I had an extremely disappointing and distressing experience with this OB/GYN office, particularly…read moreregarding the complete lack of consideration for a patient who had explicitly communicated significant anxiety about an invasive procedure.
I was scheduled for a colposcopy/possible biopsy with Dr. Santiago at 9:45 AM. Before the appointment, I had specifically told the office that I had had a very negative experience with this procedure in the past and that it causes me significant anxiety. I wanted them to know this in advance precisely because this was not a routine, stress-free appointment for me.
I arrived at approximately 9:47 AM. During intake, my anxiety was visibly apparent, and I again explained to the nurse that I was extremely nervous about the procedure. She reassured me that Dr. Santiago was very gentle and that everything would be fine.
After completing the intake process, I was sent back to the waiting area. Eventually, I was brought into the procedure room, instructed to undress from the waist down, cover myself with a drape, and wait for the doctor.
And then I waited. Alone. Undressed from the waist down, sitting under a drape in a procedure room with the biopsy instruments laid out next to me, already extremely anxious about what was about to happen.
Approximately an hour had passed since my scheduled appointment time, including roughly half an hour sitting undressed in the procedure room, and Dr. Santiago had still never come in to see me at all.
At that point, my anxiety had become overwhelming and I decided to leave. I got dressed, went to the front desk, told them I was checking out because the procedure had never been performed, and requested a refund. Only then did staff go looking for Dr. Santiago. I was told he was about to come out, but by that point I had already made the decision that I was not comfortable proceeding.
What makes this experience particularly unacceptable to me is that the office knew in advance that this procedure was highly stressful for me. I communicated it before the appointment and again while I was there. This was not information they could have been unaware of. Yet instead of minimizing the waiting time and handling the situation with some sensitivity, I was left sitting undressed in a procedure room for an extended period while my anxiety continued to build.
More than a week later, my OB/GYN provider, Poonam Yadav, finally called me and asked what had happened. I explained the entire experience. Rather than apologizing or acknowledging how poorly the situation had been handled, her reaction included what came across to me as a laugh/smirk, followed by telling me that although she understood I did not want to continue with their office, I should "take this problem seriously."
That response was astonishing. I do take my health seriously. That is exactly why I scheduled the procedure despite being afraid of it and why I repeatedly communicated my concerns beforehand. Taking my health seriously does not mean that I have to accept being treated without basic consideration, dignity, or respect.
Not once during that follow-up conversation did I receive an apology for what happened.
I understand that medical offices run behind. I understand that doctors have complicated schedules and unexpected situations arise. What I do not understand is knowingly leaving an extremely anxious patient undressed in a procedure room for an extended period before an invasive gynecological procedure, without the doctor even coming in to speak with her, and then responding more than a week later without so much as an apology.
I left without receiving the procedure I had prepared myself to undergo, and I will now have to establish care elsewhere and go through the entire process again.
For an OB/GYN practice--where patients are routinely placed in vulnerable, intimate and sometimes frightening situations--I expected considerably more empathy, communication, and basic respect for patient dignity. My experience here provided none of those things.
