Doctor recommendations?

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Permalink Reply by Masshole in Fringecrest on December 18, 2007 at 11:40am

I'm on United Health Care, which is mostly Presbyterian aligned, but maybe you'll be accepted by my favorite "Primary Care Physician" place- Center for Integrative Medicine on Constitution PLACE, 1st street just North of 1-40 on the West side of Wyoming. The physician there is Dr. Aaron Kaufman, and I see mainly PA Larry Hamner. I am pretty sure there are Women Docs there, too. They lean towards "Eastern" approaches and the holistic side of things, which I find to be very good, especially in the exploratory/early stages of not feeling too well.

Give them a shot. You can even get chiropractic adjustments and maybe even acupunctuire on "regular" insurance there.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah on May 30, 2008 at 3:46pm

I also have United and use the Kaseman Adult Healthcare office also in this area. Doctor Luz Kwan, who specializes in Internal Medicine, is great.

UNMH is terrible to deal with when you're well, and absolutley hell to deal with if you are actually ill/requiring treatment.

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Permalink Reply by Benny the Icepick on June 6, 2008 at 3:05pm

This just in: the center just moved up to Montgomery. Dr. Hamner is still at the same location on Constitution, but I'm actually looking to drop him after putting up with him for about six months.

I went in for my first physical in three years - my first since moving to Albuquerque, my first since going vegetarian, my first since taking up cycling, and most importantly, my first with Dr. Hamner.

He seemed completely disinterested in my family history and other health concerns. His big advice? He handed me a diet sheet for a low-insulin diet. Considering I have almost no chance of contracting diabetes, this pissed me off. After hearing about the health history of my family, instead of giving me advice on how to avoid these things, he just said, "Listen, kid, the only thing you have to worry about is getting hit by a truck."

Oh, and the test results came back, and my HDL cholesterol is too low. His advice? Drink more alcohol.

So much for preventative care. I'm looking for a new PCP myself.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Brotz on July 1, 2008 at 8:52am

You might be at the stage of life when you can get more preventative care information from the internet than from a doctor. My impression of doctors is that they're way to busy to talk to healthy people. That's a problem because I think we agree on the value of prevention, but the internet has all the information on medicine, traditional Western or alternative, that you'll need, as long as you take the time to sift through it.

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Permalink Reply by JMG on July 2, 2008 at 8:58pm

[[His advice? Drink more alcohol.]]

What's this guy's phone number again?

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Permalink Reply by Roger A. Rubio on December 18, 2007 at 12:09pm

I don't know if you can get onto Presbyterian insurance (or just deal with Pres doctors in general), but I have always had good experiences with Presbyterian. They took excellent care of me when my appendix burst, and they have always been open-minded when it comes to alternative treatments (such as zinc and echinacea for colds, chiropractic care for your back, etc.). My PCP is Dr. Dion Gallant, and he got me on a good track to treat my sleepiness during the day (which turned out to be sleep apnea; good thing I went to the doctor!).

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Permalink Reply by Grumpy on December 18, 2007 at 2:13pm

Clara, from the comments I'm not sure where you had the bad experience. Was it the Center For Integrative Medicine or Pres?

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Permalink Reply by Kitson Harvey on January 21, 2008 at 10:06pm

I'm going to bring this back to the top because I've switched to Blue Cross Blue Shield and, frankly, didn't have a primary care doc anyway but would now like to find one. Any ideas from BC/BS subscribers?

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Permalink Reply by Dianne P. on January 22, 2008 at 8:05am

I go to Timothy Grenemeyer D.O. - he's at the Lovelace physicians office on Juan Tabo near Indian School. Such a fantastic doctor. I went in with shoulder pain, and rather than just prescribing pain killers like some doctors might do, he actually worked with my shoulder to figure out exactly where the impingement was and talked to me about ways to avoid hurting it again. I hadn't ever seen a D.O. before, so I was unsure of the differences, and he sat with me for a while and talked to me about it. It is so nice to have a doctor that will take the time to actually talk to you.

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Permalink Reply by J-Fro on January 22, 2008 at 2:39pm

When I was on BCBS, I saw Preston Matthews D.O. who is in the same practice as Dr. Grenemeyer. He's great: always remembered me and my previous visits, asked after my dogs etc. plus, he was very good about giving me ways to avoid further illness/injury depending on my complaint. He takes a wholistic approach to wellness which is nice if you're looking for more than a quick Rx. That said, their office staff can be kind of short and abrupt, but totally worth piercing their crusty exterior to get to the docs.

Now I see Dr. Mark Ungverzagt who has a one-man clinic downtown and I really like him. He has the same wholisitc approach and it's just him (no office staff) so when you call, you actually get to talk to your doctor. Near unheard of in this day and age! Since his practice is small, he may not be accepting new patients though. You can get more info on his practice here

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Alison Armstrong on January 28, 2008 at 7:26am

Dr. Patricia Lynn Bryant over on Jefferson rocks. She is also one of the very few who takes the time to listen to your concerns and likes to try different things. I know she is part of United and Pres networks, not sure what else.

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Permalink Reply by Aly Sanchez on January 28, 2008 at 3:25pm

Elizabeth Bretton is good. She doesn't rush through exams and answers questions well. The staff is polite. I had her while on Lovelace. She's a provided for BCBS. Not sure what other networks she belongs to.

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