Alfonso Castro's Online Review Report Card

I had a scheduled appointment with Dr. Castro on 51121. Immediately following my appointment while still in the office a followup appointment was made. I was told the only day Dr. Castro could see me was on 61521 at noon and was informed that he would be “coming from the hospital” specifically for my followup appointment. I had to adjust my personal schedule to accommodate for this yet this was not the issue. The issue was that the 2 different medications prescribed to me for chronic insomnia were not working and he was VERY difficult to get a hold of. I called the office with his medical assistant “Rossie” informing me she was the only point of contact for Dr. Castro. I called numerous times with no follow through on their 24hour call back policy. Although I did receive notice that Rossie did receive my aformentioned message within the 24hour period I was only told that she had emailed Dr. Castro. I then did not hear ANYTHING back from this office for 4 DAYS. During this time my sleep continued to suffer. During that time I also had to Google how much you could increase a dose of the medication that was prescribed to me. When I did receive a phone message back after these 4 days had passed my question was finally answered by Rossie saying I could increase my dose a certain amount for the next 3 days and to then call them back after these 3 days lapsed on Monday 61421.When I called them back on this Monday to let them know my sleep had not improved at all that is when my 4day waiting period began. If I had known I could increase it more than my new physician Google had advised maybe I would have found more relief and my sleep not extremely suffering more than before I went into this office. There was also miscommunication given to this physician about which medication I was asking about a dosage increase for. One of the times I called I had left a very detailed message about which medication I was asking about. I knew I was at the highest dosage of the other. In the voicemail I received back my question was then answered incorrectly telling me not to take more of the medication I WASN’T asking about. It was the same when I was on the phone with Rossie with me having to ask her to let me finish what I was trying to ask so she could answer my question correctly. It seems like she didn’t fully listen to my voicemail either. Then on 61421 the day before my scheduled follow–up appointment I received a phone call that my appointment needed to be rescheduled to 63021 due to Dr. Castro working in the hospital? What happened to me arranging my schedule so I could see him at what I was told was the “only” day and time I could see him for my followup appointment. How does this lend to caring for your patients? It felt like abandonment. I let this office know that I found the lack of treatment from this physician unacceptable and wanted to file a complaint. I did not receive a phone call back from the person in charge of taking complaints back about this for a WEEK. I then called my primary physician and she had a new medication for me to try calling me at 8 PM on 61421 to let me know it was in the pharmacy which I immediately went and picked up before they closed at 9 PM on the SAME DAY. My physician works at 4 different offices and is very busy also. But her patient care does not suffer because of it. At my first appointment with Dr. Castro I verbalized to him that I wanted to be able to stay in touch if these medications weren’t working. He had told me I could call the office. If you’ve read this far you know that didn’t work at all. The result was decreased focus energy and of course sleep. The office also left a message another time again not answering my questions regarding changing medication and instead told me I needed to make a followup appointment. I had—for 61521—the first and last time I entered this office. Communication and my car

Dr Castro is a very caring doctor. He answers all my questions and acts like he really cares. He has been my doctor for 4 years and I would not want to see anyone else. My only complaint is that he is never on time. I usually wait about 30 mins past my appointment time to see him. The office staff is very friendly. I dont really care for their procedures. Having to sit and wait after the visit is over so that you can check out really makes the appointment last forever.

This Dr barely answers questions can’t wait to get out the door fast enough. Tells spouse to ‘get him to eat drink’ ‘keep him awake during day’ but when asked for suggestions said ‘Good luck’. If that’s all he can contribute when a patient is in need of help not doing well he’s not a physician who cares — let alone competent.

Always takes time to hear me and respond clearly. Shows concern for his patients. Horrible phone system the worst Ive ever encountered but good Doctors and staff.

If you want to have a positive experience this is not the place to go. He seems like a nice man but his staff in my experience is very slipshod. Each visit Ive had resulted in some problem created by his staff. The problems range from screwed up appointments no follow up on referrals to forgetting to call in prescriptions. Ive decided to leave his care.

This doctor is not Board Certified which I did not know at first. He is a nice man but made me ask for 3 yrs. before allowing me to change settings on my CPAP machine to use it as it was intended. The big problem here is the office staff which is the worst Ive ever seen. You are dead once you leave. They do not return calls. They do not respond to faxes. I had to have a supervisor from my DME call the ofc. mgr. to get a script I was promised that day after 3 weeks of no responses.

Caring soft spoken competent care