Advanced Gynecology & Surgery

Be prepared for long waits and rude receptionists.
I just called to get an appointment and the lady asked me to call back in an hour then hung up on me.
I liked this office because they had the ability to do ultrasounds and everything on the spot and my first visit went great… every visit after that has been downhill. The doctors are hit or miss, some days they are friendly and great, some days they are dismissive and rude. The receptionists are always rude, so much so that it really ruined going there for me. Waits are extremely long. On a Saturday be prepared to wait for 2 hours, even if your appointment is at 9am.

Dr. Bekker is very good, polite, pleasant, professional doctor, BUT Front Desk WOMEN (morning staff) are HORRIBLE (!!!), making scandals, interrupting conversation, putting on hold and never returning back to you, very rude to young people and especially to old people, pushing out clients from the office and definitely loosing them, but they do not care… People, who hate clients, must stay away from working at the Front Desk! I feel bad about the Advanced Gynecology (Sheepshead Bay) Office.

I came to this office mostly because it was one of the very few my insurance accepted. The doctors are good. The nurse practitioner is not. My reasons for two stars…
–They add on many services to your annual exam without asking that are not needed. Like a sonogram if you aren’t even pregnant. I have been getting annuals for over 15 years and I have never had this done anywhere else. At first I thought the extra service was nice. But guess what? Insurance does not cover this for an annual, you have to pay out of pocket for something you don’t even need and they don’t warn you ahead of time!
–I came in for a procedure. The nurse practitioner tried to push me off to come in on another day. I told her I came to the doctor, took off of work, took the train all the way out to nowhere, paid for the visit all to see a doctor. Not to be told to just come another day. When the actual doctor came in (Dr. Bekkar) I discovered the reason she tried to get rid of me was because she had no experience in dealing with my condition. Dr. Bekkar basically had to give her a lesson during my procedure.
–The doctors are good but to see them you have to wait months to get an appointment.
–Front desk is rude and dismissive. Almost as if you are hassling them with visiting the office.
–The billing department is the WORST. A woman named Lina handles this for them. There was an error in my billing coding for a visit. I was back and forth with their office and my insurance company for months. I received threats from the office that they would send my bill to collections. I started paying in increments but my insurance company told me NOT to pay them since my deductible was met so I stopped. The threats of sending to collections started again. Lina refused to call the insurance company or process the incorrect claim again. She yelled over me on the phone refusing to have a rational discussion. My insurance company called recently to say they called the office and confirmed I was overcharged. Currently I’m trying to get that $ 100 I overpaid back but I doubt I will see it ever again…

Reviewing Doctor Akselrod and today’s service.
I went in for an IUD insertion today. My appointment was at 5:45, I arrived at around 5:25. Be prepared to wait about 30 – 45 minutes after your appointment time… It’s just the way it is (bring a book or something).
The receptionists tonight were EXTREMELY helpful (is it bad to say I was surprised), I couldn’t stop thanking them for figuring out if my insurance will cover it, if I need a secondary insurance, yadda yadda.
I never had the chance to get her name, but the woman who takes your blood pressure/​urine/​etc. is very kind.
Doctor Akselrod is extremely knowledgable, kind and concise. She got the procedure done within probably 6 minutes and made sure I was comfortable.
Thank you!

TERRIBLE. Im writing this review two years late, however I am still so angry about the way I was treated. I hope this office reads this review. I had to remove a polyp and this was my first time ever being put under any kind of anesthesia. I was so nervous, I started to cry. This moron, Dr. Bekker, started yelling at me and said «are we doing this or not?» After i was done they yanked me off the table with blood running down my legs. I was in so much pain. I was the last patient of the day. It was around 3 pm. Im sitting crying because the pain in my stomach was unbelievable. They practically threw me out. The doctor wouldnt even speak to me about my procedure. I am still disgusted to this day. Having an MD does not mean shit. I hope she reads this and understands how much this has affected me. Its rare to find a good, patient, kind, warm doctor. Maybe its because she is Russian and rude as hell. I grew with Russians and am one and their mentally is as if they are better than everyone else. Please consider this before coming here.

I’ve been going to this place for quite some years now and yes their new location is 1711 Sheepshead Bay Rd. My doctor is Faina Akselrod and she’s amazing because she explains the whole procedure and whenever I have question, she welcomes me to her office to discuss further in private. The place is also very clean and hygienic, the waiting room is pretty huge and they have water available if you need.
The only reason why this place is receiving two stars is because of the receptionists. Just like most of the reviews here, it’s not the doctors or treatment that is bad, it’s the receptionists that always seem to be in a bad mood or have an attitude. And this occurs regardless if you’re in person or on the phone with them. They always cut you off or try to pass off something you’re saying.
The last two appointments I had were I believe back in July. At those times I specifically asked the receptionist why I was being charged the «Specialist» co-​pay price of $ 40 instead of the «OBGYN» co-​pay price of $ 30. Both times, the receptionists just answers that is what it states on your card, even though OBGYN is clearly stated on the card as well. She should have stated that the doctors consider themselves specialists and therefore the price is $ 40.
Now, come September I receive a call from the receptionist that I am owed a refund on my copays. I made two visits in 2015 and both times I paid the Specialist price of $ 40, so my total refund should have been $ 80. However, I only received $ 70 and thought it was odd. I thought nothing of it really but to just give them a call to sort out why I was missing $ 10 (I thought maybe the co-​pay was really $ 5, so $ 10 total for those two visits won’t get refunded or something).
Anyways, the first receptionist I speak to I’m assuming didn’t really understand English as well so she passed the phone to second receptionist, mind you without telling me. She only said to me to «hold on». Now the second receptionist is on the phone and just says «hello», I’m thinking it’s the same lady since she told me to hold on. So this 2^nd receptionist is getting annoyed already because I didn’t know that the 1^st receptionist handed the phone to her. How about the two of you communicate to each other that you’re passing the phone since one doesn’t understand English as well and then respond with «How can I help you as my colleague just passed me the phone?». How am I supposed to tell that I was speaking to the other receptionist?
So now I’m repeating myself and the receptionist just gives me some bs excuse that oh it’s what the computer says, blah blah and she can’t assist with this. «Ok», I say, «So put me on the phone with someone who can». She then responds with «Ok, I’ll look into it and call you back».
She calls me back within 2 minutes and just states that the computer shows I paid $ 30 and then $ 40. I tell her for both visits this year (2015) that I paid $ 40 in cash. And this whole time, she cuts me off several times during the call while I’m trying to explain why it should be a total of $ 80. It’s not until much later, she finally mentions calendar year 2014. The refund is for a co-​pay paid in 2014 and one paid in 2015. In 2014, they didn’t overcharge me the Specialist price of $ 40, they only charged me the OBGYN price of $ 30 (you can see now why I questioned them on my two visits this year as to why they were charging me differently than last year). Even when I’m trying to state that it now makes sense to me since they’re refunding different years and that she’s right, she’s still cutting me off.
The receptionist should have from the start stated that she needed to research this further and get back to me and not just say oh that’s what the computer says. I assumed the refund was for both 2015 visits where I paid $ 40 each, but in fact the refund was for a visit in 2014 and 2015.
However, I’m still not 100% buying into the fact that the refund was for two different calendar years, because why would you be refunding 2014 co-​pays in September of 2015??? Why so late? Shouldn’t my 2015 refund come later in 2016 then? So maybe this was just an answer that would satisfy me enough to leave it be.
But I am seriously thinking of looking for a new gynecologist because of the receptionists. It’s just hard because they have all this medical history on me and my Rx, and to have to start new is rather annoying.

I like Dr Axelrod, & the office is too close to where I live to look somewhere else, but the reception desk provides the RUDEST service I’ve ever encountered. A simple inquiry over the phone is enough to ruin your whole day. The wait is very long too.
P. S. The address is no longer 1517 Voorhies. They moved to 1711 Sheepshead Bay Rd a while ago.

I went to my first appointment there and was very disappointed. I called and asked if they accepted my insurance and the receptionist said yes they do. I also asked if they did IUDs and she also said yes. I went ahead to make an appointment. I had another appointment with another doctor a week before but i decided to go here cause of the good comments the doctors had.
The day of my appointment came and I had to wait 1 hr ½ to see a doctor which wasnt that bad compared to other places. When it was my turn to see the doctor she told me that my insurance doesnt cover the IUD, Are you kidding me? Ive been waiting the whole time for nothing. I told the receptionist why didnt she told me that before. I asked her that if they do IUDs, She said oh i dont have any notes here that you told me that. I specifically ask if they do it and also about my insurance. She said I probably misunderstood. Come on. I would give 0 stars if it was an option. Bad receptionist, they should hire someone else and more professional.