If your physician has referred you to The Oregon Clinic Gastroenterology Department located at 1111 NE 99th Ave. Portland, Oregon, I urge you to read this review.
My primary care physician referred me to the Gastroenterology Clinic because of severe abdominal pain. She called The Oregon Clinic three times before she finally got a call back from a nurse. She asked the nurse if she could speak with the doctor who would treat me. The nurse promptly told her that she could not. The nurse indicated that their protocol did not allow for that and that in order for them to make an appointment for me at their clinic I must have a CAT scan done first along with lab work. Now lab work was already completed and a CAT scan is expensive (somewhere around $3,000.00). Even though I am on a fixed income, I agreed so that I would be able to see the physician.
I am not a new patient to the world of medicine and how it all works because I was employed for a local hospital for 22 years. Have had a major heart attack in 1989 and recently have had several cardiac stents placed. However, what I experienced at The Oregon Clinic makes me not only angry but also appalled at the treatment.
I went to my first appointment and before the doctor even touched me he said, “The CAT Scan was normal we need to do an upper GI Endoscope.” I questioned this and if there were other, forms of tests that were not so invasive but, was assured that this was the best way. I was informed that I needed to stop my daily aspirin and my plavix (this is a blood thinner). I argued that I was unable to stop plavix, as my cardiac protocol with stents was to take this daily without a break for one year. After much bantering back and forth, they agreed that I would not stop this drug.
I arrived at the Endoscopy Center, which is next to the clinic on the same floor of the building. I was told from the start that I had to have someone with me or the test would not be done. I was taken back to the suite and I made sure to remind my nurse that the doctor, whom I had not met, was to call my Primary Care Physician before the procedure.
IV placed and I was taken back to a room, where a patient was just taken out. Put on a table and the doctor arrived; needle in hand and began giving me an injection. He explained that they were going to take good care of me. The last thing said in that room before I was under anesthetic was, “It is so hard to find old medical records.” I was woken up a few hours later by a light slap on the face and I was told, “Time for you to go home.” I remember nothing else until 5:30 pm that evening.
Now 2 days later I find tucked in my book that I had along, a paper, on this paper there are Impressions by the doctor of the diseases he thinks I may have. It states biopsy’s were taken and someone will call with results. No one spoke to my husband who had sat in the waiting room for 4 hours no one even walked me out to where he waited. He tells me that I came out the door and stumbled, he jumped up and caught me and that I fell twice in the parking lot. Upon my return home, he placed me in a chair where I remained asleep until 5:30 pm as I said before.
I called the clinic when I found this paper in my book today. I ask them clearly, why in the world they allowed me to leave the facility if I was still so drugged. I was informed that the medication given causes short term amnesia and that it is not uncommon to forget the entire day. The nurse however states, “The record shows the doctor talked with you about the tests and what was wrong with you.” I ask her, “Why would he talk with me if he knows I will not remember and give me instructions I cannot follow through with?” I clearly challenged the fact that my husband was present, why did they not speak with him directly as he was not drugged.
My husband informed me that people were coming in and out of the area like clockwork, almost as if we were on a conveyor belt. I am appalled at this treatment, The Oregon Clinics lack of care for my physical well being having let me walk out in that condition, and most surely the lack of caring of the staff who has not as of yet returned a call to me to explain what happened at this appointment.
I do not recommend this clinic to anyone in the metropolitan area of Portland if possible go to another clinic. Make sure that the clinic you attend keeps their patients until they are completely awake from the anesthetic and that your companion is present when someone talks with you. Make sure that you are comfortable and being treated with respect when you have medical care. The doctors have no right to run you through their system demanding expensive tests and then not even following through to make sure you recover from the problem. You can bet that they will be sending me a bill in the range of about $10,000.00 for the test and expect my quick payment in return.
