Family Health Center of Harlem

Dentistry: Went in for an Dental emergency, Even though I have an extreme dental phobia. Got to the clinic. The young nurse that checked me in THE FIRST TIME was very sweet and seemed concerned for the visible swelling. I had a very scary procedure done by Dr.Lawrence. He was very gentle, patient and understanding of my phobia, and the Nurse who assist him did a great job at providing emotional support and making sure I understood everything. Was cleaned up and told to come back Monday for the extraction.
Mondays staff was terrible. ALL THE RECEPTIONIST, ESPECIALLY one named ANN/​ANNA, older Spanish (Asked for her name for THIS reason, were nasty out the gate). When I got to the desk she ignored me for 5 minutes. Being that I was in so much pain and couldn’t talk, I just waited to not create an issue. Finally the lady NEXT to her a instructed me on how to check in. After that ann/​Anna got my info and was VERY RUDE with no care. I tried to ask her some questions but she gave me a yes or no answer with a very unwelcoming tone. Even when trying to ask about payment procedures she was nastyy…
The one doctor I encounter was very nice, and that ONE dental assistant was amaxing, but this place seems to be just the luck of the draw. It was very clean, consultantions seemed a little rushed butt going in with no Health Insurance with this type of emergency, I get it. Also, had no issue for not having coverage. Treatment was fast and effective.
If it wasnt for today’s receptionist, and the D.A. that seemed to be new, I would of highly recommend it. Butt unfortunately clinics like these always have those receptionist who forget that they are there to help people in pain and need.
I DEFINITELY wouldn’t give it 2 stars, just expect the incompetence you normally get from public space receptionist. I guess when you’ve done it for so long, you forget you’re they to HELP THOSE IN NEED…

For urgent care: GO somewhere else!
I had fractured my hand and came in to get a referral to a hand surgeon. I saw Dr Balogun but he would not issue a referral on the spot, he said I had to wait 2 weeks for it arrive in the mail. I called my insurance 3 days later and this medical office has not submitted a claim yet to them. My insurance said the doctor was supposed to have given the referral on the spot especially since this is an emergency.

I have had a very positive experience with the clinic.
As this is close to my workplace and my new neighborhood, I signed up to see a doctor here, did not really research since I needed to get a routine appointment. As a new patient, I expected I would be given the new patient paper work, a standard practice. Also realize from experience that most clinics/​doctors are consulting with other patients and waiting time may vary. So I went a a bit earlier than my appointment time. I got the expected paper work, etc. I was called for the in-​take a few mts after I filled out the paper work and before my appointment time. By the time I saw my doctor I was just about 5 – 7 mts behind my scheduled appointment. Had a wonderful nurse, attentive, warm. And had a good, pleasant experience with the doctor as well. I went for a follow-​up as a walk-​in after a couple of days, by when I had seen these reviews, and expected for a long wait (since I did not need to make an appointment this time). But I did not have to wait longer than about 10 mts. or so. [PN:There were a couple of others there who had been waiting for over half an hour (walk-​ins).]
I found the process to be smooth. Also, the staff– from the reception area, to the ‘in-​take’ person, the nurses and the doctor (I saw) are very pleasant, professional.
I have had to call them a couple of times since, and had good experience over the ‘phone as well, although I had to wait for a while to get someone on the ‘phone. (I was not able to locate information I was looking for; I was surprised I got a call from one of the nurses I had spoken with over the ‘phone, return my call to see if we could locate the information together online through my web-​health chart. By then, I had found the information I was looking for). All in all am happy so far with my experiences here. It was only after my first appointment that I was curious to see the reviews and came here. I hope my experience is not an isolated one and wanted to offer one more perspective. It does so happen we tend to post our difficult experiences, sometimes to vent, sometimes to alert and those are helpful. Given my positive experience here, thought I’d share mine.

Try all you want but this place doesn’t know how to give proper appointments. In fact they refuse to schedule in advance accordingly to a calendar date. What they do is ask you to call first thing in the morning and see «who canceled» or if a slot opened up on that day. So if you work or even off that day chances of being seen or slim it’s a get up and call every morning kinda thing. Retarded, redundant, and ridiculous. This is from their newer location at that. Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise according to the reviews on here.

Worst dental care on the planet.
I’ve been here a number of times because they accept Medicaid (though the receptionist told me they did not after my appointment, which was supposed to have been for a root canal but was mis-​scheduled for a cavity on the wrong tooth. They DO accept Medicaid.). Each visit gets worse and I’m finally calling it quits and paying out of pocket to see a real dentist (I no longer have Medicaid).
I came in during emergency hours because my tooth had shattered (the same tooth they were supposed to perform a root canal on, but screwed up entirely). The receptionist (the same one who mis-​scheduled my root canal appointment) rolled her eyes at me as if I were wasting her time. After a sigh she told me to sign in and wait.
When I finally got to see the dentist she said hello and immediately asked me if I wanted to keep my tooth or remove it before she even asked me to open my mouth. I believe there are stupid questions and this is an example of one. I said I’d like to keep my tooth if possible but she should probably take a look at it. The dentist proceeded to bang around my tooth with an instrument, knocking two more shards out of my tooth. She declared that it must be pulled and told me to lie back while they got ready to pull it. Fortunately, I elected to get a second opinion and left. I saw a real dentist who said he refused to pull what remained of my tooth. It was perfectly viable for a cap. He also immediately found a severe infection in the root of my tooth that the clinic had missed entirely — which could have spread to my brain. Seriously.
TL;DR
They’ll screw up everything, willingly pull your teeth without checking them, and will be rude from the moment you arrive til you escape.

I don’t even want to give them any star at all, for my first visit to see my peanut on a ultrasound they did a horrible job, the doctor I had was scared to talk, and she didn’t explain anything to me she was the only doctor on the floor I’m a nurse and when I’m taking care of patients I reassure them that their in great hands, every nurse I’ve seen was kind of dumb to me I would never go back to continue my prenatal care, long wait and very unprofessional and unorganized my boyfriend couldn’t wait to leave he hated the service.

love the dental department, best service I have had in years. The dentist was awesome and very informative. I was a walk in and I was seen and had my tooth extracted in less than an hour. The dental department is very clean and I really loved my experience there. Will definitely be going back there.

this is the most ridiculous place I’ve ever seen. they obviously don’t have enough Dentists for the appointments they make! They say they see emergencies but they cant ever fit u in, they make you wait hours. To top it off you can’t make an app for an emergency! When you do have an app they don’t want to do the work they’re supposed to do because they are backed up! I need to find a new dentist!

Unilocal, please work on an option for 0 stars. Mmm kay, thanks. As for this place, if they could suck anymore than they do, they would SURELY find a way. If you have a life, things you’d like to get done before the year is out, a job you’d like to keep, or just like being in more than one spot between a sunrise and sunset — then this is NOT the place for you. Appointment times mean absolutely nothing to them. The staff is mostly unprofessional. While there are a few good physicians and dentists (who I would recommend should leave if they value their reputation) overall it’s not worth it. CityMD is sooooo much better. Save yourself angina, a heart attack, high blood pressure, anxiety or asthma attacks due to anger, frustration or stress and go somewhere where they understand one’s mental wellbeing (eg not being aggravated or tried all the time) is a key part of physical wellbeing.

The automated phone system is incorrectly programmed and you will be transferred to the wrong department despite having pressed the number as instructed. Seriously? Who does this?
You will NOT be seen on time. I waited an hour past appointment time before I was seen. The waiting room is a disaster and the people there are less than desirable. If you are at all sensitive to noise, smell, manners… don’t go. Spare yourself the misery. There are some really rather disgusting creatures that frequent this practice.
Once in the room, it only got worse. Nurse took down information incorrectly, resulting in later miscalculations of health information. Doctor shows up and they have scheduled the wrong kind of appointment — despite my having called and confirmed it a week before. I ASKED to make sure it was correctly scheduled, they said it was, but NO. So after what I had been through, I didn’t even receive a proper exam or care. Unconscionable.
When I needed paperwork a few weeks after my appointment, it took hours and many calls to even get someone from the department on the phone. Then she screwed it up. The idiots in their referrals department don’t know how to issue a referral! They are rude, ignorant and worst of all — they do not care at all that they have done this to a patient.
Most irritatingly of the many, many unacceptable things about this office: These people do not apologize for the unforgivable way they treat patients. Apologies cost nothing — at least say you are sorry that someone suffered at your hands. Especially when they came to you for care.

If your blood isnt boiling when you get here it certainly will be while you wait to be seen.
For urgent care: GO TO CITYMD!!!
For regular appointments: expect to wait a ridiculous amount of time or go somewhere else.
The staff is nice enough but the wait time is insane! Appointment at 9:30, showed up at 9:10. Not seen until 10:30 and its now 11:15 and we are still sitting in the exam room! Why!!! Im writing this review while I wait. On the plus side, there’s good wi-​fi and Dr. Mark Sinclair is fine as frog hair. The staff is always very nice, Ive never had a problem with that but their system is flawed & horribly inefficient. Its sad.
update: so Dr. Sinclair was too busy to give me my daughter’s medical history chart for camp which is STANDARD ISSUE to be given at the end of an annual exam with any other pediatrician. He said it would be available the following Monday, its now Thursday and its still «not ready». Please keep in mind that this is a form which you can auto-​populate on the computer. Point, click, print.
In related news, there’s a new CityMD opening up on 125^th and Lenox Ave.

Don’t let the new shiny exterior fool you. This place is a disorganized mess and their customer service is the pits. They aren’t rude but there is an extreme lack of knowledge of their own profession of running a health care facility. Their motto is make it easy on them, not you. I waited 3 hours to see a doctor because they sent me to the wrong floor. Then I never received the results of my blood work. They told me I’d have to just come in and wait and see if someone could help me that day. This place is a sorry excuse for a health care facility.

this is the worst place I have ever seen. It took an hour to get someone on the phone as a long hold time, then they refused to tell me if my father was admitted saying due to medical laws, medical laws is his condition, not if a patient was admitted, they have unprofessional ethics and have no clue of medical procedures as well as rules and laws, now my father will be changing doctors to a new facility, this is something I control, not this stupid hospital. huge mistake on their part, yet another lost patient.

About 2 weeks ago I CALLED their offices to make an appointment, only to be hung up on 3 times and put on hold!!! When I finally get through the lady MUST’VE PICKED UP BY ACCIDENT because all I heard was laughing and gossip between 2 females and a male. Soooo unprofessional and rude. I hang up and call back for the last time and she finally makes my appointment after 30 mins of that nonsense. I understand making friends with your Co workers (gets you through the day) but do your damn job at the same time. Thanks! #ghetto #rude #icandothisjobbettathenyou
Last thing, this is only for the Dental part of this facility. The other floors provide medical care and I haven’t had a problem thus far.

This place sucks. I felt like they didn’t know what they were doing and I didn’t feel comfortable. The lady who took my xray were not knowlegeble enough for me. Also I expressed my concerns to the lady at the front who proceeded to tell me she took a look at my exray and thought everything was OK. Ummmm aren’t u a receptionist you are not qualified to read xrays! I left in the middle of my appointment because they didn’t seem qualified. I would never go back there and I dont recommend this place

If only 0 stars was possible.
I will avoid getting into the dismal, appalling state of the medical system in this country and focus on the service I received at this practice.
In my first visit, it was a last minute appointment so I expected some delays. However, I think 2 hours is unacceptable. An that’s two hours of sitting in a waiting room where the other patients are trying to beat each other up, yelling and fighting with each other and boasting about who’s spent linger in jail. Awesome.
I thought I’d give this place another try — but after 20 minutes of being on hold just in an attempt to make an appointment. I give up. Never again.

Since this is a new facility, I thought I could rely on some dedicated professionals for adequate service for both myself and child. Things weren’t as transparent as the new windows on this building. The first few visits went okay but by the third visit things took a turn for the worst.
Considering this is a family practice, when I come for pediatric visits certain precautions must be taken for a newborn. Well to start they had me sitting in the public waiting room for more than 15 minutes as guaranteed. Granted newborns can be out in public but generally someone at a health center isn’t at their best health.
The second offense happened when the nurse took personal call while in the office. It was clear that whoever called him asked, «hey whats going on? what are you up to?» because the nurse replied, «nothing». Then after that they proceeded to discuss a one bedroom apartment that was up for grabs on his block. He mentioned he had a good report with his landlord and could guarantee his friend the place and even though it was a bit pricey, it was spacious enough for a single family:/ This is clearly verbatim guys…
Third offense was the wait on the doctor. By this point I was frustrated so the thirty minute wait seemed like forever and even though she was apologetic, the nurse who I inquired about her lateness with wasn’t phased by my concerns at all.
All in all, proceed here with caution. It has a good look landscape wise but the professional infrastructure is faulty.
Moral of the story, I didn’t go back and don’t plan on it.