Phoenix Perinatal Associates

DO NOT GO HERE! I HAD A MISSED DIAGNOSIS! On 9÷10÷15 I had a D&C when I was 9 weeks pregnant because there was no heartbeat anymore. They DID NOT do a pathology, which from what I have been told by other perinatologist’s at different practices, is STANDARD procedure. There was no follow up after my D&C. No HCG test, no ultrasound.
7 weeks went by and I was curious if the HCG was out of my system. I had read that HCG is gone after 3 – 4 weeks. I took a pregnancy test and it was positive and I knew I wasn’t pregnant. I called and scheduled an appointment for a blood draw and it came back as a concern. I had an ultrasound the next day on October 27^th at a different perinatologist’s office because they could see me same day, and I was told I have gestational trophoblastic disease. Which means tumors growing in my uterus that could be cancer. This was diagnosed at a different perinatologist and he asked why there wasn’t a pathology done because then they could see if it was a partial molar pregnancy.
I called and talked to the perinatologist involved at Phoenix Perinatal, Dr Strong and Dr Cedars. The surgeon was Dr Huff. All three agreed it was a delay in treatment. The surgeon said he gives verbal orders to the nurses and the nurse didn’t fill out the paperwork for the pathology. So he passed off responsibility on someone else.
Had a pathology been done, I would have gotten the results 3 days later that showed I had a partial molar pregnancy. (After my diagnosis, they still had the remains to do a pathology and did one November 9^th and it showed positive for partial molar pregnancy.) Had I been diagnosed with a partial molar pregnancy when I should have, they would have put me on treatment right away and I would have been monitored. Instead I started chemo on 11÷9÷15 and am still currently on it and will be until 2÷19÷16 if all goes «well.» The cancer doctor advised not to get another D&C at the start of treatment because it would have been a high risk of a hysterectomy. He said the tumors were really big and almost touching my uterine wall. He said I will most likely need another one at the end of treatment. This is something I would not have had to do if they did a pathology, because I would have started treatment right away and tumors would not have grown like they did for almost 9 weeks before the start of chemo.
The doctor who oversaw everything (Dr Strong) said he missed that there wasn’t a pathology done in the paperwork because he is «in and out of the office and assumed one of his colleges got it back and called me about it.» This is unacceptable and a horrible excuse! You can’t «assume» when it comes to someone’s health.
Dr. Strong called with the results of the chromosome test a month after my D&C, that they did do and it came back as abnormal with Triploidy. He DID NOT tell me to come in for a follow up for it. You would think that if it shows abnormal, a high risk doctor would say lets get you checked out to make sure. But no, the only reason I found out I had a partial molar pregnancy/​gestational trophoblastic disease (which means tumors in my uterus) was because of my own curiosity of if I would get a negative pregnancy test.
They are so unorganized. My initial appointment was supposed to be with Dr Perlow but they called me the day before and said it was going to be Dr Cedars because Dr Perlow was at a different location and I couldn’t go to that location. I read reviews after that of this happening all the time and that you get a different doctor every time. This is not ok either with being high risk, you want the same doctor each time who knows you and if familiar with everything.
How everything happened is not ok and has caused me to go through months of chemo and possibly another D&C that would not have happened had they done the pathology like they should have. I would have started treatment much earlier and not needed to be on it as long had they done their job correctly. These doctors are perinatologists. That is very scary to me they missed something like this. They are specialists who are not looking out for the safety of their patients.

This place is… interesting to say the least. I was referred here by my physician for the diabetes education program which I already was familiar with. I received a call to schedule an appt, which I did. I then received 2 more calls after that to schedule an appt-​due to the appt. setter failing to check to see that I had already done so. I was advised I would have a glucose meter/​etc. prescription filled prior to my appt as it was 2 weeks out and it was never done. After arriving at the appt, I was seen by a CNP who went over the diet with me-​again already familiar with it as I utilize it every pregnancy. I commented on how I stay within the daily carb range of 160 – 180 and then was advised I need to have at least 200 carbs a day… which then would exceed the daily allowance for the GD diet! I was finally given a script for my supplies, dropped off at the pharmacy only to discover they didn’t fill it out properly. My pharmacy attempted for almost a week to contact them (as did I) to reach out to them to complete it. They finally did and they filled it incorrectly! I have no doubt that there could be knowledgeable physicians working here, I just didn’t get the chance to encounter them. I do know however that their scheduling has some opportunities.

******Caution******
Please choose your dr with care. This group is one of the worst I have seen.
Long story short; I suffered a 2^nd trimester loss with my first baby. I decided to seek early care with my second. Dr. Spence saw me first, she was horrible, rude, condescending. She stated that she did not think I suffered from my diagnosis even though I had 6 specialist tell me otherwise. Dr spence stated «I have to see for myself»
Fast forward I decided to try another dr. Dr. cook was very nice, promised me quality care. Well I only saw him once. everytime I would go they had someone new. Once I hit 15 weeks they noticed I started having the complications that I had stated I had. Once again dr spence shows up at the ultrasound and she said «I too have lost many pregnancies, sometimes you have to give it up» I was mortified, her colleague dr hood saw Me and even though my diagnosis was strict bed rest she asked me to move around, she said Maybe something was wrong with my baby and that’s why my body was trying to go into preterm labor. Thankfully I reached out to my dr in Las Vegas and he was mortified by the advice these so called high risk drs gave me. I laid in the back of an SUV for 6 hours and once I got to vegas I was admitted. The following morning I had emergency surgery to save my son. Thankfully I am 8 weeks post surgery and now 22.5 weeks pregnant. I am on strict hospital bed rest. I don’t know if We will make it full term but i know that I have done everything possible to save my baby.
«A life is a life no matter how small» and as mothers we need to fight and advocate for our babies.

I would give 5 STARS to my ultra sound tech who did my ultrasound! She was very knowledgeable and extremely friendly. She talked me through the whole process. She did a great job and deserves to be acknowledged! She is very good at what she does!
I give the two stars for the disorganization. I filled out the paperwork online early so that I didnt have to do it in the office before my appointment. They didnt have the paperwork on file and I had to refill all of the paperwork out. Plus they could/​should be a little more friendly at the desk.
As for the doctor I saw. I don’t even remember her name… She was not that friendly. I’m not sure if I’m just picky because my other OB has great bedside manner and is really friendly or what… All in all I will not be going back to this place (hopefully) unless it is a necessary referral.

I asked my doctor to switch me from Phoenix Perinatal because of the complete lack of organization and ability to follow through. I had a first trimester US, genetic screening and consult on July 14 at the Chandler office. This was a second appt, the first one had to be rescheduled because the doctor was out of the office. When I got there, no one had any patient information on me, even though I was referred from my regular OB’s office over 3 weeks prior. I guess no one had thought to request medical records from my OB prior to the appointment? So they tried to get my medical records while I spent the next hour in my appointment, but apparently things just weren’t working in their favor that day.
The appointment went well — the US tech was great, the Doctor was great, and I felt like they took time to explain all my options and fully review everything with me. Then when I got done, the doctor explained to the receptionist that he was recommending «Co-​Managed» care and that they should set up a next appointment for my second trimester, as well as fetal echo monitoring starting at 18 weeks. Well, again, there was some confusion over scheduling that — I wasn’t sure if it was due to the lack of medical records or a glitch in their computers, but they told me to take a card and wait for them to call me to make an appointment. But you know, if I didn’t hear from them in a few days I should call in and make my own appointment. Well of course.
So a week goes by and I don’t get a call about an appointment. So I call in and try to make an appointment as I was instructed, but the receptionist doesn’t seem to have any record of the Doctor’s recommendation and insists I need a referral from my doctor before she can schedule me — which of course is the first time I’m hearing anything about my regular OB needing to give me another referral. I ask to speak to a supervisor and get put on hold for 15 min, after which point I got tired of waiting and hung up. Later, the supervisor calls me back and apologizes, but insists I need a referral because there is no mention of co-​managed care in my records.
I did get an automated message that my screening results were in, but when I called the hotline to get the pre-​recorded message with my results, it told me it couldn’t find me in the system. So I had to call the advice nurse, who was very helpful and provided my results. Then for the next week I continued to get daily automated calls telling me to call the hotline and get my results — which of course were never there — until I guess the «number of times to call before giving up» limit was reached.
I had my OB’s office fax a referral for the second trimester over to Phx Perinatal. Still no call for an appt as I’m approaching 15 weeks. When I call them to find out what the status is, they tell me they have no referral on file. Then they further tell me that they don’t even start fetal echo monitoring until 22 weeks, so I don’t need to be seen for awhile. Are you even kidding me, a RECEPTIONIST is making decisions about how and when my high risk pregnancy should be monitored, despite the doctor’s recommendation? I ask my OB to send the referral again and STILL Phoenix Perinatal claims they didn’t receive it. They still won’t schedule an appointment for me, so finally, completely fed up, I ask my doctor to refer me to another high risk clinic.
To put the icing on the cake, I then get a voicemail today that I missed an appointment on Aug 4 at Phoenix Perinatal and I need to reschedule. When I call in the receptionist she claims I must’ve made the appointment and forgotten. NO, Phoenix Perinatal, I’ve been TRYING to make an appointment for WEEKS now and you guys don’t know what the heck you are doing from one moment to the next. This is the most disorganized and unprofessional medical establishment I have ever dealt with, and while there may be some very good doctors working for this practice, it’s hard to put any faith in them to see my baby born healthy with a staff and organization that is run the way it is. Not only do I have a complete lack of confidence in Phoenix Perinatal, but the fact that they are tied so closely to Banner Desert, which is where I was considering having my child, does not inspire confidence either.
I would definitely recommend you explore other options if you need a high risk OB.

Wow. We went here expecting some bad service, rude doctors, and rude receptionists. Not at all! Quite the contrary. I usually follow Unilocal without fail but you shouldn’t worry coming to this Mesa location. I don’t want to discount the other reviews but those are just opinions.
Well, here is my opinion and honest experience. We went to the Chandler location for the first ultrasound and because of scheduling went here for the second. The day before our appointment, the office called to let us know someone was out sick and we would need to come in a half hour later for the appointment (glad they did this instead of letting us sit and wait). Plus it was early morning– that would have been irritating.
Our sonographer was gentle, friendly and professional. She talked to my husband and I explaining what she was doing, answered questions, etc. The doctor came in and took some additional pictures. My husband was interested so asked a ton of questions and the doctor was happy to answer and explain what was happening. Everything with baby is fine– just bad positioning. They just seemed super informative and friendly and I cannot imagine how anyone would have a bad experience here.

Ladies at the front desk of this place talk s*** about their patients, even had it done about me right in front of me as I was waiting to be seen! I absolutely dislike the Lori lady at the front desk at the Mesa location. She’s rude and a C*NT !! She needs a attitude adjustment for sure n she’ll get one if she keeps it up, I’m not one for drama but I’ll put you in your god damn place if I need too. The first day I went their because I switch from the phoenix office which I really loved going there but Mesa was closer cause I moved but the first day I went to the Mesa office I checked in n asked Lori if I needed to give her my medical card because I had switched locations and she said no I should be fine so I turned around to sit down n she says real snotty good morning to you btw it’s Friday thank god. I honesty don’t care that it’s Friday I work weekends so woo hoo for you and I have more important things on my mind like do you need my medical card!?! Another time I had asked the doctor in the back if I could switch the days of my appointment then what they had written down on the sheet because I was going out of town and the doctor said that that was fine and the lady in the front office would take care of it and it should not be a big deal when I went up to the front miss lil princess Lori was there to help me and made a huge deal about it n got real snotty with me again that what they wrote down is what she will have to schedule for me and that she can’t change it n we told her that the doctor said it would be no big deal. So she runs back their to check. N her whole attitude changed for the better when she got back. Then once again today she was rude I was 10 mins late to my appointment because of traffic which I can’t do any thing about. I come in check in and she goes your late for your appointment sssoo they will see you when they can see you were backed up today. Yea okay you rude ass b*tch when there are 4 girls waiting to be seen including me. That’s not the problem it’s what she said n how she said it.
I sat there and waited for an hour to be seen when I was only ten mins late
As far as the nurses and the MA ‘s and ultrasound techs in the back they are real nice and helpful it’s the front desk that needs a change!!!

I have to agree with a previous reviewer. This place is a cluster. My own OB/​GYN doesn’t even like them, but unfortunately they have cornered the market on high-​risk doctors that actual deliver babies. The doctors may be competent, but unfortunately PPA has poor customer service, and the «right hand never knows what the left hand is doing.» I have tried for almost 2 months now to get one of their genetic counselors to speak with me about faulty test results, but to no avail. (not to mention the fact that they sat on these results for over a week and I had to call them to find out the outcome) They are just one big chaotic mess. If you need a high-​risk doctor, do yourself and baby a favor and go somewhere else, such as St. Joseph’s Hospital. I could never recommend this place to anyone until they get their act together.

This place is a cluster. If you enjoy waiting for hours and having your insurance company bilked this is the place to go. Horrible at educating all they wanted to do is tell us worst case scenario every time we go in. Ordered tests for no reason. Example– A1c for gdm (gestational diabetes). Only problem is my wife is anemic and the test would be inaccurate, not to mention she is 36 weeks along and already testing glucose levels. Oh and then it’s the all saving gliberide medicine, I bet they forget to tell you the drug manufacture clearly says to stop taking it two weeks before birth or your baby will require NICU care because of extreme hypoglycemia. They want her to take it till she gives birth. This place needs more training or have its license revoked. Do your research, it’s your life and your unborn child’s life. It is sad profits drive this place more than meeting patients needs. Get second opinions, do research, print it and educate your doctor.

We are having our 1^st baby. Made an appointment to do the ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. We made an appointment for the chandler location and were excited to find out the sex. We walk in to find out they made our appointment for their Mesa location. Nothing like rushing on our big day. This place has horrible appointment setters. I will keep you posted if the doctors do too.