I have had some good experiences here but the bad are starting to outweigh the good. I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and referred to urology. The doctor I saw (Dr Swanson) was absolutely horrible. No caring, no sense of urgency, and didn't seem to know any current information regarding kidney cancer. His recommendation was to wait and do another scan in about 7 weeks and see if my tumor gets any larger. I am 46 years old and very healthy otherwise so there was no risk to doing surgery. Keep in mind there are no other options for kidney cancer-no chemo, radiation, or even biopsy. The only treatment is surgery to remove the cancer and kidney (or part of). I told him I wanted it out of me ASAP! He said OK and that his scheduler would call me to schedule another scan and the surgery (why another scan when I just had one at Mayo????) I went to Cancer Treatment Centers for a second opinion. I got an appt in a week (Mayo took about 12 phone calls and 2 weeks to get an appt). The doctor at CTCA said they NEVER wait to operate on someone younger like me - they get the cancer out ASAP. I had surgery 5 days after my appt with the doctor at CTCA. I had been recovering from my surgery for 2 weeks when I finally heard from the scheduler at Mayo to schedule my scan and surgery!!! This is so unacceptable and I'm shocked that Mayo treats cancer patients with such disregard. Nobody seemed to care when I called and there wasn't an ounce of compassion given to me at any point when dealing with Mayo from the doctor to the schedulers.
I feel as though Mayo will just let your cancer progress to the next stage as they take their sweet time getting you scheduled. I wonder if they would do this to themselves or their own family? Why would I live with cancer for months without doing anything when something can be done?
Lastly, the billing dept needs their hands held to be told how, where and what to bill. I have had to call over and over and over to explain the same things to them about billing my insurance.
I have seen a few doctors here that I really like but it was for minor issues. The biggest health issue of my life was a terrible experience at Mayo and I am absolutely disappointed with their level of care and the disregard for my health and well being.
I hope this is an isolated case and it's just the doctor that's terrible, but if Mayo employs him, then it reflects upon Mayo as a whole.