Columbia Student Health Services

Columbia Student Health has some of the worst customer service I have experienced, but unfortunately, they also have a captive audience in their students. Everything everyone says about it being impossible to get an appointment is completely true. The actual doctors and nurse practitioners that I have been able to eventually see have been helpful, but it’s almost impossible to get past the barricade of inefficiency that is the administrative portion of the facility. I can’t even explain all of the runaround and nonsensical things I have been told and not told by this office, because they are so incomprehensible I can’t even figure out how to repeat them. Getting physical therapy for my knee has been a HUGE problem. It has been weeks of constant phone calls, emails, and getting referrals faxed back and forth multiple times because Columbia Health loses them. Furthermore, the receptionist has interrupted me multiple times while I have been trying to explain what I need on separate occasions. If you have another option for health care, take it, because Columbia does NOT live up to what people think of its name here.

Check the reviews that are «not recommended» by Unilocal as they are sadly accurate.
Unfortunately, Columbia Health Services is extremely horribly run, putting its students’ health at risk. Staff really could care less and just want you out of their way. Part of me wonders if some sort of healthcare regulatory body should get involved given the thousands of students (and parents) that rely on Columbia Health Services.
I have been lied to by staff on multiple occasions both regarding availability of appointments as well as actual critical medical guidance.
They have referred me to locations that do not even offer the service that I require.
AVOID IF POSSIBLE

This is one of the rudest facilities I’ve been to, and I’ve now had to go twice. The woman who checks in people will ignore you as you stand there waiting, and both times I’ve come she has given me attitude.
My first visit I had to book nearly a month in advance. I needed to be put back on birth control, get my annual STD screenings, and get a referral for a physical therapist after receiving the results of MRIs on my last insurance. The doctor said I could only discuss one of these things in the appointment, despite the fact that they were all important and I’d waited weeks for the appointment. The doctor, a female, also basically slut shamed me. When she asked what forms of birth control I was using I stammered (I had just said I was off the pill, so was confused why she was asking), and she interrupted to inform me that condoms were the most effective way to prevent pregnancy (oh, really?). After asking if I was sexually active (meaning what? Somewhere between I’ve had sex but am not having sex this minute?), she repeatedly asked if I was «sure» I could go a week without having sex to get the birth control. As though by virtue of being sexually active, I can’t keep my legs closed for a week.
She ended up writing me a prescription for a birth control shot, and told me that after picking it up at the pharmacy, I could just drop in for a nurse to administer it. (Remember, otherwise I have to wait another month for an appointment, and I have a three day window of when I’m on my period to get it.)
Fast forward a few weeks, and the woman at the desk essentially tells me the doctor never said I could just drop in. Now an hour later, I’m late for work, waiting for a nurse to inject me with the birth control, and they say now I need a new consultation appointment. For university healthcare, you’d think they’d be promoting women’s health and not making it so hard to get access to birth control and regular STD screening.
The wait time to make appointments is ridiculous. NYU never had this problem. And the worst part is just the attitude from the staff and physicians. It’s almost as though they know I don’t have a choice to go somewhere else, so they’ve given up on being polite to patients. I would 100% never come back if I didn’t have to.

I phoned for an appointment, and was given some information (i.e. book for a same-​day appointment online from midnight or call at 8am the day you want an appointment, or make an appointment over the phone anytime and get to see the doctor 1 – 2 weeks later). Woman was kinda to-​the-​point and not exactly friendly but gave me all the information I needed. Then I went over the next day, where a clinical assistant took my vitals (again, to-​the-​point and not exactly friendly). Doctor Akuwumi was amazing — friendly, answered all my questions and made me feel at ease. Told me to make an appointment if I don’t get better. Gets the job done. :) Will definitely recommend this as the first line of help.

Forewarned is forearmed.
Hmmm…this place could use some SERIOUS improvement.
First, no one really seems to give a damn about you. Mostly it’s «get ‘em in, get ‘em out, and call it good,» which wouldn’t be so bad if the process included taking care of the concerns that brought you there, but this was NOT the case for me.
Let’s put aside the fact that it takes upwards of 2 – 3 weeks to get an appointment, in which case, upon arrival, you probably won’t be ill (or you won’t be living) any longer. You can check yourself in via computer, which is a nice, if impersonal, touch. Then, to compensate for the impersonality, you can brush knees with a nursing assistant in a 4×5 room that was a closet in a previous life. You may or may not get someone with a personality, but hey, you’re here to see the doctor, right?
I’ll throw some credit to the speed with which I was seen by the doctor, but that’s a momentary plus that is balanced by the minus of being thrown out in 10 – 15 minutes. Anyhoo… I went to see the doctor for referrals (because goodness knows students can’t be trusted to thoughtfully choose their own health care professionals) and one week later I called the insurance carrier to resolve another matter only to find out that NO referrals were logged on my account. (Good thing I was too lazy to make any of the appointments I needed) Funny thing (not haHA) is that the doc told me I didn’t need referrals, which was blatantly false, even if he gave me printouts offering referral options.
Needless to say, I am now faced with attempting to contact (or heavens forbid, book another appointment with) the doctor to resolve this issue. Oh, and ‘my’ medical group is out to lunch until 3PM. REALLY?
Bottom line? All of the seeming efficiency of Health Services serves as an excuse to be careless with those who most need and utilize said services. My busy schedule just got busier because I now have to resolve a problem that shouldn’t have been created. Such is the story of my first encounter with Health Services.
My advice? Make sure you receive the care you came for and follow-​up to make sure your referrals are logged with the insurance carrier. Also, hold Health Services accountable for doing their job by speaking up (and perhaps typing out) when they don’t. Best of luck!