Pacific Gynecology Specialists

I’m not typically a person who writes bad reviews, but this experience just rattled me to the core.
I had my first appointment here scheduled for about 3 weeks. When scheduling I asked for the address and parking instructions, since I was in a new city I wanted to be prepared. The woman on the phone gave me the address and the suite number and mentioned nothing about difficult parking or location of the suite in relation to towers.
Low and behold, on the day of my appointment, I can’t find the suite. I ended up in the tower opposite at a different gynecology office. In any case, my appointment was at 945 and it was only 933, so I phoned the front desk and let them know I would be 15 – 20 minutes late.
I arrived at my actual office at 10:11, to be told that I wouldn’t be seen because the doctor runs a strict 15 minute appointment clock. That’s respectable, what is not, is that first they denied my call even after I had showed them my call log. Also, I drove 45 minutes to get there, why couldn’t the woman who answered my «I’m late call» have spared me the misery of coming in at all.
The lack of empathy in a patient care office is an atrocity. Needless to say, I’ll be finding another doctor.

This has been hands down, the best medical care and service I have ever received. My first visit with Dr. Marrs was unbelievably eye opening. Based off of my family’s medical history, she recommended gentic counseling; after taking a genetic test for cancer causing gene mutations, I discovered that I was at high risk for ovarian cancer. At 39, Dr. Marrs agreed with my choice for a total hysterectomy. Her MA Christina was lock step with me with ANY questions I had and I had a lot. Not only was Dr. Marrs smart, she is an incredible human being. She is down to earth, direct, and extremely empathetic. I never felt rushed. Christina is thoughtful and works urgently to answer questions and ALWAYS calls me back. This is the best lady parts health care ever.

Dr. Marrs is wonderful. However I cant recommend seeing her because of how awful the billing office is. I had been a patient of Dr Marrs for over two years, never with an outstanding bill. I moved over a year ago and somehow the bill for $ 30 from a appointment in June was being sent to my former address. I received one call from the billing company about the bill, which I returned with a voicemail correcting their address and they sent me to collections anyway over $ 30. When I called Evans Medical (the billing company) they contested that I called them back and were unapologetic and combative. When I lodged a complaint with Pacific Gynecology about their billing company, they were also unapologetic and did not care that I was no longer going to be a patient. So if you would like to be treated like a human by the doctor but treated like dirt by the office and billing, then go here.

Lisa Harstedt is amazing. I just met her yesterday and I cannot stress how informative, friendly, and helpful she was. Not only did she not rush a second of our time together, she encouraged questions and conversation and was just the best. I am so happy I have a good person to see for my «gynecological needs» haha!

Hi Unilocal — this is a letter I sent after my appointment here. tl;dr — avoid Dr. Lieppman if you want to be treated like a human! His medicine was fine, but he is the definition of why a lot of women avoid male gynecologists.
I am writing to provide some feedback about an appointment I had with Dr. Robert Lieppman of Pacific Gynecology Specialists, in May of 2015.
In short, by the time I left the offices of Pacific Gynecology Specialists, I felt humiliated and small. I made an appointment with Dr. Lieppman because of a treatment-​resistant case of vaginitis that had been going on since January. I had been through multiple courses of treatment and consulted with several doctors without success. Other specialists had long waits for appointments, and so I was happy that when I contacted PGS, I was told that I could get in to see Dr. Lieppman quickly. In hindsight, that should have been a red flag.
From the moment Dr. Lieppman entered the exam room, he was imperious and off-​putting. He had a medical student with him, which may have influenced our interaction. My perception of the visit was that he hardly let me explain what the problem was and what treatments had already been pursued when he started telling me that I didn’t have vaginitis and what was probably actually wrong with me. I struggled to get a word in edgewise, at first, until finally he stopped talking long enough for me to tell him about treatments I’d already pursued.
The worst part of the interaction with Dr. Lieppman came when I told him I’d tried using gentian violet as a treatment for my vaginitis. He literally scoffed at this, and said sarcastically «Well, that’s an old school treatment. Did it stain your clothes?» When I said no, and that it had actually helped some, he followed up with «Well, it is a pretty color.» I hope I don’t have to elaborate on how demeaning that comment is, and how sexist. I have never been treated with more condescension by a doctor, and I was livid. In that state, the best response I could muster was «Well, I was desperate, as I’m sure you can understand.» He seemed to understand that I was quite upset, and our interaction did get somewhat better after this.
Later in the appointment, he spoke highly of the specialist I had been referred to, Dr. David Eschenbach. When I got home from my appointment, I looked up more information about Dr. Eschenbach, and was both infuriated and validated to find that he himself recommends gentian violet as a treatment for treatment resistant cases of vaginitis.
Despite the horrible emotional tenor of our interaction, I felt that the medicine Dr. Lieppman practiced was reasonable enough. His physical exam was thorough. He ruled out other possible conditions. He took a swab for another culture. Although he said he doubted I had vaginitis any more, because of the diflucan I took (in January, which didn’t relieve the symptoms), he also gave me a prescription for Terazol, which I hadn’t tried yet. Because my symptoms got worse after seeing Dr. Lieppman, I began the course of Terazol a few days later. It immediately relieved my symptoms, and they stayed gone while I was using the Terazol, but unfortunately returned within 24 hours of finishing the course of treatment. Dr. Lieppman couldn’t have known that, though, and he did indeed prescribe something that was helpful.
During our appointment Dr. Lieppman said that he sees many women with problems like mine, which makes his behavior at our appointment even more shocking. Since he’s so experienced in this area, I would have thought that he might be sympathetic to a problem that is not only physically very uncomfortable, but stressful (when it isn’t easily cured), expensive (multiple doctor visits and several different treatments have cost me well in excess of $ 1000 at this point), and detrimental to my and my husband’s sex life. In using an alternative treatment like gentian violet, I was simply trying to take care of myself the best I could, after multiple standard treatments had failed, and to be laughed at and humiliated for that is simply inexcusable.

My sister is autistic and requires extra accomodation. I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Veljovich and Amy Morgan! They were so kind and gentle with her, taking extra time to ease her anxiety. She had a major surgery and subsequent follow up appointments and we have found each experience top notch. If ever they have been running late, we have been apprised of that upon check in, and it has never been an excessive wait. Get a grip people, sometimes emergencies happen that a physician must attend to — they don’t «butt a chair» for a living!

I’ll keep this one quick.
Going to the lady doctor is never fun. Let’s be honest here. But Dr. Maars is absolutely top notch at what she does. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a great gynecologist. She is an excellent listener, very intuitive and immediately put me at ease. I am so glad to have found her! If I could give her 10 stars I would!

Dr. Marrs has got to be the nicest and most personable doctors I have ever met (and I’ve met a zillion). She is never in a rush, she is an amazing listener and she genuinely cares about my health. She is truely one in a million. She is a treasure indeed! And of course, the front desk is so nice and pleasant.

Dr. Marrs is thorough, kind, patient, gentle, honest and easy to talk to.
The staff is great and the young lady who took my blood (they draw it right there in the office!) was gentle and fast.

I recently had a total hysterectomy done by Dr. Charles Drescher using the DaVinci. Although I hope to never need his services again I would highly recommend him and his wonderful staff. He took his time to explain my diagnosis to both myself and my husband and I felt very comfortable with him. If anyone out there is in need of a GYN oncologist call this office.

Lisa Harstedt is the best! Like many other women, I do not like the activities of your lady doctor appointment. But hey, we gotta do it. Lisa is the reason I look forward to my visits. She is very personable and easy to talk with about difficult stuff.

I had an appointment back in January for my first ever annual pap smear!
Upon entering, I was greeted by a lady receptionist. She asked for my insurance and id card. I felt she was friendly unlike the other review I see about the front desk. It was professional and I told her it was my first time, she reassured me my first exam would be fine
I had my appointment with Dr. Harstedt. She was very friendly and I felt comfortable with her from the start. She started off going over my paperwork and chart and asked about my health history and stuff. I think that made me feel less nervous because we chatted for a bried 7 minutes.
The whole entire process of the exam was, I can’t say FUN, but it was awkward having someone look inside of you. She was talking to me during the exam so I wouldn’t feel so nervous.
Knowledgeable and fast, friendly, gentle, CLEAN, and a good first experience. I will be there again next year!

Dr. Veljovich was 45 minutes late to my first appointment with him. His bored sounding nurse said she’d call him to tell him I was there…(excuse me, I have to be there on time for my appointment, why doesn’t he?) She said he might be down in the hospital making rounds… why isn’t he in his office taking his appointments?
When he finally got there, he was nice enough to my mom and I, but he just kind of blasted through his treatment plan and the potential complications of it. He seemed hurried and I think he spent maybe 30 minutes talking to my mom and I before handing us back to the depressed nurse to schedule my surgery. I felt like I’d just been processed through some sort of impersonal health care machine.
I decided to get a second opinion with Dr. Muntz over at Women’s Cancer Care at Northwest Hospital. The difference was enormous, and I chose to continue my treatment there, instead.

Like the rest, I didn’t expect choosing where to get my privates examined based on Unilocal reviews. Glad I did! No one likes going, I especially hate this yearly trip. Although if I have to go, I would happily go here.
The office is very nice. Staff is courteous a professional. I even had blood work done that my GP had neglected. My MD had a great bed side manor and was willing to sit and talk with me. Everything here is done the way it should be. Absolutely no complaints and I highly highly recommend it. They specialize in more in depth female medical issues as well, which is nice if I were to ever need more intensive medical care. Although booking for a regular ol pap smear was no issue. They were booked out over a month when I called, so try to get an appointment sooner rather than later.
I also found out that my Mom went here when she was in town and was pleased with her experience as well. It is weird that we went to the same place and didn’t know it, but I digress.

It all depends on the doctor you get!
You can see below that we had a TERRIBLE experience with one of the doctors at this practice. When I found out earlier this year that I needed a surgery for fibriods I was dismayed when every doctor I spoke to and my primairy care doctor spoke to reccomended Pacific Gyn Specialists. I really did NOT want to go there. However since everyone told us to I figured I would give it a try at least for the consult.
I saw Dr. Amy BonDurant (last name Bland when I saw her prior to her marriage!) and she was FABULOUS! She took her time meeting with me — listened to all of my concerns, helped to calm me down but also realisticly told me what we were looking at for surgery, recovery, etc. Dr. BonDurant and Dr. Everett both did my surgery — which was major and involved a week in the hospital and did a fantastic job! I used the after hours phone number a few times and the doctors I spoke to were really helpful as well. Plus — the staff is GREAT! I love the nurses, medical assistants and receptionists here! I was almost sad when it was time to say goodbye!
Funny thing is — while I was in the hospital Dr. Veljovich (see below) was one of the doc’s doing rounds. He didn’t remember me at all and I didn’t say anything — but one day he was rather nice and the other day he just couldn’t care less. Maybe he is good — but he sure doesn’t have a consistently good bedside manner. I would still stay away from him!
Previous review:
Brought my mom here for a consultation for a gynecological cancer. Her primary care physician had recommended Dr. Veljovich highly and he does some fancy surgery using robots. Well he was 45 min late even though we were his first appointment of the day (I know I know not that shocking– he is a doctor), the office didn’t have the test results they said they were getting a week before the appointment, he didn’t explain what he was doing to mom — just shoved the metal object in her bits, and talked to her over her head (literally — was looking above it) and seemed to have trouble looking at me. The office staff was super nice, his nurse was really great and gave the only sense of humanness to the appointment but the fact that my mom said to me «I don’t even think he will know who he is operating on» when he left the room speaks volumes for our experience. Based on our consult with Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and a much better experience there we will be going to SCCA.

You got lady problems? I got lady problems, and I also got problems with some of the ladies (and gents) down at Pacific Gynecology.
I have to agree with David (I’m sorry for your hardship), the quality of actual service is good, but the overall administrative work/​support services suck. My experience, if you’re paying over $ 500 for a service, of any kind, you do not keep someone waiting for over three hours.
If you are trying to contact your doctor, you can’t. You only get their medical assistant. Who never ever EVER returns your calls. Because you can’t ever actually reach them, either, only their voice mail. Which either doesn’t work, they don’t check, or they don’t give a crap and won’t call you back. For almost a week.
Since I never got a return phone call from the medical assistant, I ended up checking myself into the hospital and had I not I would have probably died.
Do yourself a favor, if you do decide to go to this place, be prepared to wait. For an appointment. For a response. For a returned call. Their billing services, however, seem to be quite speedy. I wish they could apply those skills elsewhere in their practice.
I really wanted to like this place. And I do, indeed like my doctor that was recommended to me by a family friend/​gynecologist. But their administrative practices and actual service from anyone other than the actual doctors and some of the nurses are so very crappy, it may be worth it for you to check out your other options first.

My wife was a patient of Dr Dan Veljovitch for 4 years. His last interaction with her was to install an ip Port-​a-​Cath for a trial. Other trial requirements eventually kept her from taking part and she pursued traditional ip chemotherapy through another physician he recommended.
Pacific Gynecology miscoded the procedure which was denied by insurance. My wife and I were in the process of appealing what the doctors and nurses and supporting documentation all claim is a standard procedure when she died of the disease.
Since November I’ve been pursuing this with Dr. Veljovitch (no comments) his nurse Heidi (sympathy and a pass to account administration), and account administration (who claimed they needed to talk with Dr. Veljovitch. By phone in April account admin claimed it was cleared up. In May I got a notice from a collection agency. In June I got an interest penalty. Word from account administration when I received the collection notice was that Dr. Veljovitch OK’d passing it to collections in February, while I was getting polite stonewalling over the phone. Now I can’t get any contact from the offices.
The services at Pacific Gynecology Specialists may be worth your time, but their business practices (including the doctors) stinks.

never thought i’d write a review for a gynecologist, but hey, it’s more important than which shoestore has the better shoehorn, right?
i no longer live in the seattle area, but if you do, you’d be hard-​pressed to find a better OB-​GYN than this place. my doctor was Lisa Harstedt and she was very professional, personable, and made me feel comfortable.
i would recommend this place to any of my girlfriends. and it was recommended to me by a girlfriend.

Is it possible to almost «enjoy» going to the gynecologist? Ok, I wouldn’t go that far, but I must say that Pacific gynecology is the best you could possibly hope for as the caretaker for your bits. Lisa is really friendly, sort of like your big sister’s best friend. She’s completely down to earth, and you can tell her anything and she’s completely cool. Dr Mc Intosh is hilarious — he’s so kind and comfortable you forget what he’s doing. And everyone in the office is incredibly friendly and remembers you, even when you only come in once a year.