Wellness

[SeaMaiden]

Yes. In fact my latest doctor retired....so I am doctorless once again.  It has happened to me severel times over the last few years. Some just leave the building....no explanation.    I could care less as I have no relationship with them...just go for my physical.  I do not form a love relationship with doctors. So here next year I  will just pick another name out of the hat.  Why is it surprising to so many that doctors move on?  Not to me.

[Reba055]

Doctors are people too. They have reasons for moving on just like anyone else. 

[SXMGirl]

My doctor of 20 years had financial difficulties and sold her practice to join another one.  I was in the office when she told her staff and it was not pretty.  The office that she went to is about 15 miles from me and is in an area that I like, so it was not a hardship on me, but she did lose many patients.  I am now worried because she signed a five-year contract and she is coming up on year four.  She told me that she could do anything for five years.  I have no idea what I will do if she does not renew her contract.

[Tinkrbl44]

---

@NicksmomESQ wrote:

  My PCP  retired with only 30 days notice to his patients.His son who worked with him decided months before that he would not take over his practice.He decided to join A practice 20+ miles away!! This left us all in the lurch. We tried contacting the retired doctor to ask for a local referral.After all he was in practice for 40 years.All he would say is travel to "my son's new office.I have no one else to refer you to"!!.

 I still haven't found a new PCP.My family has been going to a nearby Urgent Care office!!

 I can't believe ​that after 26 years of treating with this doctor he just turned his back on us!! He went from caring to not giving a darn!!!

---

@NicksmomESQ

Obviously, with these situations, we don't know the whole story.

I guess I'm wrong, but I thought most doctors "sell" their practices to younger doctors ....  but now I wonder if MDs that are part of a medical group have to deal with rents raised ... or other costly situations.    And maybe they honestly CAN'T think of another MD they would recommend.  

Perhaps  with all the talk of repealing the ACA and replacing it with who knows what, many physicians have reached their breaking point.   JMO

Clearly, a doctor can quit any time they want, and I'd imagine there are some good reasons for doing so .... a cancer diagnosis, for example.   Who knows?    

[Moonchilde]

There are more and more group practices now rather than individual offices. It's very expensive to set up a medical office and pay qualified employees. Many offices choose to cut corners by employing UN-qualified employees - hence the many "what my doctor's office did now!" threads. You get what you pay for.

Sometimes, when you have a practice with 4-8 doctors, the "rules" and the way the practice operates in general isn't a good fit, or the hours or workload isn't what they expected. So, they elect to find a more compatible practice.  So most people just see one of the rest of the group, and new patients will be referred to the new doctor, when one comes into the practice.

Before I retired, I had a series of single practice doctors I HAD to go with because they were the only ones accepting new patients. One retired (as well he should have, he was in his 80s) and I detested the other two. Finally got into a 6-doctor practice. LOVED the founder, but after 18 months she moved to Colorado (lucky her). I saw various of the other doctors and they were all "okay" but as with nearly all multi-physician groups these days, never really connected on any level with any of them - until the last one. I clicked with her instantly & she was my doctor for my last 2-3 years.

Now retired. Small town. Had to start over. Largest group in town with close to 20 doctors on staff. Mine is okay, but as above, I don't have, and don't expect to have, a relationship with him other than he's being paid to treat me. In large part, we're all just billing numbers now; that's just the way it is. Everyone needs to get used to that.

It doesn't just happen to patients. Before I retired I worked with radiologists and pathologists in hospitals. They would hire new grads in the spring, who would start working in summer, be extensively trained - and leave for a job more to their liking in 6-12 months - and the group started all over again looking for noobs.

[VaBelle35]

This has only happened with me with female doctors who want to work part time after having children.  Suddenly their malpractice premiums increase significantly and they either have to work FT to cover the premiums or stop practicing.  They all chose to stop practicing.

One was older, and developed  very serious heart condition and retired immediately.

[meem120]

Yes. My doc " abandoned" me when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer...she was 36 with 2 little kids.   You don't know what's going on.  

[kjae]

The medical profession is struggling.  If they cannot meet thier financial demands they cannot keep a practice open.  Think many of them are trying til the end hoping things will get better, but things are only going to get worse.  They have a right to end their practice. With the demands being made on them and the little reimbursement they get back from insurance, it is impossible to keep a business running. I thank them for thier service.  They need to pay back loans and put bread on the table.

[CatsyCline]

my gastroenterologist just dropped off the map. no one will say why. i had heartburn that was getting worse. went to make at appt and his phone was disconnected.  called PCP - he made a referral to another gastro.  very hush hush.  looked on the state health website. gastro not listed, but there are  disciplinary actions on a list of other providers . some are for sexual harrassment. others for either using or improperly prescribing controlled substances

[hckynut]

---

@sfnative wrote:

Hi Everyone!

I'm curious about this because my Internist went to work at her Internal Medicine group practice on Friday, February 24th and at the end of the day announced that she would not return.

In essence, by doing so, she abandoned her patients.  This included me and my husband.

What, if anything, would you do about this physician?  Would you report this abandonment to state officials?

I'd appreciate your input.  Many thanks in advance.

Rebecca

---

Hi Rebecca @sfnative,

Aha! I see you got your nic back again that's great. Look forward to more posts from you.

My Psychiatrist of 17 years moved from her practice to our VA Hospital. I knew she was leaving(via an e-mail) I was told I had move my next visit to an earlier date, and I did. Then the week of my appointment I got a call from her front office lady(who I have known most of those 17 years) to tell me my doctor would not keep that appointment. She said the doctor had to leave before the week of my rescheduled date.

Since I knew her office lady so well I asked who she would recommend in their office and I set up an appointment with him. Losing my Psychiatrist that was with me through the worst of the worst I have ever been through in my life, was not an easy time for me. 

I have said here many times that my time in the Mental Ward was the hardest time of all my many physical issues. I'll take heart attacks and all my other life threatening problems before having to live through those dark few years.

Anyways I saw the new Psychiatrist several times, and then he too left that practice? I have no idea where he went or why, as I was not "connected to him".

My situation was not quite the same as yours, but similar. I did not seek to do anything about the situation, I thought too much of my original Psychiatrist, to want to cause her any issues. I knew she was leaving, but I planned on seeing her that 1 more visit before she left. Really wanted to tell her how much she meant being in my life during those worst of times.

My GP of 7 years left without saying a word to me, and we were "kinda" hockey friends from our first meeting when I was in the hospital so long in 2008. That was a surprise, hut his practice was in the same group as my "nephew-in-law", who is also a GP. He told me that my GP did not make the choice to leave, and that was all he COULD say. 

So I once again found another GP, not my relative, but in the same group. Had to try 2 of them and the first one was an *ss. Got one that listens​ to what I know about myself, and that is a must to me.

So glad to see you here again.

Take good care my friend,

JOhn