Joanabel Cepe, MD

Not a very pleasant experience.
It takes SO LONG for the receptionist to answer phone calls. Honestly, if you’re lucky they will answer. If not, good luck trying to reach her office and get an appointment. The wait in-​person is pretty long too because there’s so many patients crammed in one day (or thats what I feel). And the waiting room is small so some people end up having to stand up while they wait for their appointment.
My experience with this doctor wasn’t as expected, I recently switched from a pediatrician to this doctor and the change wasn’t for the better. I feel like she doesn’t want to get personal and allow the time to get to know the patient more. Its more of that she wants to find the quickest solution when there wasn’t really a full consultation to tell all my symptoms.
Also, on my followup visit I had to go through the process of going through new patient paperwork and questionnaires AGAIN because apparently the first time I was there «they didnt save my profile correctly.» How unprofessional is that.

Dr. Cepe is a very good doctor, caring and thorough. I give her 2 stars because her office staff is incompetent.
Case in point: we asked the office assistant to change our phone number. Next appointment we showed up for they informed us that the appointment was cancelled and they tried to contact us. We checked the number and it was the old, now disconnected number. We asked them to update it again.
Next time we came, we checked on the phone number… still not changed. This happened for 6 visits and with different people on staff! How hard is it to update a phone number? Apparently, TOO hard for Dr. Cepe’s staff.
Also, it is very difficult to reach them by phone. I don’t think they have ever picked up when we call. To me, that’s just bad patient service.

This review is from my moms experience with Dr. Cepe.
All I can say is that Dr. Crêpe is very unprofessional & not very caring for her patients. My mom needed to get surgery for her Colon Cancer which was discovered in October 2014. My mom finally got her surgery done 4 months later. WTF!!! We are talking about Cancer here! Every time my moms calls her office no one would answer the phones & a message would come on stating that if you need urgent help that there would be a fee. A fee for answering your patients calls??? So we decided to just go to her office one day since they weren’t answering the phones to find out that they where open & just weren’t answering incoming calls. No Bueno!!! Your a professional so be professional Doc!!! One time she told my mom to go to regional hospital to schedule a test & when we got to regional hospital they told us that Dr. Crêpe is suspended from that hospital. How comforting is that to hear.
I’m in the health care field myself so I know my rights & I’m definitely calling DHS to report her & my moms experiences.
If Dr. Crêpe is your doc then be aware & please report any wrong doings or any concerns that you might have. This is not how your suppose to threat your patients & anyone for that matter.
I give her –5 stars if I could!!!
I know she’s going thru personal stuff but that should stay personal when your @ work… NO excuses!!!

I saw Dr. Cepe about one month ago, I called and got a same day appointment which is very hard to get at any other office so I get. there at 245 I’m one of the first patients to be seen that Tues, the girls that work there are very nice help full and no what they are doing all of a sudden it starts getting crazy busy and what seemed one patient became 10, very chaotic waiting area. Doesnt end there, The girls are managing to keep everything running smoothly (the girl in the front for being young can handle a lot in her plate, she seemed almost like an octopus a lady walks in walks to the back and Dr. cepe immediately. turned her 100% attention to the her. After Dr. Cepe saw the waiting area full. all you could hear was them gossiping in her office i got so upset i left… I sadly took my anger on the poor girl that did my blood pressure but i was so upset. I might have just gone in on a bad day but regardless. Dr cepe should attend to her patients and gossip later. Just feel real bad for those poor girls!

I did not have a good experience after the second visit and more with this doctor. My clients were not given notice when running late (they have mental health symptoms), and certain procedures that could have been done at the same appointment were postponed to the next appointment. I am wondering if she wanted to fill her schedule in. She also prescribed medications for certain clients that were not necessary (in my opinion and facility staff’s opinion), however we still followed the «doctor’s orders.» I have switched my clients to another medical doctor for better medical care.

I love Dr. Cepi she has taken me in even though I didn’t have insurance and I thank her dearly for that!

Damn, my insurance won’t cover it. It turned out that this visit cost me $ 233. Even without insurance, it was a lot more than I was expecting. They took a culture of my throat ($ 60) to see why I was sick even though I didn’t feel like I needed it. Just the meds.

DR. Cepe is very nice, i never had any problems w/​her. However the receptionist is awful, very rude and unfriendly. i would consider changing doctors just for this reason :(

My Ratings:
Quality — 3 Stars
Price — 4 Stars
Location — 3 Stars
Service — 2 Stars
Speed — 1 Stars
My Opinion/​Story:
Sad to say but the quality of service from Dr. Cepe has gone down. I used to like seeing Dr. Cepe because it was easy to schedule appointments with her. But lately, it seems like I had to request it a month before. It’s really impossible for me to do that because DUH! I don’t know if I’ll be sick a month from now.
Whenever I want to schedule an appointment, I could never get the date and time I need because she’s either on vacation, not available or there’s no appointment for that day. I can’t rearrange my work schedule just to accommodate theirs.
The receptionist remains to be rude and mean. Sometimes she’ll surprise me by offering a suggestion but usually comes out sarcastic. Whenever I do get an appointment there, there’s no such thing as appointment. I still end up waiting 15 – 45 mins because the doctor took someone in who was in a wait list.
Sorry to say but I found myself another PCP.

Dr Cepe is professional. The old lady /​hag receptionist has to go.
Very unpleasant. I even once asked her «why are you always so mean?»

I am very picky of the doctor’s I choose, so I am so happy that I found Dr. Cepe. She is very professional, and patient with me. She will stay and answer your questions and concerns, regardless of the situation she is in. What I mean by that is, she is extremely busy with so many patients. She cares for them and needs to get to them as well. She will take care of you to the best of her ability (which is very high). She just does not have the luxory to sit around and drink coffee with you. She cares for all her patients, and must get to them to take care of them, just like she took care of you. She is so highly recommended that I am sure that she receives new patients all of the time. I have never had a problem with getting an appointment. Naturally as in all doctor’s office, there is a cushion wait time. Sometimes it’s a minute, at the latest, it has been 10. Once you get to the Patient Room, you may have to wait another 10. I rather wait, than have Dr. Cepe (or any doctor) briskly rush through. If you want good service and to be taken care of, I highly recommend Dr. Cepe. She is very caring, and WILL take care you you and your family.
Dr Cepe’s Staff has gotten a bad rap. I see that some people have complained about thier professionalism and/​or sensitivity. I think a lot of patients that come in have the ‘Mommy I don’t feel good’ Syndrome. Meaning, they are super-​sensitive, and want to be overly catered and ‘babied’ when they call or come in. Dr Cepe’s girls run a professional business, not a Roomper Room Sesame Street Barney Daycare. I have never had a problem with any of her staff members. If fact, they all have been kind to me.
Parking lot is huge. The new office location is nice as well.

As a patient, I guarantee that you will be treated poorly. Front office staff will schedule you but will also schedule other folks in close order. Once the Dr gets tied up, you are basically screwed.
Don’t get me wrong, they folks working there and even the doctor have good talking skills but it ends there. They will say nice things but their professionalism is severely lacking. If you want human care, don’t visit Cepe because they’ll treat you like cattle!
My family and i have visited a lot of doctors, and so far, Cepe is the least professional. She doesn’t treat you like a patient, but more like a body for insurance claims.
My suggestions is that she get a partner to cover her excessive load, or schedule less patients (or provide more time for each appt). That way she is not in a rush to get you in and out, and also, to calm down, examine you thoroughly, and make you feel like you are being looked at and treated.
Common business sense right? But then again, Doctors, some of them at least, are not good business folks.

If I could give Dr. Cepe 0 stars, I would. Whenever I am sick, I cannot get a hold of anyone from the office to make an appointment. The phone just rings and rings and rings. If no one answers, you will get a voicemail which doesn’t even take messages. What’s up with that? There have been several times when someone answers the phone, but before I can say anything «Dr. Cepe’s office, please hold.» I have been left on hold for so long, that I have to hang up and try calling back only to get the answering machine or another «Please hold.» I was so frustrated about not being able to make an appointment that I called Dr. Cepe’s cell phone number although the answering machine states to only call during an emergency. I was in excruciating pain when I called the doctor and left her a voicemail on her cell. She didn’t return my call, but answered my phone call when I called again later on from a blocked number. She then was extremely rude and not helpful at all.
Another thing: She has these young medical assistants/​receptionists that look like they could be in high school. They have no phone etiquette skills whatsoever, are rude, and extremely unprofessional. The last time I was seen at the office, I had an appointment scheduled for 2:00 which was during the regular office hours. I get there a few minutes early and notice another patient waiting outside the door. They asked when my appointment was and said they had been waiting a while outside while the girls were inside laughing away.
5 minutes past my appointment… Although I knocked and the receptionists could see that patients were outside, they just looked over and continued to giggle amongst themselves. The only thing I would say that is good about this office is that it is clean and in a new clinic. Other than that, I would strongly recommend going to another physician. Who wants to waste their time trying to get a hold of a unreachable doctor? I’ve reported this to Blueshield and Physicians Medical Group.