Dr. Jorge Denegri
Staff
Punctuality
Helpfulness
Knowledge
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I was a patient of Dr. Denegri for eight years. He was warm, charming, and funny. He was also flippant, arrogant and often unprofessional.
Despite his erratic behaviour, I humoured him in order to get the care I needed. (He came to Nanaimo one day a week and I was under the impression he was the only hematologist available.) Also, when things were going well he was so funny and warm that I would leave his office laughing. How many cancer doctors can you say that about?
My break with him came after a bizarre incident in July 2021. Dr. Denegri called me at 8 pm saying he had “the worst day of his life” due to a disagreement with my family doctor. Dr Denegri said I had to choose between them. When I said I’d have to choose my family doctor because I’d never get another one, he exploded. He said “he doesn’t care about you. Nobody cares about you”.
I felt so scared and vulnerable that I reluctantly agreed to leave my family doctor. Dr. Denegri then said no, he would no longer be my haematologist- he was firing me for disloyalty.
The call lasted 10 minutes, filled with Dr. Denegri’s grievances. I had it on speakerphone. My husband said that if he hadn’t heard it himself he never would have believed me that it was so extreme.
The next morning, Dr Denegri phoned and in a terse but professional tone recommended staying with my family doctor, acknowledging that it was a personal issue between them. No apology, no explanation.
My family doctor found me a new (excellent and professional) haematologist in Victoria. I never had to deal with Dr Denegri again.
My husband and I speculated privately about what could possibly have caused Dr Denegri’s behaviour. I’ll refrain from mentioning possibilities, except for one: Dr Denegri was in a narcissistic rage. My doctor had said no to him, and he threw a tantrum.
The day after the incident I wrote down the details in a complaint to the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons. In the end I did not file the complaint because I didn’t want to risk potential repercussions from Dr Denegri.
You might be wondering why I’ve waited over two years to write this. It’s mainly because I’ve been focussed on getting my health back in that time. But I also hesitated because it was so extreme I thought readers might not believe me.
As a final note, I had a difficult time deciding what rating to give under “knowledge”. Obviously he is a very knowledgeable and experienced doctor, and from what I gather, respected in his profession. But some of the things he did simply defy belief.
As just one example, during the pandemic he would not wear a mask in his office and bullied me into taking mine off so he could hear me better. His exact words were “you’re not going to die of COVID. It’s just like the flu. My secretary had it and was sick for two weeks then she was fine”.
Funny guy indeed.
Submitted Feb. 29, 2024