James Wever Pinzon, MD

5. I met Dr Pinzon for the first time on 09/15/2021 I was feeling bloated, not sleeping well, my chest was tight, bilateral ankles, feet and legs were swollen. He did a thorough assessment and examination on me. He talked to me and my wife about the situation at hand. He suggested treatments to relieve my condition. I was very satisfied with his performance and concern about me. He prescribed medications and blood to be drawn for lab studies. He even discussed follow=up to our next visit. When we left the visit we followed his orders and got the ball rolling concerning the plan of care he laid out. I slept good last night and thankful for his knowledge.

I am writing to share my experience at Ochsner Medical Center in June 2023. I am a LVAD patient. Surgery was performed in Boston at Massachusetts General Hospital in September 2022 and then my care was transferred to the team at Ochsner in November 2022. Attempting travel out of town, I experienced nausea, vomiting, and sweating concerning me to the point where I asked that an ambulance be called. I was transported via ambulance to the Ochsner Emergency Department and was later admitted to the hospital. Monday I was visited by a nurse practitioner who informed me that a doctor would be by later in the day to communicate my situation and inform me of the plan for the day. I also asked the charge nurse around lunch time when the doctor would be in and she said that she had just seem him making rounds so it shouldn't be too long. I didn't see the doctor on Monday. I requested the nurse practitioner have my pacemaker interrogated since that had not yet happened. It was discovered that my pacemaker was set incorrectly, as I understand it, forcing my heart into arrhythmia anytime my heart rate changed. I still didn't see my doctor. Since I had asked multiple people to see the doctor and he had not stopped by, I was extremely concerned for my wellbeing. I contacted my doctor at Mass General via the patient portal. She responded via the patient portal, called Dr. Weaver Pinzon for an update on me, and personally called me hours before Dr. Weaver Pinzon bothered to visit my room. When Dr. Weaver Pinzon finally visited my room he had no idea who I was and didn't remember me from a clinic visit a few weeks prior. He thought that I was a patient from Boston who had been in New Orleans and fallen ill. Not that I was one of his patients whom he had seen in clinic and had full access to their medical records. He could not answer specific questions and got visibly frustrated when I asked him normal questions about my health. When I asked him to go review my chart - as he had no knowledge of who I was or my condition - he became very angry. He informed me that I "was accustomed to a level of care that [they] do not provide." He told me that he "had sicker patients in the ICU." When I told him I was dying, as I'm currently running on battery power and awaiting a heart transplant, he yelled at me that I was not. I asked if I could see his boss and he replied that I "could talk to anyone I wanted" then stormed out, slamming the door. Nurses and other staff in the unit said this was not the first time this doctor has behaved in the same way and they encouraged me to report his behavior. I spoke with Dr. Desai who explained the encounter as a communication issue as Dr. Weaver Pinzon is not a native English speaker. I'm not sure if the hospital provides translators for their doctors and other staff, but it is concerning to imagine how communication problems between a doctor and staff could be deadly during an emergency. For the hospital to not take action on this matter is negligence. What's saddest about the whole experience for me is that I met some really great people in the VAD program at Ochsner who truly care and bust their butts every day. There are great doctors, nurses, VAD coordinators, social workers, even the front desk staff is great. This one doctor's pure laziness, lack of empathy, and unprofessionalism ruined all of that for me. Instead of being able to trust these people I had to move half way across the country to get medical care. I'm lucky. I had that option. There are patients of Dr. Weaver Pinzon right now who can't speak out. There are patients of his who experience this lack of professionalism and can't get another doctor or move out of state.

Dr wever is great he tells me exactly what I need to do with my heart condition. And his staff are always available for me, they been helping me for three years now with steady visits i would recomend dr wever to anyone with heart condition.

I feel he is a very good Doctor, He explains thing to where I can understand. He listens to the Patient, before he makes a decision. I feel very comfortable with him.

My experience at this place is always a pleasant one. The staff at the LVAD dept. treats me with special care and concern for my medical conditions . They are some of the greatest medical providers, that I have the pleasure of knowing.