Sandra Gilban, MD

Dr. Gilban has been taking care of my family for almost 20 years. She is human, approachable and caring. What more could we ask for?

I’ve been seeing Dr. Gilban for ten years. She is the best doctor in the city. Her staff is very professional and friendly. She takes her time with me and her other patients. The office is very clean and organized.

Dr. Gilban is great, but the practice is horrible. Receptionists treat you like shit and trust me — you will wait at least one hour before the doctor sees you. Also, they don’t even have water! Yes, they expect you to wait for an hour and when you ask for a glass of water receptionists will tell you: we don’t serve water here. This is very disrespectful to people’s time. This is NYC, who has an hour to wait when you’ve had an appointment scheduled weeks in advance. I’m changing doctors because I pay a lot of money on insurance every month to be treated properly. This is not charity, they can’t act like they are doing us a favor.

Dr. Gilban’s care is excellent. She’s patient and thorough. Perhaps that is why you can expect to wait a MINIMUM of 40 minutes past your «appointment time» every single visit. Every single one. I have never been seen here on time. This wasn’t such an issue in the previous location at 911 Park Avenue. This practice is disrespectful of patients’ time!!! Bring War and Peace or enough yarn to crochet a circus tent as you wait.

I waited for more than one hour. This is disrespectful!!! she is a good doctor but the wait is ridiculous!!!

Excellent doctor! Recent move to NYC, relief to establish a primary care doctor. Dr. Gilban was very personable & professional, addressed all my issues while treating me as a partner in my healthcare. As a healthcare professional myself, I am not at all surprised to see complaints about an occasional wait, etc. Really? It’s a doctors office: patients have issues that occasionally take longer than expected &patients have unexpected urgent issues that requires the office to try to work in additional patients to an already Full schedule! To those trying to find a wonderful doctor with no wait ever…‘Good Luck’…you would fair better realizing you are not the only patient! An ‘A+’ to Dr. Gilban & staff.

I am so glad that another doctor suggested Dr. Gilban. I find her to be incredibly down to earth and knowledgeable. The staff has always been really kind and professional. I don’t know what people are beefing about. Yes, I have had to wait a couple of times to see the doctor, but she doesn’t rush through my appointment (and I have a LOT of medical issues!), so the wait is worth it. Dr. Gilban is a great doctor.

I have been a patient for many years and Dr. Gilban is absolutely Irreplaceable. She is friendly, attentive and genuine. Dr. Gilban makes you feel so comfortable; eventually you’ll begin to look at her like family… I can’t forget to mention the receptionist who’s been a member of the staff for many years is always pleasant and friendly!

Dr. Gilban is a wonderful doctor, her staff is great, and I’ve never waited past my appointment time. In addition, Dr. Gilban will address your questions by email, which saves time and money. I can’t imagine what other people are complaining about! Spoiled NYC people…

Dr. Gilban has been our primary care physician for 9 years and I am extremely happy with the level of service we have gotten. Not only is Dr. Gilban an experienced clinician she is also very engaged-​how many NYC doctor’s know, remember and ask about extended family medical issues? I’ll tell you… none. Dr. Gilban is quietly thoughtful and inspires calm and confidence.
Now my whole family use Dr. Gilban and we could not be happier.

I too have to chime in and argue in favor of Dr. Gilban. There are tons of choices for general practice and family doctors, but I’ve stuck with Dr. Gilban for roughly 9 years now because her bedside manner is downright unbeatable. She’s very sharp, and I rave about her to friends and family because, unlike most doctors, who swoop in and out of the examination room like they’re double-​parked, she actually takes the time to sit and talk with you and find out what’s ailing you.
Sure, the office staff could be friendlier and easier to reach (it would be great to be able to communicate with them via email, rather than having to call them whenever I need something), but at least they’re pretty effective — I needed a form faxed to a clinic a few weeks ago, and they handled it in under 5 minutes. As for Dr. Gilban herself, she’s worth the wait!

I have been her patient for 5 years, and my experience has been very good. Her staff is EXCELENT, her new office on 899 Park Avenue is much more clean and modern, and she is very profesional.

I agree with the reviews. I just called the office to follow up with THEM about my condition and the phone just rang. No one answered and no answering machine! Really, it’s 9:30 am on a Tues. This is an extremely unprofessional environment, and not friendly or helpful either. I always feel like my concerns are brushed off.
In NYC there are definitely better options than this…
Laurie S

First off I love Dr. Gilban… as someone who was born & raised in New York City and has had and heard their fair share of horror stories. I am not a person who likes to pay someone for crap service. That being said, I do understand that there are many great doctors who have crappy receptionists/​employees. Or HEY sometimes they just have a crappy day… this is New York City. When I hear some of these whiners on Dr. Gilban’s page I’m like oh please! First off you cannot blame her for your insurance company, your forgetting to ask pertanent questions that are germain to your visit or health or the length of time you have to wait… all it takes is one patient to be 10 min late… to throw off the entire schedule… why? because if the average appt is 30 min and someone is late… then the next one and the next one and the next one is late. get three people who are late… and you have a 30 min wait or longer… reminder YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY PERSON ON THE PLANET, IN THIS CITY OR GOING TO SEE THIS DOCTOR. I cannot stand when people get all whiny about waiting… granted there are limits…1−2 hours is extreme… but then hey… you have the option of changing doctors. As for her… she’s a doctor… do you know any personally? I do… they can occasionally be engaging or flakey… hello they have Ph. ds and have 1 million and 1 things on their brain. I am not making excuses. but it is what it is… thats how it is… this is NYC and YES YOU DO NEED A THICK SKIN and as far as I am concerned all these weak in the knee transplants need to go back to their corn on the cob backyards and see the vet or country doctors they are used to !!! MY ONE CENT BECAUSE THE OTHER WAS TAXED!

Let’s get this one right out in the open first… I don’t go to doctors often. In fact, I went to Gilban in 2007 for a physical at the urging of my wife just so I had a check up. Because it had been 15 years since I’d gone to one.
I’ve since been back once a few months ago for a clogged ear. I am slightly surprised at the negative reviews here. My first appointment I did have to wait a while to see the Dr., but not any more and probably not half as long as the horror stories I’ve heard from other people over the years. I didn’t think she was stand-​offish at all, and for the physical she was quite engaged in the process. After I was handed to an assistant for some tests, I met with her again and she told me her findings and gave me a suggestion or two to lower slightly high cholestoral.
Second visit she was also very engaged and friendly. After doing what she could, she set me up right away with an ear specialist up the block for an immediate appointment. No complaints and certainly very professional. Just what I want in the situation. She knows what she’s doing and is effecient. In and out without being rushed or ignored.

The first time I saw Dr. Gilban I waited for almost an hour before being seen. She apologized, but it was still a waste of my time. When I told her my syptoms she seemed very sincere and wanted to help. She sent me to take several tests and asked me to come back in two weeks. After my test results came back she reviewed them and said she didn’t think that they were correct — the testing center must have made a mistake. She said she had the same problem with someone else’s tests that week. This shouldn’t be a common occurance! I came back several months later and she seemed very unconcerned. My time with her was rushed and she seemed to write off my health problems as typical stress rather than asking follow up questions to determine if something may actually be wrong. Not a good quality for a primary care physican.

It’s tough to review Manhattan Family Practice and Dr. Sandra Gilban in one all-​encompassing review. If I were to sum it all up briefly, I’d say that you’ll either love it or hate it there.
Despite the rumors that patients used to be able to breeze in and out of the office, expect about a 30 – 45 minute wait to see the doctor. The receptionists range from terse to downright rude, depending upon what day you catch them. It’s about the same for phone appointments — you are either rushed off the phone, or made to feel like you are a total chore. Having thick skin will make you feel as if this level of service isn’t a huge deal, but still. You are a paying customer at the end of the day.
The doctor herself is nice and incredibly laid-​back, but incredibly rushed. At times, she seems to be disinvested in making any social contact whatsoever and will barely look up from her laptop. If you have a serious medical ailment, expect to be handed a referral and sent on your way. As I mentioned before, this may be a dream experience for some (and particularly those that dread going to the doctors) but if you are looking for an in depth experience, certainly go elsewhere.
The practice is a teaching office, so a young med-​student will be taking your vitals and going over your chart before you even see the doctor. Rather than helpful, this is often an annoyance as you are answering their questions to help them along with their education. It always feels contrived and never like they are looking to give you any help or advice. More so, it feels like a way for the doctor to buy more time to see other patients. I’ve often had the med student take my blood pressure and ask a few questions, only to have the doctor come in after and repeat the same process.
Manhattan Family Practice, overall, is hit or miss. If you are looking for a run-​of-​the-​mill experience, this will do. But for exceptional service, search elsewhere.

I hate giving one star reviews but I think in this case, it’s necessary. I visited the office in February 2009 for a travel appointment. i picked the office because they would bill my insurance for the visit, even though they wouldn’t bill for the vaccinations. Most insurance companies do not pay for travel vaccines so it was not out of the ordinary that they didn’t bill them. Dr. Gilban is also a primary care physician but the website stated they specialize in travel medicine as well. The wait time was pretty long and some other patient in the office was asking me who I was seeing and why (creepy). I finally met with the MD who seemed nice but seemed very busy and distracted. I had to tell her what vaccines I needed for where I was traveling (Guyana), she didn’t know or offer to look it up. They didn’t have the oral typhoid at their office. She didn’t counsel at all regarding safety traveling. I had to remind her I needed the yellow vaccination card and make sure she filled it out correctly. Finally it was over and I went to pay my co-​pay and I asked for an itemized copy of the bill so I could give it to my insurance. They told me that the person who dealt with that was not there so they couldn’t give it to me. What? I was assured they would send it to me in a few days. I was so distraught by the end of the visit, I forgot to ask about an antibiotic for traveler’s diarrhea prophylaxis. I called the office to tell them and they asked me for a pharmacy phone number. I figured the doctor would call me back to give me instructions and tell me they phoned in a prescription but she didn’t. I called the pharmacy a couple of days later, only to find out it was there. It was not the one I would have wanted, nor were the instructions correct. I had to look it up myself!
To make matters worse, the office did not respond to a request from my insurance company for a diagnosis code, which they requested ⁴⁄₂₈. I called the office today (⁶⁄₃) and they said «they never received it» and assured me they would send it now. Needless to say, I will be checking back with my insurance to see if they sent it and I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t.
This was not what a travel visit (or any visit) for that matter should have been like. The staff was unprofessional and not helpful. The doctor seemed flakey. I will not be returning for travel or primary care.