Wheat Ridge Family Clinic

Reviews 3

NI

Nicholas Winn

This is a general and very serious rant about Wheat Ridge Family Clinic. Recently I moved from Georgia and had to find another healthcare provider. I settled on one close to my house that was listed as supporting my insurance provider. The healthcare I received there was average. My doctor was on time, very knowledgeable and friendly. It’s the experience in between entering and exiting that leaves such a horrible impression. I had an appointment today and really thought I could make it, though my profession requires me to be flexible. This morning upon arriving to work, I found out that I needed to stay until 5 pm; my appointment was at 4 pm for some medicine refills. My appointment wasn’t for a checkup, physical, lab work… So really do I need to see the doctor again just to get a prescription for the medicine I’ve been taking for 2+ years without any problems? I found out this answer when I called to cancel over six hours in advance of the appointment. The lady I spoke with wasn’t the kindest person and informed me that this would be counted as a “no show” and if it happened two more times, I would be barred from being a patient of theirs. I then inquired about my wife coming by to pick up my prescriptions for me and was told that all refills require a doctor’s visit. Does this sound fishy to you? My last doctor would write prescriptions up to 3 months in advance. It gets better, let me back up to the beginning. When I was looking for a healthcare provider, the first few places I called were not accepting new patients. I was completely thrilled when I found Wheat Ridge Family Clinic and they were accepting new patients. During the initial phone call, I was advised to bring in my co-pay in cash because they didn’t accept debit, check or credit card. What!?!?! In my mind I’m screaming its 2011 and what place doesn’t take plastic. Moving on…. The day of the appointment I show up 30 minutes early for paperwork and such. The crowd of people hanging out in the waiting room was questionable. It made me feel as if I just walked into a halfway house or a shelter. Who knows, maybe the doctors here volunteer their time for the less fortunate? After filling out the paperwork, I paid the receptionist my co-pay. While she was counting out my change, I asked her why they didn’t take modern forms of electronic payment. Her response was “We mostly only see medicare / medicaid patients”. Once in the exam room, looking around, there is a huge sign stating the following, “EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY – If you have more than 3 issues to discuss during your appointment, you will need to make another appointment. Insurance will only pay for up to 3 problems on one visit”. All along I thought I was paying for a block of the doctor’s time and it shouldn’t matter how many issues I have to discuss. I also don’t recall seeing that in any of my insurance paperwork either. Overall, in my personal opinion, this place is a scam. The doctor I saw was respectable, which is the only nice thing I can say about Wheat Ridge Family Clinic. They will nickel and dime you for everything possible while treating you poorly, almost criminal like. There is no reason I should be required to see the doctor for every refill of medication. The same medication i’ve been taking long term without any side effects. I wonder how much of that “cash” gets reported to the IRS? You’ve been warned….

FA

Fallon June

The fact that I ignored several red flags that popped up within my first five minutes there should have been enough to make me walk out the door, but I didnt. Guaranteed Ill never be walking IN that door again!! First of all, the ladies behind the front desk, although very nice, were dressed ENTIRELY inappropriately for a family doctors office. Leave your skin-tight, sleeveless club dress and push-up bras at home. Really, I was shocked this passed as okay, as its nowhere near professional. The rest of the time, skin-tight, lowcut shirts and skin-tight jeans and inches of makeup were the norm. Every single time, everyone looked like they were planning on going out clubbing the second work was done for the day. Secondly, there are no doctors, just nurse practitioners. My nurse, Patti, before even discussing my history, tried to sell me hair growth treatments that one of her friends assumedly runs - "Tell them I sent you and youll get a good price". HIGHLY UNPROFESSIONAL!!! If your doctor tries to sell you an expensive cosmetic procedure, when you have a newborn baby in your arms, I think you can probably gather theyre not going to care about your problems. Also, she only works two days a week, and youre not allowed to see any of the other doctors that work there, so if you have a very tight schedule (which I DO), then youre just SOL. I have a rare and extremely painful genetic condition, which has been verified by two separate doctors, one of which works at the University of Colorado genetics department, so its probably safe to say he knows whats going on. After hearing this, and telling me that she was familiar with it from working with children in the past, she proceeded to basically tell me that since blood tests didnt confirm what SHE thought it was, I was lying. She was not interested in helping me with my pain via referral (since they do not handle pain there, which is OK with me, all I wanted was a referral) and even though I made it perfectly clear that Im in the ER at least once a month, sometimes more, she refused to do anything. The irony of this all is that moments before making it clear that she believed I was lying about what multiple other doctors have seen and treated me for, she told me that a lot of her patients stop seeing her because they dont feel like she cares. Now I know why. She *doesnt* care. Avoid this place at all costs. I only came here because they took Medicaid, but Id do literally just as well to sit at home and tell myself that the pain that makes me unable to stand from my chair or buckle my own seatbelt is just in my head and save the state a few bucks. The fact that this horrible "healthcare provider" is getting any money for the "care" I received is ridiculous. So in summary, heres the pros: They take medicaid They have a very useful online portal They get you in and out quick Heres the cons: Unprofessional staff Completely inflexible scheduling Staff that thinks they know more than people who specialize in your problems Ridiculous amount of appts necessary before a referral is given No willingness to make a plan to fit your needs If I could give negative stars to Patti and the rest of the staff, I would.

AL

Alex Green

I would like to begin this review by saying, it is very obvious that the majority of the people the clinic serves are on medicaid or medicare so the doctors having protocols for that is reasonable. The medicaid co-pay is required in cash. I know this because I am on medicaid. I am also a white girl with a blonde child and everyone has always assumed I am on medicaid so I dont think its a racial thing. Also, almost every nurse in the practice is "Spanish" or "Mexican" or "Latino" or "Something that isnt Anglo" and Dr. Archuleta is obviously of Spanish decent of some sort. This is his practice. Let us not pretend that just because someone condescends to us, it is because they are racist, let us assume that they think we are not paying attention. As for the people who work here, we love them. My daughter thinks she has the best doctors in the world. We have seen NP Pati Keller and another NP there who was young and still very knowledgeable (I believe her name was Stephanie). I have seen Dr. Archuleta, who is brilliant, and another older male doctor with a charming French-British accent who is very grandfatherly and was very kind to my daughter. I have seen a cranky nurse when the office is busy and they are dealing with ignorant clientele and I sympathize with them. Mostly the nurses have been awesome (really good at swabbing kiddos throats and very competent at drawing blood! Thank God!) In short, this practice has rules to help guide a particularly tough group of patients. Give them a break. The medical care received here is absolutely worth abiding a few rules!