I visited the Labcorp location at 345 Saxony Rd a couple of days ago, and what I witnessed was…read moreextremely disappointing.
When I arrived, there were four people already waiting. I checked in and took a seat. After about 25 minutes, not a single patient had been called back.
Finally, an elderly gentleman approached the receptionist to ask whether his paperwork had been faxed over. She told him it had not. Frustrated after waiting so long, he commented that they were incompetent and left.
The moment he walked out, the receptionist loudly announced that they had made a mistake and actually did have his paperwork. Another patient pointed out that he had just walked out the door. Instead of going after him or trying to call him back, the receptionist responded, "I DON'T CARE!" She repeated several times that he had been rude, so she didn't care. She then laughed with another patient about how many rude patients they had that day.
It was upsetting to watch. This was an elderly man who had waited patiently, only to leave because of the staff's mistake. Rather than correcting the error, they simply dismissed him.
By this point, about 40 minutes had passed, and only one person--who had an appointment--had been called back.
Then a pregnant woman arrived for a time-sensitive glucose test. She was told the system had crashed and was sent away. After she left, the receptionist again began gossiping with another patient, making comments about people scheduling glucose tests just to get ahead in line.
After waiting nearly 50 minutes, I had only seen one patient taken back. Then the staff announced that the system had crashed. By then, everyone who had been ahead of me had left to go elsewhere, so I would have been next. However, after witnessing how patients were being treated, it didn't seem like I would be seen anytime soon, so I left as well.
Ironically, I received a text message from Labcorp saying they were ready for me--nearly two hours after I had checked in.
The long wait was frustrating, but what bothered me most was the staff's attitude. Mistakes happen, and technical problems happen. However, showing no concern for an elderly patient who left because of your own error, openly saying "I don't care," and gossiping about patients in the waiting room is completely unprofessional. Patients deserve to be treated with respect, compassion, and courtesy.