Schwab Ivan R MD Ophthlmlgy Uc Davis Medical Group

Today, 05÷21÷09, was my wife’s first appointment at the UC Davis Eye Center. Dr. Schwab was recommended by her ophthalmologist in Oakland. We’ve lived in Sac for over 3 years but have been commuting down to the Bay Area for quarterly eye appointments because my wife has very complicated vision issues and she felt very comfortable with her doctor there. Well, we took her current doctors recommendation and we’re extremely disappointed with the UC Davis Eye Center office of Dr. Schwab. The appointment was scheduled for 2:30pm and we arrived early at 2:10pm to fill out the normal «new patient» paperwork. Right when we walked in, there was a line of roughly 8 people waiting to check in with the reception staff. Bad sign right there. I told my wife this didn’t look good and if it was my appointment, I would probably walk. Well, she wanted to give this a chance and continued with the appointment. After we made it to the receptionist to check in we asked the lady behind the counter if it’s always this busy and she answered yes. Doh! Another bad sign. She then informed us that Dr. Schwabs appointments were running 20 – 30 minutes behind. Uh-​oh, 3^rd strike and we should have left right then, but my wife wanted to continue.
Well, for a 2:30pm appointment, we waited in the waiting room until 3:30 pm until we were finally called to be seen. A nurse or something to that effect took us into an exam room in back and spent 15 minutes asking my wife basic questions about her vision situation and doing a few basic «read the chart» type exercises. After that we were brought out of that exam room and placed in a crowded secondary waiting room by the back exam rooms. We waited there for another 15 minutes until another nurse? called our name and led us to another exam room and then left. She didn’t say a word to us. Nothing to the effect of «the doctor will be with you shortly». She just led us in and closed the door & left. Well we waited in that exam room for 30 minutes and no one came. Finally at 4:30pm, a full 2 hours after the scheduled appointment we were finished dealing with this place. Even if the Doctor had shown his face at that point, my wife’s eyes still had not been dilated and we would have been there another hour minimum. Absolutely ridiculous. We waited 2 hours for this doctor and we never saw him once. My wife and I picked up our 10 month old daughter, who was amazingly very well behaved this entire time & left. On our way out, I stopped by the front counter and politely voiced my displeasure at the very inconsiderate and terrible service we received. I guess the days of people caring about service and the ability to display empathy are long gone, because the lady behind the counter barely uttered an insincere apology and offered to do nothing to rectify the situation. Goodbye Dr. Schwab, we will not be back.
You need to train your staff. You need to not overbook appointments each day. You need to be as considerate of your patients time as you would expect them to be of yours. We will continue to commute to the Bay Area 4 times a year to see my wife’s current doctor. I’ll take comfort in the fact that I’ll spend less time in my car traveling to that appointment than I would in your waiting room (s).