S. Lorae Womack Batzdorf, MD

I tried this Doctor for 2 years. I have to give her up because she does not care. I’m not sure why she studied medicine, she does not seem very happy. I want a doctor who is enthusiastic and interested in me as a patient, and into being a doctor!
I have been dissatisfied with her for several reasons. Most recently, I had planned surgery without her, she then wanted me in to have a medical to see if I was fine for surgery, and blood tests, she never once told me what or why I was having all these tests. Results came back, I had high blood pressure — she sent me to collect some pills and take one a day for 3 days. Day 2 into that and I fell terribly ill, with pains. It was the pills she gave me for my high blood pressure! This went from bad to worse with this doctor, not happy with poisoning me, she wanted me in there for a blood pressure check — it was Friday before the Monday surgery. I was ill, and she made me wait as usual, blood pressure slightly high, she refused to say I’ll be okay for surgery. No surgery for me!
Happily, I found my way to having the surgery and did not have to have her medical — Dr Batzfortd told me I’d never find a doctor to do a local. I found one and an amazing one. She completely ruined a few days of my life, I’m done with her.

I’ve had good service from Dr. Batzdorf. She’s not as chatty as some doctors, but she’s attentive to issues I raise with her. I feel like our discussions have been productive and useful.

I went to Dr. Batzdorf a few times and each time I felt like she did not care for me at all. She was very abrupt and almost rude at times. I went to her looking for answers and instead felt like she was accusing me of making up symptoms because she has a way of making you second guess your symptoms. Dr. Batzdorf does not act enthusiastic at all about meeting her patients, isn’t very friendly, nor sympathetic. I went to her for three different issues, and each of those three times I left her office feeling as if nothing had been resolved, I had been judged for being sick in the first place, and just overall frustrated at the lack of care. The third and last time I went to Dr. Batzdorf was last week. I had been used to her lack of bedside manners but found myself actually afraid to tell her about my symptoms because she acts judgy… and then it occurred to me, I SHOULD NOT HAVE A PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN WHO I DO NOT TRUST. After all, my well being and health are at stake and that shouldn’t be compromised, especially when there are so many great other primary care and internal medicine doctors at Sutter Health.

After reading 5-​star Unilocal reviews for a new primary that was recommended by a friend, I decided to just peak at Dr. Womack’s ratings. I was validated to see that I am in good company with my negative (shaming, condescending, cold, judgmental?) experience of Dr. Womack in the two meetings I’ve had. There was little room for real dialogue; the simple back and forth of question-​response or weighing out options. It was as if she was annoyed by my having anything to say… or ask… or wonder about. As others have said, I left the meeting feeling humiliated and confused by her tone, which I would call hostile. She did order some tests for me, which was helpful, and she expressed concern by way of asking me to schedule a follow-​up visit (for more of the same).
Before Dr. W, I’d met with another doc in the practice who wasn’t quite as hostile, but spent the whole meeting looking at her computer screen. Sadly, my doc of many years retired quite a while ago and her predecessor moved to a different medical group.
In defense of all doctors, I will say that I know the era of managed care is a crappy world to practice in, so I think (many) doctors feel overwhelmed, demoralized and, well, pissed that they are not compensated well enough to pay off their med. school loans. I do have compassion for their predicament, but that’s not an excuse for utter rudeness and leaving patients feeling worse than when they arrived.

I’m very surprised by the negative reviews I’ve read here concerning Dr. Womack-​Batzdorf. I couldn’t disagree more.
My husband and I recently moved to the area. We’re over 50 and have several prescriptions that must not lapse (blood pressure, etc.), so I started looking around for a new primary care doctor on our insurance plan. Due to the negative reviews here, I contemplated going with a different doctor, but a registered nurse recommended Dr. Womack-​Batzdorf, and I decided to trust the nurse’s opinion. I was pleased to be able to get a first appointment within only a week and a half.
I found the telephone staff and office staff to be friendly and competent. Our insurance isn’t one of the big names, and they did the work to make sure the appointment was properly covered. The nurse was sweet and careful, retaking my blood pressure manually when the machine’s reading turned out to be pretty high. The clinic was pleasant, light-​filled, and very clean.
And Dr. Womack-​Batzdorf was not only thoughtful, engaging, and considerate, she was also personable and warm. She spent a lot of time with my patient history to make sure she understood the ways my chronic conditions might be overlapping and my medications interacting, and she is putting in the referrals to bring my routine tests up to date. Her approach with medication was conservative, which I appreciated: we may need to alter one of my blood pressure medications or augment that treatment with another medication, but she wants to try lifestyle changes first. She asked me if I think I can lose weight, and I said yes, so she gave me a concrete goal to work toward: four pounds in six weeks, and we’ll check the blood pressure again.
I didn’t find Dr. Womack-​Batzdorf to be in the least haughty or annoyed at questions. She didn’t try to rush me, either. I asked lots of questions, and she answered all of them honestly and carefully. And I found her to be well-​informed and up on the latest study data, and willing to listen to a patient’s input, too. For instance, she was supportive of my taking evening primrose oil to manage my migraines and even noted the brand I always take. (As the news reports have been telling us, not all herbal supplements contain the strength, or even the ingredients, that they claim to have.)
My impression is that Dr. Womack-​Batzdorf is a very intelligent person who very much wants what is best for her patients’ health. And honestly, that may be part of the problem with some of these negative reviews. What a patient wants and what is best for a patient may be two very different things. Some patients don’t want to make lifestyle changes. Some patients want more symptom-​relieving medication than is good for their health. My impression is that Dr. Womack will not try to make friends with a patient at the expense of that patient’s health. She will put health first, even if that means upsetting the patient by doing things like suggesting (as she did with me) weight loss or other lifestyle changes. And that may put her on some patients’ bad side.
Other than that, I’m at a loss for a reason for the sort of character assassination I’m seeing in these reviews. It really makes no sense to me. Dr. Womack was everything a doctor should be during my lengthy visit with her, and I’m looking forward to working with her toward a goal of better health.

Dr. Batzdorf read my file, was concerned and really listened to what I had to say. She is not the most expressive person, but she was able to come up with some theories as to why I’m not feeling well. She also made a point to make sure I knew what the action plan was; which I really appreciated. I highly recommend her if you want a competent, matter of fact doctor, but don’t need a doctor who is extremely bubbly and warm.

Dr. Batzdorf has been my primary physician for a few years now and I am a huge fan. I am a middle aged woman and have seen her several times, both for routine exams and for specific medical issues. She is thorough, respectful, personable, smart and professional, takes my concerns seriously and gets back to me very quickly if I have any questions. She has frequently followed up by doing additional research about treatment options and then emailing me about them. I appreciate her!

Dr. Batzdorf is fantastic. She is my mother-in-law’s new primary care physician. Dr. Batzdorf is very personable, caring, sharp, talented, thorough, patient, and she takes the time needed to diagnose and treat problems. She also responds to questions online in a very timely manner. Hving had some medical training myself, I can tell Dr. Batzdorf is a really talented physician.

I went to this doctor because my primary, Eric Smith, retired. Her bedside manner was uncaring, unsympathetic, & indifferent to my concerns. She is defensive if you ask her a question. She had no interest in my well being.
This doctor does not care if you live or die. The worst doctor I have ever come across-​and I am 60 + years old.

Have recently switched primary care to Dr Stacy Womack-​Batzdorf of the Sutter East Bay Medical group in Berkeley, after watching this physician interact with my sister as an on call physician. At that time I was impressed, and later selected her for myself.
As an RN, I can’t be more impressed. She is an excellent diagnostician, excellent communicator, and has a fantastic bedside manner. She listened. she communicated her thoughts, asked appropriate questions, and discussed treatment options. She involved me in her treatment plan and advocated for me in obtaining authorization for a less traditional treatment option. Am extremely pleased.

I have to chime in with the negative reviews here. Stacy Batzdorf is not the doctor for you if you’re looking for bedside manner and an explanation for your symptoms. I found her rather indifferent and just eager to get the appointment over with. She is not sympathetic and will make you second guess your symptoms.
My third and last appointment with her was late by 10 mins and I was in the waiting room 20 mins earlier than my confirmed appointment time. They apparently called my name when I stepped out to get a drink of water. Stacy Batzdorf then gave me a lecture on how she runs a tight ship and expected patients to stay busy waiting for her appointments and how if i didn’t like her «tight ship» i could see another doctor. Well, I did just that. I got cured from the ailment she just could not diagnose (over three appointments) because she lacked judgement of asking for relevant scans and labs. Please do not visit this doctor and the tight ship she claims to run.

My first visit to Dr. Batzdorf was on an emergency basis for a fairly serious and painful wound, and I had never seen her before. My insurance company recommended her and I said OK. I was very, very impressed by her. She cleaned up my wound, complimented me on how well I had handled caring for it myself, and gave me great advice for further treatment.
I proceeded to have my annual physical with her. I was equally impressed by her thoughtful and knowledgeable approach, and by her good advice and followup to some questions I had following some tests that were done.
Since then, I have referred several people to her and all have been equally well impressed by her skill and her bedside manner over the course of several visits.
It’s hard to find a good physician these days and I’m very happy with Dr. Batzdorf!

Absolutely worst. I went in for a physical, and almost NOTHING was checked. Then, I turned in vaccination forms for law school TWO WEEKS, TWO WEEKS before I needed them. I repeat, TWO WEEKS, before the deadline. I called in the Friday before they were due. I called in TWICE the Friday before they were due. I was told it was «high priority» for Monday. Monday, being, the day that my forms were DUE. If you don’t turn in these forms on time your spot in the class is in jeopardy. Knowing this, I had given my forms extremely early. I got a tiding for a vaccination I couldn’t find the recording for. I called in several times on Monday, the day my forms were due. And guess what, today is TUESDAY, and my forms have still not been signed. I spent 45 minutes on hold trying to talk to ANYONE who has any authority over the forms and they are all unavailable to speak to me. Not only does this show incredible unprofessionalism, but also a complete disregard for patients. Now, though I was early and did everything according the book, I am in danger of losing my seat in school, as well as my tuition deposit, housing deposit, etc all because this doctor could not take the two seconds (it literally takes two seconds) to sign one form. The staff I spoke to were mostly rude (with the exception of Jessica who was trying her best to help), and truly acted like they couldn’t care less. They didn’t record my fax number, didn’t help with the deadline information and were extremely short with me even though I was extremely polite when I spoke to them on Friday and on Monday. I do not recommend this doctor if you are looking for timely, efficient results and a certain esteem and respect for patients.

No bed side manner. All three times I’ve seen her I get the distinct impression that I’m in a battle of wits with the person that is supposed to be caring for me. I want a doctor who is on my side helping me figure things out and is empathetic.

Although I am sure Dr. Batzdorf is great with certain patients, I do not recommend her if you are in a woman in a fragile health position and are looking for a solution to a long term health issue — she is emotionally a bit cold and unfamiliar with your situation (although I had visited her consistently with the same symptoms over the course of 6 months!). I never left feeling like anything had happened or been probed during our appointments, and was consistently told that I was making the symptoms out to be more than they actually were. My last appointment (220 $ on my insurance bill) consisted of a few questions, her impatient responses that assumed my pain was not real, and as frustrated tears sprang to my eyes at yet another failed attempt to end the issue I have been having– she asked «are you going to cry?» in such a way that I felt ashamed and even worse. I never went back.

I was in great pain and distress due to having urinary «urgency» and a mysterious pain on my side. It was Friday afternoon and my regular doctor had already left. However, Dr. Batzdorf had an opening. I found Dr. Batzdorf to be extremely knowledgeable. She got right to the point and diagnosed me right away. She prescribed the medication that zapped my bladder infection, and after a thorough examination, reassured me about the side pain. I found her manner to be the right combination of friendly yet professional.

Going to see Dr. Batzdorf was an experience that left me feeling pretty down on the healthcare system. I went to her for a yearly physical (although it had been 2 years for me), and she spent all of 10 minutes with me. Neither she, nor her assistant, did not take any basic vitals (e.g. she didn’t listen to my heart, she didn’t look in my eyes or ears, she didn’t swab my tongue, nothing). There was also no discussion whatsoever about my life, from my personal, sexual, emotional, social life at all!
She whisked me out of the room and told me to come back another day for bloodwork as I’d need to fast. (Not sure why no one told me this prior, but hey). I went back for my blood tests the next day. She promised she would write descriptions and ‘what it means’ on my lab results that would be emailed to me. Not so– I got the results back with no more context than a ‘this is the average range’. No note, not personalization, no meaningful context whatsoever.
The problem here is that there was NO care in any of this. No guidance, no emotion, no investment whatsoever in my health. I will not be going back to Dr. Batzdorf.

Pros:
–I was able to secure an appointment with her on very short notice, which is generally pretty difficult to do.
–Reasonable wait and limited paperwork.
–Based on my description of my symptoms while scheduling my appointment, she had a list of questions ready — which was encouraging. She also printed out a WebMD-​esque handout which explained my (alleged) condition in greater detail.
–She seems fairly knowledgeable!
Cons:
–While she thanked me for being proactive, inquisitive, and comprehensive in describing my symptoms, she was rather rude and impatient. While I understand that I’m not the only patient on her clipboard, I’m 1. paying through my nose for medical care, and 2. rightfully concerned about my health — and the least that she can do, as a well-​compensated physician, is to take the time to be thorough, caring, and invested in my health.
–I’m trying not to sound too indignant, but the nurse and receptionist were also somewhat apathetic and disinterested.