Cleo T Williams, MD

Dr. Williams’ staff is SO sweet, but the doctor herself is super rude. She doesn’t even try to be friendly, she never smiles, she cuts you off when you’re talking and she yells at her nice staff in front of patients. She seems so burned out. I get that she works really hard and she’s tired, but how are patients supposed to trust her when she acts like she doesn’t even want to be there? Her staff and patients deserve better.

She’s very direct — cultural thing — but she’s very thorough and knows her stuff. I’ll take that anyway over someone who’s clueless but bubbly. Staff is super sweet.

I did not care for Dr. Williams for many of the reasons already iterated by other Unilocalers
However, she and her nurse asked the right questions and ran the right tests and diagnosed me with Hypothyroidism.
My previous doctor dismissed all my symptoms, never ran a blood panel, and basically told me I was depressed.
So I must give her 3 stars for actually caring enough, in her stern scary way, to get to the bottom of my symptoms and not dismiss it as all in my head which is a common issue I’ve learned for those who suffer from thyroid problems.

Thank you

Dr. Williams has always been honest with me and I have no complaints whatsoever. When I found out I was pregnant (when I took permanent preventative measures) she was so supportive and coached me through it. I’ve rarely met doctors who will take time and think things through with you. Nothing that she has ordered from me has been unnecessary, and I always leave her office satisfied. I just recently found out that she is the doctor for all of my friends which is really cool. She saved my friend’s life… kind of dramatic but it’s the truth. I am not afraid of her personality and can not list any complaints.

She’s straight forward, but I think this is necessary in a physician. I appreciated her honesty and concern, and how much time she spent with me. I’ve been to other doctors that didn’t even look up from the chart. We spoke about why I was there, and this led into other concerns I had that I forgot about. Yes, you may wait, but it is worth it. She will go out of her way to make sure you are taken care of, will follow up, and will not rest if something was wrong.

As an MD myself, it is hard to find a good primary care physician. Same goes for my fiancée, also a doctor, who visited this woman. This woman who used an inappropriately sized blood pressure cuff then told my MD fiancé that it was right and he was wrong. She also mentioned that an electronic blood pressure cuff would check his blood pressure better than I would, manually, when we all know manual is much better. So does that mean she thinks I’m incompetent when she hasn’t ever met me?
She also ordered MANY unnecessary tests. Thank you for letting YOUR incompetence drive up healthcare costs.
While I agree that an experienced doctor has more, well, experience; I’ve never found an older doctor that is as up to date with current research and guidelines as those that have more recently completed residency. Who are you to question my training?
Do the right thing for your health. AVOID THIS WOMAN AT ALL COSTS. There are so many good doctors out there, unfortunately they can sometimes be hard to find…

I do understand why Dr. Williams has so many bad reviews, but I love her and highly recommend her — IF you are looking for no-​nonsense competence and commitment to paying attention to your overall health picture WITHOUT a warm fuzzy bedside manner.
If you have ever been close to a stern Russian or Eastern European woman, or anyone else who is pragmatic, direct, and deeply committed to doing what they do, you might be able to appreciate Dr. Williams. Most people would actually probably prefer a bubbly, timely doctor who is all smiles. As Dr. Williams told me herself, «a patient asked me why I never smile. I said, ‘you want me to *smile*? My job is to look after your health! I am concentrating on what you are telling me’.»
And she concentrates so hard and spends so long with you [and the other patients] that you often wait a long time in the room to see her. That used to drive me nuts. I would get so mad while waiting, thinking «I am a busy working mom, I don’t have time for this!» But the wait to see her each time proved worth it because she took an interest in managing all the different confusing tendrils of my health care picture that no doctor has even shown to me before or since. I have moved from Pasadena to NorCal, and wish I could find a doctor like her. She took charge, got to the bottom of any complaint I had, even emotional things that she wormed out of me, and got on my case to get the many preventative checks I always put off doing. [I had 2 kinds of cancer in my 20’s and 30’s, now am okay but wasn’t staying on top of all the follow-​up care until I met Dr. Williams.]
Yes, she is brusque, opinionated, and a bit idiosyncratic in a particular way that those of us with Eastern European elders can appreciate. But if you want someone to take charge of your health care in a way that doctors rarely do these days, I highly recommend Dr. Williams as a rare gem in the field.

I agree with everybody on this page, she is horrific.
Her orders are ridiculous and cruel. I love honesty and straightforwardness but she was awful! I never considered writing a review about her until today when she called randomly and I remembered how shitty she is!
I literally haven’t seen her in almost 5 years, her staff calls and says «dr. cleo said you need to come in for a pap right away» literally her words. like wtf? Like I’m going to drop everything and come in right away for a pap that I don’t need and haven’t seen you in almost 5 years. she’s crazy. She probably is losing clientele and calling all her past clients and forcing them verbally to come in. UNPROFESSIONAL!

I went to see Dr Williams because I was desperate to find a PCP but definitely not desperate enough to EVER go back to her. She is very cold, uncaring, rude and lacks compassion. I had been diagnosed with cancer 4 years ago and am in remission now. As she was giving me a physical exam, she continued to re-​iterate that I must get a second opinion on my procedure and that I should have had a mastectomy instead of chemo… REALLY? Aren’t the 1^st world countries making every effort possible to save body parts rather than chop them off as first option solutions? I was beside myself hearing her say that. I asked what would I need a second opinion on if I was in remission. Her response was to make sure you continue to stay healthy as the likelihood of this type of cancer returning is very high… OMG which doctor says that? Very very uncompassionate. She also pushed the EKG test which was not covered by my insurance only to find out that she was recommending that I also see a cardiologist! Oh and she also mentioned that I need to lose 70 lbs… in reality 25 lbs maybe but definitely not 70 lbs!!! She was unable to diagnose my foot pain and told me to come back in a week after I get my blood work done! Well, I just canceled THAT follow up appointment as I will NOT be going back to her again. I believe people like her have no business being in the medical field.
AVOID HER AT ALL COST!!! The only reason I gave her a one star was because I couldn’t give her zero stars otherwise I would have!

First visit to her and she was cold, strict, callous, insensitive, hardened, and uncaring. She made rash, unsupported diagnostics /​evaluations. She went out of her way to reprimand her receptionist three times in front of her patients and told another employee (sweet older lady) to «get back to your office, I don’t pay you to do her job». How she retains patients or emolyees is a wonder. I won’t be back!

She’s arrogant and Unprofessional.
The first time i went in she seemed alright.
Now every time i have a yearly check up, it seems as though she orders a lot of tests i don’t need.
I tell her i feel fine; but Every time i go in, she sends me to other facilities to get ²⁄₃ tests. I asked what they’re for and she snapped at me, that she needed a BASELINE.
I thought, maybe she is being thorough.
But then, she recommended i see a a nose Dr. and that she would give me a #.
I told her my husband had a really good one that we liked, and she got kind of angry.
She gave me a dirty look.
The other recommendations she gave me, she repeatedly insisted that i tell the recommended Dr.‘s, that she sent me.
I just got a weird feeling… It feels like she is referring me to Dr.‘s because she gets something ($ or something), for every recommendation.
She also insisted i need some laser therapy, i went to a specialist in the area of my body, and he said i didn’t need it. I just feel she’s recommending cuz she gets something out of it.
— — — — — — — — -
On another occasion she walked into my room ¾ times without so much as looking at me.
One of those times she was yelling at her nurse in front of me, without acknowledging that i was in this tiny room with them.
When she finally walks in to see me an about an hour and a half after our appt time.
She talks to me for 1 min. while she puts GLOVES on, Starts my breast exam, and her phone starts ringing (audibly), she pulls it out of her coat pocket, slides it out of the front cover and ANSWERS!
I can hear that it’s someone asking for permission (i assume her child), she talks to the person on the phone in front of me for about 2 min. then walks out with her cell phone… but not before telling me to lie down. When i don’t do it, cuz i figure, i’ll do it when she’s done, she gets irritated and yells, «LIE DOWN,»
While on the phone.
She has me lie down and goes outside to talk for 5 – 7 minutes.
She comes back in, touching the door knob on the way out, and again, on the way back into the room.
She doesn’t change gloves, but proceeds to give me a pap smear… in 2 minutes.
she finishes, talks to me for another 2 minutes, and she’s out of the room again.
The nurse comes in and takes my blood, i tell her that i had some questions for the doctor when she comes back. The nurse says she going to try to get her back in.
The Dr. opens my door, doesn’t walk in, with an angry look she tells/​scolds me that we will talk when i come back for my blood results.
It was just a really bad experience. Waiting almost 2 hours for 10min of her time. While she ignores me the first three times she’s in the room, yells in front of me, answers her phone while doing a breast exam. Walks out of a breast exam for a personal phone call. And then has the audacity to scold ME?!
She’s arrogant and Unprofessional!
I didn’t say anything, but i will not be going back there.

The thing about Dr. Williams is that she doesn’t mess around. If you want to be coddled, she’s not the doctor for you. If you’re really sick and need medicine, go to her, she will help you. She’s been my doctor for 2 years and is great. I get my paps done with her and they are quick and painless. I had viral pneumonia a couple of years ago and she did not mess around. I got everything I needed and the infection was cleared up in 2 weeks. She is straightforward and honest and great at diagnostics. I was referred to an ENT by her for throat pain and ended up having a tonsillectomy with the doctor she referred me to. Not sure why these reviews are so low — she’s a really good doctor. Her referrals are great as well! The reviews here just aren’t accurate — look at the Google reviews and most of them are 4 or 5 stars. Also look at the filtered reviews here for even more accuracy. Great family doctor.

I agree w/​the other reviewers.
Dr. William is a Arnold schwarzenegger type and SHE TELLS YOU WHAT DO TO.
She openly yelled at her staff, rudely demeaning them in front of clients. When I asked her to check out some moles she didn’t even get out of her chair, waved her hand and told me they were just moles. She was sitting as least 4 feet away. She didn’t care about my health, pausing between sending me a referral to call her friend and ask if they were «working out tonight». Totally unprofessional. Avoid at all cost.

Dr. Williams was my PCP. No longer. She did not return my calls (and I called her perhaps once per year), ordered unneeded preventive procedures (according to medical guidelines and other doctor’s advice), and was consistently rude. Suggestion: find a different doctor.