Providence Medical Group The Plaza

This is how it works at this clinic: you call to make an appointment and wait on hold for an amount of time that makes you think you’re calling India. You make an appointment for months away. You arrive and stand in line for ten minutes for reasons that aren’t immediately apparent. Have fond memories of your last visit to the DMV? This might be the clinic for you.
Beyond this, I had a total of four appointments at this clinic, all with Dr. Shaw, and warning bells went off right from the first visit — but I chose to keep going anyway, because she seems like a nice person. Note to readers: do not choose a doctor based upon how nice they seem. This might also be nice, but it is not good for you.
The first visit the doctor seemed preoccupied with problems that I wasn’t concerned with. She did biopsies, but did not provide any after care instructions for dealing with the wounds. She also didn’t prescribe anything that addressed the actual problem. When I had problems and wanted my test results, it was truly impossible to get anyone on the phone. I spent a total of 47 minutes of my life, accumulated over three different phone calls, simply waiting on hold… to never talk to a human. The average tech support call to Comcast has a shorter hold time than this office.
The second appointment led to weird prescriptions that didn’t really make sense once I read up on what they were for. There go the alarm bells again. Still, I felt desperate for something to work, and hoped that she had come across an obscure journal article on difficult to diagnose skin maladies that could only be cured with the worst medication in the world. I began to rapidly gain weight, had no energy, and felt sick all the time. One of the medications made me disoriented, to the point where I couldn’t even make the very basic decision to stop taking all that mess. I couldn’t even walk around the block. The very kind awesome pharmacist I see held her tongue as long as she could, before saying one day, «Is any of this actually working? Taking these medications for a long time is really bad for you. Have you had your kidneys checked?»
Yikes.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when she ordered a blood test that would not produce accurate results, because I was on a restricted diet. I had mentioned this about 3,000 times during appointments — and she *never* mentioned that this test would be inaccurate — it was the phlebotomist that pointed it out to me. Then when this test turned out invalid (or course) she began discussing ordering more tests that seemed even further from a diagnosis, instead of closer. Like a true passive aggressive patient, I decided the best route to ending this toxic relationship was fading out instead of making a formal break.
It took me six months to get over the effects of all the garbage medication she put me on. Six months, and I still have weight to lose. I’m angry. It took another doctor one appointment and one test to accurately diagnose and cure my condition. One appointment, one test. And no, Dr. Shaw wasn’t even close. And despite being 100% unreachable by phone, they have no problem sending me giant bills for tests with invalid results, over and over again.
This place is ridiculous. I should invoice them.

Annie Mack was my primary care doctor. I have had 4 knee surgeries 5 bulged discs dvt spinal stenosis. I was a pro snowboarder/​skateboarder. On the first visit she told me how unfortunate it was that I had such an active lifestyle. Offered nothing to deal with the pain other than lyrica. 3^rd visit. 1 yr later. I tell her I am going to physical therapy twice a week out of pocket. At the end of the 15 minutes she asks me if I’ve tried physical therapy. You don’t listen Annie. Then she tells me to communicate with her through mychart. One month later no response. Then a response of. Make an appt please. Then my wife calls the office to get my medical records and without her giving any information they sent my medical records to the address she specified. Total violation of patient rights. This office and doctors are a joke. Maybe Annie is a disruptive physician and should be seen as such by her peers in the medical field.

Here’s the skinny on the Providence Portland Professional Plaza.
It’s part of the enormous Prov Portland Medical campus off of approx 50^th and NE Glisan, but really their buildings stretch from 47^th to almost 56^th, on both sides of Glisan, with a couple of stand-​alones nearby. The professional plaza is directly across from the main hospital, and technically at 50^th and Hoyt.
In other words, you’re going to get lost.
Use either the main parking garage or they offer free valet parking in front of the main entrance on Hoyt. It is busy as hell and generally more quick to park yourself in the main garage. Take note of what floor you choose! There is a pedestrian walkway into the building on the third level. The plaza building is six stories total.
There’s a main directory on the second floor, use that thing or you’re going to get lost.
There’s a sweet little deli called Greens on the first floor. Talk about a bargain! Made to order sandwiches for $ 2.95 (half) to about $ 6 (whole), two rotating soups, and daily specials. Yesterday was an chicken/​veggie bowl on rice or a hot ham ‘n cheese with chips, all under six bucks.
They have fresh hot cookies, grab-​n-​go pre-​pack sammies, salads, fruit, juices, etc., in addition to having Seattle’s Best espresso service and lots of other snacks and goodies, including Moonstruck chocolate and I even spotted some Wow! gluten-​free cookies. Tons of healthy choices and super friendly staff; they all seem like they love working there.
From the grab-​n-​go (which also has fruit, cottage cheese cups, yogurt, etc.), I scored an awesome Italian-​style hoagie with Tofurkey (!) slices and provolone. It was excellent.
Also on the first floor is the outpatient/​retail pharmacy, which is kind of intense compared to my usual chill Walgreen’s. It’s super busy but efficient because it is well-​staffed. They do not mess around in there; also open Saturdays!
A hop skip from those suites is the Outpatient Lab, also busy as hell, but generally pretty quick as it’s large enough to handle many patients at once. This is where one gets blood draws, pee tests, etc. Across the hall from that is Outpatient Radiology, where quickie xrays and whatnot are performed.
Trying to find the specific office you need in this building can be daunting. For the third time, I say: you’re going to get lost. The front desk at floor one entry is usually staffed and they are happy to point you in the right direction.
There’s a lot going on in this super busy building for sure. It’s like a whole creature of its own… while it’s at the hospital, it’s not really at the hospital, if that makes any sense. Tons of services keep it buzzing til later in the evening.

If you want medical care, consider another office. They are the most inefficient office in the state.
I’m experiencing a severe flare up with arthritis. I am unable to grasp anything with my left hand including a pen or a cup and am experiencing pain in several joints. I am set to travel in about 10 days and had hoped to see my specialist before I leave to see what can be done to alleviate the pain and discomfort. Oftentimes, a cortisone shot to the joint is all that it takes, but with arthritis you have little time to prevent damage to your joints when you have this kind of issue.
I asked for a referral to see a Rheumatologist because I am experiencing severe pain in my joints. I was with Providence a few years ago and have been seeing a Rheumatologist for over 5 years there and at Kaiser. I wanted to go back to my previous Rheumatologist now that I was back at Providence.
Referral request was made on Wednesday and I was told it would be sent out the next day. I called yesterday and was told to call back today. I called today and they tell me call back Tuesday, it takes a week — FOR A REFERRAL!!! I can’t make my appointment at the Rheumatologist until they receive the referral. Kaiser takes less than a day to make a referral, go figure.
Their reasoning is that they need to make sure my insurance will cover the doctor. Ironically, we already went through that process when I originally placed the referral request. They checked then, I even called the specialists office to make sure. YES! They do accept my insurance.
The office protocol here is that unless I am dying or losing a limb, there is nothing they can do. How about getting my referral in to my specialist so that I can see him?
I will be reconsidering my decision for health insurance here and filing a complaint with the State of Oregon Health Division. There is no reason for them to take a week to send a referral. Most doctor offices do it within a day or two.

I recently had an appointment with Dr. Obadiah for a general skin screening. During the appointment he removed a small mole which took no more than a minute.
When I received my bill I was shocked to find out that my co-​pay had changed to a «surgery co-​pay». I called their office and was told that since he removed the mole I technically had a procedure that is billed/​classified as surgery. At no time before, during or upon checkout was I notified of the change in patient resposibility. When I called their office to inquire why I wasn’t notified, no explanation could be given. When I asked if there was anything that could be done I was given the «nope, sorry».
Hands down poor customer service!!! Guess it doesn’t matter to them as long as their bottom line gets bigger. I will never go back and never refer them.

Tim’s Appointment was good and bad, the first
gentleman really did a nice job, and gave my husband
some good exercises to do, but the second gal
was pretty clueless on how to help him.

New patient experience — Nice folks at check-​in. Reasonable wait. Easy going and friendly physician’s assistant to perform the initial work. Dr. Joseph Kim was engaging and caring. Subsequent protocols explained in detail.
After 10-​years with Kaiser, I feel good about switching to Providence.

New to Portland, trying to find a good general physician covered by our blue cross insurance. I went in for a general checkup (I haven’t been to see a doc in a few years), LOVED Dr. Rachelle Hanft and really liked the nurse, but was pretty put back to receive a bill for services not covered by our insurance. Dr. Hanft had eagerly said «oh, we can take care of that right now!» about a tiny wart on my hand, and she also had me pee in a cup to test for something. I wasn’t told that either would be considered elective and not covered by insurance. Call me naïve, but I expected to have been told before I agreed to do something that insurance wouldn’t cover. In retrospect, it seems obvious that wart removal would be considered elective, but if I had known to expect a bill in the hundreds I would have gotten some of the $ 10 over the counter stuff.
So, long story short although I felt I had a good/​productive visit and do not doubt the skill of my doctor or nurse, I was completely put off to receive the bill a couple of months later, out of the blue.

I went to a couple of doctors here, and found them and the practice to be very thorough and pleasant. I’m glad I was able to so easily find good docs now that I’m new in town.

I feel really guilty giving a medical center a bad review.
But here’s the thing… I’ve given them enough chances. I really have. And they’ve really blown every single one. Want to know what kinds of things I’ve experienced at The Plaza?
–I waited in the waiting room once for almost two hours. Not joking. I had an appointment. They apparently forgot to call me, and when I got up to ask reception what was taking so long, they said they had to let the appointments that were AFTER me go first (since, you know, THEY forgot to call my name), and that I’d have to be worked in.
–The reception line is always slow and always long, even though they routinely have three receptionists. Don’t ask me why I consistently stand in line for 20 minutes to fork over my $ 15 copay, but I do.
–The dermatologists that I’ve been to have been nice enough. Dr. Youhn (no longer there) was really kind, but kept on giving me prescriptions that my insurance didn’t cover and I couldn’t afford. Dr. Swensen (retiring this month) was fine enough, but every single month he would look at me and ask me how much I weighed. Like he couldn’t write it down and stop asking, because it’s, well, embarrassing.
–Whenever I call, the phone lines are ALWAYS busy, and I’m usually on hold (depending on the time that I call) for at least 10 minutes.
–I love my nurse because she can find a vein on the first poke (my veins suck). But it wasn’t very fun working with her when I was trying to get on Accutane. In theory, it should only take about a month to get on it. In reality, it took more than three (and I’m paying for all this lab work, by the way), because she didn’t really know the program and didn’t realize there was a very strict timeline for everything.
–This one time, Dr. Swensen neglected to tell me that I needed to fast for some bloodwork, so I leave work early, get to the office, wait in the 20 minute line, just to have the evil receptionist tell me that I couldn’t get my blood tested, even though I hadn’t fasted the previous month, and it was fine. I had to return the next day – on a SATURDAY morning – to get my bloodwork done.
–This month was an especially huge hassle getting my Accutane prescription. I go to the doctor on Monday to get my blood test. Usually it comes back that day, and I can pick up my meds that afternoon. Tuesday comes, and it finally got back, but the fill-​in nurse wouldn’t let me get my prescription until the doctor (who was out until the next day) could sign it. Then, the next morning, I get a call from the regular nurse who is confused as to why there was a note on the lab saying that I couldn’t get my meds.
–I’ve asked for prescriptions to be called in multiple times, only to get to the pharmacy to find that no one had faxed or called them in.
GAHH.
I have no idea why I stay with this office.