Patients of an Illinois medical clinic — billed as a “premier wellness destination” — were left confused after a typed note posted to the clinic’s door announced that a male doctor had resigned from the practice. The note, which one patient called “the most unprofessional thing I’ve ever seen,” said that the doctor quit because his “wife would not allow him to work here since we hired a ‘female’ nurse practitioner.” It is unclear why the word female is in quotes.

As St. Louis’s Fox 2 reports, patient Susan Rolens was the first to spread the word about the strange message, which greeted her when she arrived at Multicare Specialists, in Granite City, Ill., for her Tuesday appointment with Rodney Lupardus, MD. When she questioned the receptionist about the sign — which identifies Lupardus as the doctor who resigned — she was allegedly told to leave.

Rolens posted a photo of the sign on Facebook and said that the clinic’s owner, Mark Eavenson, demanded that she leave when she criticized the note about Lupardus.

“I was shocked by the sign and heartbroken that a beloved doctor would be treated so horribly,” Rolens told Yahoo Lifestyle. “I stated my objections to the unprofessional sign and was told I had to leave the premises.”

Yahoo Lifestyle has reached out to the clinic, who gave this statement from the nurse practitioner in question to Fox 2: “On my first day on the job as the nurse practitioner, I went to Dr. Lupardus and said ‘Can I ask you a question.’ His reply was ‘He, the other doctor, is dealing with you, not me.’ I told him it was regarding his patients and was told, ‘The other doctor will answer any questions,’ and he walked away. He did not speak to me the rest of the day.”

But Lupardus has since told Rolens, she says, that the dispute was “all taken out of context and had nothing to do with the nurse practitioner being female.” She added that the Multicare office is “full of women employees.”

Lupardus is no longer featured on the clinic’s site, and, according to Rolens, will be moving practices. She intends to follow him.

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“He is an amazing doctor that so many love,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

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