So this is my third attempt at finding a doctor in Los Angeles and it looks like I'll have to continue on my search. I chose Dr. Ware because I wanted to work with a female physician and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to find a doctor in walking distance of my house. I really needed an appointment to check up on abnormal cells I had from a previous pap. Probably TMI but I want to save you from my experience here..
When I called to make an appointment they told me Dr. Ware is only at this office 2 days a month! 2 days! That it belongs to her husband and she spends all of her time at a place next door called "Med Spa". Okay. So I picked one of the two days and asked when I could come in. They told me they only had morning appointments. I work in a school as a therapist so this was kind of a problem for me. However, I really didn't have time to change doctors so I told work I'd be out part of the day and booked the appt.
When I got to the office there were several people waiting. I signed up on the list and saw there were a few people scheduled to have appointments after my scheduled time that had arrived earlier than I did. They saw them before me! I sat waiting for almost an hour before I was even taken into an exam room. The nurse weighed me and then asked why I had come in. I was surprised since I clarified I wanted a physical over the phone weeks ago! When I told her why I was there the nurse said I was not scheduled to get a physical and that there was no time for me to have one. Well, I couldn't help it and started to cry. I SKIPPED WORK. I had been waiting over an hour. And that's when I started raising my voice. Finally she told me I could have my pap smear and that the doctor would be in shortly.
Not the case. I waited another hour sitting in a gown, freaking out because I really, really had to get back to work. My appointment was at 9 am and it was almost 11! I could hear Dr. Ware talking to another patient in the room next door. The walls were paper thin and I heard an overweight lady talk about not wanting to exercise and ask just about every single question she could have thought of. I really thought I was going to go insane.
Finally Dr. Ware came in and asked me what I wanted. Seriously, it felt like that. I was terrified during the exam that another patient was probably next door, listening to every single word I said about my body/worries/etc. She did the pap but no breast exam. They didn't even do blood work. Worst exam I've ever had. The doctor told me to call the office in 10 days to see if anything was wrong. She told me I'd have to be my own advocate, but honestly what she was saying was "We don't call our patients when something is wrong."
I was all ready to call back and make sure things were okay when I got a letter from my health insurance saying that Dr. Ware's referral for me to go to the gyno had been approved. Uh, what referral?!? All I could think was oh my god, my cells are abnormal and the office didn't even bother to tell me. Why else would I get a referral? I called back and the office told me that they had no information! This led to over a day of sheer panic.
Finally they called me back and told me the referral was a mistake, everything is fine, my pap came back normal, etc. I would not recommend this place to anyone. They violate HIPAA regulations with their paper thin walls, the wait time is insane, the nurse was nasty, and the doctor is unprofessional. FAIL. read more