WVU Medicine: Lactation Clinic – Cheat Lake

Giving it two stars for the lab being much better than the lab at the physicians office but very disappointed with the pediatric portion of this office. Before having my son, I met with a doctor here. We really liked him and decided we wanted him to be our son’s pediatrician. Once he was born, we scheduled our first check up and were surprised to learn that we would not be seeing the doctor that we met and that he would be out of the office for the next 2 months (three appointments worth for a newborn). The doctor they scheduled us with instead was very difficult to understand. They could not communicate with us clearly and made us panic rather than assisting us as new parents. I struggled with my milk coming in and explained that I was supplementing with formula until it came in. The doctor’s response was breast is best and to go to the ER this weekend if he’s not showing signs of eating enough…..yes important to know the signs, but timing and phrasing matter. Not what a new mom wants to hear. We continued to have communication issues when his lab work came back with some worrying results. It’s quite frustrating to be told something is wrong with your son but to not be able to clearly hear or understand what you are being told. We swapped pediatricians and have had a much better experience.

I would like to warn others about my experience at Cheat Lake Physicians, specifically with Nurse Practitioner Kudora Sutton. She introduces herself and insists on being called Dr. Sutton, which is misleading — she is not a medical doctor. After reviewing my MyChart records, I noticed that every office visit note appears to be a copy-and-paste version of my very first visit, with no updates or new information reflecting subsequent appointments. This raises serious concerns about the accuracy and quality of the medical documentation. I strongly recommend that patients avoid seeing Kudora Sutton and ensure they are being treated by a properly credentialed and attentive healthcare professional.

I've had some mixed experiences at Cheat Lake Physicians, especially with a few of the practitioners there. Over time, I've seen several Nurse Practitioners and MD’s. 3 of the worse ones are Corissa McDonald, Amanda Tennant , and Nicole Tran. Their approaches weren't always the best fit for me. My first visit with Dr. McDonald was a bit of a letdown. I'd been dealing with constant lightheadedness and fatigue for months, and right off the bat, anxiety was brought up as a possible cause, even before I had a chance to explain everything. I ended up getting a prescription without really digging into what else could be going on. I had to push for vitamin level testing based on my own research, and it turned out I had a serious Vitamin D deficiency. That's when I finally got the right treatment. Dr. Tran always seemed kind of detached. One time, I went in with chest, back, and rib pain that had been bugging me for two weeks. When I mentioned that lifting made it worse, I got a dismissive comment that kind of downplayed my pain. Again, anxiety was mentioned as the likely cause without any tests. Dr. Tennant also had some issues. She stopped my Zoloft prescription but accidentally took off a different med, and then wondered why I had stopped Zoloft. She promised to make me top priority for the new therapist in clinic, but the referral never happened. Plus, she often seemed dismissive during appointments, especially when I talked about anxiety. I also noticed that the Registered Nurses were encouraging me to schedule evaluations, but the doctors seemed annoyed when those appointments were actually made. And overall, the place seemed a little disorganized. Even though I've had some issues with certain medical staff, I want to say that a lot of the nurses, front desk people, and phlebotomists at Cheat Lake Physicians are really great. Overall if you’ve ever struggled with having doctors pinpoint your anxiety on everything including physical pain don’t expect any less from this place.