Seattle, WA
Rantz: Polyclinic Seattle silent as its offices don’t answer phones, risking patients’ health
Sufferers haven’t been in a position to get via to employees on the Polyclinic in Seattle for weeks. And it dangers jeopardizing the well being and wellbeing of its sufferers.
Since not less than early October, sufferers have complained on social media that they can’t attain anybody on the Polyclinic. Some say they’re calling to make mandatory appointments for urgent medical points, whereas others can’t get via to meet overdue prescriptions. Although affected person payments are generated on time, some can’t even get via to ask questions on a affected person assertion.
“Hey @thepolyclinic, I’ve tried to make an appointment for 3 days with no reply and have been on maintain for an hour immediately. Undecided I imagine you’re ‘welcoming new sufferers,’ as your Twitter bio claims,” one affected person tweeted to the Polyclinic.
“Nobody solutions. You simply sit on terminal maintain,” one affected person wrote on Fb.
“Attempting to achieve billing companies and sit on infinite maintain. And the ‘call-back’ choice isn’t working both. Furthermore, all of the digital portals for doing on-line funds — each of them are busted, inasmuch as there is no such thing as a billing info proven for me. Jeez, I’m making an attempt to pay my invoice. It shouldn’t be this tough,” one other Fb person complained on Polyclinic’s web page.
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It took ten days to ship a prescription
I’m a affected person on the Polyclinic and have skilled unbearably lengthy wait instances. The troubles began weeks earlier than I observed the social media complaints.
At a latest video appointment, my physician defined that they’re understaffed and that his workplace would get again to me with a prescription inside two days. Nevertheless it took 10 days.
An e mail inquiry to the physician went unanswered. I had equally dangerous luck for the primary 9 days I tried to get via over the cellphone.
I known as his workplace a number of instances to ask if the prescription might be despatched. I’d be left on maintain for thus lengthy that I’d quit. The automated cellphone system gives an choice to have somebody name the affected person when a employees member is free. I opted-in two instances however by no means received a return name.
On Monday, I received fortunate: After 41 minutes on maintain, somebody lastly answered to assist kind out the difficulty.
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That is harmful for sufferers
Spokesperson Tenzin Choephel didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark remodeled a number of days. They’re as troublesome to achieve as nurses and schedulers. However the employees I’ve spoken to as a Polyclinic affected person mentioned they’re experiencing a extreme staffing scarcity that’s impacting their workflow.
If sufferers can’t attain their physician’s workplace to make appointments or schedule blood work, it’s clearly harmful. What may begin as a easy medical concern might spiral into one thing extra severe as a result of they might not make an appointment quickly sufficient. Not having the ability to get affordable care when offering blood for testing could end result within the affected person leaving.
It’s unclear what number of departments inside the Polyclinic are experiencing points. However even departments that not less than seem well-staffed to sufferers who go to usually are not answering telephones.
Employees are to not blame; Polyclinic management is accountable.
Staffing points post-COVID vaccine mandate isn’t new. And we’ve seen nurses go away after a tense pandemic. However Polyclinic isn’t speaking its points, no matter it perceives them to be, to its sufferers. They’re losing sufferers’ time with futile efforts to attach with their medical doctors. And meaning sufferers are delayed in making various preparations to handle no matter points they hoped to convey to their medical doctors. This isn’t a option to present you place sufferers first.
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