Orthopedic Medical Group Archives - Orthopedic Medical Group Riverside

Below is a message I received from Karen B. Content in [ ] added for clarification and online optimization.

Hi Paul!

I am absolutely appalled and utterly disgusted with the treatment I received at OMG Riverside (Orthopedic Medical Group of Riverside) . The last 4.5 months have been an absolute nightmare.

In July I broke my leg, and because I had to be treated immediately, I had no time to switch my network out of Riverside (I now live in San Diego). I was forced into their care due to the urgency of my injury. The doctors and staff at OMG Riverside [ Orthopedic Medical Group of Riverside ]have made this experience the longest, most stressful time- physically and emotionally. I truly believe, had I not been in their care, I would be in a much better place now in terms of my recovery.

Where do I even begin…

I had to repeat my situation to every single person I came into contact with- even being asked multiple times what I was there to be treated for… despite already being an established patient.

I waited to be seen, a minimum, of 2 hours for every appointment. Once I was taken to a room, I could wait up to 1 hour for the doctor to even enter the room. All the while, I was in the dark and would be scolded if I asked how much longer. Keep in mind, I was driving the 2 hours from San Diego to the provider on top of this extra wait time.

On top of that, the women at the front desk have the most horrendous attitudes- over the phone and in person. My suggestion- if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. People like that should not be around patients who are undergoing a stressful time as it is. The lack of compassion and empathy is unbelievable.

If I called the office to get information about anything at all- or to ask for an update on a pending authorization, etc. , I never got what I needed. Every time, without fail, I was sent to the voicemail of my doctor’s assistant and I would never receive a call back. The message machine says to give 48 hrs. for a return call. I gave them 72 hrs. sometimes even more, and when I would call back to follow up- I would be scolded by the girls- asking me to stop nagging them and that they had many other patients to take care of as well… and that they would get to me when they got to me.

I was treated by Dr. Uppal [Dr. Sunny Gurvinder Uppal ], He performed a surgery on my leg, and it did not go as planned. He kept pointing fingers at me for reasons as to why the surgery didn’t go as planned- he said my bones were not of good quality without ever doing any kind of test to verify that. (Now with my new doctor I find, after testing, my bones are just fine, and it was in fact his failure to perform).

When I would ask questions, he would laugh and almost never gave me the answers I was looking for. He was terrible at communicating and did not respect the doctor patient relationship. He was constantly saying “If you were my daughter… I’d do this and that” and treating me as such, and it was not appreciated. He did not respect my questions at any point.

Now, when Dr. Uppal [ Sunny Gurvinder Uppal, M.D. ] suggested I needed a second surgery- he had his partner in his office give me a “second opinion” (which makes no sense because apparently Uppal is the director over the office, no bias there….).

The second doctor that saw me was Dr. Baima [ Richard Biama, MD – Joint & Trauma Surgeon ] He had not even discussed with Dr. Uppal my situation. Nor had he seen my x rays until he was right in front of me that same day, and within seconds, declared I needed surgery.

When my father and I asked him to give us a better understanding as to why, he said, “I think my 4 years of medical school and 2 years of residency qualify me to know what I’m talking about.” I kid you not, word for word. At this point, I chose to switch providers.

I am now trying to have them provide my new doctor with my medical records so I can proceed with treatment. HOWEVER, their incompetence continues to delay my care. I called about a month ago to request my records. A gentleman in the office told me they were going to be mailing my records and I should receive them the following week. I confirmed and got off the phone, glad I wouldn’t be dealing with them again.

After not receiving them in the time promised, and waiting an extra reasonable amount of days, I called back and was told that I was not telling the truth because it didn’t show in their records that anyone had requested anything; it isn’t my fault that they didn’t document things. I have my phone records to prove the calls made. Understand, I cannot make the appointment with my new Orthopedic Specialist until I receive those records, so until then I remain in the dark regarding my remaining recovery time.

I have been in a cast for the last 4.5 months, not the usual timeline for my kind of injury, with no end in sight at this point. It has been incredibly stressful, physically and emotionally, and all I want to do is move on at this point.

I just got off the phone with them and I am at my breaking point. NOBODY deserves to be treated like that.

It’s unfortunate that they get away with all of this. I want to fight them and make sure that nobody else is treated this way. These providers are dealing with people in sensitive and volatile situations- dealing with people’s HEALTH AND LIVES. They should be kept accountable.

THANK YOU THANK YOU for creating this site. I hope one day that place is shut down.

When I had my dealings with Dr. John Gonzalez of Orthopedic Medical Group of Riverside, he told me my test results were already submitted and the insurance company had approved the carpel tunnel correction on my other hand.

Once my first hand regained strength, orthopedic surgeon John Gonzalez directed me to call in and schedule a pre-op appointment; we would select a date, discuss the particulars, and move forward with the surgery.

About six months later, I called in as instructed to learn from the staff that only the doctor can schedule a pre-op appointment. My attempts to schedule the right kind of appointment were thwarted, and this just didn’t make any sense, so I asked to speak with the office manager.

In speaking to her, I stated the doctor had told me that everything had already been approved and that I was supposed to call in and schedule a pre-op appointment for the second carpel tunnel surgery; she parroted the staff in that only the doctor can schedule a pre-op appointment because it had to be submitted to the insurance company for approval.

I relayed that Dr. John Gonzalez stated it was already approved. At my insistence she went and got the file and confirmed the second surgery had already been approved but repeated she was unable to schedule the appointment I needed. I needed to make an appointment to speak to the doctor so the doctor could set a pre-op appointment.

“You mean I need to schedule an appointment to schedule an appointment?”

In a chaotic office that actually made me come in so they could schedule another appointment for me to come in, it is no surprise their website is down.

Think about this for a minute.

Websites are not the novelty they were once. Today, a companies’ website is their face to the world.

Whether through disorganization, equipment failure, or just apathy, OMGNET.com, Orthopedic Medical Group of Riverside’s face to the world, is non-functional and missing.

What level of care and organization can you expect from Orthopedic Medical Group of Riverside (OMGNET.com) when they let their website go down for days?

Is this the organization, the staff, the doctors you are thinking about trusting to do surgery on your body?

It seems like a huge jump from a dysfunctional website to finding another provider, until in my case failure Surgeon John Gonzalez’s staff to provide complete and accurate information to my and my anesthesiologist caused my first schedule surgery to be postponed at the last minute (after taking time off, making travel arrangements, fasting, etc.) and could have led to extreme complications (including death) on the rescheduled surgery had it not been for a diligent nurse double and triple checking everything).

In my opinion, the same disfunction that caused allowed their site to go down is the same dysfunction that caused problems at surgery time.

A former business associate used to say when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time they show you.

With so many excellent Orthopedic Surgeons in Riverside, consider finding one that is not associated with Orthopedic Medical Group of Riverside. Even if you were referred here by your primary physician, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE SURGEONS…

I am absolutely appalled and utterly disgusted with the treatment I received at OMG Riverside (Orthopedic Medical Group of Riverside)

Why You Should Be Concerned Their Website Is Down