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Radnor Veterinary Hospital Len Donato Concerned more about reputation than family member. Wayne Pennsylvania
I do not believe any other individual or organization has a hidden agenda or vendetta against this practice. The following is an actual occurrence; please use your own opinion as to whether or not this is the right place for you and your loved one.
We took our beloved family member to this practice. What ensued was a literal nightmare. She needed semi-urgent care. An examination was performed, x-rays were taken and an office procedure was scheduled. Please note: the trip to this particular practice takes three hours one way, and is six-hour, or more, round trip. This occurred during a holiday weekend and week, being July 3.
The office was contacted at 8:15 am, but no one was there to answer the telephone. As such, a message was left that the patient and family were on their way. An office staff member called back at 8:30 am, who was reminded of the travel time and requested to call back immediately if there was a problem. The office was contacted again around 10:15 am, but once again and for the next four attempts, there was no answer. On the fifth call, a voice mail had to be left stating traffic was horrendous. A staff member called back and left a voice mail on the patient’s family cellular phone at approximately 11:00 am, which stated, "The doctor is gone for the day.” Upon receipt of the voice mail, the office was immediately called back and told there was nothing that could be done now, and we had to be seen.
In fact, a tractor-trailer had flipped over on the Blue Route, it was closed and an alternative route had been undertaken but was taking longer than expected. The staff member was asked to contact the doctor and request he return to the office. The patient's family was adamantly advised no such action would be undertaken, and told to go to Pennsylvania University Veterinary Hospital and get an emergency procedure performed there. This instruction was ridiculous. The procedure was necessary and time was of the essence. The procedure would be double the cost, and Penn does not do the procedure as an "emergency.” Therefore, the soonest Penn had available was July 19 or 20. The office was called back and told the patient was coming anyway due to the aforementioned information received by Penn. Thus, it was imperative the doctor, Len Donato, be required to return as soon as possible.
The harsh elements of 90+ degrees and protracted trip length were going to be problematic. The family was advised they could leave the patient at the practice. Here is the catch; no one would be there and the practice did not have long-term oxygen therapy. What???? Upon arrival at the practice, the family was again advised to go to Penn and the same information was exchanged. Regardless, Dr. Donato's staff was asked to contact him directly so we could speak to each other, review the issues and stress the salient points. Obviously, we believed he had not gotten all the data surrounding the circumstances. Otherwise, how could his judgment be so harsh? How could he be so cruel? Well, one look at the reviews and overall opinions as to behavior and attitude speak volumes. It is unfortunate we did not know this prior to scheduling any appointments with him.
As a side note, he seemed fine initially when attempting to gain our trust and business. It was only after he felt inconvenienced or that we were trying to somehow take advantage of him that he showed his true colors. When we first came to his practice, he was going to be in surgery on a Friday. When we attempted to schedule the procedure, it had to be on a Monday or Tuesday. When the patient was unable to travel due to the auto air conditioner having stopped working, which would cause the patient to have a stroke, no one at the practice seemed to care genuinely about the details.
After the fiasco of the holiday and the 10-hour round trip, this doctor was clearly advised the adverse affects on the patient prevented the procedure from being done on Wednesday, which was scheduled on Monday after the doctor walked out on us, the patient and the procedure. In any case, we sought the procedure be done on Friday of the same week as he had done for another patient. This would prevent undue delay. We were told to go screw off, essentially. We were demanded to be there the following week on Monday morning by 9:00 am or else, you guessed it, go screw yourself again. We also sought to speak directly with the doctor on several occasions prior to Monday. He never contacted us, so we believe it was his bad attitude and blatant refusal to have open dialog.
The next event was equally awful. Any veterinarian that contacted this office or the doctor was told in no uncertain terms what PITA's we were (pain in the a*s) type people. This same practice and office went on to disparage and defame us to the extent that three other practices will not even see the patient, despite what we try to tell them. One has gone so far as to state they spoke directly with Dr. Donato, and then hung up on us, after we were told to....yes, go screw off again. Sound familiar???? You know what they say, there is no such thing as coincidence.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Actual Patient
Milford,Delaware,
United States
She is not truly well, but alive, thank you for your concern.
#5Author of original report
Sun, January 14, 2018
Dr. Donato:
We will presume you do not have recall of the actual events, as you are a busy doctor. However, after pondering you rebuttal briefly, we felt it was only best served to advise other owners and caregivers of the factual course of events so they can make an informed decision concerning your practice. It is our sincere hope this aids in enlightening potential patients’ families and maybe even you respective to our dealings of this past July.
With regard to our first visit, you were the actual examining physician. It was not Dr. DeLozier (I hope I spelled that right). Your cursory examination of the medical records indicated Tiki’s white cell count (WBC) had decreased, thereby perhaps signifying necessity of the procedure was not as emergent. However, you overlooked or misinterpreted the WBC, as it had risen instead of declined, indicating her condition was worsening. We are extremely grateful for anyone who aided in some form of care and would never be dismissive of those actions. Although Tiki benefitted from it on occasion, it was our never-ending, tireless ongoing and constant care for her that has also kept Tiki alive. She is, and never will be, exactly the same but then again, I suppose not many creatures large or small would be able to come out of this illness precisely the same as before it.
In any case, you obviously forgot it was a holiday week and weekend. We reside down south near the local beaches. If you have any form of transportation that allows you to travel back and forth in one hour and forty-five minutes, I challenge anyone to do it safely. It sounds more as if you must have a small airplane. If you are more familiar with the area around suburban and city-proper Philadelphia and navigating alternate routes, particularly when there are significant delays and/or accidents, kudos to you.
Moreover, your reply or rebuttal has only served to support our initial claims. Why is any doctor perusing the internet over three and one-half months after our initial interaction? Furthermore, our relationship had ended, as we were clearly advised by Dr. DeLozier that you did not intend to treat Tiki and we would be better served going elsewhere. We assumed she was speaking on your behalf, which is how it was conveyed to us. How that aided the situation or Tiki at that time has defied explanation. In addition, our allegations of defamatory and derogatory statements regarding us proved to be accurate and true. More than one other practitioner was advised were "difficult" I think I recall you wrote. Please allow us to elaborate. The judgment was not that way initially. It was only after interaction with you, your staff or some representative of your practice or office, which is when other veterinarians changed their attitude.
We have no idea why you have drawn such conclusions relative to tardiness or lateness to any appointments or what caused you to make them. For the initial appointment, the visit was delayed as Tiki had been seen at Penn Hospital. Much time was spent on the road traveling in extreme weather conditions. When the air conditioner broke in our only operational vehicle, we cancelled the appointment upon the notice we had received. As such, when we turned on the air conditioner to cool the vehicle before subjecting our fid (or child as we perceive her to be) to excessive heat, I guess you feel we should have just put the carrier in the hot truck anyway. The lengthy, time-consuming travel was very difficult for all involved, especially Tiki.
Whatever interactions we may have had, or not had, with any other veterinarian is irrelevant to treating Tiki. Do you expect physicians to talk about your child and/or you as a parent along with said behaviors and communications when they are obtaining medical records? We can hardly understand how or why the interactions, as they occurred, would have transpired. We stand by our belief that a discerning, compassionate practitioner would have responded differently given the overall circumstances.
As it relates to a comment you think you overheard pertaining to the loss of a vet, that is not factual either. It was a separate conversation with a vet, whom after speaking with your practice, garnered such a reprehensible opinion of us they did not wish to be bothered to undertake our case. This only undermined a bad situation for Tiki surrounding her medical condition and the amount of time between treatments. Hence, no, she is not the same and neither are we for that matter. We choose to consider it a life lesson. Others may wish to forego such a harsh lesson and we would not blame them for doing so. If you wish to speak of mannerisms for us, Tiki or your staff and associates to improve relations for others or for edification and educational purposes, we actually encourage the dialog. Otherwise, if it serves no other purpose but to point a finger of blame or allege who is responsible for successes or failures while disparaging certain parties to the benefit of you or your practice, we will take a pass or rain check if you do not mind us doing so.
We are confident that should you decide to reach out to us, our contact information is contained within your files. Thank you.
Dr. Len Donato
Wayne,Pennsylvania,
United States of America
I hope Tiki is well
#5REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, October 13, 2017
I will refrain from using your name, but I hope Tiki is well. I have not personally met you or examined your bird. Dr. DeLozier kindly saw you when you were eight hours late for your appointment with me. We understand that accidents happen, but you were routinely many hours late for your appointments without letting us know. I drive somewhat routinely to your area and it takes me 1 hour and 45 minutes with heavy traffic.
We did everything to accomodate you. It seems this was a pattern with other veterinarians you saw. When they called for our records after you visited them, it is one of the first things they have mentioned to my staff. Also those other veterinarians had commented on how challenging it was to work with you. One time when you were on the phone with my office a woman was heard in the background on your end saying, "Did we lose another veterinarian?" It sounds like others have refused to see you and there is a pattern.
With regards to the procedure that was emergent, it actually was not based on what I saw in the records and from the comment of the referring veterinarian. With that being said, we set it up on a Friday for you even though we don't typically do those procedures then. You were late once again. We had to call you to find out if you were a few minutes away. You were not. You informed us you would be there in a few hours.
There is a lot more to this situation that I will not mention here. We have done everything we could for you and Tiki, including referral options. I hope Tiki is improving. I'd be happy to have a productive conversation with you regarding your concerns.
Kind regards,
Len Donato, VMD, DABVP (avian practice)
Please keep meaningless comments to yourself.
#5Author of original report
Thu, July 20, 2017
Mr. Tim:
I do not normally respond to a rebuttal, but I believe it is in the best interest of this site, as well as other users, along with potential patients to make informed decisions. Your comments serve no purpose. In fact, it undermines the credibility of the original writer, which is basically you being uninformed and making this personal.
If you wish to "Google" or search for archived accidents on the Blue Route for that day, please feel free to do so. I have the facts on my side. If you wish to take more time, I suppose you and I can open dialog outside of this forum and can provide you with recordation of the four calls that were logged as, "O called 4 times and left no message." However, why should I bother?
When we could not get to the practice by 9 am on Monday, the doctor, Len Donato, left for the day. Once we did arrive, the doctor would not do so much as return to the office, per the office staff, to examine the patient for stress and debilitating effects of the trip. Nonetheless, we were punished for being late and not being able to make an appointment on Wednesday, two days later, due to a decline in the patient’s health because of extensive stress and yet another long trip. Please remember, we had already been there once for the doctor to establish or gain our trust and set up the procedure.
Radnor was sought out due to having a board-certified doctor on staff, Len Donato. The events are as they are stated. The doctor was performing "surgery," his words not mine, on Friday when our initial appointment was scheduled. We were led to believe compassion, assistance and empathy would be provided as demonstrated when we made the appointment and part of obtaining future business during our initial encounter. Therefore, when a 180-degree attitude shift was exhibited by everyone involved, except one other doctor, we were shocked and dismayed. Moreover, it was the patient who suffered the most, which is unacceptable in my book.
Here is the issue, which I hope elucidates my point. This is an extensively long trip, which was not only exhaustive for everyone involved but proved utterly useless and wasted everyone’s time. Blood could not be drawn on Monday; thus, lab work could not be performed. The patient could not be cared for long term with oxygen therapy, and so forth, due to a lack of proper equipment and staff, which we were not advised of such until Monday. As such, we were no further ahead while time advanced or marched onward. You can never get back lost time, particularly if one's health continues to decline.
In addition, perhaps you may wish to ask Jim Higgins of Radnor Township how retaliatory this practice can become. Once again, why are you taking sides? Why should you care about this unless something similar happened to you? This site, “Ripoff Report,” is dedicated to provide constructive, useful or other general information whereby you believe you are a victim of some vindictive, irresponsible or unconscionable action, inaction or service. Hence, you feel ripped off.
As I said, I have requested neither you seek out this practice or not visit it nor have I advised you that services could be substandard as a customary routine. In fact, I stated that it is your own decision and to do whatever you wished or chose to do in your own best interest. I merely hope the information provided is helpful in case you begin to feel uncomfortable or question certain actions. That is all there is to it. I have detailed the events that transpired directly related to my family and me. This is not illegal nor an effort to influence or change anyone's opinions.
Do what you like, but please do not call my character into question or impugn events that happened to me, which is what you have done with your commentary. You diminish yourself, my family and this site by doing so. By the way, this is not a personal attack against you either. These are truthful accounts based upon occurrences and my position of events that I have to live with, which already cause me duress every single day to this very day. So again, please keep personal opinion out of this type of forum and perhaps utilize it on "Yelp," "Wikipedia," etc.
Tim
Cottage Grove,Minnesota,
Not sure on this...
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, July 19, 2017
I think there may be another side to the story. I'd like to hear from the Vet Clinic.