Sutter Heart Failure Clinic

My father received the absolute BEST care from Sutter Heart Failure Clinic, as well as the Sutter Memorial Hospital. He battled heart failure for years and I, as his loving daughter and caregiver, was beyond relieved knowing that he was in their care. Their follow through, dedication, knowledge and general concern for my father gave me such comfort throughout his illness. Dr. Xu and his team provided the absolute best and I am forever grateful to the entire team for extending his life and giving him more time to be with his grandchildren and daughters.

I was sent to Sutter Heart Failure Clinic after I was hospitalized for the better part of a week with congestive heart failure and A-​fib. At first they were extremely nice and helpful. They sent me to a class to help educate me about my health problems. They even set up a special book for me and showed me how to utilize it in order to organize all of my medical information. As a result, my other physicians have told me that I am the most organized patient they have ever had and I have to give complete credit to the staff at the Sutter Heart Failure Clinic because I usually am one of the most unorganized persons I know.
The negative side of Sutter Heart Failure Clinic was that they did not value me very much as a patient. At first they did not think they took my medical insurance. Then they changed their mind and decided they could take me as a patient. Everything was great and I was really happy with them until one day I had the displeasure of talking to a very rude nurse on the phone that told me that I was only a temporary patient.
She was the first and only unpleasant person I ever dealt with at the Heart Failure Clinic but she must have had some clout. On my next visit I was informed by the Nurse Practitioner that had been taking care of me that I was only a temporary patient and would have to get another cardiologist because they only helped people until their condition was stabilized. They are a transplant center with lots of cardiologists so this sounded more like they were not suppose to accept me as a patient and they were quietly trying to get rid of an embarrassing situation. I guess they did not like my insurance after all.
I had a slight change in my insurance earlier this year and was advised by them that I either had to change my insurance or they wouldn’t be able to see me any longer. I had already begun to see Dr. Michaelis at Sacramento Heart who still accepted my insurance and since they had already told me I was only a temporary patient, I did not see any reason to change my insurance so I could be one of their temporary patients.
I met a lot of wonderful people at Sutter Heart that were extremely helpful and I will miss them very much but what can you do when they push you out the door?