I've waited on hold tonight for over an hour trying to get a hold of the CDC. I experienced an EXTREMELY alarming situation today at my doctor's office, Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Disorders in Pensacola, FL. I was in their office around *pm today, Thursday, March **, ****, when another patient came in, went to the open check in window, coughing EVERYWHERE, apparently to check in for an appointment. I could hear him fairly clearly speaking telling the check in employee that he has been out of the country in Brazil, then had a layover in Miami, FL & was just tested for COVID-** & did not yet have the results back. At that point, front office staff got the office manager who had the patient take a seat in the main lobby, around * or * other patients, & he was with other,I'm assuming, family members, not to mention the *-** different staff members walking through or speaking to the patient. After a few mins, the office manager asks the patient to go outside to talk, where they stood directly in front of the main double doors & patients were coming & in & out. The patients doctor then came out & I heard him advise the patient to go self quarantine until he had the swab results back. The doctor came out in a full face respirator & kept trying to back the patient away from the front doors.The doctor comes back inside, the front office is in pandemonium, as a patient I was petrified & then other patients immediately began to panic, rescheduling appointments or just left. I did see a younger,tall, caucasian female in the front office put a mask & gloves on & instantly began cleaning, thoroughly, but panic had already set in with us patients *& some employees, that I could visually see were in hysterics, crying. The patient & office manager continued to speak outside for several more mins directly in front of the front door. My health is severe, suffering from stroke after stroke, PE, DVT, only * lung that functions *** way...I'm absolutely scared & do not know what to do, so my logic kicked in & this is why I'm reaching out to you. I'm not only concerned about my health & safety, but all of the others, patients, staff, etc. This is my community & it's in harm's way!! Before I was able to leave, after cancelling my appointment, the office manager was being rude & ignorant with the * ladies in the front office. Almost threatening their jobs if they said anything. I really think someone should check in on this practice because I'm also sending this email to the local news agencies around Pensacola, FL, to not only warn my community, but to let everyone know how disgusting a manager of a large practice can be to employees during a national emergency & appeared to have no care for patients, staff, etc. Again, I'm not only terrified for everyone in the office, but for myself & family. I will be getting tested tomorrow & being that's the only public place I've been due to my health, I will be possibly filing a malpractice suit if myself or anyone in my family test positive. In closing, please help me, my family, my community, so we can all do our part to get through this pandemic alive!!
GetHuman-zeroequi did not yet indicate what Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should do to make this right.