Caveat emptor.
Medical practice has been damaged forever by the government, and this office is a prime example. I've seen two of these doctors, Bloom and Brennan. Their "bedside manner" stinks. They're affable enough, but one gets the feeling that they're poised to take off; in fact, if you pause to take a breath while you're asking a question, they're already at the door. Most of this is not their fault, I guess, but it leads to carelessness.
I've waited for up to two hours in this office. They're extremely overbooked, and, when asked why, the receptionists say they have nothing to do with booking. Northwell, the company they work for, squeezes the most out of the practices they run, and this can ruin lives. The time I spent in a Northwell hospital last winter was torture; everything and almost everyone in it were a nightmare, except for the food, which I couldn't eat.
The reason I'm writing this review is to alert people to be very careful here. I'm a former healthcare professional and I think I'm in a position to evaluate this fairly. I was being worked up for cataract surgery on my right eye. I obtained the three medications for pre op and post op administration to begin three days before surgery. When it was time to begin the process, I read the directions; two of them said to put the drops into the wrong eye, the one that was not being operated on, and the third said to put the drops into the wrong eye before surgery and put them in the other eye after surgery. Had I followed these directions--not having had the privilege of a two minute discussion with the doctor about what they were or why I needed them or if I had been a little stupid or trusting--I might have showed up for surgery with the operative eye unprepared. The doctor, assuming the drops had been administered, might have gone on and operated on an unprepared eye. What might have happened then?
Maybe I'm superstitious, but, back in the day, we used to say that hospital disasters always happen to healthcare professionals. And they seemed to; cardiac arrest in the OR of the chief of something's nine-year-old stands out as a great example. In my own experience, my unborn baby's heart stopped when the doctor had two feet braced on the OR table and two hands pulling her out with mid forceps. I had an immediate up and down incision, and felt four hands digging in my abdomen, and then was crash induced. The baby was delivered in about three minutes. (It took me a few years to get over the experience.) The last thing I knew was that my baby's heart had stopped. I woke up in an empty recovery room, crying for my baby. I didn't see anyone for maybe half an hour to let me know my baby was alive.
Here's the sad ending of the eye story. I tried calling the ophthalmologic practice all day yesterday to let them know I would not be having the surgery tomorrow. Several times, I waited in the queue about twenty minutes and then was directed to hang up, assured they would call me back. They did not. In the late afternoon, not wanting to be a deadbeat, I sent a text message, saying I was cancelling surgery, and, about ten minutes later, I received a call from them, asking me to hold on to speak to a healthcare professional who was returning my call. I held on and was connected to a recording, asking me to record my message. I sent another text, explaining what happened. I didn't hear back from them. What a clown show.
Today, I was called by the OR facility where I was supposed to have the surgery. They hadn't gotten the message that I tried to convey all day yesterday. I explained what happened to the alert and intelligent seeming nurse to whom I spoke. Maybe she'll be successful in telling the practice what happened. Maybe not. read more