Three Stars I have been a BayCare booster since they took over operations at Winter Haven Hospital. I have used the lab and imaging services at the hospital and at Winter Haven Hospital, as well as two the the clinics in Winter Haven and Auburndale, finding the doctors, nurses and other employees friendly and caring. My primary physician referred me to Dr. Porteous at their Gessler Clinic, across the street from the hospital. I found the doctor and his nurse to be friendly and caring, and the doc spent a considerable amount of time explaining my test results as they applied to possible kidney disease. In my opinion, the care was excellent. However, the clinic is like a mouse maze and it's not easy to determine where to go to reach the doctor's specific office for examination. I was told to go to "Area E," so, upon arrival the main desk directed me to another building where I encountered less than satisfactory service. When asking for directions and employee didn't seem to care that I was not familiar with the layout and she directed me, "Down the hall and to the right." I ended up at a dead end. I encountered another employee wearing the distinctive BayCare blue polo. When asking her how to find the area I was needing to go, she told me, " I have no idea, I only work in THIS area." So, I turned and re-traced my steps until I came across another blue shirted employee and asked for assistance. That young lady was MORE than helpful. Not only did she ask me to follow her to the elevator, after we wound through the maze of halls and doors, she not only pressed the button for the elevator, she got on with me and took me to the second floor Area E. What a great BayCare Spirit!!!! I encountered the receptionist who was reading a book at her desk. She asked, "Do you have an appointment?" I replied in the affirmative and gave her my name and date of birth. She never smiled or acted happy to be there. She advised me to take a seat and went back to reading the book After seeing the doc he told to make an appointment to come back for a follow-up in 90 days. I again approached the desk where the book-reading receptionist was not welcoming at all. I gave her the information for the next appointment and asked if she was having a bad day and had lost her smile. She didn't respond and was very dismissive. She DID NOT have the BayCare attitude I always encounter at the other locations. Upon returning to the ground floor I was confused as to how to find the exit door. Asking another blue shirted BayCare employee for directions, she pointed and said, "down this hall." That was good, except there were no signs indicating the exit and I was lost again. Along came a young lady with a BayCare name tag, but no blue shirt. I requested direction to the parking lot and again, here was an employee withe the Bay Care Spirit. She asked me to follow her, and through the maze of hallways and doors, we arrived at the Exit. What a gal she was. I found employees that did know or just did not care that I was lost in the maze, and it was evident that they really didn't want to be there. Mentioning this situation to an employee in another BayCare facility this morning, she said, "I have a physician in that clinic, and the employees do not seem to have been schooled in the BayCare way of doing things." Mentioning to a friend who is a former patient at the clinic, she told me she left and found another clinic because of the general attitude of employees at Gessler. I realize that many doctors and other employees exited Gessler after the purchase of the clinic, but that's no reason for such widespread poor attitudes in the clinic. Someone at BayCare needs to go to Gessler and spread some happiness throughout the building, as well as a general understanding of where everything is. I would hate to be in that building if it was evacuated for a fire emergency. If I was there, they probably would find me as a "Crispy Critter" in the aftermath of the conflagration. John T read more

I scheduled an appointment to get my biannual Prolia shot a week ago that amount of time gives them time to have it available. I arrived for my appt and was told it had to be authorized by my insurance and someone left a message on my phone, no one left a message, no one!! This is not the first time!!! I could go on but I will not!! This clinic has failed so bad. I have been going here for 18 yrs. POOR ATTITUDES THEY DO NOT CARE. read more

today, february 10th, 2026, i have repeatedly tried to get an appointment for over an hour on the phone and through the patient portal. i have seen doctor's there for years. yet, i cannot get a human and my doctor is not listed through the automated service. why should i, an 81 year old have to drive 10 miles and go inside gessler clinic to make a needed appointment. why??????????????????????? the system is horrible and needs to be repaired. baycare, advent health and these corporate systems are allllllllllll running healthcare in the ground. money, money, but little care!!!!! read more

Have not had much trouble getting appointments just the wait to see the doctor has been too long at times.

My mother in law has Osteoporosis and CHF. She's in tremendous pain and this clinic cancels her appointments constantly and reschedules for months later despite her urgent need for care. She har a doctor she loved for 18 years, he retired (or was fed up with the management) and she has a new doctor that she has only been able to actually see twice in 14 months. Further, we've had two "oh oops the doctor you just saw has Covid" scares with the only recompense being free Covid testing. This was late 2021 and again in March 2022, so not the beginning of the pandemic. Avoid. read more

Now that BayCare has taken over the cost of my labs and dr appt has almost tripled. As most of the patients here are seniors and on a fixed income. I say shame on you BayCare! I guess you can't rip enough people off at your hospitals so you went after the clinics. After 10 years at Gessler I'm taking my business elsewhere. Sorry Dr. Harrison your a great doctor but now I see why over half the doctors left when BayCare took over. They should just close the clinic if they are going to rip people off. They will probably have to anyway because everyone is going to go elsewhere. read more

It is ridiculous to be on hold to make an appointment for 15 minutes plus. Been a patient for 40 plus years or I would find another clinic.

30 years as a patient and change of primary doctor the transition has been seamless even with Baycare as new owners.

Do not waste your time. We booked for dermatology two months out only to get here and have them tell us that we are booked for primary care appointments and that their doctor wasn't even taking new dermatology clients. The staff talked down to us, treated us like we were crazy for expecting dermatology and then sent us to someone else who did the same thing except at least she added a quick "I'm sorry." If this is any indication of how these doctors care for patients, there is no way I want to trust them with my skin health. read more

I had my first and last appoinment with the eye doctor at Gessler Clinic. I would not recommend anyone, not even my worst enemy over there. My experience with Dr. Lorraine Simonds was not good at all. It was my first time to see an eye doctor at the Gessler Clinic. The nurses were more professional and comforting than the actual doctor. The nurses checked on my vision and made sure that when the doctor got to see me that my eyes are diolated. Two nurses checked on me because the eye doctor was taking a bit longer than expected with a patient. When Dr. Simonds arrived in the room she said that my eyes were not diolated. She proceeded and put so much eye drops in my eyes that it ran into my mouth. My eyes were so irritated and were in pain. I had my eyes itchy and had blurry vision for a solid week and a half. I could not believe that she did that and that she was careless nor gentle with my eyes; which is the most precious part of my health. I would not recommend this eye doctor to anyone. Please, do not come to this eye doctor. I felt lots of emotional and physical pain during and after the visit. Please, do not waste your time at Dr. Lorraine Simonds's office. read more

Went to get my flu shot today and after sitting there for over an hour they still were not calling me. Cancelled my flu shot and went to Publix where it took 25 minutes. Plus they gave me a $10 gift card. That's service! read more

unbelievably ridiculously experiences here. i have been helping my mother manage her healthcare for seven years now without issues, yet we have experienced 3 major issues at gessler in under a month there is a completely out of control culture here of zero accountability. staff simply behave in any manner that amuses them with impunity. if you look at the recent reviews, they are all one and two star for the past few years. my advice to you is to heed this and save yourself the aggravation that gessler will give you read more

Worst clinic in central Florida. They are concerned only for the quantity of patients they can squeeze through the doors each day. They do not care about quality of care. They have nurses doing the job of 5 nurses and doctors who only spend 10 minutes with you. God forbid they find anything that needs further testing. It will take so long that your next appointment will be after your funeral. read more

Best doctors in the area. I use 4 doctors at Gessler and all have been wonderful. The lab and x-ray are also great.

Love my doctor. However, his nurse thinks that she can make sarcastic and judgemental comments related to my care. After 20 years at this clinic, I am seriously considering changing providers. read more

Last March, I went to Gessler Clinic. Dr. Mendez spent about 5 minutes with me. I did not even get to fill out all of my patient history before she left. I took a plethora of tests and received no explanation or further action to figure out what is going on with me. It's a year later and I'm still suffering with chronic fatigue and nerve pain. To top it off, I missed one follow up appointment and they sent me a $30.00 bill in the mail. It is a crime that they can charge $30.00 for NOTHING. They sent me a bill every month for a full year for this ridiculous fine. Well, you win Gessler clinic. My $30.00 is in the mail, but I will NEVER be back nor will I have anything good to say about this TERRIBLE place. read more

Great Doctors and Lab facilities. Both my wife and I have been completely impressed by their services..

Doctor Jones is good doctor but the clinic itself is horrible. They act as they don't want patients under the age of 18. My daughter was in need of seeing a doctor but because she is under 18 they won't allow her in the walk in clinic so they scheduled a appointment with a nurse practitioner Roxanne Ford for 215 today at 155 they call me and say the nurse practitioner does not see children. Poor management from administration. read more

Dr Martino is wonderful and patient. She takes the time to explain what is going on. She is the only good thing about this clinic. The other des are brusque and dismissive. Her nurse that did my vitals was also wonderful. The front desk is short dismissive and loud. You can hear every conversation throughout the lobby so much for privacy. read more

Absolutely ridiculous. I've been trying to get in with any doctor for weeks, and having zero luck. I'm now "too" pregnant for this and other doctors to take me. Stupid question; does the length of pregnancy make it less important to see a doctor because I'm pretty sure it's still pretty important. read more

This clinic is incredibly and abnormally slow. Some of the receptionists here are very rude too. It's too bad because this clinic could be a great healthcare facility. The doctors are great here, never had a problem with any of them here. The techs and nurses are kind and helpful, but the front end folks could use some lessons in patient service. The rolling of the eyes, deep sighs, and just agitated looks are not comforting or acceptable in a medical setting. I hope Gessler Clinic could make some changes and be more consistent. read more

I have sever back spasms from a car wreck, the doctor I was seeing for 18 years, prior to the "you can keep your doctor and plan bs" took care of it wonderfully. lost that doctor and came here, asked for refills on the meds that i have taken for 17 years and was denied them. came in 2 months later while having an extremlly painful spasm and was offered a shot of ibuprofen. i declined after reading notes that I'm there for pills. in reality the medication i took has been know to be addictive but for my needs i could get by for a year and a half on a 1 month script. back to the reason i was there, had to force them take an x-ray, they just wanted to give me cortisone and send me home. i dont want to mask something like my back, if there is intense pain usually something is wrong. took it upon my self to get an mir. they got it "some how"and wanted to immediatly set me up with nuero surgen. i declined and went to one in orlando who informed me that the place they were looking was not the problem. they were convinced it was lower back because of all the new fractures. kinda got a little stressed out knowing the damage that was done due to the car wreck. come to find out my lower back has healed greatly and even the disc have regenerated. come to find out i have a slipped or herniated disc in the middle of my back. and final bitch, they seem to only want to give out newer drugs that are really pricey, why you ask because i work in this type of industry and you get kick back.....pretty good ones too! read more

This place is so ridiculously slow. I waited two hours just to get my depo shot because I was a new patient! The doctors are nice but not worth the wait at all. read more

I've never had a single problem with this clinic. As a patient of Dr. Moreno's in the Women's Division, I can say she is the most caring, professional, and warm doctor I have ever been to. Female exams and issues are never something you like to discuss with strangers, but from the moment I met her I instantly felt comfortable and at ease. She's been my doctor for 5 years now and I am never seeing another physician. read more

This clinic and the doctors are run by the drug companies! You can't get them to give you a drug outside of the drug companies that give them samples! Sad! No minds of their own! When the insurance placed my diabetic drugs at a tier 3 my co pay was $50.00 or more! I tried to work with them but none of them cared! My blood sugar was In the three and four hundred range ,THEY DID NOTHING! They could of given me the same pill my new doctor did at a cost of $9.00 every three months ! Nope I had to suffer till I could get to see a new doctor outside of Gessler! The wait time is so long because they double or triple book the patients! I'm filing a complaint and maybe it will get them shut down! Let's hope so! read more