Sierra Pacific Orthopedics

Had a bunch of complaints about the physical therapy here but most of these complaints pretty much would make mine redundant. My new complaint is out of annoyance to David J’s robotic automated customer complaint responses. Here’s food for thought… consider making your responses more personal to the customer. Giving the same copy and paste response to everyone is a good way to deter potential or current customers away even more then this office already has. Also, «office help» at the front desk is a complete and utter waste of employment. Made me wonder how somebody with zero personality can possibly impress in a job interview. Lazy written all over this place. I will miss Dr. Monteleone though. Obviously he left for good reason.

This office prefers to cater to the «well known» athletes and treats the ordinary patients with less respect. I have to take time off from work and this office repeatedly makes us wait over an hour with absolutely no explanation. I feel like I’m treated as less valued patient because I’m not a «Fresno State «athlete or a well known bull rider. It’s very disheartening that the average patient with legitimate medical problems that require there expertise isn’t equally valued.
As a follow up to my previous rant… Several weeks later I’m scheduled for surgery and Sierra Pacific doctors cancel it, so reschedule with a different doctor and the doctor that cancel my surgery cancels my rescheduled surgery because he felt it was too soon. Without seeing me, without checking if it was ok to reschedule my life. The God complex these doctors at Sierra Pacific are too much. I have chosen to be treated elsewhere and I strongly suggest that the «average» people needing real medical treatment do the same.

The pre-​surgery exam with a PA was superficial and lacking in details, but sounded logical so we proceeded.
Everything was great from the time of entering the hospital for the back surgery until checkout! The surgeon was excellant and informative and the entire hospital expierance was excellant!
Unfortunately, once you are checked out of the hospital you are pretty much on your own! The phone maze to get to anyone for information at SPO is incredible — 20 minutes of being told how important your call is to them is iritating at best! The surgical followup visits are with a PA again and they are once again superficial. Getting help with post op things like getting pain meds changed to being scheduled for future tests (that were ordered by the surgeon) is difficult and much slower than it should be!

I really like the the Doctors, Therapists and staff at SPOC. I have had hand and elbow surgery with Dr. Alex Majors, nerve conduction tests with Dr. Jeryl Wiens, numerous appointments with Dr. Toby Johnson and Dr. Cary Tanner and hand therapy with Nicola LeRoex. The providers and staff alike have been extremely pleasant.
Dr. Majors was super nice and was able to fix the De Quervain’s syndrome in my left wrist. Dr. Wiens is the absolute best at nerve conduction tests. Those tests are not my favorite, and while I have a high tolerance to pain, getting shocked and have needles shoved into my muscle tissue is not my favorite thing to have done. Dr. Wiens makes it a much more calming experience. He has a very mellow disposition and a calming voice. He is super friendly and he explains what he is doing when he is doing it. He also listens to what you have to say and explains things thoroughly. He puts his patients comfort above all things. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Tanner have also been very pleasant. I went to both of them for 2^nd opinions and they were both honest and forthright. Lastly, Nicky is wonderful to work with. She has an amazing personality and listens to what I have to say when going through therapy. She works the area of my hand that bothers me most and spends the time to do it right. She’s an absolute pleasure.
Overall, I have had very good experience with SPOC and would recommend them to anyone.

My name is Candyce. I am a young 60 something and had experienced knee and shoulder pain for a number of years, which was typically treated with pain medication only. Generally I have been fairly busy and active, but this was a new misadventure for me and impacted my ability to complete Exercise activities, Yoga, walking with my husband and dogs and playing with my lovely 4 year old grandson & 7 year old granddaughter. However recently I had the good luck to be referred to Spoc for evaluation and treatment. I was seen by PA Greg Mellor and assisted by him & his team, Rose, Jasmine, and Alex. Within minutes following xray review, PA Mellor detected shoulder difficulties which were corrected in a procedure within a week’s time. Next visit, he detected via xray, the problem with my knees, and fully treated the problem in that & two following sessions. I am now pain free, having a blast walking with my husband and the dogs, doing Yoga, and playing with my fun grand babies. Whohoo. Spoc, you hit a homerun when you hired this professional and his lovely lively staff! He listened, was warm, and interested and quite proactive Thanks to Greg Mellor and the team-​you hit it out of the ballpark on this one! J Candyce M.

never will recommend this place. very rude staff. dr. in the room with you less than 10 min and yet can write a full mis-​spelled add incorrect information to your consult! what a waste of time and money!.. spoc is not good! do not go there!

I love the doctors there. Great staff too. My only complaint is the first floor lobby smells so bad of mildew. I heard multiple people complain. It can’t be good for anyone especially the staff. I am taking away 2 stars because of the smell alone. It is nauseating and toxic for people with mildew
is not a new smell either. We have been patients for over a year.

Great service from docs, but the office manager Jodie is very condescending. Thinks she knows IT ALL. Talks down to people, we really didn’t appreciate her attitude… and by the way, after I’m reading all the one star reviews that «David J» types the same exact thing over and over how they strive for excellent patient care… Can we get some original wording out there for the patients who are disappointed in your services?

+1 star for the Doctor visit itself. Doctor was very patient. –5 for office staff; beware of their billing practices.
The office staff at the practice needs firmer documented procedures. Somehow, a medicare supplemental insurance card was the only insurance card on file for a visit, even though the card itself was labeled as supplemental medicare insurance. Amazingly, no medicare card was recorded and it’s our fault. Fast forward 1 year after the visit, a bill arrives for late payment because the insurance won’t pay for it because it needs medicare first. At this point, office staff stated this will go to collections because the invoice is late. On the invoice, the amount due is in the 0 – 30 days section.
Q1: Can we add the medicare card now? Ans: No, it is too late and Medicare won’t pay for it.
Q2: How is it our fault the medicare card wasn’t submitted? Ans: If there was a medicare card, the medicare card would have been in the section for medicare. Therefore we never gave them a medicare card.
Q3: How often is an elderly patient visit occurs where they have a medicare supplement card without a medicare card? Ans: If there was a medicare card, the medicare card would have been in the section for medicare. Therefore we never gave them a medicare card.
Q4: Do you enter the info immediately? Or off the photocopy that is taken of the cards when provided? Ans: If there was a medicare card, the medicare card would have been in the section for medicare. Therefore we never gave them a medicare card.
Q5: Why did it take a year to submit and why did it go immediately to collections? Ans: We tried to contact, but there was no response.
Q5a: What address did you use? Ans: –old address–
Q5b: How did you get this address then? Ans: It was on the form.
Q5c: Why didn’t you use both addresses? Ans: Bill is late. If you don’t pay it, it will go to collections.
So, tired of dealing with this, we paid the bill. We admit we had the service. We do not admit that we forgot one of the cards that they, themselves, told us to provide. The office staff seems to have less flexibility than Comcast. My suggestion if you use this business, follow up with the office staff at all times to make sure somehow a year later you are not in collections.
Alternatively, find another office where there are humans who actually can think beyond a check box on a form.
My suggestion to the company is that someone at the location should fix the forms so that the robots they hire can think less than they currently seem to need to do.

The staff for the most part were okay. I have 2 problems:
1) They want to keep a credit card on file.
2) the exam room had pictures of slaughtered animals and themurdering sadistswho killed them. Totally inappropriate for any kind of professional office.
I’ll never go back.

I came here for a second opinion about a foot surgery recommended by my Podiatrist. I was told by the Dr., «I can’t tell you to have surgery but if you decide to, I’m the best.» He became irritated when my husband asked a question and lacked the common courtesy that one would appreciate from a professional. He was rough in his examination of a painful joint and when I told him it hurt, he asked if I had Fibromyalgia. Unbeknownst to Dr., I am also a medical provider and would never treat a patient with such disregard for their right to a sincere medical recommendation without perceived misconception about their pain level. He may be «the best» at surgery but he sorely lacks the finesse that could make such a positive impact on his patient’s progress for procedures that can have up to a 12 month recovery! On the other hand, Dr. Schulz is amazing and polar opposite. If I ever need medical advice I will schedule with her office no matter how far out they are booked!

I am unhappy with my physical therapy experience. I liked the therapists — they were mostly friendly and helpful, however I saw no improvement, was given minimal advice or care for at home and the first month I was doing therapy for the wrong injury and actually made it worse. After two months and $ 1000 later I’m still in the same boat and paying more money for therapy treatments. I do not recommend going here.

I was happy at Sierra Pacific until they changed their billing practices. They no longer bill you after you insurance pays its share. Instead, you have to leave a credit card number on file and authorize them to charge it any amount your insurance doesn’t pay. The only other option is to give them a $ 250 cash deposit.
There is no way I am willing to do this. There are many doctors in Fresno and I am finding a new one who doesn’t put my financial well being at risk.

Dr. Nuzzo and team provided excellent care for my shoulder problem. From diagnosis, to surgery, rehabilitation and beyond the care was phenomenal. I’m now at the 6 week point, am pain free and my range of motion is back to normal. They are truly a blessing!

Visited Dr. Nuzzo in April for shoulder pain and was not sure what had caused it to flare up, but had several sport injuries years ago. Appreciated that he ordered a MRI right away, so that we would really know what was going on. It showed a torn labrum (cartilage tear) and he explained that it needed a surgical repair.
Scheduling for surgery in late May was easy and surgery went well. Dr. Nuzzo discovered that I also had «Frozen Shoulder» and that was very painful for a few weeks. I ultimately needed a steroid shot to help the inflammation and increase movement in my shoulder, but am now doing very well and it is only 3 months after surgery. I have about 85% normal range of movement and we had feared it could take a year to recover.
I highly recommend Dr. Nuzzo. I think he was very thorough with me and his office has been very responsive to any questions I have had.

i found this place after having a terrible experience with the Hongshit Han and Lindsay Pimentel down the street. Steve, the PA, had great bedside manner, explained things thoroughly, and was very patient. John, the PT, same thing. i was very happy with my care and i’ve recovered as well as can be expected from my type of injury.

Don’t even bother. We didn’t even step foot into the office this time to realize what a joke their customer service is. My boyfriend had received a referral from St Agnes to go there for his fractured heel. From the start apparently both the receptionist and a female doctor were ridiculously rude to my boyfriend stating they don’t take Medical, which I completely understand because it is to a facilities discretion, but what I don’t appreciate is being treated as someone that doesn’t have money to pay them for their services since they decided to talk to him as he was inferior. The reason my boyfriend is on Medical is because his employer doesn’t offer insurance and due to the new law insurance is needed and that’s what he qualified for, plain and simple. I call to cancel the appointment for him as we found someone else to take him and right when the phone is answered I get a hello??? Not a thank you for calling Sierra pacific, this is Sierra pacific, how can I assist you??? How can I help you? I didn’t realize I was calling someone’s personal line because that’s exactly how they answered. This business just seems so unprofessional through and through and I don’t appreciate being talked down to as someone who is a customer… I work hard and have enough to pay the bills they would have charged us but nobody that talks condescending to myself or anybody deserves my business. Extremely rude!!! Would never recommend someone here just to be treated as inferior.

This place is 5 stars all the way!!! I have really had a wonderful experience here from day one and I could not be happier.
I was initially sent here, by another physician of mine. And I wont go into specifics, it is interestingly enough not for a sports related/​orthopedic injury which is this practices specialty. I had a unique issue, and my Doctor knew that another Dr. here was the only person that could help me.
As soon as I received my initial paperwork and was given the name of the Dr. I immediately got out my trusty Unilocal app and began to search up this listing. I was truly terrified after I saw all of the low ratings here and began second guessing my visit. In my paperwork, it mentioned the fact that you needed to have on file a credit/​debit card on file in case your insurance doesn’t pay… and that you give them authorization to bill that card, or that you need to pay a $ 250 cash deposit!!! Right away I was put off by that, as I have NEVER ever encountered a Dr.‘s office that required such a thing. I have had my insurance bungle payments before and places send me bills in error and I didn’t want that to happen. I seriously thought about cancelling my appointment based on that alone.
Fast forward to my appointment. My problem was getting worse, so I needed to find a solution. I did not have $ 250 cash to leave a deposit, and I did not want to leave a credit card ‘open’ for any billing errors, cause lets be honest they do happen. So, I went out and got a pre-​paid VISA card and loaded money on it… problem solved!!! The office was more than happy to take my card and there has been no problem, so I stressed for nothing.
I am so glad that I did not let that issue hold me back from my appointment. I am so happy with all of the treatments that I have received with Dr. Kasturi!!!
Dr. Kasturi’s office is located on the 3^rd floor of the medical pavilion. You can either take the elevator or open air stairs located directly in the center of the foyer. When you step out of the elevator, his office will be straight ahead.
The office staff here is really great, Cody is the main receptionist and he is always really friendly and is always so pleasant. He is quick to answer questions and return phone calls. I also like the fact that he is the main point of contact. In most Dr. offices you may speak to several different people, but not here. Scheduling appointments is also a breeze.
What I also love is that if you have an appt at 2:30, you will be called in at 2:30. You wont be in the waiting room for hours, or even 15 or 20 minutes after your scheduled time. You wont even wait more than 5 minutes in your patient room before the Dr. comes in, he is on top of his game… there is no waiting on the patients side.
Dr. Kasturi is AMAZING!!! He has an incredible bedside manner!!! From the first visit he has always been so pleasant with me and really makes sure that he explains what he is doing and why he is doing it. He always makes sure that I feel comfortable with the procedure (s) before he proceeds. I love the way that he is very gentle with me and speaks to me, he comes across as a very caring person. He is also a very competent Dr. and I fully trust him. I wish that I could give him extra stars… he is just really that great. Trust me, if you have ever made an appointment you would know what I was talking about. Him and his entire staff are just great all around and they all seem delightful.
I do like how this is also a one stop shop. If your Dr. orders a quick X-​Ray, you don’t need to go somewhere and have it done, they send someone to get you and you go downstairs and have it done right there in their building, talk about convenient. And by the time you get back upstairs, the Dr. has your results in a matter of minutes.
Another plus of this practice is downstairs in the main area, is that they have a coffee shop that serves drinks as well as bakery items and quick bites. It is really nice for families of patients to be able to grab something quick while they are waiting etc.
I would highly recommend this place if you find yourself in need of their services and I definitely recommend Dr. Kasturi and his staff, they ROCK!!! I really cant say enough good things about them. Good Dr.‘s are really hard to come by and I thank Dr. Kundu for referring me to him.

I recommend staying away unless you want to be worse than when you came in.
After waiting about a month for an appointment, I went to Dr. Francis Glaser for my LEFT ankle. Dr. Glaser had a visiting resident with him and decided to use my ankles as a «teaching moment» to show the difference between a good ankle (RIGHT) and a bad ankle (LEFT). Unfortunately, I sat there while they went back and forth between the two of them, manipulating my ankles with vigor to see the «play» difference in them, with the LEFT ankle showing more «play.» He basically used me as a tool, without ever asking my permission.
Dr. Glaser told me I had two options: wear an ankle brace the rest of my life on my LEFT ankle, OR let him «rebuild» it surgically. Well, I have two sisters who allowed their doctors to talk them into ankle surgery and they will never be better.. . one is even looking at a foot amputation. So I said, «No, that’s not an option.» Dr. Glaser replied, «Well, I’m a surgeon, and that’s what I do. I don’t even like to do office visits.» I was really disappointed. He had his nurse fit me with an ankle brace on my LEFT ankle, and I left.
As I tried to walk, I noticed that my RIGHT ankle started popping and swelling. As it turns out, during his «teaching moment,» a later MRI revealed that he’d torn the peroneus brevis tendon in my RIGHT ankle – which I had nothing wrong with prior to my visit.. . AND it’s on the same leg as my knee replacement!
I was pissed. I immediately called his office and told them what he did, and they got me back in the same day. They actually had the audacity to send the resident into the office and he asked, «How can I help you today?» He didn’t remember me from a few hours earlier? I told him he wasn’t touching me and to send Dr. Glaser in.
I then proceeded to advise Dr. Glaser,“Isn’t your first responsibility to DO NO HARM?” His response was tell me that his ankle pops all the time.. . like I get to expect that as my new normal? His resolution to his mistake was to take the ankle brace that was originally intended for my LEFT ankle, and move it to my RIGHT ankle, and send me on my way. What the heck?!?
I have cursed that man’s name with every step over the past year. I had to go through months of physical therapy on my RIGHT ankle because of what he did and it still hurts with every step. I cannot directly confirm this, but that may have been the reason I lost the job I had started just 2 weeks after the incident. I had to leave early for the PT, which didn’t go over well with my new employer. There was no other reason given for my sudden termination. Now, I’m still unemployed and paying for COBRA. Thanks a lot Dr. Glaser.

Dr. Nuzzo is amazing. Just saw him for first time since leaving SPOC PT. We talked at length about my unusual situation and recovery. He told me that he plans to talk to the director of PT about my situation, treatment, and concerns. Top-​notch surgeon who really cares!
To be clear, the surgeons at Sierra Pacific Ortho work separately from the physical therapy department and Dr Nuzzo did not recommend SPOC PT to me. He assumed, as did I, that I would receive competent care using all available modalities given my individual diagnosis. I still feel strongly about the PT department associated with Sierra Pacific.