Ready or Not: Week 29 - My Care Team, Part I

I thought maybe it was time to talk about why I chose the West Valley OBGYN clinic for my care. This may seem like a no-brainer to you since I work for West Valley, but my reasons are a bit more nuanced than that.

One thing I want you to know up front: just because I work at West Valley Medical Center, I am in no way obligated to choose West Valley OBGYN or any of its providers for my care. Although they share a name, the clinic is actually a separate entity from the hospital. There’s also no added insurance benefit for me. I won’t get too into the weeds, but if you’re interested in how the whole clinic vs. hospital thing works, email me and I’d be happy to explain.

I’ll add another layer of honesty and say that I had some reservations about using West Valley OBGYN at first. I had seen their nurse practitioner, Karen Carloy, for well-woman visits once or twice and that’s actually one of the reasons I hesitated. I felt like I really clicked with Karen — I liked her sense of humor and her down-to-earth style of practice — but she doesn’t deliver and I wasn’t familiar with her partners. All I knew was that I would rotate between all the providers for my prenatal care and would get the provider on-call the day of my delivery. I wasn’t sure I liked that system. I thought I wanted one provider who would follow me throughout my entire pregnancy.

So, I called a different office with a physician who I’d heard rave reviews about. Let’s just say, diplomatically, that not all medical offices are created equal. I waited on hold for ages and the front desk staff was unfriendly (IMHO, but Cam tells me I have very high standards). I felt like all my questions were met with irritation. I spent 20 minutes on the phone trying to persuade them to help me before it dawned on me just how ludicrous that was. So, I hung up and called West Valley OBGYN.

The difference was night and day. The woman who answered the phone (within two or three rings, if I recall) was pleasant and professional. She seemed genuinely excited by my news and promptly scheduled me with Karen to start my prenatal care. The appointment was actually further out than the other office, but the difference in service was so vast that I didn’t care.

I asked if someone could answer a few medical questions for me and — less than five minutes later— I received a call from the triage nurse. That experience alone would have been enough to make me choose West Valley OBGYN.

As of this week, I’ve officially seen all the physicians at their clinic: Dr. Jessica Fu, Dr. Jeffrey Hunter and Dr. Michael Robinson. And I’m completely confident I made the right choice. All of the providers — including Karen, who still sees me for prenatal care — are professional and attentive, but they all bring their own personalities and practice styles to the mix. And I really like that I get to have visits with each one of them ahead of time. It’s reassured me that — when the big day arrives — I’ll be in great hands no matter what.

Check back next week to learn a little but more about each one of my four providers. That’s how I think of it now— I don’t have one person following me through my pregnancy, I have a four-person team. And that’s pretty cool.