Olympia Orthopaedic Associates

Clean efficient staff and doctors work here. They are honest, knowledgable and kind. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is due to the slooooow call back response they have. Leave a message and maybe you’ll be called back in a few days.

I have consistently received excellent care from Olympia Ortho. We are fortunate to have such a high level of care available to us in the Olympia area. I’ve had leg surgery to remove a tumor from Dr. Snow. Spinal injections to relief lower back pain from Dr. Abbott. And two-​level disc replacement by Dr. Carpenter. They have been very compassionate in their care and the outcomes have all helped relieve my pain. They are using state-​of-​the-​art procedures that help speed up healing and provide long-​term relief. Their front-​office and medical assistant staff are likewise very professional and caring. Really appreciate Olympia Orthopaedics!

I had both knee replacements done through this Clinic and my doctor, nurse and PA are fantastic. No complications, quick healing, and easy access to my doctor when I needed to talk to him. They are concerned about your pain control and recovery. Couldn’t ask for better than Dr. Agtarap and staff.

I agree with all the other reviews. I too had fabulous care from Dr. Smith and his surgery of my left shoulder was wonderful! Fast forward 10 years and having same problem with right shoulder but never saw him at all! His PA was okay but have postponed any surgery because once you are «out» who is doing the surgery? I am currently a patient at this facility solely based on my past good experience and that was a mistake! I have been having extreme pain when standing and/​or walking. It is a brand new condition of back problems I’ve had off and on my whole life. I thought it might be a pinched nerve and the MRI confirmed that. The first solution offered by Dr. Ryan Halpin was «learn to live with it». Then talked about a shot that usually doesn’t work and if it does it’s not for a long time period. Since in the beginning I had good luck with shots in my shoulder I decided to have it at the urging of my physical therapist and to try and get past the negativity coming from Dr. Halpin. Well, in my case it didn’t work but the Dr. who gave me the shot gave it a valiant try, kudos to him and his nice staff. So now I only have physical therapy for help. Earlier I hand carried in a disabled parking application as I end up in extreme pain just getting to the appointment and of course can’t sit down because I lose my place in line and yes I’ve noticed the receptionist has the attitude she’s only there for the paycheck and not friendly at all. Granted being in pain I have become rather bitchy but these people should know their clientele are older and more crabby. Yes they lost my application when I called to see what the delay was and assuming Halpin wasn’t going to sign it as his help for me to «learn to live with it» is non existent. The only medication to help he prescribed was over the counter ibuprofen which I already knew didn’t help and my PT person said as a diabetic should I be taking it? I asked my pharmacist and he said it is hard on the kidneys and should be taken in moderation and it was at that time he told me there are non-​narcotic medications for nerve pain. Don’t know why nothing has been tried to at least take the edge off so that I can shower, cook, make coffee, get some groceries, you know the simple things that are considered a «part of living» that I can’t do without constant pain. The only optimistic part from Halpin is he must think I’m going to be better in 2 months because that is all the time of the disabled form he gave me. I hope he’s not just being stingy, I hope he’s right
because his appointments and the things I need in the grocery store are way in the back and being depressed I am eating a lot and not cooking has me gaining weight which isn’t good for your back. HA! HA! Surely there has to be other ortho doctors, my mistake I am living with is I chose to go there because of previous good experiences. If I would have done research beforehand I double I would have gone here but there was no reason to do research my bad!, Yes I am long winded don’t expect you to read mine but read all the other posts to help in your decision. I put 3 stars for now because I am still in treatment but it really is only 1 star based on what has happened so far. By the way they lost my disable parking form but completed one of theirs which was outdated! There is something seriously wrong with their procedures just be prepared! This has been cathartic for me. thank you for those who took the time to read my rant and good luck in your attempts to live a better life somewhat pain free, that’s all I want.

Love Dr. Brodie Wood! I am an xray tech and I have met, worked with many Dr.s. In the medical field. Dr. Wood is an excellent physician who knows his craft. Additionally Dr. Wood has been my Ortho Dr. for 20 years. Taken care of ankle injuries, shoulder injuries all with 100% success. 3 yrs ago I had an unusual pain down the side of my leg and my general dr. didnt know what it was for more than a year. One trip to Dr. Wood and he found it to be a bursitis in the hip joint. One injection later and it was fixed! So much relief! I love this group and have trusted them with all my Ortho needs. Very happy.

I’ve been going to Oly Ortho for years for a bad knee. I was lucky to be assigned to a great doctor (Dr. Dennis Smith) and his PA and nurse as well. They’ve taken good care of me through the years with knee surgery, arthritis, a broken kneecap, and a broken finger. I feel grateful to have them.
Dr. Smith doesn’t have long to visit – they do overwork the doctors – but he has always made the time to answer my questions.
The reason Oly Ortho as a clinic only get 3 stars is because I have to agree with others that the front staff stinks. Once they left me sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours because they forgot to pull my chart.
And when I called to report I had broken my kneecap, they said I couldn’t see Dr. Smith for 4 days at the earliest! Meanwhile I was in screaming pain. When I did go in for my appointment and Dr. Smith saw my x-​ray, he spun around and yelled, why didn’t you come see me right away??? I told him the front desk said he was booked. His nurse got very angry, said it wasn’t the first time this has happened, and that she knew for a fact that they could have made time for him to see me immediately. There must have been some serious kick-​ass after that because now I get better attention.
And as far as being run like a factory, remember that they are the only orthopaedic clinic around in the tri-​city area.

100% profit driven.
Dr Spends 5−10min at initial consult, didn’t bother to meet for MRI results, some 20ish Yr old assistant said I should get multiple (painful) spinal facet injections as a «diagnostic tool». Took film to UW to a real Dr.
100% disagreement with Oly.

Run Away! Stay Away! Nice new building, friendly welcome soon after turns evil. Waited 4 weeks for a new patient appointment; once finally in, waited 45 minutes for human contact in the exam room; on the verge of walking out (wonder what THAT would have cost), the almighty appears and now I’m frustrated at this point beyond my ability to put into words, so wanting to end this national nightmare, I told him my symptoms and my thoughts of a possible diagnosis, and without taking any history or even a cursory physical exam all I get is «does this hurt» –press (it didn’t) «well, it should have; I’ll give you an injection anyway that sometimes works and sometimes, well, not so much». Total time of exposure to the omnipotent one: 7 minutes. A fifty-​one minute semi-​solitary confinement room ran $ 220+; the ability to place a needle into a human went for $ 175+, and the «medication» in the injection was $ 12 which I should have saved and used to buy 3.5 gallons of gas so I drive my car even faster into the bridge abutment to end this nightmare the medical profession (and I use that term loosely) has inflicted upon us. Here’s a hint – if you want to process us through like cattle, then don’t make us sit in the exam room for 45 excruciating minutes while we hear you outside in the hall kibitzing. SOLUTION: Find a mature, country doctor in some small town who may actually care about the life form sitting across from them and not HOW MANY life forms they can sit across from. Ponderous man, ponderous.

Wow, I’m not surprised at all to see these negative reviews. I have been seeing Dr. Zechmann and mostly his PA for over a year now and have had 2 separate surgeries. I can tell you that this operation is sincerely lacking in patient care. I don’t place any blame with my doctor or the nurses. I think they work hard and do the best they can in their working conditions. I’ve developed the opinion that OOA is the fast food of orthopedics. An hour wait past your scheduled appointment time isn’t uncommon. Not to mention the whole whopping 5 minutes you get with the doctor or PA.
It’s my assumption that the management/​administration is making OOA physicians work too hard and too fast and thus not allowing them to take the time necessary with each patient. In both of my surgeries I was treated very well-​The nurse team were all stars making sure I was comfortable and well informed.
The business itself is completely impersonal and seems overly concerned with making money. The new «state of the art» facility only convinces me more of this fact. I would not recommend OOA to anyone looking for attentive personal care for their needs. I look forward to finishing this post operative period and following up with other orthopedics in the area who come highly regarded. Don’t waste your time and shop around for a facility that sincerely cares for its patients. OOA certainly isn’t it.

This is unrelated to the doctor’s office, but should be known. Mike Shultis PA-​C is a creep. My friend lost her iPhone last weekend and he found it. I had been calling the phone the entire day, and had one callback that I missed because I was sleeping. We tracked the phone through her computer and found its location. I went there to try to call the phone and hear the ringer. He was sitting in there, knowing that I was looking for the phone, but didn’t speak up. He had turned the ringer off because I was calling it repeatedly all day.
By going through the phone, he figured out where she worked and left his phone number there. He was reluctant to give it back and admitted that he saw her drop the phone and that he had been following her that night because he liked her skirt. It gets creepier. He then confessed that he had been going through everything on her phone and made a creepy comment about a tattoo that he could have only known about by going through her private photos. She had to go to his office to demand her phone back.
This was not a random act of kindness. He deliberately followed my friend that night because of what she was wearing and kept her phone after HE SAW HER DROP IT so that she would have to contact him to get it back. He ignored our attempts to get the phone back the next day and went through it to get as much personal information about her as possible. This type of behavior is both alarming and absolutely unacceptable from anyone, especially a medical professional.
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Olympia Orthopedic Associates, as a whole, is ridiculous. I went there for a bad disc in my back years ago and because I am a young person, I was treated like a drug seeker and that I didn’t matter to them.
On my 4^th visit, I finally met my doctor (Dr. Clyde Carpenter) for the first time and he took maybe two seconds to look at my MRI to tell me that my disc was bad and rushed me through the questions. When I asked why I hadn’t met him before, I was told I had no reason to meet my doctor (Kurt Judson PA-​C was the only person that was nice to me). I was concescendingly apologized to because there was no «miracle cure» for my back problems. He gave me a pamphlet for back exercises, refused to perscribe me a generic version of the perscription he wrote for my pain, and had me rushed out of there before my actual appointment was supposed to start.

I saw Dr. Patrick Halpin. He was condescending and dismissive, and offered no possibilities other than surgery (this is for possible ulnar nerve damage). He basically went into a rant about how stupid people (like myself, implied) for thinking they could possibly trace their injury back to a specific point in time.
While it may be true that patients do not have accurate information about things like carpal tunnel, RSI, etc. there was no need to go on and on about it like he did — he totally mansplained me.
I would never go there again.

avoid. My appointment was very rushed. Not thorough at all. The physician’s assistant had horrible bed side manner. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. I canceled my follow-​up appointment. I’d rather be in pain than treated like I don’t matter.