Tucson Orthopedic Institute

I’ve used Tucson Ortho for 3 separate issues. The first was my rotator cuff and now some back issues. The staff here is excellent. The doctors take the time to explain procedures and discuss all options. For a large organization, they provide personalized service. I would recommend this organization to anyone needing treatment.

I was having knee problems and my mother in law suggested that I go here to see Doctor Prickett. I am not writing a bad review because they didn’t miraculously solve my injury, I am writing a bad review because of the way I was treated.
I understand that doctors are busy but when I book an appointment I expect you to be in the room for more than 3 minutes. His whole attitude was terrible! I didn’t even get to ask all my questions (very easy questions) before he stood up said go to PT and shook my hand. Total waste of time and money. You aren’t meeting me out of charity, I am paying you, so give me the time I paid for. That’s all I am asking! Never going back and I would never suggest anyone go here!

In October of 2014, I received a labral repair on my shoulder. During my 6 month follow up, Dr. Prickett specifically told me to seeing a trainer would be a good idea, as I’d been discharged from physical therapy, but the strength and range of motion in my shoulder was far from normal, and very much use of the shoulder caused a lot of pain in the muscles. I was told that it would take a year before that return to normal happened, and that the more I could work my shoulder, the better and faster that would happen.
I then sought out a personal trainer, and requested of Dr. Prickett’s office a «medical necessity» form, so that I could use FSA dollars to pay for this, massage (to deal with the muscle pain) and an ergonomic mouse at work so I didn’t have to hold my arm to the side, which was causing pain. However, in a 180 from our conversation in his office, Dr. Prickett’s assistant called and told me that none of that was «medically necessary,» and he would not sign to let me spend my own money on recovering to full function with professional help, except for a PT (who are expensive and limit their practice to just the shoulder and only basic recovery exercises).
I’m completely floored that a Dr. would EVER not consider a trainer to be medically necessary, even without a surgery. That defies every bit of logic and research on exercise that has ever been published.
Further, to have your surgeon not want your quick and proper recover, and to help eliminate pain during the process, is mind boggling to me.
I would recommend that people go to another place, TOI operates like a surgery factory, and does not care much for follow up, they are attentive only as long as you’re about to pay them for a $ 35k surgery.

Last summer, I sprained my ankle, but assumed that if I stayed off it and iced it, it would be fine. Unfortunately, when 6 weeks went by and I still couldn’t work out, I began to worry. My doctor sent me to TOI with 2 separate referrals. Since I was going in anyway, I asked to have my hand looked at as well; that injury happened 7 years ago (keyboarding), and it still hurt.
I had to see 2 specialists, and had the same experience with each. TOI offers factory model health care, with one big check-​in desk at the front, where everyone is sorted, and then shunted through the system at top speed. Each doctor spent approximately 5 seconds looking at my X-​rays before telling me there was nothing wrong with me. I’m used to this – I had a chronic issue that resulted in a dozen doctors over 17 years insisting nothing was wrong with me before I found one who bothered to believe, test, diagnose, and treat me – so I reiterated that I was in a lot of pain and was very familiar with my body and was sure something was wrong.
The first doctor said, «You can have PT to strengthen your ankle.» As I had been doing Crossfit 3 times a week for 3 years prior to the sprain (it did not happen at Crossfit, but in my back yard, walking), I was fairly certain that my problem was not weak ankles, but I took the physical therapy anyway. The second doctor made fun of me when I tried to explain my trouble with doctors refusing to listen to me, and then said the same thing as the first doctor – I could have physical therapy, if I insisted, to strengthen my hand. I kept telling him I was in pain all the time and he kept saying it was just fatigue and I was weak. But, again, I had been doing Crossfit – lifting weights, doing pull ups and push ups and kettlebells – 3 times a week for 3 years prior to setting foot in TOI. I don’t think my wrist was «just weak.» It had been in pain for 7 years.
The people in physical therapy are very nice and seem competent, but they can only make decisions based on what the orthopedists tell them. I did a few sessions for my ankle, and was told that there was nothing wrong with it, and that I would be back at Crossfit soon. Over a year later, I still cannot properly run or jump. But the experts assure me there’s nothing wrong with my ankle, even though I sometimes limp now.
The wrist situation was worse. Although there was «nothing wrong» with me, I was prescribed a lot more PT for the wrist than the ankle. The therapist was really nice and the first half of the therapy was pleasant; it was just various treatments to relieve my pain, including sonogram and wax therapy. Then I had sessions that included pain relief and light exercise. That was OK. Then they decided to do some specific strengthening exercise and gave me a board covered with different things to twist. This was the very type of work that caused me pain, and I explained to the therapist that I did not want to do it, that I felt it would cause more harm than good, but he assured me it would be beneficial.
I did the exercise slowly and carefully, feeling my pain increase with every twist. I was in a lot of pain at the end, and it’s been that way every since. I only had one session of PT left after that, but I was afraid to go back. I went from feeling moderate pain when I did things like use a can opener, a lighter, a pair of tweezers, or a key, to feeling pain all the time. I used to wear a wrist brace some nights. Now I wear it probably 50 percent of the time and I have learned to use my non-​dominant hand for many of the above actions, because it feels like I’m being stuck with a knife if I use other one. This is particularly distressing because I’m a writer and an artist and it’s much easier to teach my left hand to light a lighter than to draw.
I’m terrified to go back and complain. Based on my experience, I expect they’d probably laugh at me and then, if I insisted on treatment, screw my hand up even more. Plus, PT was really expensive. I asked repeatedly for an estimate on the cost and they kept telling me they couldn’t tell me how much it would cost. I was over halfway through the treatments before I received a single bill, and it was exorbitant. My insurance is pretty good, but this magical adventure cost me about $ 800 all told.
If I ever have enough money and courage to seek treatment again, I would definitely NOT come to TOI. I would find an orthopedist in private practice unaffiliated with this giant healthcare factory, someone who would actually listen to my problems and treat them instead of glancing at my X-​rays, laughing at me, and giving me a consolation prize of screwing my extremities up even more.

I came here several times to see a hand doctor & had fairly good experiences with Dr Goode. He is very nice & have good manners, & it’s no wonder he’s always booked. At times, I have to wait for weeks to be able see him. On the other hand, the staff is a different story, the medical assistant can be rude, impatient, & uncompassionate. She forgot that most patients are often depressed & in pain & can be slow in explaining or answering questions. I just don’t understand why Dr Goode has such a primadonna in his office. Also, the person who answers the phone @520−7 846 200, which is the main line for the Hand department to go for intensive training on phone etiquette & professional development.

I have had a very good experience here. I broke my leg a month ago, and have been seen here 3 times as I have dealt with the injury. The medical assistants, cast techs, radiology folks, and Dr Wang have all been helpful and friendly. My only complaint (hence 4 stars) is that wait time can be long — I come for a 2:30 appt, and am not seen by the doctor until 3:15 — but I understand that this tends to be the norm in large, busy practices. I’m sorry that others had bad experiences, but I would recommend Dr Wang and his staff.

I found Dr. Landis to be receptive and knowledgeable. He spent time with me and discussed my issues. HOWEVER, his assistant, Lily, was obnoxious, rude and even slammed the door when she left the examination room. Yes, she slammed the door. She wasn’t happy with my refusal to not have an immediate xray since I forgot the CD for my appointment. I will no doubt have to see Dr. Landis again, however, I refuse to be attended by Lily. I will make those arrangements beforehand. Oh yes, the office manager told me that when Lily is having a «bad day», she takes it out on the patients. Wonderful.

I can’t imagine that everyone has the kind of horrible experience that I had here, or the place would be out of business. If I could give it zero stars I could. To start, I was referred here by my neurologist for physical therapy. The neurology office sent not one, not two but 5 referrals to the place. Every time I called to confirm that the referral had been recieved, they said it had not, and asked what number I had used. EVERY time, they said the number I had was wrong and gave me a new number. Then when I called back they said THAT number was wrong.
Every person I spoke to there seemed to take great personal pleasure in making me feel like I was doing something wrong. When my referral was finally processed, they made an appointment for me to see a doctor, NOT PT.
When I saw the doctor, i told him that my massage therapist had found a spongy lump under my scapula. With great condescension, he explained that sometimes the muscles of the body tighten up and cause what is called «a knot» I told him the my massage therapist was pretty well aware of what a knot is, and that this was different. He still declined to believe me or even take a look at it.
When I was finally put through to the PT office to make an appointment, the scheduler behaved with great suspicion, telling me that in my notes it said I was seeing a different physical therapist, and outright accused me of lying and trying to get PT at two different places. It was completely absurd. When I finally got in to see the PT, they refused to give me the prescribed treatment (heated ultrasound massage for chronic muscle spasm) because they said they didn’t feel any knots in my shoulder. They determined this by lightly brushing their hand down my back, which was clothed in a heavy sweater. I told them that my back was covered in knots, and they come and go constantly. they refused to do the treatment.
Amazingly, the comedy of incompetence does not stop there. I called the PT office and told them I wanted to cancel all of my scheduled appointments. They said they would. Three days later, I got a call from them to confirm my next day appointment, reminding me if I did not show, I would have to pay $ 50.

This clinic is IMPOSSIBLE to contact! I’ve been dealing with major lower-​back pain for 3 months, and my GP referred me to TOI because she has no clue what’s going on with my spine. After 3 weeks, I STILL have not been able to make an appointment, despite repeated contact attempts.
TL;DR: I have left 4 or 5 voicemails, NONE of which have been responded to, and the only time I got a callback was when I submitted an online appointment request (the call came a day and a half later). I couldn’t grab my phone in time, so now I’m stuck trying to play phone-​tag AGAIN to get an appointment.
I did manage to speak to a real person once, but she informed me that the doc my GP initially referred me to was booked solid for 3 months, so I’ve been calling back to try to see ANYBODY and no luck so far.
I finally got an appointment at another hospital, but I have to wait several weeks, but at this point, I’ll take anything because this contact game has been beyond ridiculous.

The Doctors are great but getting to them is an awful trip.
After waiting 3 months for our teen to see Dr Landis, and after a call confirming it from Tucson Ortho, we were refused the appointment when we arrived because the referral had expired. «You’ve got 10 minutes to get another or you lose the appointment,» said the staff. A referral that the staff should have known was expired before they confirmed the appointment.
No apology, no accommodation, no respect. No real surprise when we were told that there were no appointments, at any of their 4 offices, for months. Rather than put this kid through even more delay when he needs treatment, we went to Dr Valencia at University Ortho. We got a convenient appointment in a week.

I am writing this review to help others– not for any other reason. If you are looking for personalized care, where doctors actually care if you are in pain and give a crap, don’t go here. I have dealt with 2 different doctors at this practice, both extremely bad. The first one I think just didn’t know enough to give a crap– the other one was the absolute worst doctor that I have ever seen or been asscoaited with– hands down. The average wait time to see someone is basically 45 min-​1 hour to even get back behind the double doors. Maybe the old people that go here can wait all day for a doc appointment– those of us trying to earn a paycheck– not so much.
I cannot stress enough how much this place sucks in every single way possible. If you care about having a doc who knows what they are doing and/​or cares, don’t go here.

I chose Tucson Orthopedic because I broke my foot on my move to Arizona and they were the only ones who would see me on short notice that my insurance company would approve.
I saw Dr. Landis at the La Cholla office of Tucson Orthopedic on 2 occasions. I didn’t go back for my third appointment. All I can say is that they have completely mastered assembly line medicine. If that’s what you like, this is the place for you. If you prefer to be a patient instead of a number and want to have more than a few seconds with the doctor, avoid this place.
The experience starts in a large, crowded waiting room. Every now and then, a nurse comes out and calls one, sometimes 2 or 3 names. The first time I waited 30 minutes past my appointment time to get called. Then, they walk to the «cast room» where they have 6 or 8 exam areas in a room sort of separated by partial curtains. They leave you and you sit there until the doctor arrives. He starts at the exam area on one end of the room and moves down the line to the other end. He spent maybe 30 seconds with me, told the tech to give me a walking cast and he moved on to the next patient. I can’t say anything about the doctor because in 30 seconds, you don’t develop much of a rapport.
The second experience with the office is why I never went back. When I checked out the first time, the receptionist gave me an appointment card with the information for my next appointment. She told me that my appointment would be at the address on the card. So, that’s where I went. It turns out that the address on the card is a non-​profit group working with a hospital. They get a lot of Tucson Orthopedic patients sent there so they had a number to call, confirmed I had an appointment and sent me to another office. It was a 10 minute drive to the new office. When I arrived at that office, I was told that Dr. Landis wasn’t there that I needed to drive all the way across town to the LaCholla office. I’ve now been driving around for over an hour. I am furious and I arrive at the La Cholla office and am told that because I’m an hour late for my appointment, I’ll just have to sit in the waiting room and they’ll call me when they have time.
That was not the right thing for the receptionist to tell me. It was, after all, THEIR receptionist who gave me the wrong address to go to. I even had the appointment card to prove it. I demanded to see the office manager and she ultimately took care of the situation and got me in to see Dr. Landis. Again, I sat in the cast room with 6 – 8 strangers waiting for him to spend 30 seconds with me. He did, I left and I’m not going back.