, without ever being allowed to talk to him directly, always made to go through staff. The head honcho of said staff acted like I was ruining her life by asking her to please do her job.
At one point I was told he was unreachable, because he had pissed off on a multi-week hiking vision quest. What kind of psychiatrist would abandon patients to the wilderness for weeks without any fill-in? Oh yeah, _that guy_, who seemed so empathetic while he was being paid (by our corrupt health insurance system) for his time. His beard (so ridiculously long it puts Freud to shame) is a nice prop for displays of sympathy, when gently and sincerely stroked demonstratively.
I do hope he reads this, because he should really be ashamed of his conduct.
While it would be best not to name names, it may shed light on his subsequent behavior that his surname is a particularly foul part of the tail end of the digestive tract. (Though, like Dr. Spaceman on 30 Rock, he spells but doesn't pronounce it that way.) One might diagnose his pathological over-defensiveness on the basis of the trauma of those presumed childhood taunts.
A few months after this all began, without ever again speaking directly, he literally _fired_ me as his patient for my persistence, by certified mail. "Dr. Spaceman" (as we'll call him here) informed me of the necessity to "terminate our professional relationship" because I had been "inappropriate" to his staff. Persistence is inappropriateness, I guess? He went on to make several verifiably false statements about trying to contact me and other matters, all clearly meant to cover his ass. No doubt he believed he could lie about anything, because who'd believe a mental patient, right?
So here's a psychiatrist, bound by Hippocratic oath, abandoning a patient who came to see him for depression in part related to feelings of abandonment.
Subsequently I involved the office manager, who at first seemed understanding and even sympathetic. He made a lot of credible promises to help resolve what I inexplicably still felt was a legitimate misunderstanding. But then he dropped the ball repeatedly, too. I suspect he was terrorized by Dr. Spaceman into thinking if they admitted anything, I might sue them for malpractice.
Since we were now into the era of the plague, I cut him some more slack, for well over a month, before following up again. (Luckily I still had refills for my depression meds and could get some more from my primary.)
At one point, about a month ago, he asked if I wanted to see another provider at HVCC. I agreed, even though he'd made it clear (by declining to refer to it any more) that he would cowardly pretend the original issue out of existence. Then again radio silence.
A week ago, I followed up yet again. This time said office manager asked if I would be willing to accept a telehealth visit. I agreed. The next day, he informed me that a nurse practitioner had availability, and that he'd "be in touch" later that day. Nothing. Now, Wednesday afternoon, one week later: still a big nothing. Contacting him again would be crazy, right?
As other reviewers have noted, there are few - if any other - psychiatric clinics in the Ann Arbor area which will accept insurance and also allow you to have your own outside therapist. So you get what you pay for, which is to say, nothing at all, or maybe that $5 co-pay.
If there are other places I can sing this gospel, please let me know. This place should be shut down.
Edit: Just over a week after submitting this review, HVCC has called me to set up an appointment, twice! And left voice mail! In 6 months, virtually nothing, now all of a sudden? Not fooled that easily, HVCC. You missed your chance. read more