General Practitioner - New York, NY

"Do you and your baby a favor, DO NOT go to WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST! DO NOT go to Dr. H. Beatrice Im ! DO NOT go to Dr. Zhanna Fridel! Here are our issues with them: 1. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, we chose to have the D&C surgery for the sole purpose of getting the chromosomal test done. The doctors “miscommunicated” the need to take the sample for the lab test. 2. After realizing their mistake, they never even checked if the sample was still viable before telling us it was too late. Hours later they checked and realized the sample was still viable on our insistence. 3. We went back post op, since the doctor performing the surgery would still be the best for follow-ups and addressing concerns. They respond by sending us a letter giving us 30 days to find another primary care physician. We were referred to Dr. H. Beatrice Im by a colleague, so we didn’t look around before booking an appointment with her thinking as first time parents we should be in a good hands. October 2017, when we found out that we had miscarriage, we were devastated to say the least. Dr. Im shared with us that only the fetus sample taken through a D&C procedure would allow us to do a DNA test which was the only way to determine if a chromosomal issue was the reason of our miscarriage or something more concerning. We decided to undergo the D&C procedure solely based on the fact it was the only way to perform the chromosomal test. Dr.Im ensured us that everything has been taken care of and her colleague Dr. Zhanna Fridel will be operating instead of her because she would be on maternity leave. The day of, we showed up hours before the surgery as we were instructed. The procedure was scheduled at 12:30 but kept on being pushed back. By the time it was our turn, it was already passed 4:30. Surgery was quick and I was quickly transferred to the recover area. My husband asked the nurse ‘so you guys will be taking good care of the sample and run a test on it, right?’. Nurse was apparently unware of this crucial step and immediately informed us that she would double check with the doctor. Both of our hearts just sank, feared the worst nightmare was about to happen. Not consuming any food or water since 7pm the night before, went into surgery with 4 plus hours delay, lost blood, dehydrated, starving, recovering from anesthesia, the last thing I wanted to hear was after all the pain I’ve been through, they messed up the sample! Soon enough, Dr. Zhanna Fridel showed up. My husband asked her the million-dollar question ‘do we still have the sample, can we still use it?’ She immediately replied ‘no, the sample is already gone’, and that she WAS NOT TOLD by Dr. H. Beatrice Im to save the samples after the surgery. As she went on and on passionately preached to us how chromosome works, my husband explained to her why we opted to do this surgery in the first place, that our sole purpose was to find out the root cause of the miscarriage in order for us to make the next life changing decision, which is whether we are physically qualified to try to conceive. She proceeded with more standard politically correct speech yet showed no effort of trouble shooting. My husband pieced all the information together asked, if the sample was not saved, was there an alternative test to deliver the same result. Dr. Zhanna Fridel resourced to colleagues for ideas, and found out that drawing blood sample from both of us in conjunction with other data might be able to help. She then made a call to the department who is responsible of managing (save or clean up) the fetus sample, and quickly found out that my sample was still there, fresh and intact!!! Which means, before when we asked if the sample was available and she said it was too late, she didn’t even once bother to check if the sample was indeed gone. In the end, we were able to save the sample for the lab test. I felt so helpless and hopeless, if it wasn’t because my husband being laser focused on finding a solution, guided Dr. Zhanna Fridel towards the solution rather than dwelling on the stand protocol, I don’t know how I would possibly be able to take the second hit since the announcement of miscarriage. If Dr. Zhanna Fridel focused on trouble shooting in the first place rather than robotically reciting her speech, all the wasted time and emotional distress could’ve been avoided. We don’t need to waste time on abusing the phrase ‘we are human, we all make mistakes’. What really was unsettling was that her emphasis was clearly not on how to find plan B to help this miserable couple, rather, all she could think of was how to quickly deliver the protocol speech and call it a day. As to whether it’s true that Dr. Zhanna Fridel WAS NOT told to save the sample for lab test, that’s between her and Dr. H. Beatrice Im. Dr. H. Beatrice Im was very much aware that after her conversation with us, we chose to undergo D&C surgery for no other reason but to find out the root cause. She was responsible of scheduling and pass on this critical information to Dr. Zhanna Fridel to help us achieve the outcome. As of today, we have not received clarification, apology or any form of communication from Dr. H. Beatrice Im. Weeks later, when the time comes for post-up check up appointment, we truly struggled. We had no desire to walk back in WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST, SUITE 402, what Dr. H. Beatrice Im and Dr. Zhanna Fridel have put us through was so traumatic that neither of us wanted to see either one of them again. However, our rational mind telling us that since Dr. Zhanna Fridel was the one operated on us, she would be reasonably the best person to follow up with. The appointment with her was alright, we remained respectful, cordial and professional with her. When we asked if she could help refer us to other doctors in WEIL CORNELL network, she said she could not help. 3 days later, which is Friday 5:35pm, she emailed me telling me that she prescribed me a vaginal cream to clean up some bacteria she discovered during the check up on Tuesday. I called the pharmacy to follow up with my prescription only was told that they were waiting on some kind of instruction from Dr. Zhanna Fridel. I immediately called WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST, the office was closed. Monday, I called pharmacy first thing first to see if they have received the instruction, the answer was no. I then reached out to WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST to inform that they need to provide instruction to pharmacy. After several calls to WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST and pharmacy since Friday, I finally got my prescription Tuesday evening. Going into the post-up appointment with Dr. Zhanna Fridel was us trying to give her the benefit of doubt, giving her a second chance to redeem herself. But we’re through. First she failed at trouble shooting when she almost lost our D&C procedure sample, then she couldn’t even fill out a simple prescription accurately and smoothly with putting us into some kind of struggle. Nothing thus far has been easy with her. Here comes the most ridiculous part. March 4, 2018, we received a letter from WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST, citing that’ the physician finds it NECESSARY to ask the patient to select another physician’!!! Hello WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST, the feelings are mutual, we agree that ‘a good relationship between a physician and her patient is essential for quality medical care’, that’s why we tried our best to come back to Dr. Zhanna Fridel for the post-up, hoping she would step up the game and reestablish our faith in her and WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST, but no, she made it impossible. What we don’t condone is that: A: neither Dr. Zhanna Fridel nor WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST made attempt to help refer us to other physicians. B: neither Dr. Zhanna Fridel nor WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST made effort to reach out to us to listen to our feedback prior to tossing us a release letter. C: without verifying with us whether we have secured another physician or not, WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST not only informed us that they WOULD NOT provide service to us any longer and DEMAND us to transfer our records elsewhere before 30 days! The journey of becoming parents has been challenging for my husband and I because of Dr. H. Beatrice Im ,Dr. Zhanna Fridel and WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST. We felt the responsibility to openly and honestly share our authentic experiences with folks out there shopping around for doctors and hospitals. We wish you best luck in finding the quality medical care elsewhere that doctors from WEIL CORNELL AT 40 WORTH ST have failed to deliver. "