08/28/2026
❤️ Be kind.
We ❤️ this community.
Definite favorite in a comment “let the love be bigger”
Something has been weighing on my heart, and I feel like I need to say it. ❤️
When I opened Ascend, one of my biggest goals was to create a place where we could truly take the time to care for the people who walk through our doors. I wanted it to feel different. Personal. Safe. Kind.
I am incredibly proud of what Ascend has become, and I am grateful for every single person who has been a part of this journey—our employees, past and present; our patients, past and present; and even the lovely Gene, whom we apparently bought along with the building. 😂❤️ (And if you know Gene, you know he really is pretty special to us.)
Every part of building this practice has meant something to me. And the people who work here mean something to me, too.
That is why the last couple of months have been hard on my heart. This has been a trying year for many.
Our staff have been yelled at over a variety of things, and this week there have been several interactions that have brought members of our team nearly to tears.
Please be kind to them.
They are human beings who come to work every day genuinely trying to take care of you. They are some of the most caring, easygoing people I know, and if something goes wrong, they truly want to help make it right. They may even make a nice cup of tea for you when things get tough.
We aren’t perfect. We will make mistakes. Computer systems aren’t perfect. Scheduling can get complicated. Sometimes patients need to reschedule, and sometimes providers unexpectedly need to reschedule too. We know that affects your day, your work, childcare, transportation and everything else that goes into making an appointment—and I promise we don’t take that lightly.
If something happens that frustrates you, please talk to us. A simple, kind conversation can go such a long way.
And if you have a concern that you don’t feel has been resolved, please leave a message for me. I am more than willing to return your call and work through it with you. You never need to yell at one of our staff members or treat them poorly to have your concern heard.
I also want to explain something about our cancellation and no-show policy, because I think sometimes understanding the why behind a policy matters.
Several of the providers who practice within Ascend operate their own businesses while working alongside us. Their schedules represent their livelihood and time they have specifically reserved for their patients. When an appointment is missed or canceled at the last minute, we often cannot fill that time. That directly affects that provider financially—and it can also mean another patient who has been waiting for an appointment missed an opportunity to be seen.
That is why we care so much about no-shows and late cancellations. It isn’t simply about enforcing a policy or charging a fee. There are real people on both sides of that empty appointment.
If you need to cancel or reschedule, please let us know more than 24 hours in advance whenever possible. You can call, leave a voicemail, respond to your appointment email, cancel through the OptiMantra app/portal, or message your provider through the portal. That notice gives us an opportunity to offer the appointment to someone else who may be waiting to get in. Sometimes it’s just impossible to cancel early enough; we get that too in rare circumstances and we try to help in any way we can.
And when plans change, we will always do our best to help you find another appointment—including trying to get you back in sooner when something becomes available.
At the end of the day, I want Ascend to continue being what I hoped it could be from the very beginning: a place where people feel heard and cared for, where our staff and providers feel safe and valued, and where we extend a little grace to one another when things don’t go perfectly.
We truly are trying our best.
We will own our mistakes. We will work to fix them. We will listen when you’re frustrated. And we will continue to do everything we can to take good care of the people who trust us with their care.
I just ask that we do all of those things with kindness.
I promise you, our hearts are in the right place. Truly. ❤️
XOXO Melinda
