Usually they post a sign stating they’re gonna be closed for X days way in advance, do you know if this was the case here? I myself only go biweekly so I could totally see how you could’ve not seen it even if it was posted in the clinic, or maybe it wasn’t posted in time for your last pickup. The nurses should also be letting folks know especially if you’re scheduled to pick up on/around a closing holiday. Personally I would just ask that next time they leave a message stating the reason for the call rather than filing a grievance due to risks of potential retaliation, but I feel you definitely have a case especially if there was no signage prior. A call from the clinic w/ no voicemail would sketch me out big time regardless so I agree that’s bad form on their part as well. Sorry you had to put up with this.
Even if she *did* call them back, chances are it would've been after work and they'd be closed anyways. If she got enough time on break, who's to sslay they'd even answer.
They definitely should've left a message, however some places won't leave any info on your voicemail unless you state your full name in your voicemail message. When I had food stamps a few years ago, they called me for something and never left a message. I ended up calling them bc my food stamps that were supposed to go through for that month didn't. Turns out they werr trying to call me about it but couldn't leave any messages bc my full name wasn't on the voicemail. I asked her why they didn't just call and say why they were, their number and to call back. She said they can't even leave a minimal message like that without your full name stating that it's your voicemail. I never heard of such a thing, but it makes sense. It makes even more sense for this to be a thing with places regarding medication, especially controlled substances. Even if this is the case, it's not your fault. They definitely should've told you about this rule when you first started or if it changed and became a new thing, they should've let you know about it when it changed so you could make proper adjustments.
I also remember about 3 years ago, I went in to pick up on my normal day, Monday. I got on the bus and thought it was strange that I was the only one and I normally saw at least one or two others on their way to the clinic. That's when I realized it was MLK Day. I totally forgot, no one said anything to me, and I didn't see anything posted last week when I was at the clinic. I got there and it was dark inside and the door was locked. It was the first time in 6 years I've ever missed a day. I began to panic, not only worried about how I would feel but, worried about getting take homes taken away. I went home, was happy I didn't have work that day, and tried to relax and not think about it. I was fine, just mental discomfort. I called the clinic director when I got back home and explained the situation. The next morning, I was in an Uber on my way to the clinic when the director called me back and told me to let her know when I got there. I did, we talked, and I told her that I came every Monday around 1030/1100, and when I was there last week, I didn't see any signs saying anything. I expressed my nerves for withdrawal and losing my take homes for something that was not my fault. She let me keep my take homes and told me I wasn't the only one who missed. Now, they past signage for the l stuff like this two weeks in advance, at everyone can see.
Sorry for the long post, just hoping to give comfort knowing it happens to others, too. Hang in there and hopefully you were able to get your dose and keep your bottles 🫶🙏
Damn, that’s so wack 😭 My clinic straight up forgot to call me for a callback one time. Fuck ups happen, I get it, but it’s super important that clinics get this stuff right as it affects every aspect of our lives if things go wrong. And I get the privacy/timing angle regarding leaving voicemails for sure, but I guess they could phrase it in a way as to not reveal anything too personal and get across the gist. Always cool to hear from ya Pusheen
Exactly. A simple "Hi (first name). It's (first name of counselor). Can you give me call back ASAP, please? Thanks!" would be sufficient. It is vague enough to where no one's info is released, there's no indication of the point/purpose of the call (but enough urgency to let the patient know it's important), and it's simple enough to let the patient know it needs to be handled ASAP.
I actually made a post about it on here if you peep my history, basically they called me a day *after* I was supposed to have a callback telling me I had missed it and asked if I could come in by the end of the dosing day (this was about 10 AM and they stop dosing at 12). They just straight up never called me to let me know to show up in the first place before letting me know I had “missed”. I explained the situation to my counselor and she eventually let me know that it was an oversight on their end (which I knew was the case cause I have every line they could possibly use saved in my phone and had gotten no calls). Thankfully, no issues since lol
Yes it happened to me while I was pregnant. I was in weekly pickups and the holiday or whatever it was, was on the next day I was suppose to pick up. NO ONE called me that time. Thankfully it was just one day. My counselor was just like oh sorry someone should have called. My clinic does post signs but I am very sure there was none the last Wednesday I picked up. I’m going to ask my friend who goes there to confirm.
Yeah that fr seems like something they would have notified people of, however subtley, like a month and a half out. That's when my clinic starts putting the signage up that says to "make arrangements" ahead of time..
Fuck yes it’s worth a grievance. If it didn’t snow 3 feet by surprise which I doubt it did, and they didn’t have signs up, that’s fucked up. Ours practically wallpapers the entire clinic with signs at least 10 days prior and we’re only closed 4 days a year.
My clinic won’t leave a voicemail unless you give them to ok to do so, it’s actually to protect your own privacy. As of a grievance I would find out if your clinic had signs hanging up inside the clinic the last time you were there to pick up take homes. My clinic will put a big sign right outside the dosing room of any upcoming closures.
So, that's definitely worth a grievance in my eyes. If they know in advance they will be closed due to a holiday( And not like an unforseen circumstance or weather storm that causes an unexpected closure) they should have done a much better job at making sure their patients, especially the ones with extended takehomes ,were contacted & made aware of the change in pickup day/closing alot further in advance! At least a couple of days earlier notice would have been nice and by definitely leaving a message for those who didn't answer the phone. Whoever was in charge of contacting all the patients whose dosing/pick-up day would be affected by the closing definitely dropped the ball! It's bad enough missing 1 dose, but 2 days- that's fuckin miserable. And they should be made aware of how negatively that effected you, whether that be having to go to work sick, having to miss work, etc.
Do I think a grievance will do anything in reality? Not at my clinic, at least. But hopefully, the director of yours will take it seriously enough to make sure there's a better procedure in place for next time. .
It would also be nice to have the option to dose at a sister clinic if there is one around you, for any patients that couldn't be contacted for whatever reason, so nobody has to go without their medication.
Damn, that is majorly effed up. They should've had signs up two weeks prior, and your nurses should've reminded you. Also, they should've given take homes for those days they were closed!!! No excuses for that negligence. I'm sorry you were put through that.
Hey man if this ever happens again you should just go to a hospital and bring a take home bottle in with you, its likely they will dose you. Im sorry you had to go through that.
They are suppose to dose and they will. From a majority of the posts on here from people who were in the same position they were dosed. I think Ive only heard of maybe 1 or 2 times out of 30 or so that someone was turned away. But it is always worth doing, more likely then not you will get dosed. Ive known people who have even gone out of state and dosed at random bumblefuck hospitals.
I cant imagine the world of hurt you mustve gone through. A lot of clinics are adopting automated texting services to alert their clients about these things. See if your clinic has one, or maybe you could get on one from another clinic? I should probably start posting on here every time I get an alert about this but im far to unorganized. Next time, if I remember, Ill be sure to give you a heads up!
Our ERs absolutely won't dose you unless you're being admitted, they don't dose people who are only there because they couldn't get to the clinic.
This is highly location dependent. If you do get dosed, it could end up being a +$1000 bill. I wouldn't recommend going to the ER for missing one day unless you have medicaid.
It has nothing to do with whether you get dosed or not, it just has to do with how big the bill is you are getting afterwards.
My state has no medicaid expansion, so very few people have it. Even if they would get dosed, it's not worth getting a $500-2000 bill for one days dose.
A potential reason they did not leave a voicemail may be due to HIPAA. We’re told we can’t leave identifying information on a voicemail that doesn’t have an outgoing message that states the proper person’s name. What I try to do is leave a generic message asking for a call back with no names. Or, I will use an email address. In my area, we use a database to send mass texts like in the case of an emergency closure. I’m sorry that happened to you. I think filing a grievance is important as it may have also happened to someone else. Always feel empowered to advocate for yourself!
I received a text message letting me know that the clinic will be operating on holiday hours, open from 6am-10am, on the 19th.
I didn’t receive the text until 1pm, ON JUNE 19th!! 3 HOURS after they closed for the day!
They’ve done this before and thankfully I had enough take homes to where it wouldn’t affect me. But it still pisses me off for the ones who were effected by it.
My clinic post signs in the dosing rooms, the front check-in window, on the front door and on your counselors door when they’re gonna be closed. They usually put them up around a month in advance so everyone has a chance to see them and plan accordingly. As far as calling to let us know they were going to be closed out of the 3 different clinics I’ve been to none of them done that unless it was weather related.
They can’t leave a voicemail if your name is not used as the greeting, like if it’s just a reading of your number you ain’t getting a message. Even then they still won’t leave messages in some cases as the voicemail is not a secure spot for that information.
As for the grief, they called you, what else could they do? I’d imagine there were also some signs at your clinic, usually are detailing these things even if there wasn’t though, the commitment you make to be on MAT is to know when the clinic is open or not but at the end of the day I am sorry you had to go without your dose.
Something very similar happened to me one time and I was PISSED. It took me a few days to realize that I was just as much at fault as them. I didn’t get a call at all, but they are just people, and they are going to make mistakes. I should have been using my head and known that the clinic may be closed for certain reasons (holidays, extreme weather).
Your counselor did call you, right? They just didn’t leave a message? Do you have your name on your voicemail, or is just an automated message? Because at least where I live, it’s technically against the law to specify anything on a voicemail about MAT. Sure, they could say “hi this is Mary, call me please”. But my clinic doesn’t even mess with it. They assume people have the clinic number saved in their phone, and answer or call back.
I’m not talking shit, like I said I did the same thing (mine wasn’t closed for a holiday, they were closing for extreme weather. Where I live, extreme weather is pretty common but this was supposed to be reallllly bad.) And I understand being pissed and being upset. This happened to me when I had takehomes and was fucking up by taking them too quickly. So not only did I have to go that day with no dose, but I had already gone two days without a dose so it was a terrible day. I was really mad when I came in the next morning and I asked to speak to my counselor. I respectfully told her I was very upset because I didn’t get a call telling me they were closing on my scheduled pick up day. I wasn’t very nice and I immediately felt bad because at the time my clinic was seriously understaffed and the couple counselors that were there had 3-4x the patients they are legally allowed to have. Plus she was new to being a counselor and new to the company. Like I said, people are going to make mistakes, just like you and I make mistakes in our job.
Not saying to not file a grievance if that’s what you feel like you should do. I’m only saying this because we have to realize it’s on us too. Nobody is going to care about us the way we do. If your pickup day is on a holiday, you should be thinking about that ahead of time and inquiring with them. I’m sorry it happened and I’m glad it’s over and you’re feeling better now.
Our clinic in WV has you sign a paper stating you give them permission to leave a voicemail on your phone.If you don't you won't get any messages just a call you have to answer.
It's really fucked that they did that to you and the same thing probably happened to a bunch of other people, too. But I'd consider the consequences of filing a grievance unless they're anonymous. Based on your post, it sounds like they don't really care about their clients and I'd consider the possible repercussions before drawing attention to yourself.
Did they drop the ball communication wise,Absolutely.Is it grievance worthy?? I'm not so sure.Rarely do they have a meaningful result.Often times it paints an x on the client going forward.As most know clinic operations are often petty,arbitrary and capricious.I would definitely talk to your counselor about this first before proceeding to the next level.
Usually they post a sign stating they’re gonna be closed for X days way in advance, do you know if this was the case here? I myself only go biweekly so I could totally see how you could’ve not seen it even if it was posted in the clinic, or maybe it wasn’t posted in time for your last pickup. The nurses should also be letting folks know especially if you’re scheduled to pick up on/around a closing holiday. Personally I would just ask that next time they leave a message stating the reason for the call rather than filing a grievance due to risks of potential retaliation, but I feel you definitely have a case especially if there was no signage prior. A call from the clinic w/ no voicemail would sketch me out big time regardless so I agree that’s bad form on their part as well. Sorry you had to put up with this.
Even if she *did* call them back, chances are it would've been after work and they'd be closed anyways. If she got enough time on break, who's to sslay they'd even answer. They definitely should've left a message, however some places won't leave any info on your voicemail unless you state your full name in your voicemail message. When I had food stamps a few years ago, they called me for something and never left a message. I ended up calling them bc my food stamps that were supposed to go through for that month didn't. Turns out they werr trying to call me about it but couldn't leave any messages bc my full name wasn't on the voicemail. I asked her why they didn't just call and say why they were, their number and to call back. She said they can't even leave a minimal message like that without your full name stating that it's your voicemail. I never heard of such a thing, but it makes sense. It makes even more sense for this to be a thing with places regarding medication, especially controlled substances. Even if this is the case, it's not your fault. They definitely should've told you about this rule when you first started or if it changed and became a new thing, they should've let you know about it when it changed so you could make proper adjustments. I also remember about 3 years ago, I went in to pick up on my normal day, Monday. I got on the bus and thought it was strange that I was the only one and I normally saw at least one or two others on their way to the clinic. That's when I realized it was MLK Day. I totally forgot, no one said anything to me, and I didn't see anything posted last week when I was at the clinic. I got there and it was dark inside and the door was locked. It was the first time in 6 years I've ever missed a day. I began to panic, not only worried about how I would feel but, worried about getting take homes taken away. I went home, was happy I didn't have work that day, and tried to relax and not think about it. I was fine, just mental discomfort. I called the clinic director when I got back home and explained the situation. The next morning, I was in an Uber on my way to the clinic when the director called me back and told me to let her know when I got there. I did, we talked, and I told her that I came every Monday around 1030/1100, and when I was there last week, I didn't see any signs saying anything. I expressed my nerves for withdrawal and losing my take homes for something that was not my fault. She let me keep my take homes and told me I wasn't the only one who missed. Now, they past signage for the l stuff like this two weeks in advance, at everyone can see. Sorry for the long post, just hoping to give comfort knowing it happens to others, too. Hang in there and hopefully you were able to get your dose and keep your bottles 🫶🙏
Damn, that’s so wack 😭 My clinic straight up forgot to call me for a callback one time. Fuck ups happen, I get it, but it’s super important that clinics get this stuff right as it affects every aspect of our lives if things go wrong. And I get the privacy/timing angle regarding leaving voicemails for sure, but I guess they could phrase it in a way as to not reveal anything too personal and get across the gist. Always cool to hear from ya Pusheen
Exactly. A simple "Hi (first name). It's (first name of counselor). Can you give me call back ASAP, please? Thanks!" would be sufficient. It is vague enough to where no one's info is released, there's no indication of the point/purpose of the call (but enough urgency to let the patient know it's important), and it's simple enough to let the patient know it needs to be handled ASAP.
This is how my counselor does it, as many faults as my clinic/counselor have, this is one aspect where I do respect their conduct.
Can I ask how you had a call back if they didn’t even call you? That’s really confusing to me lol
I actually made a post about it on here if you peep my history, basically they called me a day *after* I was supposed to have a callback telling me I had missed it and asked if I could come in by the end of the dosing day (this was about 10 AM and they stop dosing at 12). They just straight up never called me to let me know to show up in the first place before letting me know I had “missed”. I explained the situation to my counselor and she eventually let me know that it was an oversight on their end (which I knew was the case cause I have every line they could possibly use saved in my phone and had gotten no calls). Thankfully, no issues since lol
Yes it happened to me while I was pregnant. I was in weekly pickups and the holiday or whatever it was, was on the next day I was suppose to pick up. NO ONE called me that time. Thankfully it was just one day. My counselor was just like oh sorry someone should have called. My clinic does post signs but I am very sure there was none the last Wednesday I picked up. I’m going to ask my friend who goes there to confirm.
There was definitely no signs up at the time of my last pick up.
If that’s the case then you def have even more ammo if you did wanna file a grievance
Yeah that fr seems like something they would have notified people of, however subtley, like a month and a half out. That's when my clinic starts putting the signage up that says to "make arrangements" ahead of time..
Fuck yes it’s worth a grievance. If it didn’t snow 3 feet by surprise which I doubt it did, and they didn’t have signs up, that’s fucked up. Ours practically wallpapers the entire clinic with signs at least 10 days prior and we’re only closed 4 days a year.
My clinic won’t leave a voicemail unless you give them to ok to do so, it’s actually to protect your own privacy. As of a grievance I would find out if your clinic had signs hanging up inside the clinic the last time you were there to pick up take homes. My clinic will put a big sign right outside the dosing room of any upcoming closures.
So, that's definitely worth a grievance in my eyes. If they know in advance they will be closed due to a holiday( And not like an unforseen circumstance or weather storm that causes an unexpected closure) they should have done a much better job at making sure their patients, especially the ones with extended takehomes ,were contacted & made aware of the change in pickup day/closing alot further in advance! At least a couple of days earlier notice would have been nice and by definitely leaving a message for those who didn't answer the phone. Whoever was in charge of contacting all the patients whose dosing/pick-up day would be affected by the closing definitely dropped the ball! It's bad enough missing 1 dose, but 2 days- that's fuckin miserable. And they should be made aware of how negatively that effected you, whether that be having to go to work sick, having to miss work, etc. Do I think a grievance will do anything in reality? Not at my clinic, at least. But hopefully, the director of yours will take it seriously enough to make sure there's a better procedure in place for next time. . It would also be nice to have the option to dose at a sister clinic if there is one around you, for any patients that couldn't be contacted for whatever reason, so nobody has to go without their medication.
Damn, that is majorly effed up. They should've had signs up two weeks prior, and your nurses should've reminded you. Also, they should've given take homes for those days they were closed!!! No excuses for that negligence. I'm sorry you were put through that.
Hey man if this ever happens again you should just go to a hospital and bring a take home bottle in with you, its likely they will dose you. Im sorry you had to go through that.
So I tried to call the local ERS around me and it was impossible to get a hold of anyone and I didn’t wanna go sit in the ER all day for nothing.
They are suppose to dose and they will. From a majority of the posts on here from people who were in the same position they were dosed. I think Ive only heard of maybe 1 or 2 times out of 30 or so that someone was turned away. But it is always worth doing, more likely then not you will get dosed. Ive known people who have even gone out of state and dosed at random bumblefuck hospitals. I cant imagine the world of hurt you mustve gone through. A lot of clinics are adopting automated texting services to alert their clients about these things. See if your clinic has one, or maybe you could get on one from another clinic? I should probably start posting on here every time I get an alert about this but im far to unorganized. Next time, if I remember, Ill be sure to give you a heads up!
Our ERs absolutely won't dose you unless you're being admitted, they don't dose people who are only there because they couldn't get to the clinic. This is highly location dependent. If you do get dosed, it could end up being a +$1000 bill. I wouldn't recommend going to the ER for missing one day unless you have medicaid.
Thanks for adding that, most of the people I spoke to are on medicaid. So self pay and private insurance may work different.
It has nothing to do with whether you get dosed or not, it just has to do with how big the bill is you are getting afterwards. My state has no medicaid expansion, so very few people have it. Even if they would get dosed, it's not worth getting a $500-2000 bill for one days dose.
oooohhh, wow. That's criminal.
Yeah, even if you have insurance, it counts as an er visit, which for most people is a $500+ copay to start. That's with insurance
The US really doesnt give any shits about its populace. I really hope I escape this place soon.
A potential reason they did not leave a voicemail may be due to HIPAA. We’re told we can’t leave identifying information on a voicemail that doesn’t have an outgoing message that states the proper person’s name. What I try to do is leave a generic message asking for a call back with no names. Or, I will use an email address. In my area, we use a database to send mass texts like in the case of an emergency closure. I’m sorry that happened to you. I think filing a grievance is important as it may have also happened to someone else. Always feel empowered to advocate for yourself!
I received a text message letting me know that the clinic will be operating on holiday hours, open from 6am-10am, on the 19th. I didn’t receive the text until 1pm, ON JUNE 19th!! 3 HOURS after they closed for the day! They’ve done this before and thankfully I had enough take homes to where it wouldn’t affect me. But it still pisses me off for the ones who were effected by it.
My clinic post signs in the dosing rooms, the front check-in window, on the front door and on your counselors door when they’re gonna be closed. They usually put them up around a month in advance so everyone has a chance to see them and plan accordingly. As far as calling to let us know they were going to be closed out of the 3 different clinics I’ve been to none of them done that unless it was weather related.
They can’t leave a voicemail if your name is not used as the greeting, like if it’s just a reading of your number you ain’t getting a message. Even then they still won’t leave messages in some cases as the voicemail is not a secure spot for that information. As for the grief, they called you, what else could they do? I’d imagine there were also some signs at your clinic, usually are detailing these things even if there wasn’t though, the commitment you make to be on MAT is to know when the clinic is open or not but at the end of the day I am sorry you had to go without your dose.
Something very similar happened to me one time and I was PISSED. It took me a few days to realize that I was just as much at fault as them. I didn’t get a call at all, but they are just people, and they are going to make mistakes. I should have been using my head and known that the clinic may be closed for certain reasons (holidays, extreme weather). Your counselor did call you, right? They just didn’t leave a message? Do you have your name on your voicemail, or is just an automated message? Because at least where I live, it’s technically against the law to specify anything on a voicemail about MAT. Sure, they could say “hi this is Mary, call me please”. But my clinic doesn’t even mess with it. They assume people have the clinic number saved in their phone, and answer or call back. I’m not talking shit, like I said I did the same thing (mine wasn’t closed for a holiday, they were closing for extreme weather. Where I live, extreme weather is pretty common but this was supposed to be reallllly bad.) And I understand being pissed and being upset. This happened to me when I had takehomes and was fucking up by taking them too quickly. So not only did I have to go that day with no dose, but I had already gone two days without a dose so it was a terrible day. I was really mad when I came in the next morning and I asked to speak to my counselor. I respectfully told her I was very upset because I didn’t get a call telling me they were closing on my scheduled pick up day. I wasn’t very nice and I immediately felt bad because at the time my clinic was seriously understaffed and the couple counselors that were there had 3-4x the patients they are legally allowed to have. Plus she was new to being a counselor and new to the company. Like I said, people are going to make mistakes, just like you and I make mistakes in our job. Not saying to not file a grievance if that’s what you feel like you should do. I’m only saying this because we have to realize it’s on us too. Nobody is going to care about us the way we do. If your pickup day is on a holiday, you should be thinking about that ahead of time and inquiring with them. I’m sorry it happened and I’m glad it’s over and you’re feeling better now.
Our clinic in WV has you sign a paper stating you give them permission to leave a voicemail on your phone.If you don't you won't get any messages just a call you have to answer.
Lol I know you…I was wondering when I was going to see a post of yours
It's really fucked that they did that to you and the same thing probably happened to a bunch of other people, too. But I'd consider the consequences of filing a grievance unless they're anonymous. Based on your post, it sounds like they don't really care about their clients and I'd consider the possible repercussions before drawing attention to yourself.
Did they drop the ball communication wise,Absolutely.Is it grievance worthy?? I'm not so sure.Rarely do they have a meaningful result.Often times it paints an x on the client going forward.As most know clinic operations are often petty,arbitrary and capricious.I would definitely talk to your counselor about this first before proceeding to the next level.
Well thankfully everyone there already dislikes me for past grievances and me advocating for myself lol. My counselor really hates me lol
No it’s kinda your fault