Dr. Magtibay was my primary care physician only because he was the only doctor in my network taking…read morenew patients at the time. While I had a terrible experience with him, I'm glad it happened because it is giving me the opportunity to advocate for others now.
On Monday 1/4/2016, I had been sick for over a week and went to Dr. Magtibay's office with my child (who was with me, not at daycare, because she was also sick. I checked in by presenting my insurance card paying my copay. I was scolded by a lady with glasses working the check in counter for being late. I heard her out and then let her know I was actually on time, but was left waiting while she sat there doing other things for 11 minutes. Still, no big deal. I understand busy offices and tardiness policies. I was just eager to be seen by my doctor.
Within a couple minutes I was brought to the back to be weighed and have my vitals checked by a nurse. I carried my daughter with me in a car seat. She was bundled in a warm blanket with another lightweight blanket draped over her entire carrier to shield her from any airborne germs we may encounter. She was sleeping peacefully.
When the nurse I checked in with came to bring me my change, she scolded me again, but this time it was for bringing a child to the doctor's office. She said "What are you doing? I didn't see you had a child with you. You can't be here. You have to go."
I said "I'm sorry, what?"
She said "Dr. Magtibay has a strict no NO CHILD policy. I'll check with him, but he probably won't see you today." She left and came back with my copay and insurance card and said "Here, Dr. Magtibay says to reschedule when you have childcare for your child."
I said "She can't go to daycare because she is sick too, and I need to see the doctor. I can't miss work without a note."
She just said, very unsympathetically, "Sorry, call to reschedule."
Luckily, Ruby, the referrals coordinator, came out to say my daughter could sit in her office while I saw the doctor and then I was granted my appointment.
I asked the nurse because I'd never heard of a no child policy at a doctor's office, what the reason for the policy was. She said "The doctor says it's because children are too noisy and can get in the way when he's trying to interact with the patients."
I was SO shocked I couldn't even believe it. When the doctor entered, he assessed me, wrote me a note for my employer, and then I had to ask about the policy. I said "You know I had no idea you had a no child policy, your nurse said it's because kids are too loud?" I totally expected him to deny that reasoning, but he actually confirmed that reasoning saying, "I work in a confined space and when someone comes in with an issue and you're trying to address that issue, and some come in with CHILDREN [motioning with his arms to emphasize 'multiple children]... How do you focus on the situation then?" He went on to say it isn't just for his convenience, and asked "Why would you bring children with low immune system to a place where they can get anything?" *He's a foreign medical graduate and English isn't his first language, I'm not accidentally quoting him that way, that's just how he speaks.
Childcare is a luxury not everyone can afford. I brought that to his attention adding that I'd never heard of such a policy, that mothers have been bringing their children to doctors appointments for years. I emphasized that especially in an area like Indio where childcare isn't an option for many families, I didn't understand how he could maintain a policy like that. He said "It's just standard of care. I think it's just standard of care".
"Standard of care?" To turn your patient away, denying them care in the first place because you don't want to be bothered by their children? As soon as I walked out of his office I switched provider networks from Coachella Valley Physicians to Desert Oasis and selected a more professional primary care physician. On the same phone call I let my insurance know what happened. They were appalled and agreed that shouldn't have happened. They immediately filed a complaint against Magtibay with the provider group which they call a "grievance" and said once a provider has a certain amount of them, the insurance will no longer contract with them.
If you're a happy patient of Magtibay's, great, but if you have had a bad experience with Magtibay, report it to your insurance's member services line. That is the only way to take a step toward getting the network to provide a better quality physician that respects the family unit. We all deserve better than to have to choose to pay for childcare or go without healthcare.
