ABC Pediatrics of Kankakee County, SC -- Maria L. Garcia, MD, FAAP

Feb 16th, 2024

I grew up going to Dr Garcia and had always loved her. Unfortunately my feelings towards her have changed after having my daughter in 2021. I had a C-section due to my daughter being breech and IUGR. She dropped a lot of weight in the hospital so we were supposed to have frequent weight checks. In the hospital she had told my husband and I that she was going to order us an ultrasound for hip dysplasia since she was breech and to remind her at her 1 week appointment. My husband had called to make her first appointment and was greeted by a very rude nurse over the phone who denied us an appointment based on our decisions for our child. We called again a day later and thankfully we had a better nurse who scheduled an appointment but we were told that it was only because she needed her weight checked and an ultrasound order. At the appointment Dr Garcia bashed our decisions as parents and gave us a lecture, rushed through the appointment almost forgetting to give us an ultrasound order which my husband had to remind her of twice as she was trying to run out the door. My daughter also had jaundice and she didnt even care to check her levels, we later had to go get blood tests even after very frequent breastfeeding and daily sun exposure. If you put your intuition first over what a doctor thinks then this isnt the place for you and you will be treated poorly and bashed for your decisions instead of supported and cared for even if you have different views. Its very sad that if you dont let a doctor run your childs life that you will be denied as a patient. I asked for references for other pediatricians in the area that could work for us and she told us to just use Google. Thankfully since then we found a great pediatrician who supports our decisions and listens to us as parents who want more information about the health of our daughter! As parents we have to be our childrens voices and thats not respected here! My husband and I remained very respectful towards Dr Garcia even though she lectured us, we stayed silent about our feelings of the situation. I respect other parents decisions for their children because its their decision! I only wish we could have been treated the same as others!
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