Ellen Mcdonald's Online Review Report Card

Dr. McDonald is wonderful. She was my father's primary care physician for a number of years and he had nothing by the highest compliments for her. Sadly, he passed away recently, but in the last months of his life, she was incredibly attentive, very helpful and caring to my brother and I. She even stepped up without being asked to help coordinate his care among all his various physicians and caregivers, something which had been quite overwhelming to me before her generous offer. I will always be grateful to her for the wonderful treatment she gave my father and for the compassion and support she provided to my brother and I.

Dr. McDonald is wonderful. She was my father's primary care physician for a number of years and he had nothing by the highest compliments for her. Sadly, he passed away recently, but in the last months of his life, she was incredibly attentive, very helpful and caring to my brother and I. She even stepped up without being asked to help coordinate his care among all his various physicians and caregivers, something which had been quite overwhelming to me before her generous offer. I will always be grateful to her for the wonderful treatment she gave my father and for the compassion and support she provided to my brother and I.

A wonderful and caring physician. She is always available to answer questions by email or to see us in person. No waiting for weeks to see a doctor when you are sick. Also, kind and smart and thorough.

She is a refreshing change after 30 years with my previous doctor. I can get in to see HER not a nurse, she listens attentively and has a great "bedside manner". I cannot say enough good things about her. I don't like going to the doctor but now when I do I don't dread the visit.

After waiting for 4 long months for my first appointment with Dr.McDonald I was hoping for the best after the good reviews I'd seen. It seemed she was very thorough and spent the time to go over my medical history and list of current problems, but I was surprised when she said "which of these issues do you want to deal with, because you can only work on one at a time". Every time I saw her after that she sent me to a specialist for whichever problem I was having, as if her office was merely a referral service even for minor issues. The several specialists she recommended never worked out because each of them either demanded months in advance for appointments, wouldn't take insurance (PPO!), or were not taking new patients, leaving me to have to find doctors on my own. I still felt that she was listening to me when I visited her office, even though my health problems were not being resolved until one time when blood tests were taken and she called with the results saying that everything looked fine, and gave results that I knew were totally inaccurate due to an existing problem I had. When I mentioned it, she was obviously rattled then said it was the fault of the lab and she'd have to get back to me. If she had even briefly looked at my chart before calling she would have noticed the inaccuracy, and it never was clear who was really at fault for the oversight, her or the lab. The last straw was when her office sent a letter stating that in order to provide a 'boutique' medical service they would be charging an annual concierge fee of $700., that a lot of doctors were doing this, and if I didn't want to pay it they could transfer my files to a new doctor. I DON'T HAVE $700. to pay as a medical retainer, and after all this time with her, none of the health problems I originally saw her about were taken care of. In the end, she was an elitist waste of time and my health issues are still not resolved. Really disappointed.

Dr. McDonald has been very good for me. I have no problem with her as a doctor. I just called to make an appointment and the receptionist told me she is going "Concierge Services". Never heard of it.It seems the doctor feels she has too many patients and can't give quality care. So, she would still accept my insurance-United Healthcare, but she would be charging me a 'membership' fee. This is how it was described to me by the receptionist. And for me the fee would be $700 a year. I'm 49 and I've never heard of this. Sadly, I am leaving and going to someone else as of today. I see my new doctor Monday. But I hear he is just as good so I'm somewhat relieved that I won't be paying an additional $700 a year in addition to what my insurance costs.

This review has been removed for violating our Terms of Service

I love Dr. Mcdonald. I've been a patient of hers for over 3 years. I have nothing bad to say about her. I really enjoy my visits with her for whatever I am there for. She is understanding, listens, & really seems to care about you. The only thing I would love to see improvement on is her scheduling, bookings & front office staff. As a previous yelper wrote, it seems as though you can never get a same day appt. when you are truly ill. I've had this happen to me 3-4x since being her patient. The front office just doesn't seem to be sympathetic & rather is starting to treat her patients on the phone like #'s in line. Out of frustration with this, I tell them to please have her call in a Rx for whatever I have because I can't wait days at a time to see her when I'm sick. Cold, ear ache etc. She does usually do this, but the front office is not good at communication. I find myself calling them all the time for follow up & all I ever hear is how busy they are or she is. I just wish her front office staff would demonstrate more compassion for her patients & their urgency to her or speak with her. After all, her front staff is the initial feeling of that office itself. Please Dr. McDonald have your staff trained to be better & caring with your patients. Also, try to free up your schedules for your patient who are sick.

DR McDonald is an a amazing doctor, she is always considerate and caring. Her staff is amazing and so so helpful, anytime we have needed help they have been there for us immediately , we don't hear " oh we will have to get back to you with that" and then never hear from them again, which has been mine and my families past experience with other Doctors and their staff, they seem to actually know their patients and care about them!

WOW ! My Wife was running late to her appointment with Dr. Ellen and I called the office to inform them that my wife is stuck in trafic. I told the receptionst that she will be running late into there lunch hour (12-1 Closed) and they said they will wait for her!I was absolutely shocked that they said that. That shows they care about their patients and go the extra mile! Thanks Dr Ellen.Mark Stewart