On the subject of doctors - good GP?

tryp

Subject: ...

Not to beat a dead horse, but does anyone know if Raffinan will do general gyn stuff as well as internal medicine or does he prefer his patients to find an ob/gyn to take care of that stuff?

cat

Subject: gyn

yes he will also do gyn exams. (raffinan, who is almost too good to be true. not perfect but open and trying.)

mylkshayk

What about Dr. Kenneth Jaffee? (or Jaffe)? Is he still in the neighborhood. I used to go to him when I was in the Slope. It seemed like everyone loved him. I was just a kid so I don't remember much about him.

Regarding earlier postings about Methodist Hospital: IT SUX! My grandmother was in there when she broke her hip at the age of 88; despite her age and fragility, the nurses told a high school volunteer to go move her. The high schooler obviously did not know how to move a patient, much less an elderly pt with a broken hip. She (the high schooler) ended up breaking my grandmother's ankle during the move. I don't blame the kid, I blame the hospital staffperson/supervisor who gave her her orders. What the h*** was she or he thinking?!@?!? My grandma ended up dying at Methodist of a heart attack a few weeks later. She was in rehab at the time, which was in a different building or something, and the a-hole staff did not have her DNR orders with her; she arrested in the rehab building and since the dox there did not have the DNR info and apparantly communication is unheard of in this sh--hole facility, they pounded on her chest and zapped her for over an hour before my family finally arrived at the hospital and told them to stop, she had a signed DNR. I forkin hate that place. My mom should have sued the crap out of them; even if she didn't win and get any money she could have at least gotten the hospital some bad publicity and hopefully deterred other people from going there. God help anyone who steps foot in that place.

Oh yeah, a neighbor of mine is a nurse who worked for Methodist for many many years. She recently got a job at another hospital. She said it was awful there, terribly run, desperately understaffed.

Instead of making these fancy pants signs to hang at the local bus stops ("I choose Methodist", etc.), why doesn't the freaking hospital use that money and hire more RNs?!?!

To whomever it was who posted that they had a positive experience in the cardiac unit, I am very happy for you. But from my and my neighbor's experiences, that hospital is the pits, so you were really lucky to get out of there alive!

opossumqueen

Subject: Dr. Stroud

My insurance (so happy to finally have insurance again!) works at Dr. Raff's office but he had no appointments for new patients available for a couple of months so I decided to sign up with Dr. Stroud, who can see me in a few weeks for a physical.

I injured myself last weekend and it's getting worse instead of better so I went in as a walk-in this afternoon. I didn't have to wait too long...maybe 5 minutes after filling out forms a nurse saw me and then about 15 minutes later Dr. Stroud saw me.

It was hard to make myself go to the doctor. The last few doc's I've tried have been terrible such that I haven't been to one in years now. The bad ones were inattentive (e.g. examined wrong foot for a while though the other one was obviously blue and swollen), prescription happy, disorganized, and cold.

Dr. S was very warm and I thought she paid great attention to what I was telling her and was very helpful, never rushing me. I ended up really needing to see a specialist so she called one she recommends that is covered by my insurance and got me an appointment for Monday (the earliest day I could go). She also made sure I had all the paperwork (my insurance has an elaborate referral system...grr) before I left.

dw438

[quote="mylkshayk"]What about Dr. Kenneth Jaffee? (or Jaffe)? Is he still in the neighborhood. I used to go to him when I was in the Slope. It seemed like everyone loved him. I was just a kid so I don't remember much about him.

Ken Jaffe retired from his PS practice a couple years ago. He tired of the managed care b-s and that he really couldn't do the practice he wanted to do. Moved upstate to the Catskills and raises cattle.

opossumqueen

I just had a physical with Stroud and am still very happy with her (only did a quick walk-in for a torn tendon a few weeks ago). I had to get a pap and it was painless (I had a bad one years ago and have become very picky about this). She had a great bedside manner and seemed to know her stuff.

She's been at that specific clinic around 6 months so I guess that's the main reason she's not mentioned much on here.

I'm happy to start her fan club

bina

Subject: my experience w/slope docs

the one i really like is dr barry maizel (internal med and gastro)

and the one that makes u feel sicker and real awful is dr ed geis who is also an internal med doc and an endocrinologist. i swear he almost hates his patients and hustles them out!!! recently i saw another endocrinologist and was informed by her that geis has actually driven a few of his patients to her due to his nice bedside manner!!!!

sprite

I called Dr. Fletcher's office this morning and found out he's "on vacation." Since this is the 3rd time in 4 months that he's been out when I've tried to see him, I thought something was off. I wish I'd been following this thread!

I have seen Dr. Layton, and he's fine, but when he's not in the 13th St office, he's in Bay Ridge. I've made the schlep once, but I can't remember where that office is, there's no one manning the phones to direct me, and they don't have an alternate number for him on the message. Seriously, are they trying to drive patients away?

So I'm going to see Dr. Raffinan this afternoon. Thank goodness for this thread!

sir_eccles

sprite wrote: I called Dr. Fletcher's office this morning and found out he's "on vacation." Since this is the 3rd time in 4 months that he's been out when I've tried to see him, I thought something was off. I wish I'd been following this thread!

I have seen Dr. Layton, and he's fine, but when he's not in the 13th St office, he's in Bay Ridge. I've made the schlep once, but I can't remember where that office is, there's no one manning the phones to direct me, and they don't have an alternate number for him on the message. Seriously, are they trying to drive patients away?

So I'm going to see Dr. Raffinan this afternoon. Thank goodness for this thread!

I'm always so torn when recommending Dr. Raff - on one hand, he's the bestest...on the other hand, if all of you people go it's going to make it even harder to get in to see him :?

sprite

Don't worry, I'm not planning to make the switch just yet. I really like Dr. Fletcher. I'm just grateful Dr. R takes walk-ins - I really need to see someone today.

FYI for anyone who goes to Dr. Fletcher: I checked him out on MDInfoCentral, and there are no malpractice judgments/settlements listed for him, and no license suspensions or other disciplinary actions taken against him. I wasn't really worried, but it is nice to know.[/url]

ryanedw

This thread looks a little dead, but in the hopes of offering some insights for anyone googling:

Dr. Fletcher is fine.

His office is a complete mess. Bill Coleto (the guy in front) is unprofessional, often gruff, and unhelpful. The other assistant is nicer but similarly less than totally competent.

When I moved to Park Slope in August 2007, I signed up after finding Dr. Fletcher's name in my HMO list and on these boards. I've been to see him, or more frequently Dr. Layton last fall when Fletcher was out, probably 5 times.

I've never been so disappointed with long wait times and inexcusably bad service. I've switched doctors and suggest others do the same. My principal complaints are that the waits are intolerably long and the front office staff is unhelpful.

In particular, getting a referral for something as straightforward as an ophthalmological exam has been exceedingly difficult. The office never successfully completed the referral during my most recent request, and I had to call them back and bug them. Then I was ultimately told to come in to see Dr. Fletcher, even though he had greenlit the same referral, a standard annual kind of checkup for glaucoma screening, last year. Bill was rude, and I couldn't convince him.

In short, stay away. Dr. Fletcher himself is fine, but he isn't worth the heartache. When I visited him for a simple EpiPen refill prescription, I waited around an hour past my appointment time. Fletcher seemed embarrassed and apologized several times during our minute-long meeting. He's a standup guy. Bill should get a different job.

tex antoine

I second that emotion. That Bill character is an utter lunatic—as I tried to explain to some lackwit on this board who thought going to the doctor should be amusing.

filmlover44

Tex Antoine wrote: lackwit

:roll:

That's not what I said at all. You really are not a pleasant person, Tex. In fact, you are a jerk and your comprehension skills are poor.

tex antoine

You're a self-admitted shill for a pharmaceutical company and your "testimony" on the behalf of the insane Dr. Fletcher has been refuted by about eight different people on this board. Game over. Thanks for playing.

scottb2k

I went to the fletcher/layotn office based on what I read on this board. What a mistake. I don't want to get into it too specifically, but it was a completley awful experience that included them:
losing my records
losing the results of tests they had me take
forgetting who i was and claiming I had never been there after seeing the dr 2 times
billing my insurance for a referral to a dr in another part of the city who they claimed reviewed my test results...after telling me they had no record of me taking the test
never getting any diagnosis or results.

In the end..I had to get a copy of my test results from the lab directly, and take them to another dr. who looked at the results and said I needed a series of followup tests because there were some things that needed to be looked at further, so i had to retake the test and take the followup tests to find out what was really wrong with me.

Overall the worst experience with any Dr. I have ever had, and I would not recomend fletcher/layton to anyone.

filmlover44

Don't waste your time at the Doctors office, Tex. There is no cure for stupid.

karen_v

Subject: Bill is gone, Fletcher moved to a medical office building

I didn't see the drug reps, but they visit everyone.

On the other hand it took 20 minutes to request a copy of my blood work so I could analyze it before I sat down with him and the staff created obstacles.

But the last time I saw him, although his nurses failed to give me the proper screening (BP, weight) until he intervened, he spent the necessary time with me.