Dr. John Christopher Downs, MD

Dr. Downs just joined St Francis Hospital, so I had my first appointment with him. Commenting on the small size of the office, he chose to leave the door to the exam room open for the duration of my appointment - while asking about my personal health. Apart from that, he completed disregarded my comments and preferences (ie. iron pills vs infusions). At what turned out to be the end of the appointment, he stood up, said that - against my wishes - he would not let me have iron infusions as I have in the past, and that he was instead prescribing daily oral iron pills. Then he walked out of the office. At that point, it was safe to assume the appointment was over, though there was no comment made. Horrible bedside manner. Horrible job listening to patient’s concern. I will NOT be returning to his office. Just awful.

Oncology is to me one of the hardest fields to practice in. Dr. Downs helped to make our time of fear a little less scary!

Getting an appointment was easy, but getting the doctor or his staff to do anything afterward is nearly impossible. I had to call 4 days in a row to get them to give me my lab results and another several days to get them to fax the results to me. The doctor was nice, but he didn't really answer my questions.

Dr. Downs is a compassionate, thoughtful and caring individual. He has seen me through one of the hardest, darkest periods of my life and helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He lifts your spirit up when you're low.