Omni Family Health in Bakersfield Has Gone Downhill Fast

October 26, 2022

When I first started going to Omni Family Health in 2013, I loved everything about it.  They had a variety of locations to choose from, and great doctors, Physician Assistants, and Nurse Practitioners.  They even had a great Behavioral Health Department.

I came to love the Nurse Practitioner that I had.  I saw her for years, until she moved away.  I was very fortunate though, to find another Nurse Practitioner, who gives excellent service, takes time to listen to me as a patient, and works to get me referrals fast, since I have complicated medical issues that need a lot of outside care.

After Covid 19 and the pandemic happened, the care at Omni went completely downhill.  It is not the care of the individual practitioners that has gotten worse, it is how the services are offered to the patients.  Since I am in the hospital a lot, particularly in the ICU, upon discharge from the hospital, it is always part of my discharge instructions to see my primary doctor within 1-3 days.  This had always been easy in the past, because you could show up at your facility location early in the morning, and be seen as a walk-in.  This is no longer the case.

Even if you have not been in the hospital, but you need an urgent or emergency appointment, you are out of luck.  First off, there is no phone number to call your doctor's office directly.  You must call a call center, where you are on hold at least 20 minutes, if not longer.  When the person answers the phone, they often times, are rude.  For example, I called the call center 2 days ago, because I needed an urgent appointment with my provider.  I have an upcoming appointment on October 31st, but I cannot wait that long to be seen.  I am out of two medications, that Omni will not refill unless I see a doctor.  One is for congestive heart failure, and without it, I cannot breathe.  The other is for pain, and without it, I cannot get out of bed, and will end up in the hospital, doubled up in pain, usually hospitalized for over a week to get the pain under control.  I am being treated at USC Keck Medicine in Los Angeles for my conditions, but my doctors here in Bakersfield have to prescribe my medications.

After the call center person two days ago, told me to go to the hospital, because nothing could be done for me, I wrote a message to the call center to contact my doctor and explain my situation, and I also sent a message to my provider, because as I mentioned, there is no phone number to directly call the office.  As of today, it shows that neither message that I sent have been read.  You can tell if the messages have been opened up and read.  With the continued poor treatment from Omni, I decided to email the Corporate Office for Omni in Bakersfield, to file a complaint.  I stated that all I needed was my medication filled.  The call center, not a person from the Corporate Office, left me a message, when I so happened to be away from my phone.  Did they give me a person's name or contact number to call back?  Absolutely not.  They left the phone number to call back the call center, who would have no idea, if I called back, the person to refer me to at the Corporate Office.

Also, when I spoke to the call center two days ago, they said if I was really having an emergency, to go to the hospital.  My goal is to stay out of the hospital, since I have a horrible immune system, and I catch illnesses easily.  Why would I unnecessarily need to be exposed to Covid and other illnesses that people go to the Emergency Room for, when I do not need to be there in the first place?  

Since I have absolutely received no help, I have a feeling that I will end up in the hospital by this weekend, due to not having my necessary medications.  This will cost my insurance company a lot of money, from a situation that could have been handled by a two minute phone call from my provider who would have agreed to fill my medications.  I do not blame her at all for this situation, and I look forward to explaining it to her on my appointment on October 31st.  I have a feeling she will be just as frustrated about what happened as I am.

Stefanie Daubert
Writer, Editor, CEO - Conservative Christian News
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Email: conservativechristiannews1@gmail.com
Website: ConservativeChristianNews.org


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