Dr. Elizabeth V. Bates, MD

I called Medichieve Associates three times today, and was put on-hold for 20 min, 30 min and 40 min without ever being connected to a live human being. I don't understand how one is expected to schedule in appointment in such poorly run medical establishment!

The old bitty of a lady who does the scheduling at Medichieve Associates is a roadblock if you’re looking to get in to see any of these doctors. It had been a while since I’d been to see a doctor, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to go see Dr. Overley on the recommendation of my parents. Judy told me they had had a couple of cancellations that afternoon and to come on in, so I headed out. About 30 minutes later, halfway there, she called me back very irate and accused me of being untruthful. She claimed she asked who my primary care doctor was, and confused, I told her that I didn’t recall her asking me that question. She cancelled my appointment because she said 1) I hadn’t been in the office since 2010, so would have to start the new patient procedure and 2) that I had seen Dr. Bates in 2010 and it was against Jewish Hospital’s policy to change doctors within the same practice. I told her that I hadn’t really clicked with Dr. Bates when I’d seen her, and my parents liked Overley, thus my switch. She stated that if I hadn’t clicked with Dr. Bates I should find another practice, and hung up. Upset and miffed, I took the situation to my dad, who confirmed with Jewish Hospital corporate that it IS NOT their policy to prevent patients from switching doctors within the same practice. Armed with this, we contacted Medichieve again, spoke with Judy about the incident, during which time she said I had actually called her a liar, which was untrue and insisted I be given an appointment with Dr. Overley. Instead of putting us on the books, she left us on hold for over 20 minutes while she “went to get her office manager”.



To add insult to injury, a week later I received two form letters in the mail stating that my doctor-patient relationship was being terminated. Neither was signed, so I suspect the scheduler was behind them both. My family and I are very upset at her treatment, especially since this started out as a simple miscommunication. The fact that she was giving out false information aside, I might have considered trying Dr. Bates again if she had bothered to be polite. She effectively lost the office seven patients, and everyone else I can warn away.

I had a horrible experience at Medichieve Associates. They kept me waiting after my appointment time for upwards of an hour. While they were friendly when taking my blood, they handled results terribly. I had to call them for my results! It took forever to get in touch with the nurse and when I finally did, they lost my labwork and samples!! After much ado, the nurse tracked down the viles, telling me that she would call me back within the week with the results. She never called me back, resulting in my having to call Medichieve again. I was on hold for over an hour just to get through the phones! Overall, an atrocious experience. No self-respecting medical practice should treat their patients with such disregard. If you can trust them to keep track of your bloodwork, who knows what else happens in that office.