Spencer Cox Center for Health

Dr Douglas, Woods, Sparks, nurse Gina. Excellent! Phones awful, front desk … I like them but I don’t think they understand we need appts and people to pick up the phones. Drs great phones awful, I was put on hold so many times I gave up. Please get a manager here that matches your Drs! I’m sure the Drs will leave if they don’t have a good «front desk «or operators! I called 3 times on hold for lay one 20 mins. Gave up. Looking into 10 union square. Can’t reach Dr. Ganz or Dr Douglas.

This play is just plain awful. It used to be good — easy to get an appointment with good doctors. Now? Terrible. I’ve been trying to get an appointment with them since August 2015. And yes;m, it’s now January 2016. Granted, they did give me an appointment in November — with a provider who greeted me saying, «Nice to meet you, but this is my last week here so you’ll have to be transferred to a new PCP.» This place is a MESS. If I had a better insurance I would certainly be going elsewhere.

This has to be the most unorganized, unprofessional, and un-​empathetic medical practices I have come across. I was seen by Orin Douglas twice over a six month period. His lack of understanding and unwillingness to address patients needs were astonishingly benign.
The entire staff seems to be complacent and there to collect a paycheck. Don’t expect personal care; voicemails and emails go unanswered. If you need a referral for a specialist, they have a ridiculous system of requiring you wait for the receptionist to initiate the process, which then you have to follow-​up with him for weeks before anything happens.
Everyone I encountered seem to be complacent with mediocrity. The pharmacy on the 8^th floor took 5 weeks to process prescriptions they claimed needed a PA — they were unable to communicate with the doctor to get a simple diagnosis code. Several follow-​up phone calls went unreturned.
The medical director, Antonio Urbina, is either unaware or uninterested in holding his staff accountable. It is incredibly discouraging and disheartening that the staff is completely indifferent, especially given that the majority of the clientele is immunologically compromised and underinsured.
It is no surprise, if rumors serve true, and probably a favor to the gay and HIV+ community that it serves, if St. Luke’s plans to shut down this site.
Very disappointing.

spencer cox is excellent from chelsea wood to orin douglas and rachael leggette. they are a really great team. i highly truly reccomend this center at 230 w 17^st ny 10 011, the receptionists are great too. ya called on time highly truly say yes go there call 212−523−6500. nice oprators too. from helen m murphy

I’ve been a patient at this clinic since its previous manifestations at other addresses, including its initial location at St Vincent’s Hospital. I have had both professional and personal acquaintances here as well. The medical provider that I see there is both a friend and an excellent provider but I will withhold his name for privacy reasons.
The reception staff is horrendous; the para and professional staff isn’t much better. I could list names and positions to be more specific but I don’t see the point since the real problems lie within the lack of serious managerial leadership in every facet of supervision. You will encounter some of the rudest people that any institution could find to employ within the 5 boros at this clinic.
FYI, It has gone through yet another name change since i was there in ⁰⁷⁄₁₅.

Not sure what all the bad rap is about. I’ve been going there for the past year and have encountered no issues whatsoever. Dr. Douglas is awesome and makes you feel like you’re just hanging out at the barbershop instead of a clinic.

I have never been to a worse clinic before. Repeatedly I’ve been scheduled weeks out for dental appointments and each time, I’ve gone into this den of contempt, tried checking in only to be told «have a seat». 30 minutes later (well after my appointment time) I’ve been told «we don’t take your insurance. And each time I’ve asked, why didn’t you confirm that yesterday or maybe even in the 6 months it took to secure the appointment. I’ve vowed never to return to this place and urge all the men in my social group to follow suit. Fine, treat me like a throw away and I’ll do everything I know how to cripple your bottom line. FYI Spencer Cox… Unhappy patients = funding cut = lost jobs for the useless rude jerks sitting angrily behind the counter.

This has been the most unpleasant staff I have ever dealt with. I recently changed insurance plans and had to find a new pcp. Dr. Gounder was highly recommended and based on a lot of research I decided to go with her as she was also based in my neighborhood.
It took more than 5 calls back and forth to actually be scheduled for an appointment because the person taking my info was unsure if they accepted Aetna, even though Aetna listed her as a PCP for my particular plan.
When they finally confirmed, I was told the next appointment available was in 6 weeks. Although I was already annoyed, because of her reputation, I was willing to deal with it. I received a call this week to say that they would need to reschedule, even though my appointment is just a few days away.
When I called to reschedule, the receptionist informed me that Dr. Gounder is no longer taking new patients. I stated that I had made this appointment 6 weeks ago to which she replied, with an attitude. «What do you want me to do about it?» Extremely unpleasant experience from start to finish. And now 6 weeks later, I have to start over to find a new pcp.

So I just got a call from the doctor, at 9:40am, asking why I missed my 9am appointment.
(1) Did it really take you 40 minutes to realize I wasn’t there for the appointment, or you were just 40min late for the appointment? Given my past two experiences and average +30min waiting time, I think it’s the latter.
(2) I called front desk to cancel the appointment already, somebody took down my name, DOB, appointment time, and who it was with. So next time before you call me and inquire about my «no-​show», maybe you want to check with the front desk first to see if they are doing their job?
Not going to come back.