I went to my PCP because I've had some severe foot pain, which has not only meant I can't run but…read morethat walking is rather painful in the affected foot. I was referred to Dr. Edward Chestnutis and made an appointment. It was several weeks away, so I asked to be put on the cancellation list; they said they obliged. However, I never got a call. So, three days before my appointment, I get a call at 4:52 pm from Jessica at the practice, asking me to call her back so that I can reschedule my appointment because the doctor can no longer see me. Now, considering I was on a cancellation list, I was displeased that not only did I never get a call--when she said "80% of the time, people are able to come in earlier," but especially because they wanted to schedule out another two weeks--which I couldn't do because I already have holiday plans out of town. I asked why my appointment had to be rescheduled, but Jessica simply said, "I just do what I'm told." Oh, okay, it's one of THOSE places, where people are robots and fear their boss. I asked Jessica to simply ask to find out and also ask if someone else could be bumped given the weeks' long wait (someone could have been bumped with much more notice than I was given) and my inability to come in two weeks later. She said she would ask and put me on hold. But like any good robot, she had no guts to actually ask and instead transferred the problem to someone else, the Office Manager, Jo.
Jo said that the doctor scheduled a surgery during my appointment. I asked why he didn't just schedule it another time, and she said it was an emergent surgery and had to be coordinated with other facilities. Okay, that's fair, but let's talk about squeezing me in or bumping someone else? She said she would "absolutely not" do that "just because [I] was 'going out of town'" (as if it were going out of town for the holidays were a snobbish thing to do; little did she know I haven't seen my mom in three years and my mom almost died two weeks ago--it's not like I'm flying to Vegas for indiscriminate fun every other weekend). I stood up for myself, which was not the best way to push harder for what I wanted, but was in line with my self respect. However, that turned into, "How about this? I'm going to just cancel your appointment and tell your PCP that we won't see you, period." Not exactly a robot like Jessica, but Jo certainly isn't a good--or compassionate--person if she judges you for wanting to solve pain that accompanies you with every step and do so within a reasonable amount of time from your original appointment. Worse yet, she clearly has issues with you having a life beyond hers, as she condemns you for going out of town. She's the person who needs to scan Facebook memes about kindness and never underestimating others' hardships.
Bottom line: Dr. Edward Chestnutis doesn't have amazing healthgrades.com scores anyway, so along with my review, save yourself from the headache of being put last when health *care* should put patients first.
