Directions for Living

Reviews 4

NI

Nikki C

I normally do not do this, I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt and I always try to find a positive in every situation. My son has a cluster of issues that he has been overcoming for about 8 years now. He has Aspergers, ADHD, Depression, High anxiety, along with others. My son needs a steady Doctor who cares to really HELP him. We are absolutely disgusted with Directions for Living since they closed the Largo office and moved my son to the Clearwater Office. It has been nothing but problems, from changing my sons Doctor numerous times without notifying us, to the Medical assistant almost calling in the wrong prescription to our pharmacy because she thought my sons name was Brittney (HOW!?!?), to wasted time sitting in their office. After going through a few Doctors my son finally was set with Dr. Ronald Rempfer, and although he seems to be a nice Doctor, we NEVER get to see him! THREE times in the past two month we went for a scheduled appointment and never got to see him! 1st time we waited in the waiting room for THREE hours, until 7pm, just to reschedule the appointment! During those 3 hours NOT ONE receptionist communicated with us as to why we were still waiting. I finally could not take it anymore and asked to reschedule. 2nd most recent issue, we arrived for our morning appointment that we rescheduled after waiting for three hours on our previous visit, only to find out that Dr. Rempfer is not even scheduled to be in the office that day! They asked if we could see a different Doctor and wait until 2pm! After telling them that I could not wait until 2pm, they took my son almost immediately… but my 14 year old son had to see an ADULT Doctor. WHY would someone not call me to reschedule and just call in his prescription to his pharmacy?? This was a wasted trip and not necessary! 3rd visit, which was today, was the icing on the cake! After so many issues over the past few months, I called the office yesterday to confirm our appointment at 8:30 this morning. (I called to confirm the appointment because for some reason, their office does not give calls to confirm anymore). They assured me that we had the 1st appointment for the day and that everything was scheduled correctly. When arriving today, the receptionist asked if they could call in a refill for my son because Dr. Rempfer was out of the office today. WHY would someone not call me to save me a trip!?!? I’m not sure if the office realizes what working parents must move their daily commitments for Doctor Appointment…. But we had to start our day at 5am today, CLOSE our business for 2 hours, and travel a decent distance to assure arriving on time. These are only the most recent issues. I could be here all day typing if I would list them all. The lack of communication at the Clearwater Directions for living is EXTREMELY frustrating. I understand that mistakes happen, and sometimes something just comes up and the Dr. cannot see a patient… But if someone would just COMMUNICATE with us that could fix a lot! At the Largo Office we always felt like the staff cared. The Doctors were outstanding and would take the time to see my son. It is sad to say, But the Clearwater office just functions (hardly functions, but functions). There is no compassion. It does not seem like anyone truly CARES about our children. No one takes the time to actually talk to my son to see how he is doing. They all just get refills and are getting lost in the shuffle. I am not okay with that! We are looking for a new office ASAP and I would not recommend this office to anyone. I feel really bad for some of the ladies stuck in the front office who have to constantly make excuses as to why things are ran so poorly. They take the heat for everything! I’m surprised some have stuck around this long.

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SH

Shanon Norman

I started getting care here around 2011. I was able to see a counselor and a doctor so that I could obtain necessary medication for my issues. I am still utilizing their services and I find them to be very helpful. I have some great praise and some complaints. Bad first, the telephone system is a nightmare. If you dont have the exact extension of the person you want to reach, you will not be able to get through. It just loops and loops and theres like a million options that you cant even remember and even trying to get to a receptionist or anyone alive is almost impossible. I hate their phones/recorded system. Another complaint I have is the waiting. If my appointment is at 9:30, then I want to be seen at 9:30. Not 10, or 10:30. The doctors have no sense of punctuality. They seem to think that anyone who goes there doesnt have a job or something to do. Now for the Good - they have some wonderful people who really, really help. Carole in the Pharmacy is an angel. Jed N, a counselor, is one of the most intuitive, genuine, and caring souls Ive known. They make me feel like Im not alone, and that people are willing to help if you just ask. Florida isnt the best place to receive mental health services, but Ive had a much better experience here at Directions than at Suncoast in St. Pete.

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LI

Lisa Ann Palermo-Ramjattan

The people that work there are very nice but thats about the only positive thing about Directions. On more than once occasion, after checking in, they totally forgot about me and I was left to wander around, back and forth, to the reception area asking "whats going on?" until they discover that they, have in fact, forgotten about me yet again. I was assigned a case worker, after a year of asking for one, and, she never returned any of my calls, including a very serious one. Pinellas County Health (my "insurance") stopped paying for me to go to another mental health clinic so I was sent to Directions and then PCH stopped paying for me to go to Directions and even though I have 7 diagnoses, I am not eligible for psychiatric care, medicine monitoring, or therapy. And people in the U.S. wonder why there are so many wackos running around in this sh*%y state of Florida. This is an old review from 3 years ago that got deleted. I always back up my reviews so I still had it. The only thing I have to add is that I now have 8 diagnoses and still going to Directions as that is all that is offered to me but the therapy is a lot better. Still a super disorganized place, though.

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Julie D

Horrible bureaucracy. Told me on phone my daughter had to do a 2 hour intake to get assigned a therapist and only during school hours and only at their CLW office, and only by walk-in, no appts taken. We drove 30 min, missed school, filled out about 15 pages of forms and saw a financial approval person, then told me we would make a SECOND appointment that would take 1.75 hours to do an assessment, had to come back at a later time, and also only during school hours!! NEVER would have chosen this company if I knew my daughter would have to miss so much school and do 4 hours of "intake" before she could even schedule an appointment with a therapist. I was very clear this was not a psychiatric/medical issue but general counseling and they insisted they were a good facility for this type of treatment. . Two full hours and all we accomplished was some forms. waste of time, inefficient system is an understatement. No apology given, all bureaucratic garbage. Also the waiting room had music and tv blaring at same time and they would not give out the WiFI guest password, which they said was only for pharmaceutical reps.

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