Swedish Physicians

I had a horrible experience with Dr. Claire Frost, a resident at Swedish Family Medicine in Ballard.
I had an emergency appendectomy at the UW and went to the Swedish Emergency Room in Ballard after being discharged because I had gotten aspiration pneumonia from the surgery. I ended up staying in the hospital for a broken two weeks before finally being discharged on several medications.
After leaving the hospital, I contracted a stomach virus and became very ill. I went in for my follow-​up appointment from my hospital stay with Dr. Frost since I had recently established care with her as my PCP, and from the second the appointment started I felt that she wasn’t listening to how I was doing and didn’t see or recognize all of my symptoms. I am an endurance athlete and my normal HR is between 50−60bpm. Even when I am anxious my HR is only around 80 bpm. Not only was I tachycardic (my heart was over 100), but I had a fever. I was also still experiencing shortness of breath.
Rather than listen to my symptoms and how I was feeling (my chest still hurt from all of the coughing that I had done and the difficulty breathing that I had experienced), she quickly reviewed my vitals on paper, spent two seconds listening to my chest, and told me that I was very normal and that all of my symptoms were essentially attributed to anxiety and that it was in my head. She didn’t really ask what she could do for me or even how I was really feeling, and in fact dismissed my hospitalist’s recommendations and the inhaler that he had prescribed as «toxic», despite it being the only thing that really controlled my asthma. When I started to cry because I felt that she was being extremely rude and disrespectful to me as her patient, she told me that I was «having difficulty coping with everything that had happened to me» and wanted to make sure I was seeing a counselor. She then proceeded to tell me that I should find a different doctor and that she felt I was rude because I told her I didn’t feel that she was listening to me or caring for my physical needs.
Dr. Frost was incredibly rude and hostile. She didn’t listen to me as her patient at all, and attributed my discomfort as something that it wasn’t. Dr. Haddad at Swedish Hospital in Ballard, who was my hospitalist, on the other hand was absolutely fantastic. I recommend their staff and that hospital if you have anything that you need. However, I do not recommend Dr. Frost. She completely misunderstood my symptoms and treated me like a child rather than a grown woman who had come to her for help and for a needed follow-​up. She didn’t even mention the ovarian cysts that were found on my CT that I am being treated for now elsewhere.
I am very disappointed in her care.

Just started seeing Dr. Amy Deans after recently moving to Seattle a few months ago. I live down the street so by default, I chose Swedish. Despite seeing some not so positive reviews, I gave her a shot and she is actually amazing! I do understand how she could be too direct, but that is exactly what I want from my physician. She is efficient, caring and knowledgeable. Probably one of the best physicians I’ve had in a while! She’s transparent on what is needed and is receptive to questions. Overall, I’d recommend her and Swedish to anyone!
Note: new patient appointments book months in advance so plan accordingly! It took me two months to see her, soooo worth it.

My daughter saw Dr. Hills for a well baby appointment as a new patient and really liked her. It did take a long time to get the appointment, but being a new patient with no urgency along with the fact that she’d apparently been out of town, I understood. I then booked the next well baby visit back to back with an annual visit for me and was excited to have found a great doctor. Then my son became very sick, 5 days of fever hitting 104.5 degrees had us calling in, but because they were treating him like a new patient, they couldn’t get him in for weeks. Ended up at urgent care. He seemed to get better with the antibiotic we were prescribed there, and then as soon as it ran out his fever returned along with vomiting. When we still couldn’t get an appointment we ended up at urgent care again. Seattle Children’s sent all of the information from our visit to Dr. Hill’s office and requested that we get in for a follow up as soon as possible. Once again he seemed to improve for a couple of days, and then his fever returned. I called again and BEGGED them to make an exception and not treat him like a new patient, especially since our family has already established ourselves as patients and he’s 2 years old, has no medical history to go over besides normal height and weight taken at well baby visits, and has been sick for 4 weeks now. Something is wrong. They can get him in in a couple of weeks. I asked how soon they’d be able to get him in if he wasn’t a new patient and they told me two days (neither of these appointments were even with Dr. Hills by the way). That’s unacceptable! If he didn’t need to be seen for two days, he wouldn’t be sick enough to need to visit the doctor in the first place. We can’t have a doctor with such limited availability. I called Ballard Pediatrics to see if they could get him in as a new patient, and we have an appointment for tomorrow. I hope I like them as much as I liked Dr. Hills, but reality is that liking her as a doctor doesn’t do me much good if I can’t get in to see her when we’re sick. I don’t actually need a doctor to weigh and measure my kids — I need someone to be available when something is wrong!
I’ve amended my review from 1 star to 3 because we have continued to see her and like her very much. I haven’t had to take the kids in for any unscheduled visits yet (knock wood) so I can’t say how it will go now that we’re all officially established patients, but the service at our well child visits has been good.

I have been seeing Dr. Amy Deans for 9 years and have loved every visit. From checkin to walking out I have always left with my questions answered and feeling great about the course of action we’ve discussed.
Dr. Deans is efficient, compassionate, and extremely knowledgable in medicine. I never feel rushed and always feel my best interest is a priority.
Just to prove my point I moved to Newcastle and still make the drive to Ballard just to see Dr. Deans. You Seattleites know how long that drive can take at times! Her services and knowledge are worth every minute!

I had the same experience as Beth A and M.Y. with Dr. Deans. Condescending and nasty remarks were all she could seem to throw at me. I had just met this woman and her demeanor actually scared me! She scowled throughout the entire visit. I was there to meet her as my new primary care doctor. I talked about my chronic illness and she told me in a mean schoolgirl voice that she knew nothing about that disease. I was in shock the rest of the time. I have never had any doctor previously attack me in this way. This woman seems to have a chip on her shoulder. I am not looking for a doctor that makes me walk on egg shells to communicate. Obviously, I found another primary care doctor in another practice.
May 2014.

My parents go here and love this place and the staff. Dr. Catherine Wheeler is their normal PCP and they love her. My son sees her and loves her as well. This is not a review about her. This is not a review about the staff, who are great. If it were a review about them they would be getting 4 stars at least. This is a review about another physician that my mom had to see.
Dr. Martha Leigh.
My mom had a fall a few years back and had a fairly serious brain injury. She is fine now but experiences some residual effects. So, as a result when she was having unexplained vertigo, we were concerned and made her an emergency appointment with her PCP group. Dr. Wheeler was not here so we saw Dr. Leigh.
The staff was great in triaging her call and getting her an appointment, so maybe my expectations were a bit high.
Dr. Leigh came into the room wearing a mask (but no gloves) saying that she did not want to catch anything from us (Ebola maybe?). After listening to my mom’s explanation of the vertigo which is positional and made much worse when she bends over, Dr Leigh’s pithy advice was «Well don’t bend over.» Seriously? That is your advice? And we just paid you how much for that? Did you really think that that had not occurred to us?
She sighed heavily many times while when asked about what she thought was going on with my mom and said eventually that she would just give us a pamphlet which would do a better job at explaining vertigo to us. OK now, hold on, I am not a stupid person and actually my mom is a retired MD, so to hear this «doctor» talk down to us along with her «don’t bend over» advice left me with an irritation, which has, eventually, prompted the writing of this review.
Here is MY advice. If you go here, do not go see this woman. Go see Dr. Wheeler or someone, anyone else.

I had an awful experience with this doctor. She is egotistical and incompetent — deadly mix for a doctor, in my opinion. I had an 8am appointment with her and arrived 15 minutes early to fill out the new customer form. I was the only patient in the waiting area since it was so early in the morning. They still felt the need to make me wait until 8:20, though. When the doctor came in, she was all frantic and rushed me. Even though I filled out my form before 8am and waited another 20 minutes, apparently they hadn’t entered my information in their system. So, the doctor is entering my basic information right in front of me on her computer and asked me all the questions I had already answered on their stupid form. What is the point of the form if they were going to ask me the same questions again? Yet, no apologies of any sort, and she seemed quite entitled about it. When it came to the real diagnosis, well, there was none. She didn’t touch me at all and she made a joke of my condition I was seeing her for. She said something like «that’s really impressive. you’d better take care of it» Duh! That’s why I was seeing her — to seek her opinion and suggestion. What am I paying her for? It was such a bizarre experience. In the end, she had no suggestion or referral. The total time she spent with me was under 3 minutes and that includes the new patient form questions she had to enter into the system. She is truly the worst doctor I had ever seen in every sense.

I’ve seen Dr. Deans twice for same-​day appointments, because my primary doctor was unavailable.
The first time was for a sinus infection about 4 – 6 months ago (best recollection). I didn’t leave with a good impression, but it wasn’t anything to write about.
The second time was yesterday. I feel very sick, and I was worried about some of my symptoms. To ensure I didn’t have something ghastly, my husband and I thought it would be best to see a doctor. The office fit me in for another same-​day appointment.
— — — — — — — — — — — — –
Dr. Deans scowled for most of my appointment. I don’t know why.
I described one of my symptoms as bone pain – a burning sensation that seemed to radiate from my bone and out to my skin. After my description, she seemed irritated. She spoke quickly, shook her head, had a scowl, and asked me what I meant. Then she told me that the symptom I described was muscle pain, not bone pain. I said that I feel the pain in the center of my limbs, so I thought that was my bones. (I’m not a doctor. I was describing my experience as best as I could.)
I kept a log of my symptoms (date, symptom). When she asked me to describe the timeline of my symptoms, I tried to hand her my log. She said, «No, I don’t want your log.» I was shocked by her tone of voice, which I would describe as abrupt. I wasn’t clear-​headed (because I’m sick), but I did my best to describe my symptoms in the order that they occurred. (Towards the end of the appointment, she did look at my log, and she pointed out a symptom that I failed to include in my verbal account.)
My husband asked me to tell her that I was panting in my sleep and that my heartbeat was rapid. She said, «How would your husband know that your heartbeat was rapid?» Again, her tone of voice shocked me. I told her that my husband had put his hand on me while I was sleeping. She didn’t appear to believe me or give credit to my husband’s observation.
When I shared all of my symptoms she said, «Well, what do you think you have?» Again, her tone of voice shocked me. I indicated that I had no idea, which is why I came in.
She decided that I had a virus. When she was talking about viruses, she said, «It’s been terrible this year. People say they’ve had a cough for 3 weeks, and I say, ‘Come see me when you’ve been coughing for 6.’» In my opinion, this quote says a lot about her treatment style and ability to sympathize with patients.
I wouldn’t recommend Dr. Deans to anyone.

Dr. Hills is the best primary doctor I’ve ever had. She’s patient, kind and compassionate. Her approach to my health is one that’s not drastic, instead she opts for the less invasive or more natural approach that is well thought out. She isn’t forceful in her suggestions and has never been moody like some doctors can get.
The medical staff is amazing too! Danielle, her assistant is very knowledge and competent. She gave me a couple vaccinations and she was able to calm my fears about needles. I didn’t even have soreness or pain during the injection or after.
Andadded bonus is that you can email the nurse and doctor through Swedish MyChart online. I’ve been able to avoid unnecessary visits with this program. You can view your medical history, family medical history, schedule appointments, view upcoming appointments and view test results that have quite a bit of detail! I love feeling like I’m in control of my health with their help.
After years of going here, I can’t imagine going to any other facility. I live over 15 miles away and it doesn’t stop me from coming back.

The only office open on the Sat. after Thanksgiving.
I was in bad shape and needed immediate attention but was not willing to go to the ER. Swedish Greenlake is my regular office but it was closed because of the holiday. I was so thankful to find this one open. Everyone was very friendly. The office was nice and very clean. I was in and out in no time.

I totally agree with all the reviews here.
I had a stroke three years ago, and my GP, Dr. WolfeGee, knew where the best brain surgeon was in town to get the problem fixed. He was my tireless advocate and cheerleader throughout the whole three year ordeal. He even calls you in person at the end of the day to give you results of critical reports! You never expect to get really sick, but when you do, there is nothing like having a good family doctor to help you navigate the system and help you make choices. And boy, does this clinic have the best people when you need them.
Kudos. Both me and my husband have gone here for ten years and it is first rate — the new clinic facility only makes it more so.

There are a good variety of physicians for your primary care needs. I experienced competent care here and pleasant customer service from the front and back office staff.
Metered parking on the street or park in the nearby garage. I’m glad this location is close to the house too.

Alright, so maybe it takes an earth-​shattering meal or major illness to get me back to Unilocaling, but here I am.
Feeling sort of funky, and not in the George Clinton way, I searched desperately for a new GP.
I’m hoofing it these days and my new doc needed to be walking distance from our digs in Ballard.
After looking online I found a physician using the website search on the Swedish hospital website.
The office is located on Market St. in Ballard and the team there is spectacular, maybe the nicest, most efficient group I’ve encountered in my years of doctor visits.
From the front desk team’s efficiency, to the nurse and finally my doctor (Dr. Deans-​rock star) every step was effortless, prompt and courteous.
Thanks guys, for everything!

I did finally find a good doctor: Robert Hogg at Swedish Ballard Physicians. Friendly, understanding, and supportive. Swedish’s care provision model is also awesome: quality of care over procedures. The docs get paid the same either way. This is in accordance with preventative health care. Health care, not health procedure and prescription sales.

I’ve seen both Dr. Amy Deans and Dr. Wolff-​Gee and they are the best MD’s I have ever seen. I can’t express how thankful I am that they listened, gave me my options and didn’t give me the feeling I was just another number coming through door. They really treat on an individual basis with respect and compassion. I have always walked away feeling good and as though my medical needs are solved.

I had the same doctor for 23 years until last year when my health insurance was changed by my employer. I was devastated to leave my doctor and figured I would never find anyone as good as her. However, I was wrong!
I was lucky enough to find the Ballard Swedish Physicians clinic. Dr. Amy Deans has been so fantastic! She is really friendly, super knowledgeable, and she really listens to my questions and explains her answers to me in a straightforward, easy to understand way.
The practice itself is great — everyone is really friendly and I’m usually in and out of my appointments quickly.
The location is good (SO close to my house!) and the free parking spots in the Ballard Square lot make things quick and easy.
I highly recommend both Dr. Deans and the Ballard clinic!

After 24 years with the same amazing doctor I finally had to breakdown and find a new one in the city. Dr. Amy Deans was incredible! Everything, including her office, staff and bedside manner was great. She is knowledgeable, friendly and the fact that I recently had to move away after 2 years makes me appreciate her even more!