Orthovirginia review: Medical procedures

I saw Dr. Daniel Thompson last summer. I had pain in my neck, shoulders, back and arm. I was given medication and told to return if the pain persisted. I later met with Dr. Elliott Kim and had an MRI. Dr. Kim referred me to a pain specialist. I was told by Elena Wornom and Hannah Segal that I’d need MRI images for the pain specialist, but I wasn’t given these images. I had intense pain and couldn’t shovel out my car to get the images. OrthoVirginia has a copy so I asked if they could share the images with the specialist. This was a simple, reasonable request. Common decency would suggest they forward whatever information they had. I messaged OrthoVirginia, but no one answered. It’s been 2 ½ months and I still haven’t got an answer. I also phoned several times, but after being put on hold for 30+ minutes each time, I had to hang up.

The pain specialist said it was ok—but not optimal—to do the procedure without images. So I got the procedure, but under sub-optimal conditions. But still, no one helped me out or bothered to respond to my messages. This is not consistent with a reasonable standard of care. I sent a complaint to Heather Witherspoon in Patient Relations. She didn’t reply. I sent a follow-up. She didn’t reply. I called her. She didn’t answer.

This isn’t professional or ethical. It’s quite cruel. They are supposed to help patients and care for their health, but OrthoVirginia isn’t doing this. They’re not even bothering to answer messages from people in physical distress.

When I had a visit with Dr. Kim, a woman jumped out of a chair and rushed at me. I only managed not to be knocked over because I jumped out of the way. She told me to stop and asked some questions. She was acting as a gatekeeper to keep the area safe from COVID. She did the same thing every time someone walked in. Instead of standing by the door and doing her job, she sat playing on her phone, not noticing until it was too late that someone had walked into the area she was supposed to be policing. She would rush at them and, ironically, not maintain social distancing in her efforts to ensure social distancing. She’s a tall thin woman in her 60’s. She received a call and put the caller on speaker. It was a young man, gauging by the voice. He made comments about the woman’s “sweet [censored].” She kept the call going, still on speaker, engaging in flirtatious, sexual, inappropriate conversation for 10 mins.

In January 31, I wrote a letter to Dr. Thompson addressing my concerns. He didn’t reply.

Edna Padilla, Manager, left a voicemail. I texted her back and told her, as I told Heather Witherspoon, that I wanted to talk by text or email bec. I have chronic laryngitis making it difficult & painful to speak. Again, a simple, reasonable request. Ms. Padilla didn’t respond. I texted her again, but she didn’t answer. I contacted her through Facebook and LinkedIn, and sent a personal letter to her home, but she hasn’t responded to me.

It’s revealing that they won’t respond in writing. It says they’re unwilling to accommodate my medical condition. This is appalling, especially for a healthcare organization. And they’re only willing to talk on the phone. Clearly, they don’t want a record of our conversation. I’ve had intense pain for 6 months, but OrthoVirginia still hasn’t sent me the CD or shared images with the pain specialist. I have not heard back from MyChart, Heather Witherspoon, Dr. Thompson or Edna Padilla. They all refuse to account for their unconscionable behavior.