OHSU Center for Women’s Health

The center for Women’s health at OHSU is amazing. I researched which practices support VBAC’s in Oregon and I found raving reviews for OHSU. They all stand true in my book. Dr. Maureen Baldwin is the most kind and intelligent provider I’ve ever received care from. She’s a problem solver and genuinely cares about not only my physical well-​being but also my emotional well-​being. I would recommend her specially to anyone along with the midwifery clinic. I love them!

The Center for Women’s Health is beautiful and every time I have been there, the people have been kind to me.
However, I had a bad experience with the associated Diagnostic Imaging and felt I should share a little bit in the hopes that it may help OHSU improve future patient experience.
I made an appointment for 8am for the ultrasound through CWH (or got connected to imaging). When I arrived at the Physician’s Pavillion, I asked someone where Women’s Health Imaging was (thinking they were linked). I was directed to the CWH at the Koehler Pavillion. This was, of course, incorrect, and I was directed back to the Physician’s Pavillion. I tried calling on the phone beforehand but their phones weren’t open until 8 and then I couldn’t get through once they were open. I requested that the CWH call over to imaging to tell them I got lost and that I was running over.
As a result, I was quite late to the appointment (a solid 15 minutes). During the appointment, the ultrasound technician said (no less than 10 times), some variant of «we’ll just get through this quickly, and get you out of here.» She was really short with me throughout the entire appointment and kept making judgmental comments. She also complained that my bladder wasn’t full enough in a really short/​curt way (despite drinking 32 oz’s dutifully). I’ve been to one appointment before where my bladder wasn’t totally full, and they said it must have been that I’d been dehydrated. They kindly gave me more time/​water and said they’d do the best they could with the images. Not this place.
On a morning when I was already flustered, confused, and upset by getting poor directions, this was a big bummer for me. I just stopped talking to her so that I wouldn’t cry :(. I would have rather been told I needed to reschedule than be treated like that. I’m just a human being doing the best I can with the information I have. I understand that you’re stressed, but couldn’t you at least try to be nice to me?
The real reason I’m taking the time to write this though is because it’s part of a larger problem. I’ve been to appointments at OHSU before and every single time I have seen at least one person that is significantly late for the appointment because they were lost. I could budget an extra 30 minutes for the possibility of getting lost but then WHY would I not just go somewhere else? Administrative people: Don’t you think it’s about time to address this?
In the days prior to the appointment, I did not receive a reminder call or reminder email as I did with the CWH. They usually allow you to call with questions or to ask for directions. For an appointment scheduled 3 months out, this seemed like a big oversight.
Since the area is so confusing, I would recommend that OHSU standardizes a system for patient reminders and directions. Ideally, this would be an automated email appointment reminder with a map and directions to the specific location. Additionally, it would be a good idea to also have an automated phone call with directions recorded. They should list the address of OHSU, the building name, the department name, the floor number, and the suite number. A PDF map with directions would be very nice too. Many maps don’t load the addresses given by OHSU and instead just take you to the General OHSU campus. I think this is another reason why people get so lost all the time.
You can say that it’ll be too much effort but it’s really not at all. My regular doctors all do it (email+phone reminders with directions) and their buildings are 10x easier to find. Right now it’s costing you your schedule and is frustrating many patients, so I think this should be a priority. Please do it!
If I must return here, it would only be for the CWH. I will do my best to go elsewhere for my other healthcare needs. I hope other patients have better experiences :/.

The only reason I came to OHSU for my second pregnancy was because my OB had retired (from Emanuel– he was amazing), and I’d found positive reviews on a doctor at this center. I liked her fine during our first appt., but that quickly dissipated as I found myself repeating my personal and medical information over and over each time. When they scheduled me for my nuchal, I had my husband take off work to join. They called my name in the lobby, handed me a sheet with another patient’s medication list, grabbed it back, and said: Sorry, wrong person. Have a seat.
Once we were called back, I asked if my nuchal would be done at the center– my doctor looked dumbfounded. This was just a regular check-​up she said. Turns out they’d messed up again. She then asked how the antibiotics were helping me. Antibiotics? I was neither prescribed nor taking any. She informed me that I’d had a bladder infection since my previous appt. (unbeknownst to me, since I’d had no symptoms and she’d failed to inform me). She immediately ordered them and said I needed to take them, as infection is detrimental in pregnancy. This was all happening as she was sharing with my husband and I pregnancy facts for first-​time parents. I’d already gone over with her several times that we were parents of a four year old who’d been delivered via c-​section at Emanuel. She again questioned me why I had a c-​section, and I went over with her again the medical reasons. She never agreed with my previous doctor’s judgment and I always felt like I was being interrogated. I began to dread my upcoming appointments where I felt forced into planning a VBAC. We’d researched it, and I was always firm in my choice to have a repeat section. That was MY informed birth plan for my second and last child. I had to defend it far too often… to a doctor who barely remembered my name. So I started scheduling my visits with other doctors. The difference was night and day– so much so that I even forgave the clinic for ‘losing’ my glucose tolerance test. I’d no choice but to repeat it.
When it was time to deliver, I had a nurse talk me into donating chord blood– she didn’t have to persuade us, it was a donation I gladly permitted. But she’d not informed me just how much blood she had to take before my surgery (and I don’t believe it was necessary, she’d barely mentioned that it was part of the procedure). I was under the impression the only blood they needed was during surgery– from my chord. When my doctor (a new one, and a doctor I loved) walked in to greet me that morning, she looked alarmed. «What are you doing?!» She asked as the nurse took a sixth vile of blood from me. «I didn’t want ANY blood drawn from her before her surgery.» That same nurse didn’t even give me a pillow to hug while the resident attempted my spinal 3 excruciatingly painful times. Once the anesthesiologist stepped in to do it, my anxiety sky rocketed. Once I was prepped for surgery my blood pressure plummeted and I threw up all over myself. They kept yelling at me to not move my arms, which I understood, as they had to get a cuff reading. It was pure reflex on my part, but it didn’t help my anxiety.
Once we were moved to maternity, I had a pretty good experience with the nurses there. One particular nurse went above and beyond to protect my husband and I from the constant barrage of nurses, photographers, and other aids from barging in day and night… one nurse turned the lights on, woke my husband up with her terrible jokes, and literally would not leave us alone. I had to request she never return. Newborn photographers wouldn’t leave us alone, even though we’d explained we weren’t interested. One photographer insisted, and we kept saying no– ‘can I at least take a look at your baby?’ One aid would come in and just seemingly stared at me. I asked her nicely what she was doing. She said: Just ignore me, I’m taking your vitals. She was only supposed to come in sparingly, but she was there probably every hour. Some miscommunication. One night, completely exhausted and crying, I asked a nurse why I had so many visitors so often, with no breaks. She looked shocked. We’d had no rest, no privacy. She immediately put a Do Not Disturb sign on our door, apologizing profusely.
To summarize: if you are pregnant and looking for a great team of OBs at a great hospital, please inquire at Emanuel first. Their care is unmatched.

Doctors are fine but more than willing to do procedures that are free money for them. And speaking of money, the billing department is atrocious! They can’t keep anything straight and have messed up my bill so many times there is no way I’m going back to this place even if I did like the doctors.

I have had the most incredible experience with OHSU’s Center for Women’s health over the last 4+ years.
I see Dr. Audra Norris and Dr. Berlin. Both women are compassionate, incredibly bright, and considered professionally to be top in their area of expertise in the state. The amount of time, and attention they spend on making sure the patient gets the care they need, and deserve is incredible. I’ve had personal calls from the Doctors themselves, making sure I remember to make an appointment, or following up to see how I’m feeling.
The Kholer building is one of the new ones on campus, and has an incredible view of the Portland Valley, and the River.

I had my baby here last year with the midwives but it was the student that made it a good experience!
I did all of my prenatal care here and thought it would be good to meet all the different midwives since I couldn’t pick which one I would get for my delivery. This is a drawback to their system, but I thought it would be worthwhile since they say they offer a lot of birthing options.
Well, as it turned out there were some midwives that I didn’t like but I discovered that I LOVED the student (Sariah) that I got half way through my pregnancy. She had a huge pile of hair wrapped up in dreads on her head, she was really friendly and her care was AMAZING!
She was friendly, knowledgable and confident and I thought out of all of the midwives in the practice, her thoughtful demeanor was really the best. I am still surprised that she was a student. I wanted her at my birth, but one of the drawbacks to OHSU is that even students can’t guarantee they will be their for births. But as it turned out, she was!
I had the best birth possible and want to thank Sariah, it was like a dream delivery! The midwife was okay, but it was the student that took the time to encourage me and supported me as I labored naturally. She delivered my baby directly to my belly — and didn’t hesitate at my requests that she let us discover the babies sex (a girl!!), she helped me get started breastfeeding and I didn’t even need a repair.
I wanted to offer a review because the idea of a student at first made me nervous, but Sariah was like no other (and not just because of her hair) and I never got to thank her! It was like getting two midwives for the price of one!

I went weekly to the Women’s Health Center for over a year for chronic pain and migraines. I saw Dr. Luo and received acupuncture treatment, which was very helpful.
The Center itself is also impressive. The view and art collection are beautiful. There is such a nice atmosphere on the 7^th floor that you forget that you are at the hospital, which is nice. I also appreciate the ease in Insurance billing and that they offer alternative medicine. Dr. Luo is very kind, as well.

I went back here to get a perspective on my hormone situation and for a check up.
The nurse who checked my blood pressure was friendly and kind. I met with Dr. Kristine Roesen who was the first doctor who seemed actually human and retains their humanity at OHSU. While she seemed to have some reservations that I might be a hypochondriac, she asked leading questions, and cut me off anticipating I would wax rhapsodic, she DID answer my questions to the best of her abilities and gave me what assurances she could. This was one of the few times I have walked out of a doctors’ appointment at OHSU actually feeling good.
I told her I hoped she could keep her congenial manner throughout her career. To top off it all, the supervising physician Dr. Michelle Berlin considered my concerns to be of consideration and actually treated me with respect! Usually the supervisory MDs seem to consider me in a dubious light. Maybe I have dubious light emanating from me…
This department also was the first to offer a handy list of contact numbers of different departments.
Good job Women’s Center!