Perhaps 3 and a half stars at this point.
I had asked for a referral to Dr. Ploss, who works out of this office (it turns out he also has hours in Fortuna, which will be more convenient, yay) given some rather alarming results of tests recently done at St. Joe's for my 24 year old son.
So, here's the run down:
We (dad, me, patient, who is nonverbal) arrived for our 2pm appointment at 1:45. Great, in time to proffer needed insurance cards and id cards and other cards and fill out the paperwork.
The setting: what seems to be a converted house, nicely appointed with skylights and interesting windows, nice art, very "it's like grandma's house" furniture, little woodstove (or pretend woodstove? It wasn't on), big island of desk for the receptionists, and a little square of corridors that one could wander in search of the restroom, and eventually...very eventually...to one of..maybe 4 exam rooms.
The receptionist had an alarming, deep cough. She told someone who queried that she was just starting to feel better. I glanced nervously at my son and hoped that no flu bugs were wending their happy way to his lungs. I wondered why on earth a receptionist at a heart specialist would be a work with...bronchitis? flu? bad cold? Well, gosh, maybe she doesn't get sick leave, don't know.
So..paperwork. Usual stuff, no big problem.
And then the wait...and the wait, and the wait. I had time to go through an old Time magazine with my kid, and to listen to the nervous woes of another patient, who, hearing we hailed from SoHum, wanted to interest us in some greenhouse glass. She was thinking of going all 215 to help with her debts. I heard all about the death of her daughter, the difficulties of her son, her various properties, her health issues, her little doggie, and so on. She asked if she could phone me later. God help me, I did give her my phone number.
My partner says I have a kind face, what can I say?
So, nearing on a hour later we were guided to exam room one by two...medical assistants, perhaps? One was on her first day of work, bless her. My son thought she was pretty, all was well. Weight, bp, electrocardiagram. More paper work. It looks to me like the office is still midway to electronic records conversion (they were taking paper notes and puzzling over the computers).
It was well after three when we got to meet Dr. Ploss. My partner tells me I was initially a bit hostile, but warmed up (I didn't feel hostile, exactly. I mean, why would I be hostile? I'd specifically asked for Dr. Ploss because he was well recommended. But the situation of facing a report that said my kid had MEGA heart problems that should have killed him by the time he was around a month old...well, yeah, I was edgy). I like Ploss. He's informative, careful, non alarmist, and straight forward. I'm glad he's part of our team now. He admitted to some mystification about our kid, but...we're working on it all. I appreciated his honesty and his ability to communicate (and the nifty model of a human heart he used to explain better what might be happening). Ploss himself would get 5 stars from me, no question. He spent ample time with us, so I forgave the wait.
But that cough in the front office...I don't know. And folger's coffee in tea bags with hot water and styrofoam cups? No, really??? *is a coffee snob, even when dealing with life and death issues* read more
