Andrew Ross's Online Review Report Card

After being a patient of the Berkeley Primary Care group for 50 years (I was in my early 20s when I began seeing Dr. Gordon Benner (excellent Dr.!), and then Dr. Charles McLaughlin (when Dr. Benner retired) I was hoping to stay with the physician who took over the practice, Dr. Andrew Ross. Not only would Dr. Ross not extend previous prescriptions Dr. McLaughlin had written, his office informed me that because I have Medicare (and pay $800+ a month for very good supplemental coverage!) he would not take me as a patient because my supplemental insurance is a PPO, not an HMO. The office staff member who dealt with me on the phone was beyond rude and indifferent. And, now the phone for Berkeley Primary Care has been disconnected without any forwarding guidance. Being "of a certain age" and searching for a new primary care physician is not for the faint of heart!

Dr. Ross is personable and amusing. BUT. I went to him and complained about my high heart rate at the gym. He never even asked me how high, said that it was because I was out of shape. He received lab tests showing that my thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was abnormally low and did nothing. I eventually figured out from a scientific meeting that this TSH level meant that I was hyperthyroid, and I turned out to have the autoimmune disorder Graves' disease, which was causing the high heart rate and the low TSH. Once it was treated, my TSH level and my heart rate at the gym became normal. He completely ignored the obvious TSH problem and never even asked me about my heart rate. A close relative of mine also went to Dr. Ross and developed persistent and disturbing itching all over. Dr Ross sent the relative to numerous dermatologists over a 6-month period. Itching is also a sign of liver disease, which it took Dr. Ross months to notice. My relative turned out to have liver cancer. Dr. Ross said that the tumor could just be cut out, but in fact it was inoperable and my relative lived for only a few years after that. My advice is go to him if you want someone cheery, amusing and friendly, but better Google your own symptoms if you want a diagnosis.

I've been going to Dr Ross for over 25 years and having always found him to be an amazingly knowledgeable and caring doctor!

Went in for my first in person check up since way before the pandemic yesterday. It's been many years since I had such a great experience with my primary care doctor! Dr. Ross has only been my doctor for a year or 2, and most of that time has been during the pandemic, so we were not well acquainted. I found him to be very warm and friendly and he made me comfortable with his sense of humor and his generally open and caring attitude toward me. He spent a lot of time addressing all of my concerns, gave me lots of useful information, and was nice enough to print out his appointment summary for me to take with me to refer to later. I'm really glad he's my doctor.

I don't get the reviews about the rude or unresponsive office staff at this practice. We have had the opposite experience: they are the quickest to respond of most MD staffs I've had to deal with, the quickest to get us in when there is a health issue, the quickest to get requested Rx's filled and refilled, etc. - it's so quick it's almost real-time, and often, Dr. Ross himself responds, sometimes even taking time to respond in off-hours. I know I can always get through to them, in stark contrast to MANY other practices I've been to. The staff is perhaps a little gruff in their diction but they GET THE JOB DONE, THEY GET IT DONE QUICKLY, and they are aware of the importance of getting back to you and dealing with issues. Dr. Ross, aka Dr. Andy, is also brilliant. He is friendly and casual, which may sometimes be taken for snark, but when it comes to matters of life or death I prefer a genius with a little snark to a sweet but less-than-stellar clinician, hands down.

I've been seeing Doctor Ross for several years now, and highly recommend him as a Primary Care Physician. He helped diagnose a condition that was missed by other doctors, and his treatment and advice has always been incredibly accurate. Beyond that, he seems to really care and take time to listen to his patients.

I took my 88 year old Mother in establish "New Patient" status. She is now staying with me since CoVid, I couldn't send her back to Michigan. We saw Dr. Ross's Nurse Practitioner, Smith. He checked my Mom over, ordered labs and was billed $430. We came back for our lab results, a scheduled visit and was given a "wellness test" (basically a Dementia test), we weren't asked if we would like it, we weren't told, they just did it and they billed Medicare $300. In fact they informed us it was required which is not true. I am appalled at this unprofessional Gouging. I plan on writing the Medical Board.

The office staff is the worst I've ever had to deal with. Trying to leave critical message for the doctor was impossible. I left three messages for my doctor and told the office staff the messages were critical. Not one of those messages made it through to my doctor.I called and left a message for Dr. Ross to contact me to discuss the problems That was never accomplished because the office staff refuses to leave my message for Dr. Ross. Wait time to even leave a message was impossible because the office staff claims they have 11 lines and only one person to answer. Awful office management. I would never recommend this medical practice if you want good and normal service. Try calling yourself and see how long you have to wait just to get through the someone.

Dr. Andrew Ross is an extremely knowledgable, personable care taker. I have been under the care of Dr. Ross since the mid 1990s. He has supported me through a number of medical issues, pointed me in the direction of other care providers where it met up against the boundaries of his expertise (surgeons), and has never failed to make me smile. I deeply appreciate his medical opinions and his humble approach to sticky problems. At my last visit, I commented to Dr. Ross about his courteous and professional front office staff. I moved from Oakland to San Francisco in 2012 and make the trip to maintain my relationship with Dr. Ross.

Dr Ross is a terrific man and a great doctor. Everything you read here is true. He is patient, caring, and realistic about treatment. I feel fortunate to be his patient. But dealing with his staff can be a nightmare. They're incompetent and refuse to correct things when they are obviously wrong. Worse, they're surly bordering on outright nasty to patients. I know it's difficult to work with some of the people that come through this office. And I know it's difficult to find good staff in Berkeley these days. But someone really needs to step up here and work with the staff on improving.