Gary J Lawson, MD

I like Dr. Lawson and Mauricio but the past few times when calling for an appointment with a personal and or private matter that I only want to discuss with the Dr., I get grilled and pressured by the receptionist and then get a hard time by the other very rude office staff when I came in and got in a virtual argument with them concerning their «protocol» at the counter. It’s none of their business and after you tell them numerous times that you’re not comfortable, they give you an attitude and an appointment 2 weeks later. This is unacceptable especially when you’re already dealing with personal health issues and who needs the added uncomfortable stress? Even though I have been a patient of Dr. Lawson for over 18 years, it cant be long before he retires so its time to change, I will miss him and Mauricio but will not miss the rude inefficient difficult to deal with office staff. Nothing lasts forever!

Having recently moved to the area, I needed to find a new doctor. I made a 2pm appointment with Dr. Lawson, and was told to show up early because I would need to fill out the new patient forms. I showed up at 1:40pm only to find that the door was locked and no one answered upon knocking. A sign on the door indicated that they were closed for lunch and would not open until 2pm.
I then waited for 20 minutes in the parking lot, and when 2pm came around, they unlocked their door. I then had to spend the next 20 minutes filling out the paperwork for which I had shown up early for as they had originally directed.
After filling out the requisite pile of forms, I waited for another 30 to 40 minutes before I was called into the examination room. At this point, my vitals were taken by Mauricio, who was warm, friendly and genuine.
A bit later the doctor finally came in and we discussed my medical history and prescribed medications for which he wrote me new prescriptions. We agreed that I would come back in for lab work at a later date.
Upon scheduling my follow up visit with the receptionist, I noticed a discrepancy in the prescription that was written for one of my medications. As I attempted to work the issue out with the receptionist, a male worker walked up and barged into the conversation. He was rude, arrogant, and unprofessional. He did not greet me in any way, nor did he introduce himself. As this man became argumentative with me, I asked him why I was speaking to him, asked him who he was, and pointed out that he had not even bothered to introduced himself. He then abruptly turned around and walked out of the reception area and returned to his desk. I called back to him that I would like to know with whom I was speaking, and he completely ignored me and would not say a word. By the way he was dressed, I can only deduce that he was the office manager.
As a brand new patient, I found the staff to be utterly rude and unprofessional (with the exception of Mauricio). The doctor himself was just okay; while he was nice enough, it was pretty clear that he has been practicing medicine for a very long time, and I questioned how current he is with modern medical studies and findings. He is definitely what one might call an «old school» doctor.
As a result of my first time experience, I will not be returning to this office. Instead I will continue to search for another doctor. My health care is important to me, and I expect to be treated with courtesy and respect by my provider. If you expect the same, then you may want to avoid this practice.

I like Dr. Lawson and Mauricio, but Jodi is losing her cool, she needs to LISTEN and be nicer, she kinda rude. Last time I called i told Jodi i have palpitations and she told me to go to the ER, i explained to her i have no «chest pain» i just have palpitations and arrythmias randomly for the past few months, and need to make an appointment with the doctor to get referred to the cardiologist, anyways she didnt listen so I ended up at Holy Cross ER and wasted $ 50 bucks for the ER doctor to tell me to go to my primary care doctor and get a cardiology referral which I was trying to do! but «Jodi» did not listen to me! anyways i called back Dr Lawson office back the same day and they let me come see him and finally i got a cardiology referral. We are human beings, watch how you treat us GEEZ, what an inconvenience that day was, and I blame it on Jodi. But I love Dr. Lawson so im giving them 3 stars

Gary Lawson is a decent enough doctor, considering his age. I think, however, his office administrators take advantage of his lack of dominance in his business.
I have never dealt with more appauling policies for a medical office than for this one. I have been put on hold to simply make an appointment for over ten minutes without ever being answered. I’ve sat an hour in that allergy-​inducing waiting room listening to what the medical assistants are doing instead of answering the phone, and it’s such a sad waste of time. I’ve been charged, without any notice or warning, $ 25 for a no-​show fee for an appointment I had to make because they wouldn’t communicate by fax to get a form completed.
If you want to experience sub-​par customer service with being ignored and offended by medical office staff, this is where you’d go. Being a patient of Dr. Lawson and having to work with his staff will leave you highly dissatisfied, just like me.
And if you leave his practice for a more functional one, and then ask to have your medical records transferred to your new PCP, prepare to be charged $ 25 to have them sent. Yes — $ 25 to obtain YOUR health records. (I’ve never heard of that before either.) Guess I’ll never have the results of that ultrasound I had done on a possibly-​cancerous lump…
Bottom Line: Dr. Lawson has the worst medical office staff implementing absurd policies in the San Fernando Valley.

Agree perfectly with another poster: «Dr. Lawson is cool, his nurse Mauricio is cool, but the rest of the staff are rude and unhelpful. The desk staff are such a great obstacle that I’ve moved on and found a better Doc.» I’ll add that I finally broke off a 30+ year relationship with this doctor because of his rude staff. Run down office doesn’t help.

This place is rude. I have never known a doctor’s office take this long to make an appt.
1. I called and was put on hold for a very long time (about 5 minutes) then I called back thinking they may have forgot about me and was told that they have other calls ahead of me and that I have to wait back in their «queue»
2. I tried to set up an appt for my husband and they refused to make an appointment until I provided them with all of the insurance information. So I get a hold of all of the card information (PPO) and give it to them, and they still can’t make the appt!
3. They tell me they have to verify it before they can even make the appointment and then asked me why am I in such a hurry anyway??? Don’t know who the name of the person was but it was a male.
4. I waited all day for a call back and then called back to see if I can now schedule an appt. The male transferred me to a female and I told her I have never had such a hard time making a doctor’s appt in my life. To which she replied, if you feel that way, perhaps you should go somewhere else!!!
Rudest office staff ever and a really strange policy.

I agree, I think it is time for him to retire, because he truly has gotten «referral happy».
Also, the staff, while friendly (at least to me), are horrible with followup. It took 9 days and 5 phone calls to get someone on the phone for results of an x-​ray (an x-​ray the doc urged me to get right away). This was not the only time I have called numerous times on the same issue with no followup.
I like Dr. Lawson, he is very friendly, but I’m looking for a new physician.

Debby G., I’m not out of my mind. I haven’t had an unpleasant experience dealing with Berly. But for the past 4 years, Jodi has not been very nice or helpful to ME. If she has been nice to you, that’s great. We have different experiences with the people at Dr. Lawson’s office. No need to insult anyone.
As for Berly not being helpful, I haven’t visited Dr. Lawson recently, but my mom has, and she told me that Berly was not as polite and friendly as before. It’s a shame because Berly had been the reason why I wasn’t discouraged to make a phone call to Dr. Lawson’s office in the past year. She was a lot better than the previous receptionist.

Anyone who thinks Berly is nice must be out of their mind. She is not helpful at all. Jodi is the nice one.
Dr. Lawson is a nice guy but I think it’s time he retires. He’s referral happy. I think he’s bored with his practice and is defiantly starting to show.