AS
Amanda Sadler
Dec 9, 2025
⭐ ZERO STARS FOR ZERO EMPATHY
After waiting more than six months for this appointment — one I had to track down myself because no one followed up on my referral — it became painfully clear that the patient experience here is not centered around care, compassion, or basic humanity.
First of all, my original appointment was canceled by the office and rescheduled. This morning, I drove an hour through a snowstorm and terrible road conditions, after arranging help at home for my dog recovering from surgery. Out of courtesy, I called ahead to explain the weather delays and was told I had a 10-minute grace period.
Bronson MyChart’s map sent me to the wrong location, directing me to a hospital parking lot three blocks south of the office. Even after rerouting, I arrived only six minutes past my appointment time.
Six minutes.
…and I was still told I would need to reschedule — with no regard for the weather, their incorrect map, or the six months of waiting and worry leading up to today. All this, despite being told I had a 10-minute window.
Let’s be honest:
Had I arrived on time, I would have been waiting in the lobby like every other patient — likely for 30–45 minutes, because providers routinely run behind. As it turns out, they can reschedule whenever they want to as well — but today, because I was six minutes late in winter weather, there was no empathy and no flexibility. There was no acknowledgment of what I’ve gone through physically and emotionally leading up to this appointment, or how fear and suffering fill the space when care is delayed this long.
The receptionist and manager both confirmed that the final decision not to see me today was up to the doctor, so let me be clear: this was my first impression of Dr. Amanda Walker — and it will be my last. I waited months to be turned away over a matter of six minutes — it is ridiculous, inhumane, and downright shameful.
Only after I firmly refused rescheduling did someone suddenly discover an appointment later today in South Haven — just 10 minutes from my home. Which raises the obvious question: why wasn’t that option offered from the very beginning? The inefficiency is maddening.
This experience is exactly why people avoid and delay medical care. When patients are treated like numbers instead of humans, and when empathy is replaced by policy, trust is lost.
Patients deserve to be treated with respect, understanding, and basic human consideration — so allow me to say this louder for the people in the back:
Medicine without empathy isn’t healthcare — it’s a business transaction.
And today made that painfully clear.