This review is for Ophthalmology (GOSHEN location)…read more
The appt was for my father, an elderly man w/ cataracts. He made the appt and told them he had cataracts. He received at least 4 reminder calls.
I filled out the paperwork because he can't see well, he was seen within 10 minutes. We sat with a nurse, who asked why we were there. (It should be in the notes, but it doesn't hurt to ask.) We talk about his cataracts. She puts drops in, and then has him sit in the hallway.
He has mobility issues, so it's challenging to go between these stops. We sit for maybe a minute before we go to the next room.
In the room, he sits in the seat and a minute later the doctor comes in and says "I'm going to take a look in your eyes." Puts some headgear on, and looks in his eyes. The doctor says "Those are some really thick cataracts, but we can't help you here. We have to refer you to someone else."
I was shocked. We went through a machine like process, for a 2 second glance, where he was dismissed in 30 seconds. I asked why, and the doctor said "He's too big for the machine that measures the cataracts. Have you tried Blah Blah (a place closer to where we live)?" I told him that our doctor referred us here, so why would we try another place?
The doctor said "I don't know what machine other places use, so you may have to call around." I asked if we could at least try the machine. It measures your eyes, not your waist, so why would it not fit a person?
The doctor said "No. It's in our Newburgh location". So I asked if this was the first obese person he had ever seen medically, and he said no, they turn away people all the time.
I said "You can't help, and you cannot even help us enough to tell us where to go?" He said "Weschester would be your best bet, but it's far, so I didn't want to suggest that."
I said "My father cannot see. I would go to the moon if I had to. Is there anything more important than your ability to see?"
The doctor LAUGHED. He said he would get the number for Westchester and left. My father was in tears: humiliated by a medical professional, given little hope and no clear direction.
The aide at the desk didn't offer the sunglasses for his eyes. She also had no idea what the numbers were for any of the places we mentioned and suggested that we Google them.
If you as a medical professional cannot do the following, you are doing the bare minimum and truly feel not an ounce of empathy for your patients:
#1 - SCHEDULE THE APPOINTMENT WHERE THE EQUIPMENT IS. They were looking to make money off of the visit and bill us for a 2nd one to travel to where the machine was no matter what. Greedy.
#2 - IF YOUR MACHINE HAS SIZE REQUIREMENTS, VET PATIENTS BEGORE SCHEDULING AN APPOINTMENT. They just wanted our money for the visit. ANY ONE of the calls my father had - from making the appointment to the 4 reminders - was an opportunity to ask his weight, height, etc. They could have warned him that the trip might be wasted. They could have saved us the gas, money, and time and they could have saved the business from an appointment, manpower, and supplies. Wasteful.
#3 - IF YOU CANNOT HELP, REFER TO SOMEONE WHO CAN. You have not built up a network of contacts for specialized cases or people that you can't ensure your patients have the care they need? Despicable.
#4 - INVEST IN EQUIPMENT TO SERVICE YOUR CLIENT BASE. In the US, 50% of the population is obese. If your machines cannot accommodate all people, you are losing business. As a doctor, you swore an oath to do no harm. Turning people away & not being able to service them without a real solution, is doing harm. Clueless.
Don't go here because they do not care about people, only their profits.
