Our daughter came here to get her wisdom teeth extracted. She was terrified of going under general anesthetic. She asked me to stay with her while they started the IV to help calm her down.
The office policy has changed to no longer allow parents to come into the operating room. Apparently parents have fainted. When I asked them to make an exception due to the current circumstances they refused (even though I work in medicine). Not only did they refuse, they then verbally attacked me for making "a fuss". One office staff member in particular was adamant that I would not be accompanying my daughter in the OR and that my daughter appeared fine. When my daughter burst into tears she blamed me for her being upset. I tried to explain that she was crying because they were refusing to provide a safe space for my daughter by simply allowing me to come in for a brief period to make her feel calmer. I work in medicine. I start IV's, I work with blood and body fluids on a regular basis. Fainting wasn't going to happen. Attention to a sterile OR environment would have been given as I'm aware of these procedures. I tried to reassure them of all of these things. This staff continued to be demeaning and stick behind the new office policy.
I repeatedly explained that it wasn't me wanting to be with my daughter, it was my daughter wanting me to be with her. She kept telling me that they would not revert back to their old policy just because my daughter was terrified and crying. When I asked to speak with the oral surgeon, she told me I was being aggressive. I explained to her I was advocating for my teenage daughter who was sitting in the waiting room and crying. Twice I told her to ask my daughter herself how she felt about it. She wouldn't. When she finally agreed to speak with her, she insisted on speaking to her alone and did not want me in the room. She began to threaten to charge us a $150 cancellation fee because they refused to allow my daughter to have me come in with her to make her feel calm and safe. She offered to go in with her instead.
When my daughter came in she said "thanks, but you're not my mom. I want my mom with me." That staff member didn't like that answer. She continued to try and convince my daughter that she had to do the surgery and that I couldn't come with her. She told my daughter that she would be with her and that would make her feel safe.
Eventually I insisted further to speak with the oral surgeon, Dr Singh and she went to get him, but not without threatening to keep my $150 and that she was going to get her offfice manager to come talk to me about my attitude and insistence on going in with daughter.
Who knows what that staff member said to Dr Singh about me and my daughter. Clearly it wasn't positive and she made me out to be an irrational parent who was making a fuss for no reason. My daughter, sitting there crying, was made out to be my fault when I was calmly advocating for her. It had nothing to do with them refusing to acknowledge my daughter's concerns, even though she told them so. Dr Singh didn't even try speaking to my daughter to ask her what she wanted. He just took that staff's side and refused to bend. He gave the reasons for me not being allowed to come in to be:
-it's a small OR
-I would be in the way
-they can't focus on my daughter's needs if I am in there
-however, that staff member could accompany her in (which she normally doesn't do, but she would make the exception) and there would be room for that staff member, she wouldn't be a distraction and she wouldn't be in the way.
They made my daughter feel as though she had no choice except to bend to their will. She felt victimized and they didn't appear to care.
We will go elsewhere from now on.
Post note. They've responded to my poor review with accusations and threats of legal action. We were up front that we were leaving for vacation in three days and the receptionist said to not bother scheduling a post-op appt at that time. This is why we paid very close attention to the post-op instructions.