Doctor Recommendations

For a dentist, try Dr. Belenkiy - there are actually 2 doctors Belenkiy, a husband and wife team who share a practice. I saw the Mr. Dr. Belenkiy, and thought he was great. They are located right across from the GAP 2/3 stop.

Finest Dental Care
10 Plaza Street East
BROOKLYN, NY 11238
(718) 622-8020

Subject: DeeDee

There is a great young dentist that I just started going to. She's an African-American woman who lives in the neighborhood and her office is on Eastern Parkway just across from the Brooklyn Museum. Very nice, great service and she takes most dental insurance.

Dr. Samantha Ifill

Garden Dental Arts
213 Eastern Parkway
(718) 230-3183

Search the forum for "doctor," there are lots of threads with recommendations for GPs.

Medusa wrote: My recommendation is that you pick your doctor with an eye to which hospital you'd like to be in if you got sick.

Interesting concept. Which begs the question: which hospitals would you recommend or recommend against?

I used to feel that way and travel to manhattan for care. honestly, if i were going to have a baby, i probably still would. but for a bad sore throat, check up, routine stuff, i decided to stick to Brooklyn, and found a good doctor here.

to the extent i can support health care institutions around here (without compromising my care) i want to, because there is a health care crisis in central brooklyn right now. smaller hospitals in the "outer" boroughs have been depleted of resources for decades, allowed to whither on the vine & close, as they try to serve largely african-american and immigrant, largely medicaid and uninsured neighborhoods, that are federally designated as underserved. we need more good health care centers in brooklyn. more good hospitals in brooklyn would attract more docs who set up practices.

plus, when i have a bad sore throat, etc., i don't want to get on the subway. i want to stumble somewhere close by.

I wonder why an entreprenurial-type doc has not opened up an urgent-care center in one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Brooklyn. I'm imagining a cash-only model. I bet a lot of people would be willing to pay cash to be able to see a doctor quickly for relatively minor things like a sore throat or a bad cough. Maybe I'm deluded about how much someone could earn from such a practice, or about how much satisfaction one could gain from doing it.

doctorj wrote: [quote=Medusa] I'm imagining a cash-only model.

They'd have to take cards. I don't carry enough cash and I don't want to hunt for an ATM (or make a phonecall or jump through any hoop whatsoever) before I head to an urgent care center.
I think she meant no insurance accepted, not no credit cards.

I've had a few hospital experiences over the years, and this is my personal opinion:

1) NYU (emergency room and overnight stay): wouldn't recommend it. was completely forgotten in the emergency room (no, not the waiting room. i'm talking about after i got a bed). it took my husband to go shanghai someone after 90 minutes, and when that doctor came over he said, "oh, there's someone in this bed? we didn't know" (I'M RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, YA JERK! I DIDN'T BRING MY INVISIBLE RAYGUN TO THE HOSPITAL WITH ME). once i got a room, i was woken up roughly every two hours since NYU is a teaching hospital, and someone random had to teach someone else random somethin' using me as an example. i didn't even know who my actual doctor was until a good 12 hours later. it was a nightmare. i rate this hospital a D.

2) Weill-Cornell (cardiac center): had outpatient surgery here last year, and i can't say enough good things about it. the doctors were great, the nursing staff was FANTASTIC, and the recovery team was AMAZING. it made what could have been a terrifying experience much, much more positive. i rate this hosptial an A.

3) Methodist (emergency room; surgery): i was convinced through the rumor mill that my experience in the emergency room at Methodist would be nothing short of barbaric. boy, was i in for a pleasant surprise. The emergency nurses, technicians, and doctors were all extremely competent, attentive, friendly, and thorough. I was impressed! also, had outpatient surgery there 2 years ago. once again, the surgical team was wonderful. the resident surgeon was kind and attentive, and the recovery team kept the jokes flowing. the following day i had some minor complications and Methodist's response was swift and totally centered on my needs. i felt like a person, not like a number. i rate this hospital an A-.