When people have helped me in a way that has made a difference in my life, I have tried to let them know. I have fallen behind in my good intentions, so I want to take a moment now to tell of an experience with Women's Primary Care that is but one example of the things for which I should have, several months ago, said a thank you to Dr. Hoyte and Women's Primary Care staff. \r
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A few weeks before Christmas 2008, I knew I wasn't feeling well, but I delayed going to see Dr. Hoyte thinking that I would CERTAINLY get better. Well, I CERTAINLY didn't! (Humor intended! ) With only a few days left before the holiday week-end, I had progressively become so sick that one night -- sometime between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. -- I promsed God that if I lived until the morning, I would be at Dr. Hoyte's office when the sun came up, even if I had to face the indignation and embarassment of confessing that I should have come in MUCH sooner. By 8:00 a.m. the follwoing morning, I was sitting in my car outsdie Dr. Hoyte's office waiting for the doors to open -- knowing that I had no appointment. The office lights came on a few minutes later. Dr. Hoyte had apparently come into the office through a back entrance, but now with the office lights on, I could see her through the front office windows. She looked up from the front desk where she was working, and seeing one lone car (mine) in the parking lot, parked squarely in front of the office door, she surmised that someting must be wrong. Although the office didn't open for an hour, she left what she was doing, unlocked the office door, came out into the parking lot and asked what in the world I was doing there. When I told her how sick I was, she said, ""Come on in."" \r
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I know that she had responsibilities to address that morning, or she would not have been in the office before time for her first patient, but she set those responsibilities aside to see me. Even though I felt like I was going to die (humor intended), I probably wouldn't have. She could have just told me that I needed to wait, but she didn't. I was deeply touched that she recognized the degree of dismay that I must have been in to be waiting in the parking lot almost before daylight on a winter's day! \r
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Speaking now without humor, I wouldn't make a habit of appearing at odd hours at anyone's office asking for special treatment. However, on that day, my need for care was approaching urgent, and it was greatly to my beneift that Dr. Hoyte made time in her schedule to see me -- even before the staff had arrived to begin the day. That kind of caring -- care that goes beyond the expected; beyond the even ""hoped for"" -- has meant so much to me. Can you even imagine that standard of care?\r
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Thank you, Dr. Hoyte.
Pros: Time to Listen / Time to Care / Casual Setting
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