When I first moved to Vero Beach in 2011, I used Labcorp for all my lab work and was extremely satisfied. However, several years ago, Labcorp shut down their offices next to IRMC and I have been using Quest Diagnostics. From day one, I noticed a big difference in the quality of service and the cleanliness of the facility. Quest Diagnostics, way before the COVID pandemic occurred, was not as clean, the employees were not as professional and the general atmosphere was of a lower quality than I had been used to.
Recently, I visited Quest to pick up a lab kit for an internal illness that had been plaguing me for several months. Check in is via computer and since I was there for a pickup, rather than a procedure, the wait time was about 15 minutes - still a bit long for what I was there for, but acceptable - in Vero Beach. WhenI returned two days later to drop off the specimens, I signed in as usual and elected to wait outside rather than sit inside a crowded, potentially unhealthy waiting room. After about 20 minutes, I received a text that my appointment was ready and I returned to the facility. Upon entering, there was no one sitting at the three desks inside the reception area. So, I took a seat and began to wait.
After 15 minutes, having seen other patients enter, register, get treatment and leave, I approached the reception window and asked one of the staff if I could just drop off the specimen rather than wait further. She asked me my name and when I gave it to her, she said, "we called you earlier, where were you?" I told her I had opted to wait outside in my car, had gotten the text and had returned when I was notified, to find no one manning the desks to be made known that I had returned. She looked a bit skeptical and told me to have a seat and someone would be with me shortly. After an additional 15 minutes, with everyone in the waiting room having been seen except me, I again approached the window, only to find no one sitting at the desks. I continued to stand there for five more minutes until, finally, an an employee came into the office. I asked her if I could drop off my specimen, that I had been patiently waiting for over 45 minutes and I was getting a bit tired of waiting. She took my specimen and asked me to come to window 2. After apologizing for the long wait, she asked me for my insurance cards. I informed her that when I picked up the specimen kit, I had been asked to produce my cards - and told her there had been no change in 2 days, nor had there been any change in the last 10 years. She indicated that the staff member on the previous visit had not "saved" the documents. What a joke?
I was asked to sign a form stipulating that I had dropped off the specimen and I left the facility. This was not a good visit. It was a total waste of my time and proved once again that Quest Diagnostics has the absolute worst record of procedures among the many labs I've visited throughout Florida. While I was waiting, I overheard one of the employees tell a patient that the long waiting time was due to COVID-19. What a joke! The long waiting time is not a product of the pandemic but a product of the lousy business practices in place at Quest Diagnostics and the absolute incompetence of the Quest staff. At this facility, there are minimal efforts made to safeguard patients from the pandemic. Chairs are spaced approximately five feet apart in the main waiting room, and about the same distance apart in the secondary waiting room. A bottle of waterless hand cleaner sits on a shelf in the waiting room, but no cleaning whatsoever is done to a treatment room or space after a procedure has been completed. Once blood has been drawn, the wound is covered with a gauze pad and no more than two strips of paper tape. I've had blood work three times in the last year and each time the paper tape works loose, leaving the would uncovered after only an hour. According to most physicians, wounds of this nature should be covered for a minimum of two hours. There is one pen per station for the general public to use. This pen is not cleaned after a patient uses it. Staff do wear masks, and the general public is encouraged to wear masks - but denial of service is not enforced if a patient enters the facility without a mask. No one polices the main waiting room. Children are allowed to run amok. COVID has helped cover up a lot of bad business practices and companies are getting away with shoddy customer service because of those practices - not COVID 19. Quest is a prime example of another poorly managed, minority business in the health care field. I can assure you. This was my last visit to this incompetent business. UGH! read more
