WOODHAVEN MEDICAL CENTER A BUNCH OF QUACKS POSING AS DOCTORS RIPOFF Woodhaven New York

I was an employee for them for 18 years and left to further my career in medicine. Granted it is a family practice office with little resources for future careeer growth but what it taught me is how to deal with the public in a professional manner and experience life rewarding experiences. The issue of firing longstanding employees happen when those employees forget that this a job with dealing with the public and medical care. It requires a continued emphasis on keeping a professional demeanor even when you know the patient is demanding. It requires an employee to go the extra mile and try to solve problems and not just turf it to someone else. There are times when employees have to be let go so a new way of attitude and customer service changes. I guess the employee who has to work has had a hard time finding a job either way when working in a medical office it is tough to climb the ladder. When i was working there i made an effort to work closely with fellow receptionist and not create a soap opera like atmosphere. I knew it was a busy office and no one has the time to deal with nonsense. Too many times my fellow workers would take there private life into the work field . Some would be calling on there cell phone using the internet for personal use . Some would walk out to get a smoke. In there eyes this is ok but they do not realize that the final say as to why a person is let go is the public reaction to that person not if that person is making too much money. I know i was rewarded financially because i did my job professionally and patients respected me and looked at me as a leader. A leader is someone any employer would hold on too and reward,but say to yourself are you a leader,are you well liked by the patients in that office ,are you serious about working together as a group . I had that role to tell wayne who to let go and keep and when an employee is making more money than another employee and is not doing there job changes have to be made. I looked to see those people starting at a lower wage who really have it going on and rewarded them financially . You may have been that one but the reason you probably were let go is you forgot why you are working there its for the patients and its the patients who make the final say.

i used to go here when i was younger and things have changed alot, now i have a friend who actually works in this office and she even hates it she is only working there because she needs to support her children but it is horrible...here are the facts Wayne muraca is the office manager of the office and they have 1 main PA who works there and her name is Karen and oh my god she is awful alot of patients call her doctor Karen and oh hell no she is no doctor she is a PA but she is very snotty with all her patients and she acts like she runs the place.

have always have different PA's who work there because most of the new ones do not even last longer then 6 months there has been about 3 very good PA'S who quit in the first year alone because they are to good to be working there seeing over 100 patients per day doing to much work for little pay THE DO'S AND OFFICE MANAGERS ARE CHEAP!!... THEY DO NOT LIKE TO PAY GOOD MONEY TO WELL DESERVED  EMPLOYEES INSTEAD THAT FIRE GOOD HARD WORKING PEOPLE AND KEEP THE LESS INEXPERIENCE WORKERS THERE BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE ONES WHO ARE WILLING TO SLAVE FOR LESS MONEY.

its horrible that this office has come to this there was 1 very good doctor who used to work there his name was Steven Jacobs and he was amazing he is the doctor that that i saw when i was going there and come to find out he also quit he had so many patients that loved him and now they drove him away too..MAYBE LACK OF PAY AND TO MANY HOURS OF WORK!...nobody wants to go threw that especially if u have gone to school for many years. My friend just told me that they have recently let go of 2 of the best receptionist working in that office and for very poor reason at that.

they are always firing the best workers and rehiring people who know nothing about working in a medical center they should be a shame of their self and u wonder why people are always waiting hours to see a doctor?..it is because all they care about is money ...they book sooo many appointments in that medical center a day enough to collect everybody's 20 and 30 dollar co payments and then they only have 2 PA'S working their and not enough rooms because not to mention it...it looks like a big practice but they only have about 4 or 5 rooms on each side and most rooms are usually taken by specialty,technicians and sonogram techs...but they don't care they still want to make all of their medical assistants work harder and harder each day as well as their receptionist and give them a sh*tty pay.

THIS PLACE IS SO UNORGANIZED AND EVERY SINGLE PERSON IS ON A DIFFERENT PAGE THAT IT MAKES ME SICK AND NOT TO MENTION THE OFFICE MANAGER WAYNE IS NEVER AROUND WHEN SOMEBODY HAS A CONCERN HE IS ALWAYS IN HIS LITTLE BACK OFFICE HIDING FROM PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SPEAK TO HIM AND LEAVES HIS MANAGER DUTIES TO A RECEPTIONIST NAMED ANA WHO HAS BEEN WORKING THERE FOR A WHILE AND KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT HOW TO BE OR DEAL WITH REALLY SERIOUS SITUATIONS. ITS EMBARRASSING AND I AM SO GLAD I NO LONGER ATTEND THIS OFFICE AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT MY FRIEND WILL BE LEAVING SOON BECAUSE SHE IS THE BEST WORKER AND DESERVES BETTER THEN TO WORK FOR A UN APPRECIATED UN EDUCATED MONEY HUNGRY THIEVES. WITH NO BENEFITS. anyway everything i have said in this post is 100% true and i can back it up at that. any questions feel free to reply back to this post. thank you :)

This is NOT a rebuttal, but an addition.  I found it very difficult to write a new report.

As the friend of someone who goes to WMC, i can concur that this office is very poorly run.  Grant it, this is second hand information, my friend to me, she would have no reason to lie to me about this. 

First I want to say that anyone who refers to the 2 owners of this place as MD's is 1000% wrong.  They are DO's, which is a step above PA.  Never refer to them as MD's and insult all the good and great physicians out there.

Next.  How would you like to make a appointment 2 weeks in advance only to get a call the morning of your appointment that it has been cancelled, because the PA you were suppose to see has been overbooked, or be told that the PA leaves at 5pm sharp regardless who is waiting.

While I have absolutely no use for PA's (glorified nurses), to much UNSUPERVISED responsibility is given to them.  Are they qualified, who knows, but i doubt it.

Lastly, if you are a female patient, be sure to ask for a nurse to be present, and i mean a real nurse, not a 16-17 year old girl working there after school.  The seem to forget it is the law that a female patient not be alone at any time.

Liek i said earlier, this is NOT a rebuttal, and there are many valid points mentioned that should be investigated on the local, state and federal levels.

Some of my report is fact and some is opinion.

 I was a patient at the Woodhave medical center from the time I was 8 to around 16. I was sick a lot as a Child Because I am a  Type 1 Diabetic. At first I was seen by Dr. Maurca and then By Dr. Marciano. As There Practice grew Bigger They employed Many more  physician and PA's. You never got to see who you wanted and the wait was always terrible. My grandparents had been going for many years to what was there liberty avenue office  And seeing DR Passarelli. I thought I would give him a try and loved him. He was with my Grandparents to there final days. Always calling to check in  , Calling back when ever we needed him at any time He eventually left the center. for some time I was stuck seeing the woodhaven Doc's and PA's.

I know how frustrating it can be to have your expectations not match up with the experience.  I've been a patient at Woodhaven Medical Center for over 15 years and over time have seen a shift in the type of care one can recieve.  It may be an unfortunate sign of the times that many private practices and small medical groups are forced to supplement their workforce with PA's.  I say forced because that's exactly what it is.  With the intense financial pressure they face along with  decreasing reimbursements and increasing costs, many private service physicians find themselves having choose to continue service in the communities they're in by adding PA's to help or close down.  This would leave many people with no alternative but to utilize already overcrowded emergency rooms.  Now that would be a disaster....for everyone.  Insurance companies continue to bombard doctors with audits demanding the return of hundreds of thousands of dollars already paid to them for services they have given to us, the patient.  In turn, most physicians must turn to the legal community for help to at least decrease the amount the insurance companies will purge from them. 

I personally request to see the actual MD's and only on the days that they are there.  I will only see the PA's for very minor things such as, perscription refills or needing a script to see another doctor.  This is merely a preference of mine and in no way an admonishment of hardworking PA's.  If it's any consoliation, there is usually an MD available on site along with the PA's to oversee, at least there's supposed to be.  Drs. Marcioano and Muraca are not the only Boeard Certified doctors on staff. 

We must take our healthcare into our own hands and ask the right questions.  You have a right to know just whom will be tending to you and whether they are PA's or MD's.  When calling for any appointment always get the name of the person with whom you've spoken to.  If ever any of the staff are rude or uncooperative it helps to inform the head doctors of this....believe me...it helps!

I am not disagreeing with Wayne both doctors are excellent in their fields that is not the problem. The problem is both doctors who are partners and from what my niece was told Wayne is a relative to Dr. Muraca and works at the center and the doctors run at least three other medical centers in Queens, NY. By doing so they do not have the time to see the patients who believe they are going there to see a medical doctor. My niece who lives in the area was so fed up with the long wait that she switched to a private doctor a few blocks away that has only one office and sees his own patients not pawning them off on PA's. My niece has gone to the Woodhaven Medical Center a few times and was never able to get a appointment with either doctor it was sorry they are booked, sorry they are in the other clinic always excuses. She had a ten o'clock appointment in the morning and was not seen until 2pm, the staff was rude and condensing so she left and never went back. Some of there staff are young college students who have no experience in customer care or patients relations and should not be working the front desk. She had some serious medical issues and needed test but was given the wrong around and wanted to see one of the medical doctors. This is inexcusable. If you cannot juggle the patient load you have now why keep other locations going to be run by less than par and less than trained staff? It's all about making a buck at the cost of the patient. If you had to pay a lawyer for each hour he waited you would not like that. I agree with the above author nowdays medical insurance is very costly and we have a right to demand to see a doctor not a PA. To me and many this is a way to cut cost and see as many patients as they can squeeze in a day to lined there pockets. I would highly suggest Wayne speak with the DRs. and ask them why not send out a survey to their patients and the patients who switch to other doctors ask them how they feel get there input on what is working and what isn't. Train your staff on the basics of manners and how to treat patients when they get into the real world that attitude will not get them far on the career ladder. I worked for years with a wonderful doctor and the patients came first never ever would the attitude that runs rampant in that office be tolerated. The patients are your bread and butter.

When my husband and I first moved to the area about six months ago we thought it was great to have a doctors office within three blocks of our new home. My husband and I switched to the Woodhaven Medical Center. We were not happy. I agree with Paul on this, I would prefer to see a medical doctor not a physician's assistant regardless of their credentials. Seeing as Wayne list himself as a employee I feel he would defend the medical practice and be basis based on the fact he is employed by the medical center.

There was a long wait when my husband suffering from a severe sinus infection, who by the way had a appointment had to wait over a hour and a half, was told the doctor was unavailable and he would be seen by a physician's assistant. That was fine he was in need of medication as he was out of work for two days suffering. The PA was ok but it was not the same as seeing a regular doctor. In our insurance handbook it list both DRS. Maurca and Marciano as the doctors of the office they should be the ones seeing patients. We noticed how packed it was in that office and it seems they take any new patients regardless of the needs of being extremly overbooked, your rushed through and its cold and callous.

We switched back to our old doctor in Fresh Meadows who is the only one who handles patient care requiring a physician. In our handbook we also noticed these two doctors have a couple different offices throughout the boroughs and makes you wonder how they can have different offices and see patients. It's more like they are in one day a week at each office and when you call to make a appointment for the doctor you chose no one says "Sorry he is booked you will be seeing a PA, it's only after the fact when your there and you give them your insurance information, fill out new patient forms and co-pay that you are told you are seeing a PA. I am sure the PA's are good but they do not have the training, education, skill or licenses like a doctor.

My question to Wayne is this a PA only needs four years of college and course work would you trust yourself to a PA? I am sure you will say yes since you work for the office. Funny how the DRS. aren't responding. We pay too much money for our health insurance to be treated by a PA. What your office needs to do is inform all new patients when they call for their first appointment that they will not be seeing a doctor but a PA so they are given the choice of looking elsewhere, but judging but what we encounter its all about making money, not patient care. Why is that not done????

Dr. Giovanni Marciano and Dr. Glenn Muraca have been selected by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., which is a healthcare research and information firm founded to help consumers find top doctors and hospitals. They both have been selected and highlighted in TOP DOCTORS NEW YORK METRO AREA by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. They have also been featured in the yearly issues of the NEW YORK magazine list of Top Doctors New York Metro Area.

The office does employ Physician Assistants. Physician Assistants are non-physician clinicians licensed to practice medicine with a physician's supervision. This supervision need not be direct or on site.

PAs can treat patients in New York State, prescribe medicine and carry a DEA number that gives them authority to prescribe controlled medications like narcotics. Physician Assistants in The Woodhaven Medcial Center have treated patients with many different symptoms and ailments, including fevers of 104.

Since Drs. Marciano and Muraca are so highly respected and in great demand there is at times a wait to see them. When they are unavailable or booked, patients are offered appointments with PAs. When appointments are made, the patient is fully aware of the healthcare professional they will be treated by, be it a doctor or PA.

Wayne M.
Office Manager
718-805-0037 x 26