John L. Albrigo, MD

I decided to consult John Albrigo, one of the Anderson Clinic doctors, after observing a friend’s knee replacement results and because of her description of her interactions with him. She did warn me that she usually experienced long delays while waiting for her appointments. I also read similar comments on the Anderson Clinic in Unilocal,so I brought work and a book with me.
When I called for an appointment, I was lucky to get one less than a week away. I used the Anderson Clinic web site to download patient information forms and filled them out in advance of my appointment. When I arrived, I was «processed» almost immediately by a pleasant receptionist, and passed quickly to a technician who took the required x-​rays of my knee in a politely and competently. After the x-​rays, I was taken to an exam room to wait for Dr. Albrigo.
After about 15 minutes, Dr. Albrigo came in, and started the exam. His manner was warm and friendly in a very professional way. I thought his questions showed insight, and gave me the opportunity to add what I thought was relevant about my situation in addition to the immediate reason for my consulting him. He discussed knees in general and then specifically described his analysis of my condition and what I might expect to develop. He made several recommendations about how to approach my situation. His suggested treatment was a set of actions that from a change in medication progressing to possible knee replacement if none of the interim steps produced the desired result. He then assured me that he does not recommend a rush to surgery.
I was out of the office, feeling well diagnosed and confident in my choice of doctors. The whole appointment too about 1 ½ hours, most of which was spent in actual medical treatment.

Dr. Albrigo replaced my hip and both knees. I wouldn’t consider going to any other Orthopedic surgeon as he is wonderful. I have recommended him to friends from as far away as Florida and they were as pleased as I was. He changed my life as I am now able to walk without pain.

«Insurance sucks, doesn’t it?» «You’re expectations are totally unrealistic.» «Now, you weren’t listening to me, were you?» «You should take your records and not come back.»
If it were possible to give zero stars, I would. This year, I had the displeasure of going to the Anderson Clinic for the second time in 4 years. I should have learned my lesson by the indifference and poor bed side manner of Dr. Corey Wallach (for my back). This time, I was having knee pain. I couldn’t get an appointment right away with Dr. John Albrigo, so I saw the Physician’s Assistant, Justin Battle. Justin was VERY nice and helpful, but when it came to seeing Dr. Albrigo, it was like trying to see the President. After looking at my scans, Justin would have questions and Dr. Albrigo would pop his head in, one foot out the door and just couldn’t wait to leave. When my x-​rays and MRI results showed nothing but I was still having pain, Dr. Albrigo suggested getting my knee scoped. I should have trusted my gut and not gone with that (or at least not done that with him), but I was anxious to get healed up and start running again.
I showed up at the hospital at 8am, two hours before my surgery like I was told to. I didn’t go back into the prep area until 1:30pm and finally had surgery at 2:30pm (and that’s only because I was making a stink about the delay to the receptionist in the waiting area). Dr. Albrigo said something about a «mix-​up» on the schedules, yet I confirmed the time with his office the day before.
After surgery, Dr. Albrigo tells me all is well and that I can expect to heal for about 3 weeks, and do some light jogging in 4 weeks. I go for a follow up one week after surgery and my knee is VERY swollen. Again, I couldn’t get an appointment with Dr. Albrigo because he’s SO busy and important, so when Justin saw my knee, he immediately got. Dr. Albrigo. Dr. Albrigo said the swelling was normal and to take some anti-​inflammatory medicine and call if there’s any more problems.
I did just that for two weeks and my knee was still swollen. I waited another week before making an appointment for the following week. So now, 5 weeks after surgery, my knee is still swollen. I decided to call Dr. Albrigo before going into the appointment and burning another $ 40 to see if I could get some answers. He wouldn’t call back. A receptionist called back and said that he wouldn’t be calling and needed to see me. Of course he did.
So when I got to the office, I signed in. I was asked for my co-​pay, but I said that I wanted to see the doctor first. I was tired of paying money with no results. The office manager spoke with me, and although nice, was not able to help me. I said that I’m unsatisfied with my service, and just like any other business, I’ll be taking my money elsewhere unless the doctor would like to speak with me (for free). She said she would check with Dr. Albrigo. She comes back and the answer is… sorry, pay up. So I asked for my records and was about to walk out when my wife called and asked how things were going. She told me to just see the doctor one last time. I shouldn’t have done it…
I went back and waited for Dr. Albrigo. He came in and couldn’t even look me in my eyes — he knew I was upset and just looked at the computer screen and read 4 pages of notes out loud. After reading it, his answer to fix my ailing knee was — «just wait, it’ll get better.» I said, wait? I’ve waited for 5 weeks, what is going on? He said, «I don’t understand why your expectations are so unrealistic.» I said, you’re the one that set them for me!
I then asked a clarifying question about the swelling, and he said, «Ah…you weren’t listening to me, were you.» My patience was wearing thin…
I then proceeded to explain how I’ve spent thousands of dollars to try to fix this problem and I’m upset that he wouldn’t call me back and had to charge me another $ 40 to talk him. He said, «thousands of dollars? Really? I’d like to see those bills and that insurance plan.»
By now I was absolutely fuming! I said, who do you think pays for that insurance??? Me! Plus I’ve totally burned my deductible for the MRI and the surgery, so now I’ve got to come out of pocket for everything. With a smirk on his face, he replies:
«Insurance sucks, doesn’t it?»
I wanted to scream… NO, YOU SUCK! But I didn’t…
Instead, I said that you clearly don’t care about your patients so I’m not sure why you’re doing what you’re doing.
He said, «well, you seem unhappy, so maybe you should just take your records and not come back.» And that’s exactly what I did.
Oh, and as I was leaving, I mumbled something like «this is unbelievable» and he shouts down the hall, «yeah, good luck to you!» Real class act.
DO NOT SEE THIS DOCTOR!