A deeply despicable, disparaging, and money-driven practice that treats managed Medicaid patients…read morewith physical disabilities with open contempt.
I am enrolled in a managed Medicaid plan and suffer from severe, debilitating neurological conditions, lumbar stenosis and right foot drop. This came on as a sudden, complete, and total disability that leaves me completely unable to drive, care for myself, work, or sit and walk for extended periods. I arrived at Riverland Medical Centers at 2774 Davie Blvd wearing an Ankle Foot Orthosis brace and relying on a walking cane. Despite arriving early while navigating severe physical pain, front desk staff kept me waiting outdoors while the office was open.
What followed was the most disgusting and disparaging treatment I have ever experienced in a healthcare setting:
1. Administrative Interruption During Active Care: While the triage nurse was actively listening and taking my clinical notes, practice owner Carolina Luna abruptly halted the intake over a routine Medicaid system sync issue. When I asked if the nurse could continue recording my history, Ms. Luna refused and forcibly marched me back out to the lobby.
2. Demeaning Remarks & Coercive Medicaid Comments: As Ms. Luna walked me back in to see the provider, she bragged, "Isn't everything great? We got you in within 24 hours!" She then made condescending remarks letting me know that very few doctors accept Medicaid, that choices for Medicaid recipients are extremely limited, and that I had to take whatever doctor would take the time to see me, treating basic healthcare delivery as an onerous personal favor.
3. Dismissive Encounter & Character Attack: During my consultation with Physician Assistant Samantha Amaya, PA-C, I was repeatedly cut off mid-sentence every time I tried to detail my symptoms or present hospital discharge records from my MyChart portal. When reviewing my medications, I was made to feel incompetent, rude, and disparaged.
4. Hostile Ejection & Care Termination: I was taken into the triage room a second time, where Ms. Luna mistreated me. I apologized for my tone, stating, "I'm sorry if I'm coming off rude, I'm in extreme physical pain and weakness." Instead of showing basic human empathy, she condescendingly snapped that "they understand pain because they are medical doctors," insulted me by calling me a "difficult person to work with," abruptly declared "the conversation is over" and "I am done," and marched me out to the waiting room a second time. My required mental health screening was treated as a casual, by the way afterthought as I was literally being escorted out the door.
The irony of Ms. Luna hiding behind the claim that "they are medical doctors" would be laughable if it were not so dangerous. There was not even a single Medical Doctor (MD or DO) present in the entire building during my visit.
To make matters worse, they flatly refused to assist me with basic post hospitalization medical documentation needed to help protect my job and income while navigating this active medical emergency. They also lied by claiming Medicaid rules prohibit in-office blood draws for my severe post gastric bypass anemia and force patients off-site to LabCorp, refused basic visit documentation, and scheduled my follow-up for APRIL 2027, over six months out.
While I hold onto hope that my physical condition will improve with the right medical care, receiving proper treatment at Riverland Medical Centers is a complete impossibility. For a patient facing a sudden, total disability who is completely unable to drive or function, pushing follow-up care out six months while refusing basic medical documentation is a completely unacceptable and dangerous standard of care.
While exterior signage implies a traditional doctor's office, no supervising physician was on site. Instead, they heavily market cash-pay GLP-1 weight loss sales on the side. Accepting Medicaid is clearly treated as a quick insurance cash grab where spending even one extra minute listening to a disabled patient in acute pain and weakness is treated as a burden. Being on Medicaid does not mean a patient deserves to be stripped of basic dignity and respect. I have logged formal regulatory complaints with both my health plan and the State of Florida.
