They got acquired by a larger practice and I don't know if this caused them to run behind more as…read moreprofits become more important or if it was a timing issue.
With pregnancy, they wanted me at certain weeks and so they didn't always have the best time slots available and my first visit was on a Friday and I waited about an hour to see Stacy Martinucci, which I was told was normal especially since Fridays are busy days for them. I wish I had known that ahead of time as I had somewhere else to be and was running late and did not get to ask the questions I would've liked to asked. Although I'm not sure Stacy would have answered them, as she wasn't very patient and was a bit pedantic and arrogant. My husband was taking notes and she told him to 'stop taking notes because it's stressing me out.' I don't think she was a good listener, but she gave out basic information and was fine, I wouldn't go to her if you need someone more compassionate or nurturing. I've seen her multiple times and she talks so much with such authority but she doesn't listen and doesn't answer questions you have.
Dr. Arthur Gross was very rude my first visit, pedantic as well. I did hear one of the medical assistants say, 'Arthur is in such a bad mood this morning,' so maybe I caught him on a bad day. I told him 'for some reason I've developed a bitter taste in my mouth and it's horrendous when I eat something sweet.' And sarcastically replied, 'what do you mean for some reason, you're pregnant.' Why yes, I do know I'm pregnant, but I didn't know it was so common that pregnant women find most foods and sweet things repulsive. And he also said, 'well you haven't lost weight so you're fine.' The staff has never bothered to ask about my pre-pregnancy weight, I saw them for the first time at 9 weeks and I had already lost 5lbs from nausea and vomiting by then (and I'm thin to start with). When I tried to tell him about the weight loss and inability to drink more than 1 cup of water a day, he ignored me. He was impatient, didn't seem to want to listen and looked resentful when I had questions. The doctors also have contradicting advice, such as Stacey saying Vitamin B6 helps with nausea and Arthur saying it's just a placebo. Plus I have no idea why I went in for a doctors visit besides to be treated like crap, he told me to lower my pants, plopped some goop on my belly, getting it all over my pants and quickly did something and then literally threw a tissue on me, he never explained what he did and I didn't get to ask as he wanted to leave the room asap, I know it wasn't a sonogram as they told me after week 10 that all those are in the hospital and it wasn't hooked up to a monitor.
The medical assistants also have an attitude problem, reflecting the general attitude of Dr. Gross. One of them, I think her name is Michelle (fake blonde, Hispanic, late 40s, chubby, short) is so rude and spiteful, I swear she gets joy out of stabbing you extra hard when giving vaccines. One of the days I was suppose to see Dr. Markovitz, I was informed once I got there he wasn't available so I had to see the physician assistant, I easily agreed to this and reminded her that I also had to get my TDAP shot, she immediately replied in a sarcastic tone, 'well that's just earth shattering news,' I was so confused I didn't even know if she was talking to me. This practice truly reflects the attitude of its owner, Dr. Gross.
The only doctor I had a great experience with was Dr. Markovitz. He was the only one who seemed happy to be treating pregnant women. And he explained that he was using a Doppler to listen to the baby's heart beat and that the extra loud noise was the baby kicking because it doesn't like the Doppler. He was also happy to answer questions I had. I also really loved the phlebotomist, who is very patient and kind (tall black woman). The front desk staff is generally pleasant as well.
I read that most people don't like to sue doctors they like even when the doctors make mistakes, I now see why this office has lawsuits against them.
They never gave me any advice on staying healthy- didn't tell me foods I was not allowed to eat, didn't tell me not to sleep on my back after 28 weeks, didn't tell me no hot tubs, didn't tell me to take prenatals, didn't tell me to do kick counts, didn't tell me what a Doppler was. They literally never explained the why of anything, which was frustrating as a first time mom. I had to learn every thing in baby groups I joined and google