Dr. suddenly quits practice, did not notify me!

[fhce13 0]

Get a load of this. I had my surgery on Dec 21, 2009. I have had only 1 fill so far. It takes at least a month ahead of time to get any appointments with this Dr.. I go for my 1:30 appointment today, that I scheduled right after my only fill, 5 weeks ago. It takes me an hour and a half to get there. I sign in and take a seat. The receptionist calls me up and tells me Dr. Patel suddenly left the practice a few weeks ago. She said I'm surprised no one called you. I was livid to say the least. She could not tell me where he was, just gave me the phone # of the hospital he is associated with. I am so mad and I'm not sure how to handle this.:frown:

[jre1974 0]

Obviously you need to find yourself a new doctor...Is there another doctor at that office that can see you?

[MizKelly 2]

Yes I am surprised that nobody called to let you know. However there could be numerous reasons why your doctor left the practice that could be personal, legal, contract issues, etc...I would have let the receptionist know how upset you were because they are the ones that usually call to remind patients of their appointments and sounds like they failed to do their jobs.

Since they gave you the number of the hospital that your doctor is associated with now, sounds like there must have been some problems with the practice he was with.

My BIL was a doctor (until he died suddenly last fall) so I understand the "behind the scenes" of what doctors go through.

I hope you get things worked out...

[JJLaw08 4]

That is crazy. They should have contacted you. I went for my first fill last Tuesday, and I didn't get a call to remind me. I don't know if it is because I'm self-pay or if they expect you to keep up with it.

[Humming Bird 275]

They don't have to tell you all the details about why the Dr. is no longer there, but it would have been more professional of them to send out a little courtesy letter.

[malinda1229 1]

I would check with your state Medical Board...they MAY be able to tell you where he is OR if he still has a valid license to pratice. Seems a bit odd that someone would leave a pratice suddenly without a very good reason.

[BetsyB 9]

If he was part of a group, he may have been legally prevented from telling his patients of his impending departure and new location. (Staff are also not allowed to reveal the information.) This is engineered so that the clinic retains the patients (and therefore their money), at least for a period of time before they locate--and follow--the doctor who left.

I wouldn't be too upset with the doctor him/herself. S/he very likely would very much have preferred to tell ALL his/her patients where s/he'd be.

(The other alternative is that s/he was dismissed with cause--in which case, you might be safer with one of the doctors at the practice you're currently using. You can check the doctor's licensure status at your state's professional registration website.)