Dr. Donald Roger Lehmann, MD

I had knee pain for several months, limiting walking abilities. Dr. Lehmann advised the wait and see method of treatment rather than invasive surgery. He was right, I went from a 7 on the pain scale to 0 in the next month. That was several years ago and I have had no further issues with that knee.

I was under Dr. Lehmann's care during my PREGNANCY because Sitka is a small town and at the time there were no OB/GYN's on the island. Dr Lehmann specializes in SPORTS MEDICINE and sees a lot of pregnant women there because of the unavailability of doctors on the island. I should have trusted my gut feeling and flown to another island to see a real OB, but finances made that impossible. Dr. Lehmann simply touched my belly and said that my baby was head down and ready to go (I was 8 months pregnant). I told him that I was leaking a large amount of fluid that was pinkish in color and had a sweet smell to it. He INSISTED that I was peeing my pants and wouldn't listen to me or even exam me, other than put his hand on my belly. I told him I wanted an ultrasound because I had a feeling that this leaking fluid might be something wrong. He refused and told me it was common for pregnant women to pee their pants. My family chipped in to fly me to Anchorage and I randomly chose a REAL OB/GYN… named Dr. James Bertelson. On my first visit with Bertelson, he felt my belly and said "Because you are 8 1/2 months pregnant, a fetus' butt can feel like a head and simply touching your belly really isn't sufficient so I always do an ultrasound with my patients during their last trimester to make sure the baby isn't breach position". During the ultrasound it was discovered that my baby was not only in breach position, but that I hardly had any amniotic fluid because contrary to Dr. Lehmann's "pee theory", I had been leaking large amounts of amniotic fluid and Dr. Bertelson did a C-section right away. After flying home to Sitka and having my follow-up with Dr. Lehmann, he did not seem apologetic about his mistake AND told me that since it had been 2 weeks since my C-section, I could start exercising and doing sit-ups, etc. I went home, did one sit up and got a horrible piercing pain and my incision started bleeding and had pulled apart. Went back to Dr. Lehmann and he put a bandaid on it and gave me some Vicodin. 1 week later, my incision was oozing pus and I was running a fever. Went to a different doctor and it was badly infected. They burned the top of it off to stop the infection and put me on antibiotics. NEVER WENT TO LEHMANN AGAIN. HE NEEDS TO STICK TO TREATING COLDS AND SPORTS MEDICINE

I have multiple, well documented mental disorders. I have been seen by Dr. Lehman or his staff for ten years and they are well aware of my situation. My last psychiatrist gave written instructions that I stick to a very regimented schedule because when I don't, it sets me back. There exists a letter in my medical file stating this which just seems like common sense but dr. Lehman would not update this letter when I was traveling and needed his help. This to me shows a total lack of compassion and goes against even basic medical knowledge. I plan to change primary care physician immediately and advise others to choose Mountainside Health Clinic over Sitka Medical. Sitka medical has gone down hill and almost all doctors that were on staff appear to have abandoned ship also!! Hope this helps you avoid a uncaring, unprofessional and disappointing medical experience like I just had.