Patients Frustrated, Angry

The I-team is on the case, getting answers for patients who called CBS 12 saying their doctor's office closed without warning.

Monday night we brought you the story of patients who were upset that their doctor's office closed and never told them.

That left them unsure of where to go for their medical records, or if they needed a prescription refilled.

Tuesday, we tracked down the doctor who closed up shop and moved without telling patients.

"My reaction is that it's pretty lousy that they didn't contact the patients," said Robin Wright of Royal Palm Beach. Wright is not the least bit happy. Her doctor's office closed suddenly, and she says she wasn't notified, didn't get a letter from them or anything and she's worried about refilling her prescription.

"It's caused me a great inconvenience. I need medical help every three months. I need prescriptions every three months. Now I have to go find another doctor to go to," Wright said.

Jeffrey Morse, who spoke with us Monday, is also upset. Like Robin, he too was a patient at Western Communities Family Practice Associates, which was in a medical office building at 10115 Forest Hills Boulevard, Suite 200 in Wellington.

"The phone just kept on ringing and ringing. I tried throughout the day. There was no way to get in touch with them at all. My medical records are up there. That's my whole life," Morse said.

It turns out Western Communities Family Practice packed up and moved to an office in Royal Palm Beach a few miles away at 1019 North State Road 7, Suite B, taking all those patients' medical records with them.

"I'm always sorry when anyone is inconvenienced," said Dr. Brad Lipson, a doctor at Western Communities Family Practice.

Lipson told us they moved into the new location November 2, last Monday. And there's a notice on the wall in their old building, listing their new address so they feel it shouldn't be hard for patients to find them.

"Why didn't you notify all the patients that you were closing and moving to a new spot? We just wanted to inform them the new location, the new phone number and information, so just yesterday we had AT&T come out and make sure all the phone lines and phone system were set up to handle all the volume of calls. Yeah, but why didn't you notify them in advance? There was no way to know where the new office was gonna be located," Dr. Lipson responded.

Western Communities Family Practice says they have between 800 and 900 patients and a letter will be going out to them this week, explaining they've moved and their medical records are available.

Because of the confusion, they say they're waiving the fee--normally it's a dollar a page--if patients want to get a copy of their medical records and start seeing another doctor.