I'm mad as H*LL!

As promised here is my experience last week when I took Matthew to Scottish Rite for his appointment at the Craniofacial clinic. Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely love the doctors there and they do a fabulous job. They are professional, down-to-earth and very caring about my children. However---keeping to a schedule? Horrible! I don't know if it is the schedulers or what. But, every time, yes EVERY time I go to the clinic (where you see all of the doctors) I wait and wait and wait some more. It is so frustrating. This last Friday we had an appointment for Matthew to see the dentist and the surgeon. We knew that the majority of Matthew's work is dental but we just weren't sure who would be doing all of the work. We wanted to see everyone in one day to talk about a plan of care.
Well I admit I was 15 minutes late for the 2:00 appointment. By 3:15 we still had not been seen and I went up to the nurse at the desk and asked how much longer it was going to be. She informed me that there were 3 (yes 3) others ahead of me. I was shocked! The nurse then went on with the stock response, "there was emergencies". Do I look stupid???? This is the craniofacial clinic for goodness sake! What kind of emergency are we talking about?
I proceeded to voice my displeasure that waiting was the norm every time I brought the children into the clinic. I wanted to know if the problem was because of over scheduling or what. The nurse was dumbfounded. She just looked at me. However, a wonderful young lady came over with snacks and responded so appropriately. She acknowledged that I DO wait each and every time I am at the clinic, she agreed that the problem was theirs and that they were working on it and she apologized. I cannot tell you how much respect I had for her.
Well, we FINALLY got called to one of the rooms. Oh, it felt like I had won the lottery! Yes, we will now see the doctors. The first doctor in was Dr. Williams, the plastic surgeon. He greeted me (he is wonderful!) and asked about Matthew and his adjustment. He then looked in Matthew's mouth and declared that his services were not needed at this time. Dr. Williams said that Matthew's immediate care would require the dentist, the ENT, the dermatologist and the speech therapist. He spoke to me about future cosmetic care that we may want when Matthew was older. We then spoke about the bone graft procedure and Dr. Williams chuckled and hugged me. He told me that he remembered when we first met and discussed Analiese's care and how I cried. He called me an "old pro". With that he left.
And in came in Dr. Thomas' (the dentist) assistant. She informed me that Dr. Thomas was in surgery and was not working in the clinic that day. I was speechless. I finally sputtered that I waited 2 hours to get a 10 minute visit with the surgeon but the most important person was not available and NO ONE CALLED ME to give me an opportunity to reschedule????? The assistant made some excuses and told me that she would have Dr. Thomas call me on Monday (he did not).
On my way out, the people at the desk smiled and were just about to ask me a question when I vented to them. I explained how we waited so long to see the DENTIST and he wasn't even working that day. Once again, the wonderful young lady (I wish I had gotten her name) responded so appropriately. She wrote down our names and agreed that we had every right to be angry. This didn't calm me down but it certainly prevented a major meltdown.
For those who know me know my expectations. I expect professionalism and respect. My time is just as important as the doctors. I expect to be seen within a reasonable amount of time. I know that when I go to Dr. Williams private office we are seen within 5 minutes of our scheduled time. I realize that the clinic is harder to schedule as more people are involved but waiting 75 minutes???? Ridiculous!
I'm not a sheep and will not sit quietly waiting I will be vocal and demand respect. Hopefully I will see some results!