Dear Editor,
On September 23, 2020, I had the most horrifying experience in the Ultrasound Department of Eureka Medical Laboratory on Thomas Street, Georgetown.
I’ve been using Eureka to conduct most of my tests over the years and I’ve found the staff to be generally professional and polite but on the day in question, it was the first I’ve ever done an ultrasound there and it will definitely be the last.
The woman who did my ultrasound was rude, hostile, aggressive and the most unprofessional healthcare worker I’ve ever come across. I was shocked to my core and it took me several hours to compose myself.
She body-shamed me throughout the ultrasound until I put on my shoes and left and decided to diagnose me from the ultrasound in the most hostile manner ever. Please note that she is not my doctor and it was not her place to read me my diagnosis.
All of this took place in the presence of her assistant; someone I’ve never met and who now knows my name and my diagnosis.
I left the department in total despair, unable to process what had just occurred; I headed to another section of the lab for an X-ray of my skull when I sought to enquire who she was. I was told that she is an Indian national and it was not the first time patients had complained about her.
I went back to my office in total disbelief and after a while I still couldn’t shake what happened; I thought I was overreacting and so I reached out to a close friend who is also a healthcare worker overseas and told her what transpired.
She assured me I was not and confirmed that it was nothing but unprofessionalism and a breach of my medical privacy. I was urged to contact the Human Resources Department of Eureka Lab to lodge a formal complaint and so I did.
The person who identified herself as ‘Latoya’ suggested a meeting/confrontation with the person in question; I refused because I never want to see her face or ever be in her presence again. ‘Latoya’ apologized for the experience and that was it.
Two days later, I decided to tell a co-worker of mine who also used Eureka in the past and without even mentioning the person’s name, she too shared a similar horrible experience she had with her a few months ago.
My co-worker said she vowed there and then that she will never use Eureka ever again for any service.
I am usually a strong, confident woman and never in my life has anyone ever made me feel the way she did. I can only imagine the other women who had the same horrible experience as I did and how it must have broken them in some way.
I hope the authorities at Eureka Labs read this letter and do something about it.
Yours faithfully,
Fareeza Haniff
Journalist/Editor-in-Chief
