Dr. Mark David Townsend, MD

Thank you to each of my patients for feedback, which helps me be a better physician! Of note, I am an Adult Congenital and a Pediatric Cardiologist. I practice Congenital Cardiology, and I do not consider myself to be a POTS expert. While I do care for patients with hypermobility, I am happy to facilitate referrals for those who have POTS.

He has been repeatedly putting me at risk following a recent (non-cardiac) surgery. Not only has he given me blatantly untrue medical information (He claims that 40-200 bpm is a "healthy heart rate range"), he is literally preventing me from switching providers. His office staff said I have to "get his permission" to switch. The gems from our last conversation include him telling me that instead of going to the emergency room when my blood pressure is severely low, that I should instead "eat a spoonful of salt every 5-10 minutes" for management of my disorder. His advice has been literally dangerous, and he has prevented me from being able to access care while I struggle with surgical complications. He should not treat anyone with POTS. Sadly, he is considered the "POTS specialist" in this area, despite not having experience and clearly not knowing how to treat it. His behavior and advice has been both inappropriate and in some cases illegal.

He is awesome, one of the best doctors experience I've had.

I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Townsend. I have sent many people to him and every last one has great things to say. He takes the time to talk with me, my daughter and discuss the problems and gives us solutions. He follows up and when we have to contact him, he gives us an immediate response. When my daughter was in the hospital, he texted me hourly and visited her (at UVA!). If all doctors were like him, we'd have no lawsuits. He rocks!

We got back to see Dr.Townsend right at our appt time. His staff was wonderful and took their time with out 2 year old. He had fantastic bedside manner, explained things thoroughly, all while making sure our son was at ease.

Dr. Townsend listens to his patients and responds to their needs. My daughter is 15 and will need surgery soon. She asked a lot of questions during her office visit and Dr. Townsend addressed all of them before we left. He also gave her his email address and said if she had additional questions she could contact him and he would respond. My daughter is very inquisitive so she has had more questions. And Dr. Townsend has taken the time to answer each one. We are very thankful!

Dr. Townsend was very understanding of my concern for my son who is a student-athlete. He took my son's symtoms seriously and thoroughly ran test and consequently ease my mind. Wonderful man!