The Polyclinic Broadway

Good doctors but terrible business practices and customer service. I had an issue with a bill needing to be recoded per my insurance before they would pay. I left numerous messages about this and followed up on whether it was done. I finally received a call back, which I thought was in response to my messages...no, it was a call about my bill being sent to collections. I went ahead and paid immediately despite the business office advising me not to pay my bill yet as they did finally refer it to be examined for recoding; however, I paid to protect my credit rating. To this day, I have had to initiate nearly all communication with the business office, and here are some of the unbelievable comments I have have heard from the various staff I have contacted: - Your calls to us and subsequent messages don't really count (aren't documented) unless you speak to a live person (despite the option to leave a message due to extended wait times). - Since we are a doctor-owned facility, your doctor can't pay her staff unless you pay your bill. - Since we are a doctor-owned facility, it is now in the hands of your doctor to determine your creditworthiness and whether she wants to keep you as a patient. - We are severely understaffed in the billing office so it could be some time before we address your problem, and this is why we often don't return calls. When I called to make an appt. due to a health concern , here's what I was told: "You have a credit hold on your account and we are not able to see you for your health concern until it is cleared." (Please note that despite my account being paid in full, staff I spoke to are confused about how to remove the credit hold and what the "credit review" process entails--you just get passed around with a different answer each time.) Despite paying thousands of dollars without incident to the Polyclinic and being a patient for 10 years, I have been reduced to nothing but a financial transaction. more

I was looking for an experienced dermatologist and was hopeful that Dr. Abson would be knowledgeable and helpful. I saw her twice. Unfortunately, she had misinformation about Rosacea. When I told her my rosacea was progressing she dismissively told me and told me that my rosacea "looks better". When I explained that I have the neuropathic kind that causes flushing, stinging, and ocular complications, she was dismissive and repeated that my rosacea looked better. She was focusing on how my face looked and not listening. I won't be back. more

I have never been to a doctor who is more patient, caring, competent and reliable. I cannot imagine anyone having a negative experience. She is straight forward, down to earth, smart and creative in her thinking of how to solve a problem. I look forward to someday becoming pregnant and having her deliver our baby. more

I had been a patient of Dr. Wilber's for 12 years and I am devastated to say that in recent years, the care and respect for patients has declined alarmingly. I imagine that the office is friendlier to pregnant women and mothers, but if you are a woman simply interested in gynecologic health, this is not the place for you! Even less so if you are not interested in having a child at all. From the fact that every single magazine in the lobby is 'Parent' or 'Child' to the fact that Dr. Wilber is mostly completely unavailable, and if you manage to schedule an appointment with her, you appts get canceled. I've had the last 3 of my appts canceled, and I've been having a potentially life threatening problem, that I can't seem to get into the office to see her about. Additionally, their Physician's Assistant Jamie Drake, mis-diagnosed me onsite (without tests) with an incurable STD and made the subsequent two weeks of my life pretty much hell until I got the tests. In short, unless you want to be treated like a number, or if you're gonna have a high risk pregnancy (and likely get treated like a number) I'd find another doctor! more

I would agree that Dr. McDermott is a good Doctor, if and I stress IF you can deal with her office and nursing staff. I called Dr. McDermott's office to get a prescription when we had moved to a new address and had lost the prescription she had given me a few months back. I was told that they would get back to me. They did weeks later to ask where they should call in my prescription. I left this information with their receptionist as its impossible to talk to a nurse immediately when you call this office. Evidentially they called my old pharmacy instead even though I had given them this information with the receptionist. When I called to ask them to recall as they had called the wrong pharmacy, the nurse called me back and basically told me she talked with Dr. McDermott and she "feels they shouldn't refill my prescription and that I need to call my Internist." This is after I've waited for weeks for them to get the pharmacy right. The Nurse basically told me that they "had given me a Rx in person and had already called it in (to the incorrect pharmacy) and thus they can't refill it again. I asked the nurse if, since she was stating I somehow filled the Rx I had said I had lost, then perhaps she could call the pharmacy to find out if I had filled the prescription. She responded by telling me "she doesn't call pharmacies for anything but calling in prescriptions." By this time I had pretty much had enough with Dr. McDermott's office which I was bummed about as I really liked her. more

I went to the Polyclinic based on the reviews on this website. Unfortunately I did not have the same experience as the other patients. When I first called, I was given an appointment with a nurse practioner, Jenny Howarth, which was fine with me as most practioners I have seen before were great. I went in because of severe pain during intercourse. Jenny diagnosed a bacterial infection and gave me an antibiotic. 3 weeks later I was still having symptoms so I went back. This time she took one look at my vagina and said she had never seen anything like this before, I would probably need surgery because I had genital warts growing all over the opening to my vagina. She brought Dr. McDermott in and she agreed but said I had too many genital warts to operate on, so they prescribed a cream to use at home. After I filled the prescription and read the instructions, I was confused about how to use the medicine and I had some other questions too, about possible drug interactions, and whether this was the right treatment--a little google research had taught me that there are several different ways to treat warts. So I called the office back the next day; but you can't talk to the nurse or doctor over the phone, so I made another appointment and went in that afternoon and saw Jenny again. She explained how to apply the medicine but got very defensive when I started asking my other questions. It seemed like she did not really know the answers. For example I wanted to have an antibody test to find out what type of hpv I have. Jenny insisted that there was no such test, which I know is false because a friend of mine has had one, and I read an article about it online. Mostly she just repeated things the doctor had said yesterday, and finally told me that they had done the best they could, that nobody is perfect and I was welcome to go find another doctor. I felt that was a very unprofessional response and I tried to explain that I was coming to her as a medical professional and I was relying on her for help and she just repeated that they had already done their best and I could go to the Harborview STD clinic if I wanted a different type of care. Frankly I am shocked that she would be so unsympathetic to a patient asking for help. Dr. McDermott seemed very nice, for the five minutes that I saw her. Jenny pointed out that Dr. McDermott hadn't even billed me for her time. I don't mind paying for a professional and I would much rather be charged for someone's time and have them actually do a consultation and give me advice rather than just a prescription and shoo me out the door. Turns out, I didn't even have genital warts at all. My skin had turned white due to the bacterial infection, and after using an antibiotic for 5 days my color went back to normal. I saw a different doctor who confirmed that I have no warts and no signs of viral infection. I'm just glad they didn't actually try to operate on me. I can't even imagine how horrible it would have been to have completely unnecessary, very painful surgery. more

This place is known for superior workmanship, friendly customer service, and reasonable pricing. They've done several jobs for me: living room pillows, dining room chair cushions, and custom upholstery in my breakfast nook. I strongly recommend them. more

This falls under more information then you would want to know- but not all of us get to use OB/GYN for just keeping track of a pregnancy... After having my period for 19 years for whatever reason when I turned thirty my body wanted to bleed 20 days out of the month. I had to come off of the birth control pills due to high blood pressure- and all of the cramping and bleeding was seriously getting old. My internist ordered an ultrasounds- and there were masses found so she sent me to a gynecologist. Dr McDermott was very compassionate, witty, and explained **everything** to me **and** my husband- she spent a FULL hour with us explaining everything. I am sure I asked her the same question a million times- but she never ever lost her patience with me. I have had 7 surgeries and Dr, McDermott has performed 3 of them. She is an excellent surgeon- though she is not at all opposed to offering non western solutions for pain.-- My latest surgery revealed lots of scar tissue- and she said that some of her patients find relief with acupuncture and massage. For those of you lucky enough to get pregnant- all of my girlfriends have had her as their doctor- and they all have had very very positive experiences with her. more

I receive service at this clinic and it has always been great. The doctors are above the standard and answer emergency call quickly. I have had a few problems with the billing at this clinic. I have had 3 errors in the las 9 months and it took them 6 months to correct the error. They did finally correct it though more

Outstanding doctors and great location. more

I was transferred to Dr. Mulia when my previous doctor quit Polyclinic. At first, I was a little disappointed because I liked my previous doctor a lot, but Dr. Mulia is just as good as my previous doctor. Dr. Mulia and his staff are very courteous and professional. I received my chicken pox vaccination with his staff, and Jake is great, and was very thorough regarding the precaution and side effects of it. They are also very accommodating with their schedule when I have to see them at a moments notice. more

4 plus months into our pregnancy, we're really liking our doctor. Ellen is very down to earth yet, straightforward yet sensitive and just pleasant and fun! We're very happy with her and were given her name by a few happy patients. (206) 860-4541 is the direct # of her office. more