Swedish South Lake Union Primary Care Clinic

I love Dr. McKeen and her incredible team, Lauren and Erik! They really take the time to go the extra mile for me. So grateful!

I don’t often write reviews, but the service was so appalling that I made an account for Unilocal.
Swedish SLU’s telephone manners are absolutely awful. It is worse than calling the bank. I was put on hold immediately, which is fine. No one periodically answered to say «please hold further». That’s not really a custom in US, so I guess that is fine too.
However, I was put on hold for so long, I hung up to try and call again.
I was immediately hung up on… which could be a mistake.
So I call again.
Immediately put on hold, this time with a recorded message.
I am calling because i have a medical issue and want to speak to the receptionist! Do they not have enough people in operation?
Phone manners is the first impression that a company makes. Even for hospitals. Even for clinics.
The actual service I received at the clinic at my previous checkup was fine. But their telephone manners is not just lacking, it is appalling. Please reeducate your employees, this is far too below the acceptable bar.

It’s good to find a Primary Care Physician so close to home. It’s even better to find one that is able to solve all of the concerns and worries I have about my health.
The staff and tech here seem pretty awesome. I recently did my annual physical (check-​up) & bloodwork here, and I have to say, as a critic of most offices and doctors, this place met my expectations. Troiano was a great doctor: very personable, helpful, and thorough in her explanations. I felt comfortable talking to her, and it was very easy to communicate after the appointment using the platform that Swedish Medical Group uses to communicate with their patients («MyOnlineChart»)
The technology they use to communicate with the patients also is the same system that hooks into setting up your prescriptions with your local pharmacy (anywhere, too — I set it up at the pharmacy next door to my apartment building). This is super helpful; no more carrying around paper prescriptions that end up getting lost somewhere, and no more having to explain to the pharmacy about what I’ve used and haven’t used in the past.
It’s really useful that they have an online system that also tracks your bloodwork, and lets you communicate questions, concerns, or general comments about the overall process; I was able to get a response within 2 business days, which is quite impressive.
The clinic isn’t exactly in a high-​traffic area, however it did take a while for me to set up my annual physical (I had to book about a month and a half out). While this indicates that there are probably a lot of patients (or very few doctors?) that work here, it’s comforting to know that with the platform the clinic has set up can bridge the communications gap between the health care providers (nurses /​doctors) and the patients who may have questions about their care.
I even got a request to fill out a survey in the mail yesterday, which I’ll be happy to fill out in the coming days. It’s awesome this place cares about patient feedback, because it’s not often that places as busy as this have time to deal with bettering themselves, when they have to deal with problems like consistent volume.
I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone living in the area that has health care insurance with Swedish in-​network. I’m going to use this place moving forward and I highly recommend it to anyone who is new to the area and needing a primary care physician!

After having absolutely terrible experience with doctors at Harborview and less then stellar results at UW Medicine, I decided to check out Swedish. I have to say the doctors there are much empathetic then most. The facility is bright, clean, and modern. My doctor is wonderful. She listens and advises and has never once preached like some doctors can. The office staff is courteous and prompt. The lab staff is always friendly and often funny (and I mean funny as to help ease your fears of needles and such, so I mean it in the best way possible).
I’d recommend this office hands down. I see many seem to criticize this place harshly, it always amazes me how these same people are the ones staring at there phones, being self entitled to everything and it has to be right now. I say to them, grow up. If you need an ER, then go to an ER, not a doctors office, and you should never expect any doctors visit to be absolutely pain free.

The whole experience is awful! I waited 30 minutes in a patient room for the doctor to see me and ended up not even seeing the doctor. Had to make another appointment to go back. Ordered lab results that were not billed correctly. They charged a doctor visit to my insurance for the day I never even saw the doctor. If you need anything from the admin staff, I hope you expect them to NEVER get back to you. I can’t even get them to forward my test results to another doctor so I know what my over charged lab results are! STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS CLINIC AS POSSIBLE.

Went in for a walk-​in with strep symptoms. Got a doc pretty quickly which was nice. Both strep test and mono came up negative and they suggested rest and fluids, and to contact if symptoms got worse. Two days later the pain is unbearable and my throat is so swollen I can’t eat and can barely get anything down. I was in no state to drive; I called three times 7am, 12pm and 4pm and left messages to have the doctor (who they assured me was working) to get back to me. I was never contacted, and I found the service (like many people here) to be cold and uncaring.
I ended up finding another clinic, zoom+ in Cap Hill and was given an immediate appointment. They were able to prescribe antibiotics on site and a medicated mouth wash which alleviated the pain enough for me to finally sleep. And the whole visit was very inexpensive.
I will never use Swedish again, and caution others to look elsewhere if you want doctors who care.

After checking in and waiting 30 minutes, we were told the only provider on duty had gone home 40 minutes ago and none of the staff or manager on duty knew! And the clinic was suppose to be open and taking patients for another 30 minutes!
They didn’t reimburse parking, or refund our deductible that we paid on check-​in. Not to mention wasting our time. The manager/​director on duty wasn’t even on site — she simply ‘phoned-​in’ the instructions to the check-​in desk to send everyone home.
My husband had a dislocated finger that also turned out to be broken — so we had to go to the emergency room and incur a huge cost because we didn’t know in time to go elsewhere for treatment that couldn’t wait until the next morning.

Overbooked and made *me* feel bad about it.
While I understand that doctors are busy, I called in for 3 symptoms, and I was reprimanded for bringing up too many for a single visit. I was *not* informed that one of my requests would cost extra and that it would be free during a physical. They’ve messed up my prescription multiple times. Do not go here. They don’t care about you because their location guarantees business.

I have been to this location three times now for three very different issues and three different people — one child and two adults — and have seen three different doctors and have had the same excellent experience.
On all three occasions we were greeted warmly and empathetically, were seen by a doctor within 15 minutes, and follow-​up tests and results were on-​site and prompt. Every nurse and doctor was kind, empathic and action-​oriented.
I rarely leave reviews for positive reasons, but have had such consistently excellent experiences here these stars are warranted.

This place is the worst. Plan on speaking with incompetent receptionists and medical assistants and seeing your provider every time to you need a refill for a routine medication. Complete waste of my time and insurance dollars.

The main reason why me and my boyfriend tried swedish first is how close it is to where we live and work. But after two years’ visits, we just don’t know if we want to keep going any more. And they are no longer offering walk in services any more.
I had different doctors every time I visited, I had no idea who is my primary care doctor. I don’t really feel like their doctors are very knowledgable. On several occasions, I was even told that «oh, this XXX disease happens all the time without any explanation with what are some possible cause of it. I get it is a very common disease, but it would be nice to get some suggestions from a doctor to see if I need to change some of my routes. I mean, the explanation is less than what WebMD article, I guess that is what you get for urgent care or walk in cause they are in a hurry all the time. Another time, I told my doctor my skin had allergic reaction (having orange spots, and turning patchy and flaky, has burning feelings) after exposing to minimal sun for just 5 minutes, I asked him if that could be photosensitivity which means sun allergy in the simple term. And the doctor said to me «oh, I have never heard of that».
In my boyfriend’s case, he had abnormal blood test result for his liver. Because it is not very serious, at first the doctor just told him to exercise more and eat less. A year and half later, the test result is still not at normal range, and the doctor is still saying the same thing. It would be nice if he offers to refer us to see a specialist or something.
I think we will just check out other clinics in downtown area in the future.

Went this morning with SEVERE dizziness and nausea. Seen by Heather L. Bivens ARNP. The most inadequate assessment I have ever had. She did not spend more than 5 min with me. Look d in my ears by grabbing each ear and not taking time at all. I am an RN so I know what an assessment involves. Forgive my brevity and at spelling errors. My head is still spinning and I will go to the ED. Someone else is typing this for me. I will challenge this and contact my insurance company. There was no contact info online so Unilocal is my only method at this point. I am sick and very disillusioned.

The practitioner did not care at all about my well-​being. I named 4 symptoms, she just checked on 1 (ear discomfort) and insisted on the wrong ear. Then when I called for customer service I got a machine, apparently they don’t talk to customers. Will never go to this or any Swedish again.

Worst experience ever.
While the doctor I saw for my annual ladies appt. was wonderful, everything that happened after that was terrible.
Primarily this has to do with getting the right birth control. Yup, birth control — something that should be as easy to get as Skittles. Somehow between my dumb mail delivery pharmacy and Swedish SLU, this prescription has been screwed up about 5 times in the last 14 months. It always ends with me making multiple phone calls to Swedish because they can’t get their act together and with me close to tears, talking tersely to people who probably don’t deserve to be castigated over the phone. But again, we’re talking about birth control. This shouldn’t be so difficult.
Also had an experience at their urgent care in which the front desk person loudly asked me to explain what my symptoms were. When I politely said I just would like to see a doctor, he demanded to know more & told me the doctor probably couldn’t do anything for me if I didn’t explain. Awful.

I took my sick son here because we could not get in to see his regular doctor. My son (22 months old) has a cold, a diaper rash that has been bleeding and broke out into a rash all over his body. My son was so miserable and in pain he had been waking up every hour for about a week. When the doctor walked in he looked at my son and asked to see his diaper rash, then told me to use diaper cream and he left. No exam or anything. The doctor didn’t even touch him. He was rude and unhelpful and to be so casual about a very sick toddler was disturbing. I called my dr back and then got
My son in right away after hearing about our trip to urgent care. It turns out my son needed antibiotics and a prescription diaper cream. I wouldn’t recommend taking a child here or anyone for that matter. The office was very clean and nice but the doctor (Dr Scott I think) was horrible.

I just broke my finger and stopped by at Swedish. The one in queen anne said I’d have to make an appt for following dat, but This location on South Lake Union takes walk-​ins.
I took x-​rays, and a finger cast.
Whole process took about 20−30min with minimal wait time. Staff were nice and all smiley. We had non-​awkward conversations throughout and I’d probably go back in the future.

Dr. Miller is awesome.
Young cat who knows his stuff. Super friendly, easy to talk to, and comfortable to be around.
Only ding I will give is the wait. It can get pretty ridiculous.

Recently, I had a need to visit an urgent care clinic because my primary care provider was unavailable. I did a bit of research and found this was the only Swedish urgent care clinic in Seattle. I’ve gone to different Swedish facilities over the years and have always been pleased. Also, I knew they would have a record of me so it would be low-​hassle.
This is a nice facility in South Lake Union. Also, the primary care and urgent care clinic are combined. The urgent care part is first come, first serve. When I came in, there wasn’t a very long wait (I believe I waited 5 – 7 minutes). The space was nice and comfortable. When I got to the 2^nd room, you know, the 2^nd room they make you wait in, I was only there for about 2 minutes before a staff member came in to see me. She got the basic information and then asked me if I wanted to sign up for «My Chart» which is a convenient way to access your records online. They had a mobile computer that they wheel over to you if you agree. It’s also a great way to get your mind off of whatever you’re there for. Brilliant!
The nurse practitioner came in next. He did an excellent job of finding out what my reported symptoms were as well as running a few tests. Then, he told me of some things it could be and explained the rest of the testing process. For me, this meant x-​rays.
The x-​ray tech came in next and walked me over to the next stop on my journey. He was very quick and extremely nice.
Overall, I encountered 4 staff members (5 if you count the one I spoke to over the phone). All of them were excellent! As you walk around, you can see that customer service means a lot to Swedish by the hangings on the wall and obvious commitment of their staff. I didn’t want to be there but they made it an overall pleasant experience.

I hate anything medical of any kind so take it to heart when I say that I like this clinic.
The doctor I have along with the one I saw in the urgent care are both great. The receptionists are polite and professional in person and on the phone. The lab assistants are patient. The appointment schedulers are professional and warm. The MA’s I’ve met were all fantastic — patient, good at their job, knew what they were doing, listened to me and one was hilarious and sung to me.
As mentioned, they have an urgent care option if you come in on the weekend.
The clinic is pretty new and the place is really clean. It’s also quiet which is what I want when I don’t feel well.
There’s an attached parking garage, another at the building across the street and on the street out front. They don’t validate parking.

I have been here twice for urgent care… Both times I waited an extremely long time to be seen. One hour or more. That doesn’t seem very urgent!
The lobby is very nice though, I’ll give it that.
The first time I came here I had an eye ulcer (!). I remember waiting a long time in the lobby and then waiting even more in the patient room. Sigh. Wait wait wait. The nurse onsite had to send me to a non Swedish specialist the next day.