Terrible experience at Foxhall pediatrics
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Anonymous
| I recently moved to the DC area and was recommended Foxhall pediatrics. The doctors are great but the staff is absolutely horrendous. I have been there on multiple occasions where they have canceled appointments. One occasion, a sick appointment was canceled after I had already shown up to the office. I took my very sick 2 year old to be seen in the middle of rush hour traffic only to be turned away without so much as phone call. The office manager, who has the worst customer service, basically said she didn’t care and that the doctor had a personal event to attend and was running behind. I ended up having to go to urgent care where my child was diagnosed with an ear infection and hand foot mouth. On another occasion, they wanted to charge me a late fee for being 10 minutes late to the appointment. Again, I dealt with the office manager, who was not accommodating at all. I find the office staff to be unfriendly, and generally disinterested. I have been there three times and the receptionists have never even said hello to my child. It’s a pediatric office so I find the behavior unbelievable. This is sort of a rant but very interested in recommendations for a new pediatrician in NW. also curious if anyone has had similar experiences with the staff? |
Anonymous
| Can't speak to Foxhall (except maybe seeing another thread on this site about how bad they were?) but if you're close to downtown, I've had a great experience with the Children's National Pediatrician's and Associates Foggy Bottom office. |
Anonymous
| I’ve had good experiences with multiple Children’s pediatricians and associates locations (Foggy Bottom, Columbia Heights, the new by the old Walter Reed Campus, and Silver Spring). |
Anonymous
| A similarly unpleasant interaction with Foxhall office staff sent us to Children’s National and Associates 2.5 years ago. I don’t remember names or titles but I never went back. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the recommendations! Also would be interested in pediatrician suggestions. Thanks! |
Anonymous
CPNA that we all mentioned is a ped practice: https://childrensnational.org/primary-care/cnpa-patient-portal |
Anonymous
| Sounds like the problem is you actually. |
Anonymous
From your answer, I assume you don’t have young children. |
Anonymous
LOL |
Anonymous
Why would OP be the problem for running 10 minutes late to one appointment? What’s the point of your post? OP asked for recommendations. |
Anonymous
| No excuse for you showing up 10 minutes late to a doctor appointment and expecting zero consequences. |
Anonymous
I’m sorry you’ve had bad experiences. I’ve been taking my son there for a few years and have never had any problems. Dr Sweeney is his main doctor and I find her to be warm and wonderful. She’s helped us navigate a few complex health situations, including advocating for us when we needed to see a specialist and the wait for an appointment was long. I’ve never had an issue with the staff. I haven’t noticed whether they say hello to my son or not, so maybe I’m a bad mom. Dr Daniel has also seen him on a couple of occasions, and last time we came in, she was in the lobby and said hello and greeted him by name. It’s appalling that they canceled on you when you arrived. Have you reached out to the doctors directly? It’s a small practice and I think they would be responsive to your concerns. I will say that late fees are common and you did say you showed up late, so don’t expect a different experience on that front at a different pediatrician’s office. |
Anonymous
The fact that you have been conditioned to believe there should be consequences for being a few minutes late is a problem. We are all human and we are trying to make things happen and get to places in one piece on a daily basis. What happened to empathy in childcare. There shouldn’t be a penalty for running late with a sick toddler. My child is a patient, but I do not like situations like this. This could be me on a bad day and I’m not going to stick around and wait for it to happen to me!!! |
Anonymous
Sheesh, 10 minutes is not a lot. There should be a grace period or a better explanation of why kid can’t be seen. If it’s a sick visit, they should squeeze the kid in. Have some sympathy for frazzled, busy parents |
Anonymous
| OP make sure you provide feedback to the doctors that the staff are going to cause them to lose patients. |