Dr. Rodney James Hawk

I recently had an abscess under my voicebox. I went to the ER because I was having trouble breathing- it hurt very badly along my sternum when I would breathe (even shallowly). I thought I had pneumonia, I was just coming off of a 10 day stretch with the stomach flu. Nope, I was not so lucky as to have pneumonia. It turned out I had made a small scratch in my esophagus (from throwing up- yucky) into which I had a Staph infection. I had to be hospitalized for 2 weeks and give myself IV antibiotics for 4 weeks after I left the hospital, then 6 months oral antibiotics. Dr Hawk was called in to do my surgery. He is very much respected by the OR staff. In fact he's considered kind of a "cowboy" by which I mean that he has had so many years of experience that he really decides on the fly what the best approach is. You want that if what you have going on is at all out of the ordinary. He went in, got a culture, cleaned out the abscess, and put in a Penrose Drain to help it heal. It was a very… scary and painful procedure but Dr Hawk is great at these types of (on the fly) coming up with the best plan. The OR and surgical staff kept saying how big the abscess was after I woke up, they were all in shock that it took him only half an hour of surgery and a Penrose Drain to fix the problem. After 4 days he took out the drain, where on the nurses and other Dr's all had me planned for surgery to put another drain in because they thought it was too early to come out. But no, Dr Hawk made the right decision, at the right time for my healing body to pick up where he left off. He was very nice and understanding although some may think it's coldness of his bedside manner. He took the time to explain what was going on before my surgery, and checked in on me many times during my following 2 weeks I was in the hospital. I was disappointed that his staff did not call me to come in for a post-surgery check up. But when I called his office they got me in to see him, by way of an office appointment, within the next 4 days. At my check up he said I looked great and his work was done, now on to 6 months of antibiotics. My experience was very scary but Dr Hawk kept everything cool, calm, and collected.

I think he has lost his ambition/enthusiasm, etc.

not very enthusiastic

Dr Hawk has an excellent reputation among the OR staff at Pardee Hospital as being one of the best. My experiences bear this out, I am very pleased with his care.

Office staff is rude and doctor is uncaring and cold. you won't get the medical answers you need.

crappy doctor and rude staff.