James Novak, MD

I find it absolutely hilarious that SO MANY of these reviews are negative due to the extremely RUDE and UNPROFESSIONAL front office staff, and yet no one from the office has ever cared to respond with any sort of explanation. The face of a practice is most times the most important part in making a patient feel welcomed and comfortable. I barely got a hello from them — all I received was incredible ATTITUDE and when I mentioned this to the woman, she threw her hands up and said «well I didn’t take your appointment». Of course — blame it on someone else. The bottom line is — it doesn’t matter WHOSE fault it is. If you have a job dealing in ANY sort of customer service — you should try to help in any way you can. If that’s something you don’t want to do, well — find yourself another job. I literally walked out and will never, EVER go back here. She’s the woman with the super short dyed brown hair. Trust me… you won’t be able to miss her or that attitude. AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL!!!

I really like Dr. Novak. He’s very open minded and is definitely not one of those doctors to roll his eyes at the site of your internet print outs and research. He listens, he’s helpful, he’s willing to try (way more than I can say for most doctors who act like you’re taking money from their wallet with every test they allow — although that very well may be the case with most HMOs!!)
It’s often difficult to get a human on the phone… you’ll likely have to wait past your appt time to see him… sometimes he’s rushed… But bottom line is he’s worth it!

Don’t go here! The front office staff is extremely rude and act put out by every single request. My opinion is that a good doctor will have good staff, so even though I’ve not actually met Dr. Novak, I can’t stand him. You will never be able to schedule an appointment with Dr. Novak, only Pam the P. A. She is nice but her medical advice is equivalent to my mother’s, who didn’t go to medical school. You will wait at least an hour to go back into the exam room even when you show up 15 minutes early as requested. Once in the exam room you will wait up to but not limited to another hour. This has been my experience I am not exaggerating on more than 5 occasions. Also, good luck getting someone on the phone. They close for an hour for lunch from 12 – 1 but leave their lunchtime voicemail on till around 2:30. Do yourself a favor and find another office.

Presented to office as a new patient and was asked to arrive 30min early. Arrived at 930a for a 10a appt. Finally was called back at 1045a and proceeded to wait in the exam for another 20 min.
I am a health professional as well and make a point to let patients know if I’m even 5min behind. Infuriated that I sat in waiting room and had to ask how much longer it would be 30 min after my appt time. Very unprofessional for office staff in my opinion. Dr had poor bed side manners and kept saying there was an emergency and that’s why she was behind. Fine-​so have your staff tell me and ether ask if I want to wait or reschedule. I will find a different doctor.

Staff is extremely rude and unprofessional. The front desk personnel is the worst. Considering those staff members are supposed to be the face of their office, they do a terrible job of making patients/​customers feel welcome. They act cold and unwilling to accommodate your needs. For example, in the past, I visited the office to receive vaccinations before leaving the country. I had a simple question for Dr. Novak about the process. The front desk employee would not let me speak to anyone and hung up. After I called back, she then explained I must schedule an appointment if I had any questions to address with him. Basically, they wanted my money before being willing to answer a simple question. And, at that point, I had been going here for several years already. I guess my loyalty/​business meant nothing to them!
I’ve never actually met Dr. James Novak, only Pam, she’s the Nurse Practitioner. Pam is sweet. But, she’s still not an MD. It’s quite frustrating to visit this office and not even speak with a doctor.
The office is never on time. Even if I’m visiting for a simple flu shot, I was there for over an hour.
Long story short, if you’re looking for a long term physician and healthcare provider, this is NOT the doctors office for you.

Dr Novak has the RUDEST staff! I have ever encountered at a doctor’s office. The office manager is completely unfriendly and acts very put out all the time. You will also have a long wait no matter what day you go in for an appointment. Don’t expect to see Doctor Novak either… I only saw Pam, the nurse practitioner every time I had an appointment.
By far, the worst doctor’s office in PB

Dr. Novak is one of the most compassionate doctors that I have ever met. I have been seeing him since 2012 and find that he always takes time to listen and gives me information and options when making a plan of care. He seems to be interested in learning about new types of treatment and has an open-​mind when it comes to new ways to treat chronic conditions. This is a very busy office but the staff is very nice.

My husband and I have been seeing Dr. Novak for almost 4 years now. We both have a chronic illness & Dr. Novak has been with us the entire way. He really cares about his patients & has a great heart. We actually love his whole staff. We spent one summer there doing different treatments Mon-​Fri from 8am-​about 3pm. My husband also did IV treatments for a whole year there 3x a week. The staff became like family to us and hold a special place in our hearts.

Dr. Novak is UNiQUE and extremely DEDICATED to helping his patients get WELL! If you are use to a general practitioner, who only digs so deep into your condition, this may not be the doctor for you. However if your condition is serious, rare and/​or chronic, if you are truly wanting to get to the bottom of things and get better, then what you can count on is that Dr. Novak will be able to help where other doctors couldn’t.
I love this doctor. He is thorough like no other, has a larger tool bag than most GPs, and is genuinely committed to resolving difficult health issues. A rare find indeed!

Never again.
I made an appointment to have my blood pressure meds renewed, but the best Novak’s office would do was an appointment with a nurse practitioner. (That should have been my first clue).
The staff assured me that the routine blood work they insisted on taking would cost me $ 20 max, and that my results would be available in 10 working days. (That should have been my second clue).
3 weeks later, I’d left several messages, but no one ever called back. (That should have been my third clue).
Day 15 I received two Explanation of Benefits notices from my insurance company. I was looking at $ 1,946.77 bill for lab chemistry from a company named Spectracell, and a $ 513 bill for lab chemistry from a company named Lab Corp, and $ 130.00 for the office visit. Grand total: $ 2589.77.
I was furious. After many, many phone calls, I finally talked to Yolanda who assured me that my total bill would be $ 20.00 at most. I was delighted, although skeptical. A woman named Brenda, from Novak’s billing dept, called me back a half hour or so later and confirmed what Yolanda said: Novak had brokered a deal with the lab, and this was the most any of his patients had to pay.
Wow, too good to be true, right? (This should have been my fourth clue).
Next day, I get a bill from Lab Corp for $ 513.00. So I call Novak’s office again, leave a message, get no response, so call my insurance company to figure out what in the world is going on. My insurance agent looks into the billings from both labs and wonders why one lab wasn’t enough. I wondered the same thing. So the agent calls Yolanda at Dr. Novak’s office, and Yolanda told her that I was informed that ONE lab would be $ 20.00 and the other I’d have to pay.
So then I call Yolanda to ask why she said that (lied), and why my blood work required TWO separate labs, and she informed me that she didn’t know, nor did anyone else on staff. (Dr. Novak might know, but he was unavailable as usual). When I asked her why I wasn’t informed of the second lab fee, she pretended she told me all about it. Yelled at me, then hung up.
So okay, I’m not dumb enough to believe that my lab work is going to cost $ 20, but then again that’s not why I made the appointment. I just wanted a prescription refilled. So $ 1,000 later, I finally got what I asked for. A refill of a $ 7.00 prescription that’s good for ONE MONTH.
I need the meds, but I wouldn’t go back to Novak’s office if they paid ME. The office is dirty, the staff is rude, and God help you if you want to talk to an actual human being.
Sorry for the length, but hopefully, someone else will learn from own stupid mistakes.

Dr. Novak is a great doctor. I struggled for two years and was misdiagnosed prior to coming in. Dr. Novak ordered the appropriate testing, properly diagnosed me and has me on the track to wellness. I feel like I am finally getting my life back!

I’ll start by saying I dislike doctors in general, so I went in with poor expectations and I would’ve had to have been given a car when I checked in for them to receive a 5 star review…
Based on the other reviews I expected it to take a while to get an appointment, but that wasn’t the case at all! I called at 9am on a Tuesday and the receptionist offered me an appointment at 11am that day, and a few other morning and evening options for the rest of the week — I chose 9am on a thursday. I was told to get there 30 min early to check in (new patient paperwork). I filled out my paperwork and she entered them by 845, I was in the back by 9 and out by 930! I’m only 24 and pretty healthy, I just had a few questions and needed allergy meds and antibiotics. I left with 3 prescriptions (all of stuff i need/​wanted with no arguing with the doctor) and a referral in case I wanted to use it. I saw the NP, not the doctor, but I had very minor concerns and just wanted in and out so that worked best for me!
Cons: When I got there the receptionist gave me a hard time about not having my insurance card even though I know my policy number and provider, which is all they asked for on the forms. She said I’d be billed if I didn’t give her a copy in 30 days, even though she had all the information necessary to bill the insurance company…
Then I saw that one of the papers I had to sign was called an ‘arbitration agreement’, waiving my right to a jury trial should I sue the doctor for malpractice and agreeing to go through a 3^rd party instead.
Not sure if these things are normal, but it definitely wasn’t a good way to start the visit seeing as I already don’t trust doctors/​insurance companies.
All in all, staff were fine and it was a quick turn around… not bad.

Dr. Novak’s been my doctor for close to 15 years. I’ve seen many changes in his office and personnel. But one thing that has never changed is Dr. Novak’s dedication to helping his patients.
I have a chronic illness and have been to many, many doctors who haven’t been able (or perhaps weren’t willing) to make the effort needed to help me. That is not how Dr. Novak practices medicine. His patients’ well-​being always comes first. I credit him with possibly saving my life. Definitely for giving me a quality of life I wouldn’t have had without his persistence. If not for Dr. Novak, I would still be in chronic pain and likely bedridden. As much help as he has given me, it never fails that any new treatment I ask him about, he has already explored and can give me definitive advice on. I don’t know any other doctors who do that.
In fact, he is quite unique in that he is a highly competent M.D. who has many areas of expertise and experience under his belt. He was a surgeon before he became a family practitioner. He’s willing to explore alternative and emerging therapies and is extremely knowledgeable on nutrition and supplementation. He will combine conventional medicine with integrative therapies if the patient is open to it.
Regarding the office and wait times. I’ve seen his office progress through different phases of efficiency but I find it to be running very smoothly these days. Everyone there is courteous, friendly and helpful. The office has recently been freshened up with soothing paint colors and tasteful décor. And the wait times have gotten much shorter. But even at those times when the waits are long, I find it a small price to pay for the care I receive. In fact, I travel some distance to see him because I’ve yet to meet a doctor anywhere who can replace him. I’ve even had opportunities to move to other regions and the deciding factor always comes down to not being willing to lose my doctor. I feel so blessed to have found him & so grateful to my good friend for recommending him.
p. s. One additional note: His office can draw your blood for testing. This saves the time and hassle it would take for a trip to the lab, which in my experience usually has grueling wait times. So this is a convenience factor to consider that might make up for some of the occasional longer wait times in his office.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Novak for almost two years. He and his nurse Pam always listen carefully and have great suggestions for self-​care when appropriate and only prescribe medications when alternatives don’t work; they are very open to holistic health methodologies which I really appreciate.
They will run almost any warranted laboratory test that you ask for as long as your HMO will pay for it, and will tell you where to get the ones that HMOs won’t cover (and the labs aren’t connected to him in any way; he gets no money for recommending them).
Most doctors will just do the bare minimum, especially when it comes to thyroid issues. Dr. Novak will run the free T3, T4, and antibodies tests if your symptoms warrant the extra testing. I have apparently been suffering years with Hashimoto’s that no one else had the expertise or know-​how to diagnose.
The only cons are that it’s almost always a very long wait and they don’t seem to have much experience treating adrenal issues. The staff is friendly, polite and professional.

My wife and i have both been going to Dr. Novak for over 5 years. My wife unfortunately has Lyme’s disease. Dr. Novak is one of very few specialist in So. Cal who knows, believe and understands Lyme’s (his daughter has it too) and is very passionate about it. Any who knows about Lyme’s knows that every patient and every strand of Lyme’s is different. There is no one cure cures all for this horrid disease. He’s been a blessing. His PA Pam, is the bomb. She’s always got a smile, truly cares and is very committed to what she does. We both love Pam and her availability ²⁴⁄₇ (for real!!!) The office staff is great. They always have a smile, always caring and try to accomodate at every turn. I’d be happy to speak to anyone about this medical practice and the love that my wife and i have for them.

There is no way on God’s green earth I can consciously recommend this clinic to anyone.
The staff (both medical and administrative) demonstrated disorganization and patient disrespect on a regular basis while I was a patient there.
When the doctor forgot to write a prescription during an appointment it would take a month or more to finally get it written.
He’s not a holistic provider (despite what some reviews have said) but he does have some knowledge of alternative therapies. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel comfortable with that level of knowledge, it felt just enough to be dangerous.
At one point when I was in there, I had an ear ache and told the MA/​RN that before she took my vitals, and asked that she be careful when taking my temp using a thermoscan. Instead, she jammed it in my ear and had the audacity to be annoyed when I jumped.
I had an urgent matter that I needed guidance on but when I called to find out if their office was equipped to handle it there or if I needed to go to the emergency room the front desk continuously sent me to the nurse’s voice-​mail, which was full! The front desk was unable to tell me what their office could handle, they refused to transfer me to a live being who could tell me what to do, and they refused to allow me to speak to the practice manager. After 3 hours of back and forth, I finally called my insurance company who simply told me to go to the ER (the issue could have been life threatening, thankfully it wasn’t). When I spoke to Dr. Novak about it at my next appointment, he suggested I seek care elsewhere and told me they can’t provide Cadillac care on a Volkswagen budget. Having a staff knowledgeable in best practices shouldn’t be considered «Cadillac».
The front office and even the office manager were regularly disrespectful and disregarded patients (not just myself). The office manager flat out lied and told me she’s the practice manager (they’re two different roles) and refused to allow me to speak to the practice manager.
If you’re going to have a patient load like this office has, you really need to have a qualified staff to support them with practical guidelines and procedures in place.

First time at this office, I got there early 45 minutes, 15 mins before the the 30 minutes directed by the monotone receptionist. The in person meeting with monotone receptionist was not better. It was almost like they were competing against each other not to smile or perhaps everyone’s dog had literally died that morning. (They were able to see me at very short notice. Probably for my $ 20 copay)
I am not sure why one would need to be there 30 minutes early to complete 4 pieces of paperwork. It took me 5 minutes. My appt was at 2:45, I waited till 3:10 to be invited into the back. I waited a further 10 minutes in the back.
The Dr was not there so I saw a nurse practitioner.
The nurse practitioner gave some options, I explained that i have tried those but in my experience that X drug works for me and I simply would like a prescription, as I am in a lot of pain.
I have been doing this for a while– surgery last June (Discectomy Fusion C5-​C6 — Chronic pains). She explained that she could not prescribe that without my prior medical records.
I was obviously angry due to my intense pain in my neck but kind of understood. She shouldn’t just give out meds, willy nilly but perhaps could have gave me my $ 20 co pay back. The office did nothing medical for me.
I filled out a Medical Records form and sent it to my previous Doc. They tried to contact Novaks office 3 times and left messages but were unable to confirm the fax number as per Fed law. I had to chase up and get this all sorted my self 4 days later.
By the way, I am still in pain and have slept incredibly poorly which is now effecting me at work.
I asked the monotone receptionist to see if she has received my fax of medical records. She said they only check the fax twice a day. I explained my pain and she didn’t seem to care.
I pay a lot of money on insurance to have «private health care», not to mention copay and meds pay for what only can be described as a substandard, depressing, unreliable business with unhappy staff who care more about not doing too much, then doing a good job, and helping a person who is in pain, sick or in need.

I have been a patient of Dr. Novak’s for over a year and I was recommended to him by my Naturopath Dr. Nicola McFadzean. I love doctor Novak — he is amazing and has really turned my life around. I see him once every month because I am very sick and I have routine follow-​ups with him to ensure my treatments are helping towards a path of healing. My health was in terrible condition — my immune system was completely shot and he brought me back to the living.
I love that Dr. Novak incorporates an Integrative Health approach of finding the root of the problem and healing your whole body, rather than treating my symptoms incorrectly due to a bad guess like the multiple doctors I saw who couldn’t diagnose what was wrong with me. I have a very complex bacterial infection that is a super difficult to get rid of and Dr. Novak has been so wonderful in listening to my experiences and symptoms, and then following up by doing research on the latest methods of treatments for my case.
Dr. Novak uses naturopathic holistic treatments as well as well as allopathic medications in treating his patients which I think is awesome — most MDs only treat symptoms with what their pharmaceutical drug reps push them to prescribe and what the HMOs tell them they can treat with, whereas Dr. Novak doesn’t follow that route — he treats his patients with modalities and medications that he knows will work, based on results he receives for blood work he sends out for and based off clinical symptoms & response to treatment.
In response to the complaints from the patients who experienced a wait — I have only had to wait once (during my new patient appointment) and that was it (about 20 minutes) which I anticipated and was fine with since I knew he was an amazing. Every time I have seen him since, my wait has been 5 – 10 minutes max in the waiting room and 5 minutes max in the exam room. Being that Dr. Novak spends extra time getting to know his patients and what is wrong with their health, rather than only spending 3 minutes in the room with them before pushing pharmaceuticals and then moving onto the next patient like ever other crap doctor I’ve seen before, it’s expected that his patients might overlap and they might have to wait a little to see this amazing doctor. Anyone who is too impatient and high maintenance to wait to see this amazing doctor should seriously stop whining because the other option is to see a doctor who doesn’t have patients lining up to see them and will only spend 3 minutes in the patient room with them before moving on — this is what makes fast doctors offices be so fast.
I also have never had an issue scheduling an appointment with Dr. Novak — although he does go out of town sometimes to go to medical conventions and seminars to stay up on the most current treatments for his patients but I think that is amazing since most doctors only practice on you the outdated medicine they learned in their years of medical school; Dr. Novak is constantly learning the newest treatments and methodologies that work based on the newest science and I think that makes Dr. Novak an invaluable doctor. But even when he has a scheduled absence for a medical convention or seminar, his office staff has always been great about notifying me when he is going to be out so I can schedule my monthly appointments around his schedule and due to that I have never had any of my appointments cancelled. I find his office staff to be friendly and helpful.
If you have a super complex health issue and want a doctor who will investigate your case to determine what is truly wrong with you and treat you holistically and allopathically (rather than seeing a doctor who will only treat your symptoms with pharmaceuticals without finding out what’s really wrong with you like every other crap doctor), then Dr. Novak is your man. He is a super caring, very patient, wonderful listener and will do everything in his power that he can to get you completely better from whatever illness you’re experiencing and off all medications when you’re ready.
I’m incredibly grateful to Dr. Novak. He has saved my life.

The worst Doctor visit I’ve ever had in my life. My $ 30 co-​pay would have been better spent buying any med school text book and diagnosing myself. Appointment was at 3:45 PM and I was told to show up at 3:30 PM. I showed up at 3:29 PM and was finally seen by a nurse at 4:50 PM only to be told that I’ll need to see a different doctor that isn’t there and I’ll need X-​rays which they don’t take. Like anything else, hospitals are a business and this one is run horribly.

I went to see Dr. Novak for the first time and I have to say that the staff is quite excellent including Dr. Novak himself. After reading these reviews, which I took into careful consideration, it is a shame that people don’t realize that this is a doctor who really cares about you as a patient and a person. He does not have an ego like most of the other doctors I have seen (most of them have an ego the size of Southern California). And I can tell you that I have been sick for a long time and I have seen boatloads of doctors.
And you can tell he is not in it like most of the others for the big money and big business. Also, I want to commend the staff and how nice they treated me. So far, an excellent experience.
I also want to say that if you don’t think you have to wait at a doctor’s office, then think again! Because all the doctors’ offices are like that. Sometimes you have to be patient. I recently had to wait ⁴¹⁄₂ hours at a very popular back surgeon’s office. I was pretty shocked at that, but he was excellent so I waited. It is a shame that some of these doctors book 30 people into a tiny slot, but that is the way it is.
And for the last bad review on this page, you can not fault Dr. Novak for your treatment. He was treating you for what he thought was Lyme Disease. How was he supposed to know that you had silicone leakage? Think about that.