UW Neighborhood Northgate Clinic

Don’t come here if you have other options. Doctors here are sales agents, auto mechanics. They will nickel and dime you here. If you are doing a routine check up… please make sure to tell the doctor that you are there for «routine check up only»…otherwise the will charge your insurance some random work.

Have been on hold for 2 hours trying to get lab results that determine whether or not I go back to the hospital. This is ridiculous.

Wow, Dr Tanner really went out on a limb for me! I want to say elso that the staff tried very hard to occomdate my rushed and rather hurried requests. I think that they were just incredible and reasonable in this «crisis» mode thay I regretably dropped on them.

I had been going to the UW Roosevelt clinic before the practice moved to Northgate. At that time the service was always more personable and more tailored. Now I feel the clinic has become like a factory. I still see my therapist who is wonderful and who was at Roosevelt and is at Northgate. But I have stopped seeing the family physicians who seem so overburdened and are terrible at follow-​up. The office front staff is wonderful. But the family physician practice has become a factory.

UW is getting worse and worse. The Northgate clinic seems to have some problem with simple admin/​scheduling stuff that other UW clinics don’t have. As for the UW in general I cannot wait to switch my insurance so I can get away from them as a preferred provider — they may have great doctors and caregivers but the administration is severely lacking in competence. Mixed messages, mix ups, weeks to get back to people, etc. have become common place.

I’ve been here a dozen + times and had positive experiences. Considering the friendly, quick, compassionate care I’ve received, I was surprised by the negativity of many comments. Check-​in has always been friendly and while I’ve lined up at check-​in on some occasions, I’ve never waited more than a couple minutes to talk to reception. I’ve had to make and change appointments quite a bit, but haven’t found myself waiting extraordinarily long to be seen, even when I’ve changed appointments last minute or run late. Being an extension of a training hospital, I wasn’t surprised at being treated by physicians in training, and considering my changing schedule I wasn’t surprised that I saw different doctors on several occasions. Some reviews report being treated by a trainee without a supervising physician in the room, but I haven’t seen this to be the case. On several occasions I had training staff in the room along with the physician, and I was typically asked beforehand if this was the OK. I’ve not felt that it was a challenge to get care or tests I needed or wanted. I do wish the UW would do away with the central switchboard, or at least make it possible to call through to the Northgate front desk, to facilitate last minute scheduling. Otherwise, I wouldn’t change much.

The office staff I’ve found to be fine and courteous, as are the lab staff but the residents there seem to have little experience with anything even remotely outside the textbook. I thought the doctors there would be actual doctors, having graduated and have some experience but you only see residents so basically they charge regular rates to see inexperienced doctors still in school. Even the billing is done under some other doctor’s name (who has graduated) so the billing is confusing with doctors you never have seen billing you.
I don’t know if this is system wide across all UW clinics, but I have not been impressed with the care there largely due to the lack of experience. I’ve seen 3 doctors there, and they seem really quick to deny symptoms, deny treatment, deny, deny, deny, so my guess is they are required to keep costs down for their networked health insurers. That seems to be a much higher priority than patient health. I’m all for keeping costs down if possible, but when it just leads to expensive ER trips, it makes things even more expensive.
You get the feeling there that patient care is the very last priority, below keeping costs down, resident’s research priorities, the bureaucracy, etc. If you need stitches, or need blood pressure meds or something I’m sure they are fine, but I felt like a guinea pig when I was there, with the residents simply making wild guesses at what ailed me, rather than listening to the patient, going over their history, excluding what can be excluded, etc. It was more like they only had a couple of minutes, so they are just going to make a guess and see what happens. Not good medicine if you ask me.
I had to demand one of the doctors I saw to order a simple blood test that another non UW doctor had suggested, and then after arguing with me and refusing to order it, and me insisting, he threatened that insurance wouldn’t pay for it (which they did) so I said I’ll pay for it then. The test came back at the highest numbers but still in UW’s «normal range» despite already being on the medication to keep levels down, and he just dismissed the results leaving me in a bad situation requiring more medication, but he wouldn’t prescribe it since it was «very expensive».
I thought their email/​web service was pretty cool, since you can check your test results, book appointments, keep medical records in one place, but if the resident doesn’t email you back or answer your questions, then what’s the point? As well I went to a lot of bother to find my vaccine record (actually had to make an FOIA request) so they could have my records, but after asking them a few times to include that in my digital record, its still not there, and looks like I have no vaccinations. As well, since they had my records, when I went to another non UW doctor who needed access to them, he spent the entire appointment waiting for their system to load the records. It took 30 minutes to get the web page to load. I had to go back again at a later date. So I am not impressed considering what they charge patients and the taxpayer. I was worried when UW basically turned medicine in Seattle into a monopoly, taking over Northwest hospital, and all other hospitals, and my fears it seems were well founded. Its turned into one huge faceless bureaucracy where patients are just a number in an accounting system.
So I would have to agree with other reviewers here that the operation seems to be about making as much money as possible, throughput, and training students. It felt like they should be paying me to use me as a test subject. I’ve since gone elsewhere and had much better and more thorough care for less money, and got properly tested, treated and am recovering. It didn’t end up being a difficult diagnosis or treatment, but the medication is expensive. I can’t help that, and my health care shouldn’t be based on what the medication will cost the insurance company.

We really think Dr. Gomez is a good doctor, sometimes it’s just hard to find a doctor that you like.

I had a terrible experience. Very unprofessional and unorganized. Will not be going back and I advise to avoid it.

Super crowded. Waited for my dr for over a hour. I thought he was busy with patients. Shows up and said he couldn’t find parking was out to lunch. Seemed in a rush probably because he was behind. Don’t appreciate wasting my time, if he hadn’t even shown up yet why make me wait in the tiny room.

I was shocked at how different this clinic is compared to the other UW clinics.
Honestly, it was no different than the Harborview emergency room waiting area. Packed, loud, kids screaming, cracked out people– my anxiety was at an all time high sitting in there.
I normally go to the Ravenna clinic, which is almost like a spa compared to this place.

Policies prevent doctors from forming good relationships with patients. Appointments are between 15 – 30 minutes, and most of the time is taken up by medical assistants getting vitals, history, medications, etc. Doctors are reimbursed more if they meet the policy goals. Appointments are made in call centers instead of with office staff, it’s not a welcoming environment when you feel like the entire machine is designed for maximum throughput of warm bodies.

Wow! Awful experience (once again with UW Medicine).
From the interaction with the doctor (s), it is obvious they want to keep your business ONLY within their UW branch (es). So, if you need a referral they will try to convince you that you stay with their specialist (s) «because your insurance does not like to pay expensive specialists from out of UW network»… like they are the only ones listed as preferred providers or what??? Seriously??? And they are so good at it, it starts to become threatening to you as a patient. My doctor literally postponed the continuation of my care because she first wanted to know why I did not want to see a doctor (specialist) after seeing him only once. I asked to be referred to my previous specialist (that is with The Polyclinic) that I was happy with, but she refused it for more than a week stating she first wanted to find out what I did not like about the UW specialist. All the experience in just one month is enough for me to take a hike and find better human beings that serve as docs actually. So long UW Medicine…
PLEASE DO NOT GO HERE!!!
And NO, I would NOT refer my worst enemy to this place.

While the staff are nice, the environment is welcoming, and I appreciate a lot about UW medical center on Northgate, I’ve just had such mixed, unhelpful interactions with them that I can’t recommend them.
The culture of UW Medicine is one that can’t deal with any but the most textbook of cases. They are inflexible around the idea of integrating alternative medicine with traditional care. Mostly residents serving as doctors, so you’re not getting doctors with a lot of experience. Yet, they seem resistant to refering out to specialists. It’s especially hard to get a straight answer on a referal, since they only refer to within the UW system. (And, if you need physical therapy, you’ll get an unrequested call from their own physical therapists. That’s right, they’re sharing your information without your permission to gain your buisness in another branch.)
Having residents as doctors makes UW a lot more cautious and less able to take on complicated cases. Also, even though you get a «regular» doctor, it’s so difficult to schedule with them, and they have so many patients, that there’s no continuity of care. You’d think all of this would mean a lower doctor’s visit bill, but they’re the same cost of going to Seattle’s top-​rated family medicine doctors.
Skip UW and find a more highly rated clinic.

Being in the medical field, their patient care is completely inadequate. Of course you’re expected to arrive 5 – 15 minutes early for your appointment so you can fill out paperwork. I arrived at 12:50 (10 minutes before my appointment) and the doors were locked because they were out to lunch. I had to wait outside until 1:00 in the COLD. I was already upset.
The medical assistant was not friendly at all and rolled her eyes when she was given an additional task due to a walk-​in.
At the end of my visit, the doctor pretty much was like, «okay, take care.» I was left in the room, a bit confused to where I had to make another appointment, where to exit. I believe you should be escorted out because this is what we do at the clinic I work at.
I’m mostly writing this review because I received my bill for $ 200. Two hundred dollars for what? It was a 10 minute visit and the doctor just wrote me some scripts without getting to know me as a patient and taking a deeper look into my problem.

I’ve been with UW Family medicine for over 6 years now. The clinic was at Roosevelt and has moved the Northgate. My doctor delivered my second baby, and will deliver my third. We’ve been happy with this clinic and our doctor.
Yes, it can be a bit slow going here at times. My doctor is very thorough, so she tends to run late. But, they keep you informed on how behind she is, and try to be as accommodating as possible. And, I know when I do see her, she will still take the time needed for me.
The staff here is great. Everyone at the check-​in/​scheduling desk is super helpful and friendly. The lab staff is wonderful, too. They are kind, informative, and empathetic to patients. I had to take a 3 hour glucose test for gestational diabetes. Because it’s such a long process, Cathy got me in as quickly as possible, but asked the patient before me if I could go ahead first. She then made sure I was comfortable for me long stretch, by setting me up with blankets and a pillow in a back room with a sofa, so I didn’t have to sit in the waiting area.
I also like that the parking here is free, so even if things are running behind, I’m not worried about the extra parking fees. It’s also convenient, right off I-​5, rather than circling the one-​way streets in the U District.

I have been coming to UW Medicine since I was a boy. I see one of the top physicians in the state, so I’m loyal. However this review is for the clinic, not my physician.
I used to go to the Roosevelt UWMC clinic, which was much more convenient for me. Unfortunately they closed it and moved up to Northgate, which blows chunks. The clinic facilities are new and very nice, but the traffic is terrible. It took me over an hour to get home after my appointment! From Roosevelt, it was max 20 minutes (and no I-​5 required).
The other problem with UW Medicine is that I always seem to spend over half my time waiting. There’s a wait to check in. There’s a wait to see the physician. There’s a long wait to have blood drawn. Maybe this is the norm for clinics, but I think there is a better way to manage and staff a clinic.
I think the quality of care is excellent, but it of course depends on how proactive you are. The one other thing I really like is their eCare online system – it’s great for asking your doctor questions, requesting prescription refills, scheduling appointments and checking your health history.
PS: I drafted this review while I was waiting to have blood drawn.

This place is awesome! It’s clean and the people at the front desk are super friendly! What do people expect when you go to the doctors office??? Yes you will not always be seen on time at ANY doctors visit. If you have any knowledge of what goes on behind close doors then you know waiting to be seen is expected and not everyone is at the doctors for the same reason. So I give this place 5 stars because of the cleanliness, friendly staff and knowledgeable doctors.

Arrived 5 – 10 minutes early (2pm), departed without being seen at 3:30.
«Dr.» Sperry is a student orderly at best… her «supervisor» not much further along. I kid you not — she «googled» how to assess my foot injury while I was sitting right there. She wasn’t skilled to address my problem so she asked if I’d like a tetanus shot — just because I am there… yeah, I dont think she is coming anywhere near me with a needle.
In their favor, we got free gift cards to the café across the street — The Jewel Box. Nice touch but screams that they are in this situation often.
Is the UW actually putting their name on this? Come on UW — Show some pride!
I wouldn’t let this clinic trim a hang nail on my Husky.

Ok.
So here’s the deal.
I went to UW Medicine at Northgate as I was needing to go see a doctor and had recently changed employers/​insurance and didn’t want to deal with my old Polyclinic location which was now in a painful part of town.
The first time it seemed like a nice place (it was around 6:30 so it was pretty dead).
The second time I came back it was around 4:30 and the place had a totally different vibe to it.
I felt like I was in more of an «Urgent Care» and I had to wait despite being on time. The clients around me were just a bit much for me. There were folks who were super young and some mixed families and some professionals.
I ended up leaving this clinic and going to a specialist for my care as I didn’t feel they offered me the staff that was experienced enough for my needs and the follow up was poor (Nurse was to call me next day with lab info and didn’t call me for about a week).