Alexander Chalko's Online Review Report Card

He told me he retired! If he's back, I'm glad bc he's a fine psychiatrist

I was a patient of Dr. Chalko's for 3 years, and it was more out of apathy than quality of treatment, as his office was within a 5-minute drive of my residence. During my time as his patient, I witnessed his office staff talking openly about their personal grievances with their employment as well as their own personal lives, and I found all this to be highly unprofessional but I remained as his patient due to the aforementioned ease in accessing his office. The final straw of the 3-year relationship was when Dr. Chalko left to go on vacation for 3-4 weeks, and DIDN'T BOTHER TO HAVE A COLLEAGUE ON CALL FOR HIS PATIENTS during his extended absence. In 25 years of seeing a psychiatrist, I've never even heard of such. During this time, I accidentally left my sleeping aid prescription in my pant pocket and it went through the washer, rendering the paper illegible and useless. When I called his office, I was told that I would have to wait 3 weeks for his return and that no doctor was available in his absence(thank heavens I wasn't in a situation in which I might have been hospitalized). Upon the realization that I would be fortunate to get an hour of sleep/night over the next 3 weeks due to my extreme insomnia, and (politely) voicing my displeasure to his receptionist that no doctor was on-call for his patients, she curtly exclaimed, "You can look for another doctor to see - good luck, because I know you won't find one." I imemdiately hung up - her lack of empathy, boldfaced indignance, and unwillingness to assist a patient in extreme need was just completely unprofessional and downright insulting. I immediately found another doctor(that very same day, no less) in the local area, and haven't been back since. Never once had an issue with any doctor I've ever visited, but overall this experience was an eye-opening example that there are medical "professionals" out there that go about their business in an inhumane fashion with complete disregard for their patient's health.

I have seen Dr Chalko since around 1998 or so. My first visit for diagnosis was an hour as it should be. He was always kind and really saved my life. I hate to find another Psychiatrist because I know good ones are not easy to find, so I will ask Dr Chalko for a recommendation. Happy retirement Dr Chalko you deserve it.

I have been seeing Dr.Chalkos for several years now and have NEVER had a problem with him,except he's retiring sad to say.His staff has always been friendly.Dr.Chalko's is very friendly and will listen to whatever you have to say.I am on great medications that have helped me tremendiously and I'm an thankful for that..Has gone above and beyond for me,something that Doctors to day rarely do..I fel very comfortable talking with Dr.Chalko's!!!!!..May you have a happy and great retirement....KENNETH G.

Dr Chalko met with me for 10 minutes. And diagnosed me incorrectly in that 10 minutes. I feel, to really get a diagnosis correct you may need to meet with someone longer than 10 min to have a real grasp on what they are going through. He asked leading questions that I felt I answered correctly, but I felt lead to the answers. Almost coached to them. One time I tried to explain and be raised his hand and “shushed” me so he could keep asking questions. What I felt was important, he didnt think was. His strategy for diagnosing was very presumptial and seems to fit an algorithm. He diagnosed me wrong and then basically gave me pills to make me better. These pills (which I should not have taken because I didn’t really have what he said I had) put 15 lbs on me in two weeks. By the end of the month I had gained 40lbs. He did not seem concerned with the weight gain at all. Even though I knew it wasn’t healthy. Each appointment he spent 10 minutes with me. Max maybe 15. He had a regimen. Come in, sit down, ask quickly how I’m doing, weigh me, open my mouth and look inside (for some reason) and have me hold my hands out in front of me and discuss medication. When I decided that these meds were not for me and I wanted to go off of them, I called his office asking for help on how to do this. He never called me back. I don’t feel he thought I needed to come off of them. And this lead me to come off of them on my own which was very scary for me. Had a TON of withdrawal symptoms that scared me really bad. I didn’t know if I would ever go back to being the way I was before the medication. It had created me into a zombie that could not feel any emotion at all. No happiness, no sadness. Just existence. Mindlessly going about the day in a fog. And to think, I didn’t even NEED that! Really could have used his help coming off of the meds. But he disagreed with me going off of them. And I disagreed being on them. I am now seeing a different psychiatrist who told me that she does not diagnose her patients until about 5 or 6 months into meeting with them. Thank goodness! Her sessions are 45 min each. 30 min to discuss life and my current woes. And then 15 minutes to discuss medication. I am CONFIDENT in her diagnosis and I finally AGREE that I am on the right track. She works with me with my meds and doesn’t demand that I take something that I’m not comfortable with. There are good ones out there. Keep looking.

Dr Chalko met with me for 10 minutes. And diagnosed me incorrectly in that 10 minutes. I feel, to really get a diagnosis correct you may need to meet with someone longer than 10 min to have a real grasp on what they are going through. He asked leading questions that I felt I answered correctly, but I felt lead to the answers. Almost coached to them. One time I tried to explain and be raised his hand and “shushed” me so he could keep asking questions. What I felt was important, he didnt think was. His strategy for diagnosing was very presumptial and seems to fit an algorithm. He diagnosed me wrong and then basically gave me pills to make me better. These pills (which I should not have taken because I didn’t really have what he said I had) put 15 lbs on me in two weeks. By the end of the month I had gained 40lbs. He did not seem concerned with the weight gain at all. Even though I knew it wasn’t healthy. Each appointment he spent 10 minutes with me. Max maybe 15. He had a regimen. Come in, sit down, ask quickly how I’m doing, weigh me, open my mouth and look inside (for some reason) and have me hold my hands out in front of me and discuss medication. When I decided that these meds were not for me and I wanted to go off of them, I called his office asking for help on how to do this. He never called me back. I don’t feel he thought I needed to come off of them. And this lead me to come off of them on my own which was very scary for me. Had a TON of withdrawal symptoms that scared me really bad. I didn’t know if I would ever go back to being the way I was before the medication. It had created me into a zombie that could not feel any emotion at all. No happiness, no sadness. Just existence. Mindlessly going about the day in a fog. And to think, I didn’t even NEED that! Really could have used his help coming off of the meds. But he disagreed with me going off of them. And I disagreed being on them. I am now seeing a different psychiatrist who told me that she does not diagnose her patients until about 5 or 6 months into meeting with them. Thank goodness! Her sessions are 45 min each. 30 min to discuss life and my current woes. And then 15 minutes to discuss medication. I am CONFIDENT in her diagnosis and I finally AGREE that I am on the right track. She works with me with my meds and doesn’t demand that I take something that I’m not comfortable with. There are good ones out there. Keep looking.

Dr. Chalko is a wonderful, caring, and intelligent doctor that I have trusted with my care for 9 years and I am very glad he continues to take great care of me! He respects you, listens to you, and treats your conditions effectively. I appreciate all he has done for me.

He is a waste of money and time. He did not help me, in fact I got worse under his care. He is not a doctor who really cares about his patient. He is only in it for the money. Stay far away from him.

If there is a better doctor out there I have never found them. Dr. Chalko is simply the best there is. I have been going to him for several years and he has made my quality of life the best I could ask for. He is patient, kind, knowledgable-a brilliant man.

dr chalco worked with me for 2 years and my depression greatly improved with the medications he recommended. I do not like that his office does not accept calls or fax from a pharmacy and will not call in a prescription without charging a fee. I ran completely out of my anti depressant and his office staff would not assist me without a fee, which I refused to pay. It was just the principle of the policy as other doctors will assist patients by calling in a prescription. I asked another Doctor of mine for help and he took care of the prescription. for this reason, I will not return to his office even though I do feel he was A good doctor.