I have had an AWFUL experience with the Valley Village Health Clinic. I chose this location because it is super close to my home and had good reviews. My previous provider closed their practice, and I had to find a new general physician. However, my experience so far has been beyond frustrating and disappointing! I started out by scheduling my first appointment for a much needed annual physical exam. My appointment date/time was rescheduled twice, before I had ever visited the office once. When I finally arrived for my first appointment, I was made to wait for nearly 45 minutes while my insurance/copay was supposedly “being verified,” despite the fact that I had filled out all requested paperwork in advance online. I have straight Medicare, which covers me 100% with no copays. I inquired about how long it would be to see the doctor. I was informed that I would not be seeing a doctor, and was instead apparently scheduled to see their Nurse Practitioner, “Amy,” unbeknownst to me. When I objected, I was informed that no doctor was actually present to see me at that time. I was under the impression that I was there to see an actual medical doctor, since that is what I had requested at the time I scheduled, and because I had received an email confirmation stating that I would be seeing DR. VARDANYAN. I am permanently disabled and I have a slew of health issues. I prefer to have my one annual physical exam conducting by a board certified medical DOCTOR, not a nurse practitioner. It’s not at all personal, although it seems to have been taken that way! So, I opted to reschedule my appointment for the third time now in person. I was offered an appointment two days later with a different doctor, Dr. Srapyan. I attended the appointment as scheduled. He was attentive, kind, patient, and thorough. I was very pleased with Dr. Srapyan!
Dr. Srapyan ordered a battery of tests, including bloodwork and urine to be performed at the lab. I scheduled an appointment for lab work at Quest and went in the very next morning, since I needed to be fasting. My physical exam was on a Thursday. I went to the lab on Friday. While at the lab, I noticed that the lab slip was simply for a urinalysis, and did not include a urine culture. I asked the lab tech. if the urine would be cultured. She said it was not ordered that way. I told her it was supposed to have been, and asked if it could still be added. She said that as long as the order was received from the doctor’s office that day, it would be fine. Immediately after leaving my samples at the lab, I called back the doctor’s office to ask if they could please be sure that my urine specimen would be cultured, since I have a history of having a negative urinalysis “dip,” even when I am battling an active urinary tract infection (UTI). I am unfortunately prone to urinary tract infections, and when I suspect a UTI, and my urine is indeed cultured, the culture never fails to grow the same bacteria, despite the urinalysis results seeming insignificant. Fun stuff!
I have had to become my own advocate and a well informed patient, since our healthcare system is not exactly patient friendly, just like this office! That said, the automated system for this office suggests that their preferred method of communication is via text message. So, I sent a text to the office requesting that the authorization to culture my urine be added to my lab work. That same afternoon, I received a response from the front office of Valley Village Health Clinic via text, claiming that the order to add the culture of my urine had been processed. On Monday morning, I received an email from Quest indicating that my lab results were now available in their online patient portal. I indeed had an elevated white blood cell count in my blood and a trace amount of (occult or microscopic) blood in my urine— all in line with my suspected UTI. As I feared, the urine culture had NOT been performed. I was in quite a bit of discomfort by now, as days had passed while my body was riddled with inflammation, as it attempted to fight off this infection. UTI’s can quickly turn in to a kidney infection, and even lead to sepsis if left untreated. Antibiotics were very much needed. I called the office and got no answer. I then texted the same number that I had been in communication with, to request treatment. I initially got no response via text, but continued to call until I got a hold of the office staff. I was assured that a prescription would be called in that day (Monday). I texted twice more later that afternoon with no response, and then called again in the last hour of the business day, and got left on hold until business hours ended. I got no antibiotics prescribed on Monday— and no call back either. Another day and night of writhing discomfort. The next day I called the office again inquiring about why no Rx had been called in for me, while I clearly had a burning infection. I asked the office staff to please not let another business day end without ensuring that my medication had been called in to the pharmacy, as had been the case the day prior. I was again assured that I would have a prescription called in that same day. This time, I requested that someone from their office please call me or text me back before the close of business (Tuesday) to confirm that the Rx had been sent in to the pharmacy. I received no call nor text by the close of that business day.
Feeling extremely uncomfortable and totally defeated, I thought to check my pharmacy app, hoping that a prescription had been called in, and perhaps they simply overlooked responding to me yet again to inform me. To my surprise, the prescription had indeed been put in. However, the pharmacy was about to close, and since I had not been told that the script was ever placed, I did not know that it was available. I would now not have enough time to make it to the pharmacy before they closed on Tuesday. Ouch! Another day without treatment. It just kept getting better! The next day, I learned from the pharmacy that the prescription was only for a week’s dose of antibiotics. Given my history of frequent UTI infections, I happen to know that a week of Macrobid is typically not sufficient to knock out my infection completely. I have seen a Urologist, and she believes that this bacteria has possibly colonized in my urinary tract, and therefore requires stronger and longer doses of treatment in order to be eradicated. So, I got in touch with the VVHC again to ask that the quantity please be increased. I was messaged back about an hour later and told that the provider, whom they referred to as a “SHE,” so I knew it was not my new PCP, Dr. Srapyan, since he is male, had been messaged and they were awaiting HER response. This was now Wednesday, 6 calendar days, and four business days after my appointment… and I was seemingly groveling at this point, for my needed course of treatment. I did not get another response that day until after business hours once again— when I received an email at 5:33pm stating that I had been scheduled for a telehealth appointment the next day at 12:15pm with DR. VARDANYAN.
The next morning, on Thursday, March 21st, I get a call AT 10AM... It was once again NOT Dr. Vardanyan, as the email had indicated. The call I received, 2.25 hours earlier than the scheduled appointment time for an appointment which I did NOT request, came from the same Nurse Practitioner, “Amy,” whom I had refused to see initially. Amy was defensive and abrasive in her approach, attempting to speak down to me as if I do not understand how these things work. She refused to listen to my needs and concerns, and instead was far more focused on trying to prove that she was right and I was wrong. She went so far as to claim that she had contacted my pharmacy and verified that I had NEVER taken a two week dose of Macrobid, only 7 or 10 days. That was precisely my point— 5 days is not enough! I’ve taken 7 day doses and still needed to follow that up with a 10 day dose on multiple occasions in the past. My voice was not heard. I told Amy to have a nice day and hung up as quickly as I could. I may be a brand new patient at your practice… but I AM NOT BRAND NEW! I am a 42 year old woman with a long history of known health issues, and I see multiple specialists to attempt to maintain my health. I know how the health system works. I know which conditions in my body respond to which treatments and for how long. I do not claim to be a medical professional by any means— nor to be more knowledgeable than any medical practitioner. But, I do know my own body and my physiological needs better than anyone else. I knew from experience that my urinalysis would fail to result in anything significant on lab work. However, once cultured, every single one of my many UTI’s produce the same bacteria— E. coli. That is why I insisted on the culture. Amy attempted to claim that my urinalysis did not reflect a need for culture— exactly what I had stated would occur. That is precisely why I wanted to deal with a seasoned medical doctor— one who is open to listening to their patient’s experience and needs, and realizes that this is not at at all personal; although I was definitely treated as such, and that there are well informed patients whom are simply trying to get their health needs met. I had already explained that my urine was supposed to have been cultured. Amy then placed me on hold and must’ve conferred with her office staff. She came back on the line and attempted to blame Quest (the lab) for not having cultured my urine sample, citing I should now go and give another sample. I suspect it was more likely that this clinic’s office staff did not actually follow up on requesting the culture as they claimed they had, as evidenced by the fact that they had also failed to follow up with me repeatedly for days on end. I immediately reached out to my Urologist’s office for support. Dr. Srapyan is a wonderful doctor! He really took his time and listened to me. I felt seen and heard by him. Unfortunately, he is only at this office maybe twice a month from what I was told. It appears Amy is the main practitioner at this location. She is unfortunately not nearly as open to listening to her patients, and definitely has something to prove. Steer clear of this place unless you too want to be subjected to the same abrasive treatment, failure to communicate, untimeliness, and lack of commitment to understanding their patient’s needs.