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For What It’s Worth by Dr. Melfi , Ph.D.
Happy New Year everyone. Let’s do our best to make it a good one! I thought I’d start out this year with some thoughts about our medical center. is is only my opinion, and the gossip of others that have mentioned this medical center to me over the past two years, so let me preface this column by stating that if you have been a patient in the emergency room, or in the hospital, and had a great, lifechanging experience, I’m happy for you. If you have a physician who you can regularly see whenever you have a medical problem, and they are a liated with this unnamed hospital, you’re fortunate, and again, I’m pleased. But for many of us, myself included, I am disappointed with my high expectations of what I believed would be medical care at a higher level. I mean a er all, it’s world renowned. I remember thinking that Martin County was the chosen county, the lucky one, to even have this facility considering our little town. I believed the already great medical care a orded here would escalate to a higher level, with physicians who delved deeper into the problem symptoms that didn’t necessarily t the four corners of their medical school textbooks, physicians the like of which I had worked with at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and Georgetown Hospital in Washington, D.C., where it was unheard of not to investigate a patient’s complaints to the fullest, with a treatment plan and follow up that actually worked. at is what I anticipated.
Unfortunately, I have been disappointed. Perhaps I raised the bar too high. Perhaps I was asking too much. Perhaps the doctors who have signed on with this facility feel the same way. ey now answer, not only to their education, their oath, their own medical desire to ease su ering, but to the institution which pays their salary. My disappointments are not limited to me. I have heard the same complaints over and over, but there doesn’t appear a way to make things better. First, it seems to me, that if your physician is now on sta , by which I don’t mean have only hospital admitting privileges, but o ce practices where appointments are made by hospital sta ers. ere’s no longer a receptionist who knows you personally, who knows you by name, who asks about your family. So what, you might say? Well, here’s my personal experience. I have been a patient of record at a particular physician’s o ce for years. Now that he works for this institution, I was unable to get an appointment with him for four months, but was o ered an appointment with his Nurse Practitioner in three months. I’m all about nurses. I am one. But they’re not physicians, and my problem entailed more than a nurse practitioner could address, in my opinion. Let’s add that up. I had to endure my symptoms for three or four months, or else go to the emergency department. Unfortunately, my experience at that department was less than I had hoped, and I was told to make an appointment with my specialty physician, which is exactly where I started. I thought I could use my “in” with someone who was related to this doctor, to ask for a special favor, and get a message to him that I needed to see him sooner, if possible. Guess what? No, he couldn’t do that, because his schedule is set for him by the sta of the hospital. Now, let me again preface this by telling you that this is my experience, and not indicative of anyone else. Perhaps he just didn’t want to see me sooner, maybe he was burned out, working too late and too many hours, maybe he just didn’t like me, but what if the message I received is true? Suppose he actually can’t make his own schedule? All I can tell you is what my experience was, but maybe it’s also been your experience. Maybe phone calls should be answered, or at least returned in a decent amount of time, which has also been a complaint of many people. is is not to say the doctor’s aren’t top notch. I’m sure they are, and as in all institutions, some are better than others, but if you can’t get to a doctor, how can you decide?
For What It’s Worth,
I long for the small town of Stuart I came to years ago, where the population was smaller, where doctors were in solo practice, where one bad review could close them down, but these days, I personally feel lost in the crowd. I am not targeting this or any other hospital for their reputation or physician talent. Obviously they are a well respected entity, but I wish there could be more empathy within their sta who are the front line, who must be tired of hearing that we need an appointment sooner than later, but some words of compassion would make the wait for care easier. Maybe the hospitals I once worked for, whose memories are of “patients rst”, are wishful thinking now, but all I’m saying is that I think we can do better. People are sick. ey’re hurting. ey’re alone and frightened. Our elderly population could use some kindness when they’re told they can’t have an appointment for months, and maybe even a follow up call, to let them know that someone cares to see how they’re doing while they wait. Kindness goes a long way toward healing. Is that really too much to ask?
