I just had a terrible experience after having waiting 6 weeks to get in to see a new doctor, Dr. Brooks Trotter, an internist in Grapevine. DO NOT EVER VISIT HIM OR THE GRAPEVINE INTERNAL MEDICINE CENTRE. The staff is among the rudest and most unprofessional I have ever encountered in any medical office. I was treated abominably today, when I attempted to see Dr. Trotter. When I explained that I had a whole host of prescriptions for high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc., that I had no more of, and that I was afraid I might die if they forced me to reschedule my appointment, the nurse, Anna, who I was speaking to on the phone when I called to let them know that I had been throwing up as I tried to leave for my appointment and would be 15 minutes late, told me, "That's not our problem. You are a new patient, and that's not our responsibility."
"But I'll die without these," I pleaded with her.
"You are a new patient, and we are not responsible for that," was her reply.
I told her I would be there in 3 minutes, and we could speak in person. When I arrived, they pulled me into an office manager's office, a woman named Jen. I noticed several signs on the wall that said that loud and angry behavior would not be tolerated, and I wondered what kind of business this was that they had that kind of problem so frequently it required a sign. I was soon to find out. Jen had on her desk perhaps the most unprofessional item I've ever seen for a person who is supposed to deal with patients and defuse situations. It was a hand grenade with a number "1" attached to it, and it said, "Complaints department. Take a number." Pretty funny, unless you've been treated like trash by other staff and left to die, in which case, it hardly seems appropriate.
I explained to Jen that I become violently ill when I get out of bed, and that this has been happening for years and has utterly destroyed my life. That's the very reason I was going to see a new doctor. I told her I was throwing up when I was getting ready to leave, had to lay down multiple times to start feeling better (because I was fasting for them all day, even though that's dangerous for a diabetic like me, and that makes my stomach problems even worse), so I was a little late, and that this was likely to happen again any time I had an appointment, because that's the nature of my illness. She said she'd check with the doctor to see if he could squeeze me in. She walked off, then came back and said, "Nope. We'll have to reschedule you."
So I asked her what I was supposed to do to avoid dying from lack of vital medication in the meantime, since I had literally one pill left of each of my blood pressure medications. She suggested going to the emergency room or seeing if another physician would call the prescriptions in for me, since Dr. Trotter was refusing to see me. She told me to go up front to reschedule my appointment.
I walked up to the lady who was handling rescheduling, though I didn't get her name. When I told her I needed to reschedule a new appointment, she asked if I had spoken with the doctor about it. I said that I had just gotten done talking to the office manager and she told me to come around to the window and schedule a new appointment. So, the scheduling lady walked into the office managers office for about 5 seconds, walked back out, and said, "Sorry, but we have an office policy that a new patient is late to their first appointment, we will not see them, ever again."
I told her that was bizarre. I was just told to reschedule my appointment, and that this was the most unprofessional behavior I had ever seen in a medical office. She then informed me that if I was professional, I'd be at my appointments in a timely fashion. I informed her that I was sick and vomiting when I was trying to leave to come to my appointment, and then I left, flabbergasted. My mom is a doctor who knows Dr. Trotter, too! This is how they treat the families of other physicians at this so-called clinic! Anyway, I've looked up the rules of the Texas Medical Board and found multiple violations this doctor and his staff committed through this egregious course of conduct. I'm examining next steps to take against them. I definitely would not put my life or health in such callous and unprofessional hands. read more
