Oceana Primary Care PA

It's been a long time since I've had a doctor who spends time to really listen, asks questions, and can diagnose and resolve health issues with prevention and wellness in mind. Her staff is so friendly and personable, it always feels like a family visit rather than a doctor's office visit. It's such a relief to have found Dr. Patel and Oceana Primary Care.

I've been going here for 6 years and never had any issues until the past couple of years!! If you want to know the TRUTH, keep reading: - Dr. Patel is extremely flooded and overwhelmed with patients. She's taking on more patients than she can handle. Just take a look at her wall-sized filing cabinet when you walk in... - You WILL wait for 45mins- 1hour every time, and you'll only be seen for 5 minutes or less. This has been true for the past 3 years. - If you have to call Dr. Patel and request a prescription, trust that you won't be getting that medication sent over to the pharmacy any time soon. It took me multiple calls over the course of 3-4 days just to get my prescription actually sent out by Dr. Patel. This pattern has continued for over a year now and it's very unprofessional and unethical. Half the time she never sent it and I have to call back to figure out why... Zero communication skills... terrible receptionist. - Dr. Patel will deny any prescription you need filled if you haven't paid a previous balance! So sorry to those who have a lapse in insurance and require insulin.. definitely wouldn't go here if I were you. - The receptionist Mary is the absolute worst receptionist I've ever encountered in my life and I recommend she consider another profession. Chuck-e-cheese was the first place that came to mind. She does not return calls, has a nasty attitude over the phone, calls me "love" in a snarky way.. over and over again..(don't call patients 'love', they have a name), and she has absolutely no clue what's going on in the business. Mary didn't even know if I had insurance last time I came in..?? Matter of fact, Dr. Patel even asked me if I had insurance?? FYI my insurance has been the same (BCBS) for over a year and a half now and I just saw them a few weeks ago and they even asked me the same exact question then too.... shows you how much they pay attention. They shouldn't have to ask me if I have insurance because 1) it should already be on file, and 2) I already answered this question when you saw me three weeks ago and the answer was yes, my insurance hasn't changed and will not be changing. - Dr. Patel misdiagnosed me on 3 different occasions.. and I had to get another doctor to evaluate me because she didn't know what was going on. Sometimes I thought that she was just guessing what could be wrong. All she does is talk to you for two minutes and then prescribes you medication.. she doesn't really care what's going on, and it's like she's in a rush to get you out of there. - I verbally spoke with Mary on a call a few weeks ago and made her aware that I have chosen to no longer be a patient of Dr. Patel and that she was pretty much fired from being my doctor. I even asked how I can get my medical records released. I've had my new PCP booked for months already because I was planning on leaving. Today I get a letter in the mail stating that Dr. Patel is the one discharging me!! How unethical and spiteful! How dare she claim that she is the one discharging me? I'm the one discharging her as my doctor! If this is something that gets put into my medical record I will be taking legal action. Trust me when I tell you.. it used to be better here.. it truly did. And now the place is a walking circus. Do remember that I have been a patient here for 6 YEARS, so please do consider the above points. I know she doesn't have many reviews, but I do encourage you to pay attention to ones like these that actually detail what's really going on. If you are in the middle of searching for a doctor, I recommend looking somewhere else because this isn't it.

Dr Patel is taking on more patients than she can handle at this practice. I recently switched doctors offices for a few reasons: 1) On a few occasions I was left in a room for 45 mins to an hour before Dr Patel saw me for all of 5-10 mins and was super rushed. One time I actually got up and walked out because I had somewhere to be and was running late because of her being so behind schedule...the receptionist called me and rescheduled and I have them another chance.. 2) Dr Patel SEEMS like th type of doctor that will run tests to find out what is causing all your health issues but she's also the type of dr that gives up on you when she can't quickly diagnose you. I was sent in circles so much by her, had dramatic weight loss, lightheadedness, severe joint pain, chronic low iron, and at one point she snapped at me and finally said if I didn't gain weight back in a few weeks she would have to order a PET scan and to quote what she said "I don't care if you have to drink a glass of milk and eat a donut every morning, eat 2,000 calories a day and come back to see me and if you don't gain weight I'll have to order a pet scan and insurance doesn't like to approve those!" I had even told her I have ARFID which is an anxiety based eating disorder so it felt extremely unhinged for her to tell me to just eat whatever to get 2,000 calories. How is that helpful? I asked for recommendations for the ARFID and instead of referring me to an eating disorder specialist she just said to eat more..gee wish I thought of that before 2) when I was unable to gain weight despite following her dangerous advice to shove my face with food, I followed her instructions and went to my follow up appointment where she asked me why I was there..I told her I was doing what she said and trying to find out why even after eating more I was shedding all of the weight..I also asked about my joint pain and low iron and she suggested Zoloft and was a bit passive aggressive and asked "what do you want, a bone marrow biopsy?! You want to go to UNC specialist hemat?!0 I felt very attacked by her and was in tears because she clearly didn't want to help anymore. Then she finally said "I think try Zoloft. I think this is anxiety causing this and idk why the low iron"...I asked for the UNC referral still out of desperation.. ...finally, I want to say I have been in and out of the ER the last month due to rectal bleeding, intestinal inflammation found on a ct of my abdomen and severe weight loss still. Thanks for blaming my very real problems on anxiety and Thanks for absolutely nothing Dr Patel. I hope my GI Dr can tell me what's wrong.

Dr Patel is hands down the best primary care physician I have had my entire life. I was her patient for 10 years. Unfortunately I moved away from ILM. She is kind, caring and a wonderful person. Her staff is also amazing, especially Casey.

Dr. Patel, Mary and staff are truly amazing!! They were so kind and got us In so quickly! I am truly thankful for them and what they represent as a primary care provider