I do not recommend Dr. Pender. Her goals for my health are not aligned with mine; I believe her goals were about documentation and covering her own trail rather than helping me with my health. I am being very candid in this review because I will never again visit her; I am not proud to write that I did not trust her enough that I would give negative feedback while she was prescribing meds that I needed –I did not have the energy or finances to work out a relationship with yet another dr. Dr. Pender documented our appointments thoroughly and throughout the time we had. I am disturbed that she introduced topics into her documentation that we had not discussed (i.e., notes she added days after my apt that said she had told me __ and ___, and she had not). When I visited her while enduring chronic and severe pain, her strongest response was to lecture me about opioids THREE times during the first visit; during her first lecture I indicated opioids were not my goal. As she repeated the approx. 5-7 minute lecture twice more during my appt, I tried to express to her that my interest was in what we COULD do to alleviate the pain/issues, not in what she WOULD NOT do (i.e., prescribe opioids); I did not appreciate that she wasted our valuable appointment time with unwelcome redundancy. When I suggested physical therapy, she acquiesced. She asked which of 2 pain meds I would like to try, and I chose option 1 because I had previously been prescribed option 2 and it did not help me. Unfortunately, insurance required additional info from Pender before the pharmacy could fill the prescript. It turns out that my insurance did not cover the option 1 prescrip, which Pender learned the following day. I made several calls to the pharmacy and to Pender’s office during the following week; I was getting more and more desperate for pain management and did not understand why the pharmacy did not fill the prescription –they could only say they were waiting for info from the doctor. Pender’s office did not return my first call for over 48 hrs (these were weekdays, not weekend), and it was only when I received a letter from my insurance 10 days later that I understood the meds would not be covered. Please understand that Pender was notified one day after my visit and I had called her office three times in the interim. After I read the insurance letter to Pender’s office, and presumably after Pender conferred with the nurse, I received a return call from the nurse and was offered the option 2 med (at a dosage which previously had not worked for me). At the follow-up 4-wk later apt with Pender, she increased the dosage to a level that allowed me to manage the pain and succeed at my life’s tasks (such a tremendous relief). I asked if I could typically expect response from her office within 24 hours of my phone call, and she allowed that was reasonable. I asked why she had not contacted me to change the meds, why she did not reply to any of my increasingly desperate phone calls when I couldn’t pick up the first med and didn’t understand why. I believe the appropriate action would have been for Dr. Pender to contact me, explain, and prescribe the alternate med. She took no responsibility for her inaction, none. I never addressed with her that she had documented 2 topics we had never discussed; I did not trust that she would help me if I called her out on that. Basically, I did not trust HER.

Submitted Oct. 31, 2019

After having Dr. Pender for 10 years as our GP her "practices" has grown to be too reliant on the regid hospital policies and and less on common sense. She has passed the buck to too many other specialists to be responsive to her regular patience. LOOK ELSE WHERE for regular care.

Submitted Dec. 13, 2013

Fairbanks is a far away community and its often hard to attract quality physicians to the far north. But, we in Fairbanks are lucky to have Dr. Pender and I certainly cannot say enough good things about Dr. Pender and her practice. The wait time for my appointment was very brief (I was in the waiting room only 5 minutes at a peak time of the day) and desk staff and assistants couldn't have been any friendlier. Dr. Pender is very knowledgeable, took lots of notes on her laptop and seemed genuinely concerned about my needs. My doctor was extremely informed about the condition I came in for and gave me options and answered my many questions. I was impressed by her 'bedside manner' and her desire to help me better myself on my own as well as with medication. I left her office feeling more empowered and knowledgeable, as well as hopeful for a better outcome with her assistance. I would highly recommend Dr. Gina Pender to anyone needing a quality, consciencous and caring physician.

Submitted April 5, 2012

Great doctor. Listened to all my questions and was very compassionate based on my condition. She ask questions that I did not expect which really helped her to figure out the medications I needed. I would recommend her highly.

Submitted Nov. 4, 2011

Very helpful, answered all of my questions and didn't seem rushed to leave or anything. Knowledgeable too, and as personable as I want my doctor to be. Wish I'd gone to her sooner.

Submitted July 24, 2011

I'm from the Detroit area and have found Dr. Pender to be every bit as competent as the doctors I experienced while living there. I like the fact that she documents everything using her laptop. She asks lots of questions. Due to her note taking every visit makes sense in the treatment of the "whole" person. While she's not effusive, I've found her sense of humor is in tact and professional. I don't trust effusive people anyways...they gotta be hiding something!

Submitted April 28, 2011

I stopped seeing her after I went for an annual physical and she never even touched my body! She spent the whole time on her computer, asking me questions that I had already answered before. I had just turned 50 and I had to ask her whether I should schedule a colonoscopy, have blood work done, etc. Frankly I was insulted by the waste of time and money I spent on my "physical" with her.

Submitted March 25, 2011

Dr. Pender was helpful, informative,and thorough. She established a good rapport with me and went the extra mile to prepare me for upcoming surgery.

Submitted Sept. 8, 2010

Dr. Pender appears to be knowledgeable and caring. She makes appropriate suggestions and encourages me to be proactive in my health care. While she isn't effusive, she is nice and appears genuine. TVC is a very busy clinic. She's always managed to follow through on phoned in requests for prescription questions and requests. Dr. Pender appears to be well-adjusted and does have a good sense of humor...again, she's not effusive. I wouldn't be going to her if I didn't think she was capable. I'm from Ann Arbor in Michigan and had access to some excellent doctors and I think she measures up to any doctor I've had in the past. In fact, she spends more time than any doctor I've had with regard to questioning.

Submitted Jan. 24, 2010

I've seen Gina Pender three times over three years. Each time she was professional, polite, asked all the right questions, referred me to the specialists I requested, and was generally curious and helpful. She does not come across as warm or nurturing but has provided wonderful care.

Submitted April 6, 2009