USC Institute Of Urology

I was referred to Dr. Matthew Dunn by my doctor and made an appointment. I arrived less than five minutes late for my appointment, and had called on the way let them know I would be a few minutes late, because that’s just courteous and respectful. I ended up arriving at the lavish Norris Cancer Center only two minutes late. They had validated valet parking, coffee and drinks in the waiting area. There was a very polite check-​in manager with his own office who checked me in right away. I was directed down a great hall of waiting areas to a waiting area serving several offices including Dr. Dunn’s — no direct contact with Dr. Dunn’s office yet. I asked one of the general receptionists if I had time to use the restroom. She called back to Dr. Dunn’s office and was informed that the Dr. was running an hour late and that there were 3 people ahead of me. Ahem. I guess I had time to use the restroom!
I asked to speak to Dr. Dunn’s office directly and was directed to where the Dr.‘s office was tucked down the hallways behind all the big fancy waiting areas with all the conveniences.
I cancelled my appointment and let them know that I did not want to re-​schedule.
I’ve been to enough doctors to know that there is often, nay always, some waiting involved and scheduling doesn’t always go as planned. However, aside from emergency rooms and county facilities, I’ve always been seen in a reasonable amount of time by good and popular doctors.
I got up early for my appointment, handled everything I needed to handle in order to leave the house on time, drove 30 minutes to my appointment, spent gas, lost working time, etc.
I was also sent a PDF of forms to print and fill out ahead of time to make my appointment more efficient, and was kindly reminded to arrive on time with the forms ready.
To arrive and be informed that Dr. Dunn and his office management team had so little integrity or respect for his patient’s time that I didn’t even deserve the courtesy of a phone call to warn me of the delay is just plain insulting and arrogant. I will not be re-​scheduling with a doctor who view me this way and who can’t keep his appointments — the first requirement you’d think!
Even before finding out about the delay, the whole place struck me as a factory where patients are put on an assembly line, and it turns out, that’s the way I was regarded. The free valet parking, fancy waiting rooms, and suite of complimentary beverages all made sense now as a façade to compensate for a lack of genuine caring about people.
Now I’m off to find a doctor with more than just a degree.