Dr. Sara Echelmeyer

Very informative. Super nice. Very thorough.

Dr. Echelmeyer performed a colonoscopy on my sister, a mentally disabled 66 year old adult at a 2 year old level, which went well. But, on follow up appointment in office instead of directly answering the families concerns she told us numerous times that she did not have the time to follow my sister's care and repeatedly told us to go to the primary care physician. Our sister lives in a group home and our sister has fallen through the cracks concerning health care because of this. We were trying to prevent this from happening again. We asked for a clear cut bowel protocol from Dr. Echelmeyer because my sister had to go to the ER because the group home let my sister go 5 days without a bowel movement after major colon resection 3 weeks earlier. When questioned why the home waited so long to initiate care, the group home stated that Debbie did not have a bowel protocol. The ER physician diagnosed gas pains. Every hospital visit is emotionally traumatic for my sister. We… went to Dr. Echelmeyer because my sister did not received a bowel protocol at hospital discharge nor from her primary care physician which she had seen within the last 4 days for follow up hospital discharge. The group home representative was present at hospital discharge and at the PCP appointment as required by the group home and as experts in her healthcare, did not ask for a bowel protocol for my sister - this resulted in a traumatic ER visit that could easily have been avoided. We were told by my sister's surgeon that Dr. Echelmeyer was the physician that we should go to for a bowel protocol since she was a specialist in the field. However, we found out that as Dr. Echelmeyer told us she is very busy and obviously doesn't have time for mundane issues to help the mentally disabled. The appointment was lengthy because Dr. Echelmeyer spent so much time telling us she was too busy to help us and that we should see the PCP instead. We had just seen the PCP and did not receive a bowel protocol. The office discharge note had many inaccuracies. The note did not state my sister's current clinical conditions as discussed in the office visit. It stated old history from her ER admission and the patient instructions were not clear to my family. When asked to review and correct the inaccuracies, Dr. Echelmeyer did not. Instead she inserted a negative note stating that it was a difficult office visit, that the sister did all the talking (my sister is at a 2 year old level and can not speak for herself) and again reiterated that she did not have time to follow up with mundane issues and refused to clarify the patient instructions. If you want a physician with NO COMPASSION OR TIME FOR THE MENTALLY DISABLED, Dr. Echelmeyer should be your first choice. Her skill as a physician, is probably adequate although I only have the colonoscopy to go on. It went well. I found Dr. Echelmeyer's staff lacked compassion also. The receptionist and Dr. Echelmeyer's nurse acted like we were a bother and the nurse was condescending.

Dr. Echelmeyer is a leader in her field -- very knowledgeable with excellent advice and a wonderful bedside manner. Smart, kind, and caring!

My only complaint is about Sharron/Shannon. She is the person you have to talk to when you call to ask questions. She is very rude and impatient. She does not listen to details and she will bite your head off while threatening to make you wait over a month to reschedule if you want to cancel an appointment. If Dr. Echelmeyer and the rest of the staff wasn't so amazing, I would be looking for a new Dr.