May 11, 2018
On May 4, 2018, my friend and I arrived at your office for a scheduled appointment with Dr. Guerrette. My friend has severe mobility issues and I was driving and accompanying her. The experience was enormously frustrating and disappointing for both of us.
Having had a week to calm down, I am now ready to write a proper account of last week’s experience. My friend and I specifically left in good time to get to the 12:30 appointment because it was raining. However, on our way to the appointment we ran into a traffic accident where the jaws of life were being used to extricate the driver from their car, so traffic was rerouted. This added unforeseen time to our trip. Once we arrived at the location, it was extremely difficult to drive in the parking lot with drivers stopping and parking everywhere. Eventually, I got close enough to let my friend off as close as I could to the entrance to your office. I went off to find a parking space, purchased a bottle of water from the drug store, and then proceeded up to your office. As I came down the long hall my friend was struggling back crying because she was told she was 3-5 minutes late and would not be seen! She had explained our situation to the unfriendly receptionist, but to no avail or understanding. I visited the washroom and decided I would go in and speak to this receptionist myself about the situation. I was now 8 minutes after the scheduled time, having checked my watch. I spoke politely and firmly to the receptionist and explained the situation, expecting some understanding and empathy. Instead, she just glared back at me with no expression of understanding or willingness to compromise. I should mention that the reception area had only one other patient waiting at the time, which indicates that you were not all that busy.
I completely understand that it is important for a doctor’s office to keep to its schedule, and that late-arriving patients can be a problem. However, in our situation, with a physically disabled woman who had struggled mightily to make the appointment but had been thwarted by unforeseeable circumstances, I believe some compassion should have been shown. Our seniors deserve better understanding and experiences! I especially was unhappy with the demeanour of your receptionist and I do not feel she is worthy of a job dealing with the public. I would not recommend this office to my worst enemy.
I have been able to find a mixed bag of reviews about your practice on both the Hampton Park Optometry site and Rate MD’s site. You actually say that you pride yourselves on being a leading provider and helping the elderly! I hope my experience with my elderly patient brought in for an appointment on Friday, May 4th was NOT the norm but an example of poor judgement by both the doctor and the receptionist. I believe that it was unprofessional to turn my friend away, given the circumstances, because she was 3-5 minutes late for her appointment.