A couple weeks ago, I used a Planned Parenthood for the first time. (My only reason was that it’s a lot closer than any of the OBGYNs in my area that my insurance covers and I wouldn’t have a car.)
Frankly, I was very disappointed. To start with, the location near me hardly ever answers their phones. I’m assuming it’s due to being understaffed, but even so, it’s extremely irritating. I was unable to set an appointment because of this, despite calling multiple times on multiple occasions, so I went ahead and trekked out there. Their website claims that they take walk-ins, so I was counting on that.
When I arrived, I found out that they don’t take walk-ins at my location because they are too understaffed. I asked to set up an appointment, and they agreed to – but I had to wait for ten minutes for someone to be available to set it up. On the bright side, the appointment was for the next day.
The day of, I got there early, but didn’t have to wait any longer than I would have in a doctor’s office, which was a plus. I was only there to get a new prescription for birth control, and they gave me the option of just talking to a nurse practitioner to determine if I would be okay health-wise taking BC (which was cheaper than getting a physical exam.) I went with that.
The nurse’s assistant, who I talked to first, was extremely rude and got visibly angry with me when I didn’t know the exact percentages/active ingredients of the last pill I had been on, only the name. She came close to threatening me, telling me that if I couldn’t come up with that information, then they would not give me a new prescription. I completely understand why they would need it, as I had a few problems with that particular pill and needed to try something different, but I have severe anxiety and having someone try to frighten me into remembering something I didn’t know didn’t do much good. Finally, she just asked what pharmacy I had used, so I gave her that information and she called them and found out what she needed.
Talking with the actual Nurse Practitioner was fine. She was polite and professional, and we got through the questionnaire quickly. She checked the other meds I take with the prescription she gave me to make sure there would be no adverse interactions, and sent me on my way. I bought my first pack from them, but I’m having the prescription called into a pharmacy closer to me.
Overall, I got what I wanted – a new prescription with relatively little trouble. Still, the experience was unpleasant, and if I can avoid it in the future, I won’t be using them again. I know that likely every problem I experienced was due to insufficient funding, but that doesn’t change the fact that it sucked.
submitted by sosallycanwait17 [link] [3 comments]
