By Roxanne Meeker
Anderson resident
As a patient of Dr. Phillip D. Foley since the 1970s, I would like to provide an informed view of his practice and how it works. First of all, to Mr. Stefandel who lives across the street from the clinic and was quoted in The Herald Bulletin, those are not cattle lined up at the door before the clinic opens. They are diabetic patients waiting to have their blood drawn before they can eat their breakfast. So, yes, you do see the same cars there, over and over again.
Middletown Medical Clinic is not just a doctor’s office. It’s a clinic where, as needed, you get blood and urine tests and X-rays without having to run to the hospital and return another day for the results. When you see Dr. Foley and he opens your chart, the nurses have taken your vitals and noted why you are there. He has the results of tests right there in front of him. Usually he begins the visit by filling out a standard form as he goes over test results with you. If anything is out of range, the doctor discusses the matter with you. I’ll bet some of you are wishing your doctor kept you that well informed.
I have to say that my mother wouldn’t have lived to be 94 without Dr. Foley’s loving care. An irregularity was noted in her blood test and she was referred to Dr. Conjalka at Saint John’s Medical Center, who praised Dr. Foley for detecting colon cancer in the early stages and wished other doctors were so observant. For those of you who may have visited Dr. Foley for anything from drugs to abuse, I want everyone to know that most of us were there for medicine to control the usual ailments. You will never convince me that nearly all prescriptions written by Dr. Foley were for controlled substances, because there are too many of us, who have been his patients for decades, who are rarely given prescriptions on special blue slips that indicate controlled substances.
If Doctor Foley’s license is revoked, his patients will miss him, his staff and, most of all, our caring and compassionate friend.
