Piedmont Physicians Gastroenterology's Online Review Report Card

Trying to reschedule for a new colonoscopy appointment and the receptionist TAMMY won't answer the phone. TAMMY messed up the first appointment and the hospital didn't even know I was scheduled when I came in. She's extremely rude and entitled.

The staff was so nice and very very concerned

Dr. Chaudhary is EXCELLENT! He took the time necessary to ask my son the questions needed to find out what is wrong. He is very thorough and has a great bedside manner and positive personality. We were anxious when we went it in, but we felt confident he was going to be able to figure it out and treat my son when we left. Loved him!

Was my 1st time appt. there today;Kelly was very helpful, giving me driving directions to the office over the phone.I seen Dr.Manisha Jakiddi for 1st time,, very kind, explaining everything in detail to me in regards to my 1st having endoscopy.

The worst doctor experience I've ever had.He did my colonoscopy and didn't take ANY pictures for future reference. He was extremly rude at the follow up appoinment. It was like he was genuinely annoyed that I had questions about my stomach disease. He prescribed me medicine that didn't have anything to do with my disease and actually irritated me further.When I got in my car after the appointment I was in genuine awe at how terribly I was treated by him and the staff. On top of that, the appointment summary they sent me home with was completely incorrect and said almost the exact opposite of what actually happened during the appointment.**I have sense been to another doctor who was literally astounded that he put me on the medicine that he did and she immediatley told me to never take it again. She was also extremly confused as to why he didn't take any pictures during my colonoscopy and said he absolutely should have.In conclusion, 10/10 do not recommend.

Dr Steinbook is awesome. Great location and his staff is wonderful. The sitting area is always nice and clean. If you or someone you know maybe looking for a Gastrologist Dr Steinbook is the one

Okay, y’all… We tried doing this the nice way, but after failure and refusal from the hospital to work with us, the time has come for my family to tell our story. Hold on tight - this is going to be long, but it’s time for the truth to be told and for people to be held accountable. Our world was literally turned upside down when we lost Melvin Castleberry on July 4th, 2020 at 6:25am. The events and details leading up to his death were completely horrific, avoidable, and (to put it very bluntly) directly caused by the hospital he was admitted to. On June 25th, 2020, Melvin Castleberry was taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional for experiencing shortness of breath. Immediately upon arrival, he was labeled as “COVID” and treated as such. He was allowed no visitors. This was the last day we saw him. At the time, this particular hospital’s policy was one visitor per patient for non-COVID patients and zero visitors for COVID patients. Upon his arrival, his wife IMMEDIATELY began begging for them to test him (because if he tested negative, she could go in). Piedmont refused to test him stating to her “If it looks like COVID, smells like COVID, we’re going to treat it as COVID and you’ll just have to deal with that.” From June 25th, 2020, to his death on July 4th, 2020, no test was ever administered. Melvin stayed in the Emergency Room all night and into the next day. He was communicating with us this entire time. He could not get a single nurse or staff member there to help him so much as go to the bathroom. He would call, they would not answer and if they did they were so nasty and hateful to him that he regretted calling. (This statement came from him directly - imagine knowing your loved one is there alone and being made to feel this way.) He went over 24 hours without any food or WATER. He was finally put on the 9th floor at Piedmont - the “COVID floor” (without being tested). The next few days were spent BEGGING for information from his nurse. There was no communication whatsoever from any doctors. His wife, Matilda, was already having an extremely hard time dealing with the emotions from not being there with him, but this added a whole separate layer of DESPERATION. On June 27th, 2020, a phone call with his nurse is witnessed by multiple members of the Castleberry family (myself being one of them). In this phone call, Matilda is desperately begging for information on how Melvin is doing (again). His nurse proceeds to tell her that “he doesn’t have time to talk to every Tom, Dick & Harry… he has SIX patients to deal with.” Later that night (June 27th) Melvin calls Matilda around midnight. There are still multiple family members, including myself, there with her. He is very upset, very clearly depressed and anxiety ridden. We find out that he has not been receiving ANY of his anxiety medications. (Melvin suffered from severe panic attacks for which he took medication daily. He also suffered from Sleep Apnea and slept with a C-Pap machine. He had a history of having massive panic attacks while on his C-pap without having his meds.) June 28th, 2020, at 7:23am a RAPID response was called. He had anxiously removed his breathing machine in his sleep. It is noted that he was alert & responsive, the machine was put back in place, and the doctor ordered for him to be hooked up to monitors. June 28th, 2020, at 8:46am his nurse just so happens to walk by and find him completely unresponsive with no pulse. He had NOT been hooked to a single monitor (after the doctor ordered for him to be). He went into cardiac arrest (due in part from suffering a panic attack) and laid there without oxygen to his brain for an extended period of time. Let me say again, HIS NURSE JUST SO HAPPENED TO WALK BY AND FIND HIM LYING THERE COMPLETELY UNRESPONSIVE. We asked, begged, pleaded to know what happened the morning of June 28th, but were refused any type of answer. It was a complete mystery to anyone and everyone at Piedmont. From this point forward, he was moved to ICU and continued to decline. However, his downturn was never made fully aware to the family. While we always knew he was at this point a critical care patient, his doctors were never clear with us and we were led to believe otherwise. We were never once told that he was brain dead. (That would have required them to tell us what had happened on the morning of the 28th and that was just a MYSTERY to everyone there.) In fact, his death caught us by surprise because of the updates we had been receiving. We know for 100% fact that this isn’t your typical “oh, the family just hears what they want to” case because we have all of the conversations recorded. We, quite literally, have proof that isn’t the case here. Melvin took his last breath at 6:25am on July 4th, 2020. Alone. Piedmont had ASSURED us that if and when we ever got to “end of life care”, Matilda would be allowed to come into the hospital and be with him. However, when the time got here, they refused. They robbed her of the last precious moments she would ever have with her husband. Since his passing, we have discovered via medical records that upon his admittance on June 25th, Melvin had an enlarged heart. This is caused by several factors, many of which were problems he was directly suffering from. It was ignored and he was just written off as COVID and treated as such. Is it likely to assume that this enlarged heart continued to grow and grow and eventually led to a massive heart attack? Is it likely to assume that with proper treatment, he could have been saved? Is it likely to assume that had he been hooked to monitors when the doctor ordered, someone would have immediately responded and he would still be here with us? For the past several months, we have been in constant battle with Piedmont Columbus Regional. On Melvin’s death certificate, COVID-19 is listed as his immediate cause of death. They never once tested him, never once took a chest CT scan, NOTHING. There is zero proof whatsoever that he was infected with the Coronavirus at his time of death. We’ve asked multiple times for proof, but they cannot deliver. Simply put, we would all sleep better at night knowing he passed solely from something unavoidable like COVID-19, versus negligence on a hospital’s part. Piedmont went as far as to schedule a meeting with us on September 28th where we requested for one of two things to happen: For them to show us PROOF that he had COVID-19 at his time of death, or for them to remove it from his death certificate. In this meeting we were told by the Director of Hospitalists that for people whom they do not have a positive COVID test on, if COVID is possible or suspected, they “just put it on the death certificate”. We were also told that “they didn’t really care at this point what was on the death certificate” - it was irrelevant to them, therefore not a big deal to remove it from his. Per Georgia’s one party consent law, we have legal recordings to substantiate this. Nearly a month after this meeting, we receive communication from Piedmont that they will not be removing anything from his death certificate because they, and I quote, “think it was COVID”. Quite frankly, on behalf of the entire Castleberry family, we do not care what they “think”. Let me ask you this: If you were going to receive $40,000 for “thinking” something… you’d “think” it, right? Well that seems to be the case here. You see, when a patient dies from “COVID-19” while hooked to a ventilator, the hospital receives upwards of $40,000. Per patient. Pretty hefty allowance for “thinking” someone died with COVID, right? Due to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s convenient Executive Order issued in April, hospitals and doctors are granted complete IMMUNITY as long as COVID-19 is on a death certificate. Yes, you read that correctly. As long as COVID-19 is listed as a cause of death, these hospitals are immune to any type of punishment for their wrongdoings. Because of this, we are left with nowhere to turn in order to get justice for Melvin Castleberry and what happened to him on the morning of June 28th, 2020. I will reiterate - None of this is hearsay. We quite literally have proof and substantial evidence to back up every single thing that our family has been through. We are a family of Faith. We believe that everything happens for a reason. We believe that we all pass in God’s timing. Can we be sure of what the outcome would’ve been for Melvin Castleberry had things not happened this way? No, we can’t. But what we do know is that this could have been a very different story. He didn’t deserve this. Our family didn’t deserve this. And because we are a family of Faith, one thing we are 100% SURE of is that this whole situation was made pretty ugly by Piedmont Columbus Regional and Jesus don’t like ugly. We have had multiple people reach out to us with their own stories of how they were mistreated by this hospital. It’s truly sickening. And if by speaking up we can help one single family avoid what we’ve gone through, then that is exactly what we want.

The Niceness of every one.

not even busy and treat people like crap still!!

Six years ago they saved my life. Thank you Dr. Hani, Dr. Bell, and all the staff of the ICU there.