Podiatrists, medical leaves, foot care
Curious as to whether doctors are being given 6 months maternity leave (hospital system employment perks) in other areas? I’ve had two female doctors take long maternity leaves, another took emergency family medical leave. Nobody makes arrangements for a different doctor to take on their patients during leave. The most recent situation caused me to go six months between toenail trimming. As a diabetic with ingrown nails and pincer nails, I can barely make it three months. Due to doctor shortage, nobody else could see me. Caused me to have infected ingrown toenail, toe infected up to first joint. Then, she ignored the infection, cut my nails, sent me on my way, saying she was leaving, good luck to me. I was able to get into an associate six weeks later, who observed the infection had been going on awhile, should have been tended to last visit. Um, like, yes, and thank you for taking care of me. I had to resort to using a rollator because I couldn’t stand the pain walking.
The first doc who took advantage of the six month maternity leave at least had another doc who would take care of patients needing prescription refills. Better than nothing.
The cardiologist who took emergency Family medical leave, had no coverage, nobody answering patient phone messages, nor answering questions in patient portal. It was a cardiologist. I was in middle of testing when I was abandoned, couldn’t get test results for over six months. Results couldn’t be uploaded to the portal until doctor read and okayed it. Even when the cardiologist returned, I asked for the results to be uploaded, as I had an internist looking for the results. He still cannot get them. I feel abandoned, to be honest. Is this the new way we receive medical care in the US?
I am a responsible, pleasant, compliant patient, and very frustrated with these situations being treated as the new normal.
How awful,
. Maternity/paternity leave time varies from one practice/clinic to the next, but healthcare providers should always provide patients with some kind of back-up. Even our vet made arrangements with another vet to come in twice a week to take care of emergency cases while she was on maternity leave. Were all these doctors under one clinical umbrella? If so, maybe it's time to find a new clinic. You need and deserve continuous care. - Lori (Team Member) They were not under the same clinical umbrella. We have two behemoth hospital corporations here, one with one corporation, the other two under the other hospital corporation.
Funny you mention your vet. I asked my vet if she could take me on as her patient, lol. Of course she cannot, but that’s the big difference in vets’ love for their patients, and some human doctors. We are only $$ to them.
What a frustrating experience, and unfortunately, all too common. You deserve a medical care team that gives you the appropriate care. I found this article about red flags in diabetes care. While it doesn't mention coverage for maternity leaves, it discusses how to find a good care team and when to start looking for a new team. Do you have other options in your community, other than the two big hospital corporations? All the best, Kathy (Team member) Hi
. I hope you at least complained to management. That's no way to treat patients. I wish you had more options ... or that vets could take human patients. 😀 - Lori (Team Member)
