Triangle Physicians for Women

I am 34 weeks pregnant, and Triangle Physicians for Women (TPW) has been the provider of my prenatal care for the duration of this pregnancy. I chose Triangle Physicians for Women due to good reviews, and word of mouth. I have not been all that happy with my care, and would give Triangle Physicians for Women an overall «C» rating. I would not recommend Triangle Physicians for Women to friends and family.
Triangle Physicians for Women is your typical «assembly line» health care system. Even when my doctor wanted to get creative or personalized with my prenatal care, she struggled against a system that wants «one size fits all» treatment. If you have no issues during your pregnancy, and do not expect/​desire much time to discuss anything with your doctor, this assembly line system should be sufficient for your needs.
The office environment is clean, and the secretarial staff was always friendly and courteous to me upon arrival and exit of my appointments. Before every appointment you are sent an e-​mail requesting you fill out a «medical history» form. If you do not do this before the visit, there are computers in the waiting room, and they will request you complete one before being seen.
Parking is an issue. There have been multiple occasions where I have had to park across the street due to the main parking lot in front of TPW’s building being full.
Most of the doctors and midwives at this practice are fine, with my personal favorites being: Lisa Marguerite Grana (M.D.), Mary Charles Sutphin (C.N.M.), and Jessica Ramirez-​Trower (C.N.M.). I have seen almost everyone at this practice, except for two midwives, and the three male doctors. The practice encourages patients to schedule an appointment with all of their various doctors and midwives, largely due to the fact that you will not know who will attend your birth (it will be the midwife and doctor on call during the day you go in to labor). However, if you prefer to only see the doctors, midwives, women, or even the same provider (it has been my experience at this time) that it can be done (especially if you have a flexible schedule). I had a preference to only see female care providers, and thus far, it has not been an issue (just make sure to specify your preferences when scheduling appointments, and the office staff can usually accommodate you).
Wait times are a problem. I have waited for an hour –TWICE– for an appointment. Occasionally, I will only wait a minute or two for care. However, I would say the average wait time at Triangle Physicians for Women is closer to 30 — 45 minutes. I tend to schedule my appointments for the afternoon, so this may not be as big of an issue for morning appointments (when the doctors and midwives have not had a chance to «get behind schedule» in appointments yet).
Communication is unclear at every turn at Triangle Physicians for Women. I have had staff not inform me of a necessary, routine, glucose test (which the front desk made me pick-​up before the scheduled appointment). I have been told that at the next appointment I would be scheduled for the TDAP vaccination, only to have to remind them (twice). I have had appointments with specific providers scheduled, only to show up and have providers switched on me (this has occurred several times). The «lab» located in the TPW building is contracted, and thus, the doctors and office staff have little understanding or communication between the two departments. Not to mention, that unless you consistently see the same doctor or midwife, each staff member has a different reaction/​recommendation for care (so there is no consistency amongst providers).
Time with your care provider feels rushed due to the volume and style of assembly line care at Triangle Physicians for Women. This was not really a problem for me, until complications arose in my pregnancy, and then it felt like I was fighting against the clock to ask my doctor questions, and have a dialogue with them about my prenatal care. Not to mention, having to «catch up» each midwife and doctor about my situation, each time I had an appointment with a different care provider than the previous encounter.
If «cookie cutter» prenatal care is not an issue for you, and you do not mind long wait times, than Triangle Physicians for Women may be sufficient for your needs. Some of the staff are quite good, and the office environment is nice. I give Triangle Physicians for Women an overall «C» rating.

I went to Triangle physicians when I was 10 weeks pregnant because I was refer to them from my fertility doctor (that also works at this practice a couple days a week). My first appointment took longer than normal because even I fill out all the history online as they asked you to do before your appointment, they had a problem and the person with the info could not send it to the nurse so that took 2 hours. Then they put me in the ultrasound room to check on babies heart and everything and waited for about 30 minutes or more in the coldest room ever! Never saw a doctor just a nurse and a midwife. I decided to stay with the practice because my nutritionist as well as the fertility doctor were link to them so I thought there will be a good communication and my history will be shared in between my care takers… WRONG!
When I started my pregnancy I had my glucose a little high 0.1 above normal, so the nutritionist indicated me to start checking my glucose twice a day. Because my readings were in range but a little high in the mornings she wanted me to do it 4 times a day. In the mean time, when I went for my next monthly appointment I was supposed to see doctor S. Oh surprised just saw a midwife after waiting about 25 min.
Well then when the insurance didn’t want to pay for more glucose test strips, the nutritionist pushed me to make an appointment with the doctor. So I schedule and appointment and asked them to count it as my regular visit because I was already paying according to the plan and I wasn’t about to pay extra. So the day of the appointment who shows up… a nurse and midwife, well I put my foot down and told them how upset I was with the course of things that I felt like a beach ball been tossed around from one to another… so Doctor V. came into the picture as my doctor now. We talked and by now my sugar level was in complete normal range. I left relieve and happy, the doctor gave me peace of mind and everything and I schedule my next visit after the special ultrasound and genetic consultation that they do not do but they ask Duke perinatal to do it for them.
During my next appointment with doctor V, everything went well however OH SURPRISED! he has not even read the results from my consultation with Duke! I have to tell him and then he looked and read it while I was there! Well I have a very rare condition that only happen in 1 of 2000 women and it can be fatal for the baby if he is not born by 35 weeks!!! and it is called VASA PREVIA (not placenta is different) and what his reaction was oh that is not good… duh!
Anyway results are that I will not be able to deliver with them at Wake med Cary because I needed to go to a hospital with an advanced NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) because my baby needs to be premature and I needed to continue having follow ups with Duke. So if I am not going to deliver with them, then why I will continue paying the monthly plan???
So I did what everyone probably will do in this case and change practices, and I did.
However I had over paid them according to the visits I had and I had a balance. Last time I saw doctor V. was in October 2015.
It is February 2016 and the practice has not refund my money yet! I talked with the financial person (Christie) and she said they need to fill out the claim first with the insurance for the amount of visits and then they will give me a call. GUESS WHAT NO ONE HAS CALL ME TO TELL ME I HAD A BALANCE. So when I went for my follow up in Duke every 15 days (right across their practice I always stopped by the front desk and asked about my refund (I have done this about 3 times, and each time they said they will call me… GUESS WHAT I AM STILL WAITING FOR THE CALL. on the 4^th time I went they said the check was on the way (January 4^th, 2016) I have call several times in between visits and still nothing. It is FEBRUARY 4TH 2016 AND I STILL DO NOT RECEIVE A CHECK. I am at bed rest at the hospital since January 12^th and my c section is this coming Monday! I have call them twice, today is the second one and left a message with Christie, NO CHECK NO CALL BACK NO NO NOTHING!
I understand a refund takes time, maybe a month but 3 months??? How long will it take for the mail to come in a month inside Raleigh area or any where in the USA? unless their bank accounts are out of the country???
I am reporting them to the Best Business Bureau, because this is non sense!

I delivered my last baby with them and One of them the midwifes said she had to do an episiotomy and it wasn’t necessary! The midwife also forced me on my back to deliver even after I asked to stay up. She said she was pregnant and Couldn’t bend down. Worst. Place. Ever. Avoid if at all possible. You also have forever long wait times as other reviewers have mentioned.

We’ve been going the Triangle OBGYN since 2009. The same people merged with Another company and formed Triangle Physicians for Women. We are on baby #3 and couldn’t be more pleased. The midwives are amazing — our regulars are Jessica, Mary Charles, Heather and the others have retired. Our fav Doctor is Dr Vulgaropolis (Dr V). He is a quiet and soft spoken man but really compassionate. We lost a baby and he left a client down the hall to come console and encourage us. That really meant a lot. Dr V has seen a lot of my other mommy friends and they feel the same way. The new office is huge and the stag is great and friendly, as well.

Had surgery with Dr. Vulgaropolis. First he was several hours late to the surgery and they couldn’t get ahold of him. Then I was having severe pain after the surgery and complications. I called the next two days and only midwives were in and they could not help me. They would not have the doctor call me. They told me if I was in pain to go to the ER. I ended up having to do that and there was definitely complications going on. I ended up having to pay for the hospital visit out of pocket. I called to speak to the practice manager about how rude the nurses and midwives were, that they refused to leave a message for the doctor to call me back, and they caused me to run up a huge bill at the ER. The practice manager was the rudest of all and told me her staff told her about me calling the past two days and that they wouldn’t have me any longer as a patient. Can you believe that?! I didn’t even get a follow up appointment I was required to have! The doctor didn’t call and check up or anything. Horrible practice that just cares about money more than patients. Glad I wasn’t pregnant!

I don’t know what happened to the other ladies when they were in labor, but I had a great experience. Sometimes I did have to wait for a bit to be seen, but that to me is the nature of this sort of medicine, it happens. They were always very attentive and wanted to make sure I didn’t have any issues or questions. My biggest (and really only) complaint is that at the end when I was having to attend weekly and biweekly appointments I had a hard time getting in anytime that would work for me, but there is only so much they can do about that as well.

The staff is amazing, but they just don’t have enough midwives. You only need a midwife on one day, and it’s really scary when they don’t show up for hours during labor, even when there are complications. The nurses who were with us knew something was wrong and called our mw for hours before she showed up and immediately diagnosed the problem and expertly delivered our baby. Again, the mw are top notch, but they don’t do a lot of good if they aren’t in the building when you are giving birth. As if to illustrate my point, the midwife left us for 4hrs waiting to be discharged and finally sent a nurse in her place. I understand she was dealing with another patient, and I cannot fault her, but the bottom line is that Triangle Midwives are UNDERSTAFFED. If you are ok rolling the dice and hoping your mw is there to deliver your baby, then use them.

The Doctor has been absolutely responsive and sharp. If this was only about Dr. S it would be five stars.
He is very good, his staff, especially at the front desk is horrid. If you have laughed at the bureaucratic nonsense in some movies you will find this place is really like that and it isn’t so humorous in real life.

I gave Triangle Physicians For Women stars because the support staff is friendly. However, the overall practice doesn’t deserve that high of a rating. At 38 weeks I feel trapped and I’m not comfortable leaving, although after my last two visits I have began looking for an out. My first sign to leave should’ve been the way women are treated like a cattle heard. 85% of the time the person you’re scheduled to see isn’t available. I could excuse that if the substitute they provide you with wasn’t pissed that they have to cover for the other midwife or doctor. Plan on waiting at least an hour to 2 hours up front then an additional 20 to 30 minutes in the back before you see anyone. Then once you’re fortunate enough to have someone see you, they rush you out after about 4 minutes. This isn’t my first child so I’m not complaining as a nervous first time mom. I wouldn’t recommend this practice to anyone. Unless there’s an emergency you’re not a priority, plan on your office visit being at least 2 hours or more, be prepared to have your visit be a 2 to 4 minute conversation with the midwife or doctor who isn’t concerned or knowledgeable of you and who’s running out of the room to get to the next person. It’s not healthy for you or your unborn child to be this scared, nervous and to feel alone. It’s sad to see so many frustrated & upset moms in a waiting area. My faith in God is the only reason I know my unborn child is OK. I wish someone would’ve warned me before I became a patient. Enter at your own risk.