Westside Medical Associates

Scheduled a physical with Dr. Stephanie Rein. Only found out days before I had to fast the whole morning, so of course was bummed that I made a 12 PM appointment. Waited 45 minutes for the doctor, who never showed up — so finally just left! I was STARVING as it was almost 1 PM and I hadn’t eaten a thing.
Disappointed in the lack of professionalism by this doctor — making your patients wait 45 minutes for an appointment is unacceptable.

I wish I could mimic the glowing reviews found here, but unfortunately I can not. Looking to find a doctor in the neighborhood, I was referred to Westside Medical Associates. I arrived at 10:10 for a 10:30 appointment. At about 11:15, I asked how much longer I’d have to wait. The receptionist said it would only be a moment and decided to put me in a room. After waiting another 15 minutes, I decided to go to the front to cancel my appointment. Let’s be real, I had already decided when I initially walked up to the desk to inquire how much longer it’d be, that I would never be returning to this facility.
The receptionist was friendly enough and offered to reschedule. I told her I wouldn’t be returning to this practice after today. She was apologetic, mentioned the wait time was never this long (yeah right) and canceled my appointment.
My observations from my little time that I spent here was:
1) The doctor doesn’t value your time. Waiting an hour past your scheduled appointment time is not okay. If it’s going to be an hour — communicate that with the waiting patients so I can decide whether or not I want to endure that torture. Sorry, I don’t have an abundance of sick time and I can just hang out in your waiting room all day long with no repercussions at work.
2) There was no interaction during my hour wait between the front desk staff and myself. If they were running on a delay, that could have been communicated to me 30 minutes into my wait, not when I was frustrated and ready to bolt. Not once during my time in the waiting room did either front desk staff member say «Sorry for the delay» or «You’ll be seen shortly.» Communicate people!
3) When I was in to room, I noticed all the equipment was old. I’m talking circa 1980’s old.
Maybe Dr. Rein is a good doctor. Maybe not. But I won’t be sticking around to find out.
I’ll stick with my doctor in Midtown. At least he values my time.

I randomly chose this office b/​c it was close to work and they took my insurance. I am beyond grateful. It is a small practice which I like. The staff is always friendly and personal. I have seen both Dr. Rein and Dr. Breite. I had a positive experience with both doctors. There listened to my medical concerns and offered good solutions. They are caring and I felt safe and taken care of. The office is simple and doesn’t have a lot of frills, but the service, time and care I receive is worth it. I currently do not have insurance, but Westside Medical has worked with me to make my appointments affordable. So happy to have found them!!!

I first made an appointment with Dr. Breite on the referral of a friend, about 7 years ago, and I’ve been going to him ever since as my General Practioner. He’s always been straight up with me — he actually sits and listens to what I think is going on, as he makes his assessment. He is honest and empathetic in discussing his diagnosis, and he has helped me both with his expertise and with excellent referrals to specialists outside his field, when I’ve needed it. I’ve never felt rushed out the door — he’s busy, but he makes the time to really be present for each and every visit.
Lastly, I’m a big baby when it comes to getting blood drawn for tests — if you’re the same, know that he’s pretty much a gifted genius at drawing blood in a manner that is both mercifully quick and painless.

Dr. Breite has been my GP for years.
I chose him based on his expertise in gastro. Also, because he draws blood himself and doesn’t leave it to a technician or nurse. He is the only individual who has ever been able to draw blood from me with zero pain or bruising. He has done this over and over and over again; it speaks to Dr. Breite’s gentle bedside manner and also to his experience as a skilled practitioner.
Over the years, I have found he has kept apace of new developments and is well-​versed in tropical medicine, but I go to him for everyday concerns too. My family goes to him. He has always been responsive to my questions, no matter how silly I am worried they might be.
If you like a GP with time to listen, and the integrity to tell it straight but in a kindly way, Dr. Breite could be your guy.

My husband and I moved to NYC a couple of months ago. We searched Unilocal to find a doctor close to us and in our medical plan. I called and made an appointment based on the reviews. The girl who answered the phone sounded clueless which should have been a red flag but I continued on. My husband had a appointment first. We never received paper work in the mail to fill out nor did anyone call the day before to reconfirm. — which should have been a second flag. My husband saw Dr. Breite. The office was outdated and smelled. He doesn’t have a nurse or anyone to take your blood pressure or blood work; he did it himself. — which is odd that he doesn’t have anyone working for him. My appointment was the following week. I called to reconfirm my appointment two days before; I was confirmed. I showed up for my appointment on time, 4pm. only to find out that the office was closed! No one called me to tell me they were leaving early — absolutely nothing. This is a sign of disrespect for the patients and our time. I called and left a voicemail on their answering machine as I was standing outside the door, telling them that I was there for my appointment and where were they? I had to take a half day vacation for this appointment and asked someone to call me back with an explanation of why no one called me to let me know they closed early. It’s been over a week and still no phone call. I think this practice is small town and Dr. Breite is not a high quality doctor since he runs this practice so shamefully. I wouldn’t recommend this practice!

Dr. Rein is friendly but going to her is often frustrating. They have no medical equipment in the office to run diagnostic tests. So, when you go in there, she basically seems to guess what medical condition you have and prescribe something that seems appropriate. And, in my experience, she has attributed some of my medical conditions to «stress» that turned out to be more serious. But, if you have any pain outside of the appointment, she is good about returning phone calls and calling in prescriptions to pharmacies. Some other items to note are as follows: she does not accept Medicare and the whole patient intake system is computerized. So, she is not an ideal doctor for older patients. Also, she often seems rushed in the appointment. So, make sure to prepare a list in advance of what you want to discuss with her.

From my minimal experience with Breite I found him to be a good listener and to give what seems to be good advice. He shys away from unnecessary tests and takes a more reasoned approach to your health than other professionals I’ve seen in the past. I’ll update if more experiences give me more to say, but I definitely recommend him for primary care.

I heart Dr Breite! I found him based on the other review on Unilocal last year when I crippled with swine flu and he’s the only doctor I’m been going back ever since!
Dr Breite is everything you could ask for in a doc and has never got a diagnosis wrong… he can practically diagnose you by just looking at you. He’s really approachable and is really easy to talk to. I feel it’s really important to trust your doctor right off the bat and Dr Breite definitely does that. He puts you right at ease and makes you feel you are a real person and not just a patient form sitting on his desk.

When I was looking for a primary care physician, I knew I had to find one who specialized in Gastroenterology because sometimes my insides don’t work properly.
Yes, yet another personal piece of information shared on Unilocal.
I found Dr. Breite via my doc find tool on my insurance company’s website and he fit the bill in specialties and proximity to my residence, and he was taking new patients. So I went in for my first check-​up (over 2 years ago now).
All I have to say is that I am going to be at a loss when he retires, which I hope is not anytime soon. I am completely comfortable with him and can ask him any questions about my health without feeling that I’ll be «tut-​tutted» and looked at like a hypochondriac. He doesn’t over order tests, and has a great bedside manner.
Minus a star for not calling me back without my prompting when I was hyperventilating about some issue I was having last year. However, I was able to get a hold of him soon afterwards and he basically said that I shouldn’t worry — I just need to eat more iron.
I recommend Dr. Breite for anyone who wants a good family doctor and might need some extra attention when it comes to digestion.
I’m a fan!