Sadly there is no way to leave negative stars, so this one star will have to do. After enduring…read morenumerous insults and injuries at this practice, the appointment on the 24th of January 2022 was the last straw. This practice's ONLY saving grace was Dr. Boggs, and sadly she is gone.
The "services" rendered by Dr. Lauren Painter on the above date left me feeling dejected, dismissed, and violated. I use the term "services" in the loosest of means. On this day, my scheduled appointment was at 2:00 PM. I signed in on time, waited in the waiting room for approximately 10 mins, was triaged quickly, and sent to a private exam room, where I waited for about another 5 mins. When Dr. Painter arrived, she asked what was going on. I cried as I explained to her why I was being seen, even attempting to show her pictures as she prepared her equipment for the exam. Afterward, she said, ok, "well, let's go ahead and take a look." Dr. Painter inserted the speculum into my vagina without informing me of what she was doing, and just as quickly, she pulled it out. She then (presumably because I was not walked through the exam) placed lubricant on her fingers and said, "You're going to feel a little cold," and inserted her fingers into my vagina and began pressing on my abdomen as I winched and cried. This goes beyond poor bedside manner but demonstrates a lack of trauma-informed care and empathy.
As a therapist, I understand that we cannot possibly prepare for all of our client's trauma, but trauma-informed care requires that we assume all the clients we see have endured some form of trauma, acknowledge the impact of trauma in their lives, and actively work to avoid retraumatizing the client. That was not the case in this meeting. There was no empathy, no acknowledgment of my pain, and no actual medical knowledge provided on the matter. I received a second opinion and learned from another physician that what Dr. Painter diagnosed as a " long cervix" is actually complete uterine prolapse which requires surgical intervention. After 23 years of gynecological treatment, I was NEVER told I had a "long cervix." The only explanation Dr. Painter could offer was, "This could be because of several reasons." I sobbed and left in pain with NO answers. When I arrived at my car at 2:22 PM, I became enraged, realizing that what felt like an eternity was less than 8 minutes. No time or care was given to my issue. I sat for 30 minutes feeling violated; that is when I called the clinical director of the practice, leaving her a voicemail detailing the situation.
What blows my mind is that after expressing how I was treated, I was billed for medical services not received. What exactly am I paying for when no medical service was rendered? I came for help and left feeling violated. This sadly is not the first time a physician has dismissed me at this practice, but it will CERTAINLY be the last.