Pregnant people not welcomed at St. Clare's

Here is my email correspondence between myself and the complaint department with Eastern Health regarding a recent visit that I had at St.Clare's Mercy Hospital. 

St. Clare's Mercy Hospital 

Proximity 

My Initial Letter

Good morning

I am writing to you as my official complaint about my experience at the St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital on Wednesday April 17^th.

I am currently 26 weeks pregnant and on Wednesday afternoon, I began to see spots in my eyes and have troubles understanding what I was reading and my speech was jumbled and confused. This set of alarm for me so my first reaction was to go to the nearest hospital to get myself and my baby checked out.  I had a friend/co-worker take me to the ER department at St. Clare’s around 1:30.

Once there, I was admitted by a very nice receptionist and the triage nurses were very kind to me and listen to what I had to say; kudos to those women for their professionalism. Then I waited to see the Emergency Room Physician. During my wait, I was starting to feel better and was coming around again.

Dr. Chis Goodall was the Dr that attended to me and I was not pleased with his treatment of me and my situation. Dr. Goodall did not seem interested in me or my baby. He asked a few questions while doodling on the bed-paper and cut me off several time while I was trying to explain to him why I was there. He asked me to do a few motor skills tests before diagnosing me with migraines and prescribing some Tylenol.

Not once did he infer about the baby, nor check to see if the baby was in any kind of distress.  I would assume that this would be standard practice for a pregnant women coming into the emergency room.  I understand that he obviously did not suspect any danger to my baby through his assessment, but I did not feel assured at the time. The baby was/is fine and I am not a doctor so I won’t criticize his methods too much for what I felt was an oversight at the time, but it did not make me feel at peace.

The one thing that really got to me, the one thing that I would like to underline as my top compliant to the St. Clare’s Hospital is his remarks as he was leaving the room.  He said: “And next time, don’t come here [St. Clare’s]. We aren’t a baby hospital and we don’t have head doctors”.

I was, and still am, appalled by this remark. St. Clare’s is a hospital. I was in need of medical attention. To say that I was not welcomed there to have my need addresses is a gross misconduct of health care system. I work at 100 LeMarchant Road, and St. Clare’s hospital is literally 1 block from my office and I thought it prudent to go to the closest hospital to seek the quickest attention.

So I am asking you:

What services do you provide if not to take in people in distress?  What if something would have been seriously wrong and time was of the essence? Would I not be treated at St. Clare’s? Would it not make sense to go to the closest hospital to at least catch an ambulance to the Health Science while receiving medical attention?

I realize that this complaint will not accomplish any big changes in the Eastern Health system.  I am only writing to you to bring this issue to your attention in hopes that these kinds of remarks will not be made in the future. I do, however, expect a response to this letter that lets me know my complaint has been heard.

Thank you

The Response:

Thank you for contacting Client Relations. I wanted to acknowledge the receipt of your email and to assure you that Eastern Health takes all complaints/concerns seriously.  I am sorry to hear about the experience that you had with the Emergency room Physician on your visits of April 17, 2013.  Your concerns will be forwarded to the Clinical Chief and the Program Director of the Emergency Program.  The Clinical Chief will review your chart and speak with the physician that attended to you.   You can be assured that your complaint will be discussed with him. 

I want to thank you for providing us with this information so that we can follow-up on your behalf.  If you require any further information please contact me again

My Response to the Response:

Thank you,

I am normally not one to complain, especially about the hard work that health care providers do. I just feel that this remark was uncalled for and appalling.

Thank you for taking this seriously.

Her Response Back:

I have received information from the ER Clinical Chief: He has discussed this complaint  with the physician. The physician felt that he was professional.  He indicated that he did not mean to make you  feel you were unwelcomed at the SCMH site, just that obstetric al care is best served at the HSC.  He expresses apology for any unintentional upset.

Again, thank you for contacting us and if you have any experiences in the future that are not as you expected please contact us again. 

My Final response:

Thank you for your response.

I don't deny that he probably is a very good doctor. He was able to diagnose my condition with accuracy. His bedside manners do leave something to be desired, but I'm looking for a doctor, not a friend, in an emergency situation.  

I was just off-put by his remarks "not to come back". I understand that the Health Science is a better facility for my condition, but admits an emergency situation my thoughts were to get to the closest hospital to seek medical attention. Perhaps his wording could have been a little different, perhaps I mistook his intentions, but in any case it was deeply upsetting to me to think that a doctor at St. Clare's did not want to take on my issues-that may or may not have been pregnancy related. 

Thank you very much for acting on this regard. I do feel as though my concerns were heard and the appropriate action was taken.

I will not be taking any more of my prenatal concerns to St. Clare's in the future.

Thanks again

Thoughts?