Dr. Darrell Stafford Wheeler, MD

Worst bedside manner I've ever experienced or seen, and I'm a nurse. His care of our baby in the NICU led to PTSD for me, thousands of dollars of debt for us, and time and money to get a specialist after the discharge only to find out that THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG! He diagnosed a mystery illness based on one symptom and refused to consult a specialist for it. When we did see a specialist a few days after D/C, he confirmed that it was a NORMAL FINDING and nothing to be concerned about. Certianly not reason for a week in the NICU, he told us. They did test after test, most of them invasive, on our baby without caring to notify or ask us until AFTER the fact. He acted like it was their baby and I was just in the way. I find it hard to believe he has ever been a caring, empathetic precense to any new mother.

Dr Wheeler cared for our baby in the NICU. Or at least that's what we were told. He never said one word to us. We asked for two days to speak with the Dr and the nurse replied that IF we were bedside when he was making rounds he would answer our questions when he got to us but he would NOT come to the mother's room. When we asked when he would be making his rounds she reply was that it varied and couldn't say. The next day we were at our babies bedside while Dr Wheeler was going from baby to baby and making jokes with the nurses but never came to our baby, never made eye contact with us and certainly never spoke with us. He did send his Nurse Practitioner, Andrea, to speak with us. She was icy cold and unsympathetic but did answer our questions. Our baby received 100% of his treatment without any consultation with us and we were never asked to consent to any treatment. This stressful situation was horrible at best. We won't be using Hillcrest Medical Center again.