Stavros P Ionides

I had the displeasure of interacting with Dr. Ionides during my daughter's stay in the NICU at Amita Health/Hinsdale Adventist Hospital. She was born a few weeks early, and we were told that a routine admission to the NICU for a day at most was necessary to monitor for breathing issues. She had none. However, a few hours after she was admitted, I received a call in the middle of the night, while I was still under the influence of medication from my cesarean surgery, that her blood glucose levels were low, and an NG feeding tube and IV might be necessary. When we went to see our daughter a few hours after that, we found that both devices had already been placed in our absence and without our express awareness or consent. Days went by, and her routine, day-long admission turned into a protracted week-long stay. The neonatologists decided that our daughter had to drink certain quantities of milk in certain intervals for two consecutive days before she would be discharged, and they kept changing the requisite quantities without telling us. When we complained about the lack of communication and constantly shifting requirements for discharge, Dr. Ionides (who we had never previously met) confronted us and insisted that we follow him to a private room, despite the fact that we were due back in my post-op room for discharge in under 15 minutes. He proceeded to make us stand there while he read the previous neonatologists' notes aloud and then asked what, exactly, we did not understand about that information. My husband and I clarified that we were concerned by the neonatologists' lack of communication with us and felt that medical decisions were being made for our newborn daughter without our informed consent. Dr. Ionides' response was that no one was "holding [us] hostage" and that no one had a "gun to [our] head[s]" requiring that we keep our daughter in the NICU there. He failed to acknowledge that there was, in fact, an ankle monitor attached to our daughter that prevented us from simply removing her from the NICU without initiating a hospital-wide lockdown. He also failed to acknowledge that removing a baby from the NICU against doctors' orders can result in insurance non-payment for charges already accrued (several thousands of dollars), as well as potential DCFS involvement. Needless to say, I would NEVER seek Dr. Ionides' services again or recommend him to others. I was truly disgusted by his rude behavior, especially considering how emotionally fraught and worrisome the situation was for my husband and I as new parents. Dr. Ionides' lack of empathy and professionalism were truly appalling.

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review