Anyone have trouble just getting a call back from Shady Grove?

[Anonymous]

I have not heard from my nurse, and I'm in-between cycles at the moment, but seriously, how hard is it to just email back? Especially given how much money I'm paying--all OOP, which means they get more from me than from someone who's insured. Compassion is pretty low too, from my experience, but that I found in other places as well. A failed cycle, miscarriage, it's all de rigeur to a fertility clinic. It does bug me that Shady Grove is not willing to contemplate changing their procedures in response to a failure.

Could they have just dropped me as a patient without telling me? I'm in shared risk so they have my money, so that seems unlikely.

Is this a common problem with SG? I'm thinking of seeking treatment elsewhere.

I already know they're not on the cutting edge of anything, but I don't think I need that for my challenges. Still, what about plain old professionalism?

[Anonymous]

My nurse is AWFUL with calls. I often get calls at 3:50 from other nurses because "your nurse had a lot of calls today".

She is slightly better when I'm actually cycling though.

When I am really desparate I call the front desk and say "I think there is something wrong with my Nurse's voicemail" and they get her to call me back. It makes me feel like a bitch, but there really was a voice mail issue at K St this spring.

[Anonymous]

I am a patient right now with SG in the shared risk donor program. Already had 3 failed IUIs and one failed donor egg. It was a challenge to get ahold of my nurse, but she always comes thru in the end. I think that the whole thing is so wrought with stress and anxiety that the problems just get magnified. Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I'm already setting up consults at other clinics.

The stats were never stellar, it was shared risk that brought me to SG but it's maybe not worth the heartache of all the failure.

[Anonymous]

I'm a new SG patient, so don't have a wealth of personal experience yet. But in my two months working with them (DC office), I have found that my nurse is also not super responsive when it comes to returning my calls, though she does call back with test results promptly. She's also pretty good at answering email. Having been a lurker on this board for a while, I can definitely say that I have read many complaints about SG similar to yours. So if you're really not that happy with them, maybe look elsewhere? Especially given that you're paying OOP, I don't see any reason to limit yourself to one clinic when there are other options in the area.

[Anonymous]

I had a great nurse at Sibley. I also made it clear to her that I don't do the phone and that she would need to email me. She was fine with that and was good about getting back to me.

[Anonymous]

New patient here. I assumed it was because I was not cycling, but getting a response has been painful. I have had all of my tests and two consults with the doctor. I have yet to get a call or e-mail from my actual assigned nurse, who has been out of the office every time I've come in or busy. Makes me wonder...

[Anonymous]

I've got a consult in a couple of weeks with another clinic, and since I've done all the testing for SG, I'm just sending a copy of it all to them--if my cycle doesn't start with SG by the time this other clinic can bring me on, which should be shortly after the consult, SG is going to be coughing up a 5 figure refund.

I don't need the headache of an unprofessional clinic, or one that can't exercise patience with your questions when they know you've been to hell and back and then some.

There's also just SG's less-than-stellar stats.

[Anonymous]

I had a consult with SG 3 weeks ago and can't seem to get anyone to call me back just to get things rolling. Everything seemed so slick at the appointment - they seemed to operate like a well oiled machine. However, this lack of attention is making me nervous.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure it depends on your assigned nurse. I absolutely love mine! I prefer email (I don't have an office at work so don't want to be on the phone discussing personal things), and she's super responsive. I get responses within a couple of hours max (during business hours). I got pregnant on my second IUI with Shady Grove and was released from them a couple of weeks ago so I'll miss my nurse! I'm already missing the personal care that I got at Shady Grove vs at the OB. I understand other people will have different experiences though. I was at the Annandale office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a consult with SG 3 weeks ago and can't seem to get anyone to call me back just to get things rolling. Everything seemed so slick at the appointment - they seemed to operate like a well oiled machine. However, this lack of attention is making me nervous.

I emailed, my nurse, and she was very responsive in my first cycle, not at all in this one.

I'm nervous too, do they think that time doesn't matter?

I just feel like this is too much stress to add onto a process that has already drained my soul.

[Anonymous]

I have to say, my nurse at SG Rockville was amazing. So compassionate, and always responsive, both during my (failed) cycle, and when I had questions or needed something afterwards. I cycled with Dr. O'Brien, who was also quite responsive and caring.

[Anonymous]

If you are having trouble with your nurse please complain and ask to be switched. Some nurses at SG are horrible and others are wonderful and this has a huge impact on your experience. I had a terrible experience with a nurse in the Rockville office who had me in tears because she laughed that I had a serious medical issue requiring surgery, among other things. Long story short, I switched doctors basically to get a different nurse, ended up with a wonderful nurse and got pregnant on my first IVF cycle. I almost left SG entirely because of this nurse but I'm so glad I didn't. It is ridiculous that the bad nurses get away with treating patients poorly, being unresponsive, etc. while other nurses work so hard to do everything they can. It's not necessary to switch doctors like I did, you can just switch nurses. The doctors need to know about bad nurses and I complained like crazy because I don't want someone else to have to endure what I had to endure with this woman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are having trouble with your nurse please complain and ask to be switched. Some nurses at SG are horrible and others are wonderful and this has a huge impact on your experience. I had a terrible experience with a nurse in the Rockville office who had me in tears because she laughed that I had a serious medical issue requiring surgery, among other things. Long story short, I switched doctors basically to get a different nurse, ended up with a wonderful nurse and got pregnant on my first IVF cycle. I almost left SG entirely because of this nurse but I'm so glad I didn't. It is ridiculous that the bad nurses get away with treating patients poorly, being unresponsive, etc. while other nurses work so hard to do everything they can. It's not necessary to switch doctors like I did, you can just switch nurses. The doctors need to know about bad nurses and I complained like crazy because I don't want someone else to have to endure what I had to endure with this woman.

SG is just such a factory. I feel like compassion and professionalism is optional to them. I think that it would be no harder to be professional and courteous than to leave patients wondering about the service they are being given.

[Anonymous]

I love the nurses I've been assigned to work with at SG! First for IUIs and OE IVF and now we're onto DE. I find emails are answered later in the day, but they return phone messages sooner. I actually often call and get my nurse live on the phone by calling right before noon.

Do ask to switch nurses if you are not having good communication exchanges.