I had a similar experience on my first two visits to the office. On the third visit a man was in the room and I asked who he was and it turned out it was Dr. Ghazal. I said immediately that it would have been nice if he would have introduced himself on the first visit. Since then my worries were some what alleviated until my last phone appointment that never happened. I have had three heart scans at three different places and he was not able to share with me if there were any changes in my enlarged aortic stem. The co pays on the last two were more than I paid at Cedars total cost. The second one I felt like I was in a converted cafeteria. When he suggested a third I asked if I can go to Cedars. I had long conversations about the co pay etc with my insurance and ended up not going to Cedars but to another place on my plan. Yesterday he told my primary it is better if I go to the same place to have my heart ct scans done. I agreed Cedars! I realize I don't have the best insurance. There are two offices down the hall from each other. I don't think they communicate. I was always getting another co pay bill. The hospital has been under construction for three years so far.

Submitted May 8, 2021

Two months ago, my wife scheduled an appointment for me to see Dr. Ghazal. Today, while on our way to his office, we realized traffic would delay us 5-10 minutes. We contacted the office and advised the receptionist about our late arrival. No problem. We arrived at the Dr.'s office and ammounced. With a smirk on her face, the receptionist said: "You cannot see the Dr. because your insurance is cancelled". Shocked to hear that --since the health ins. company had not notified of any cancellation and was accepting our monthly premium regularly-- I asked: "So why weren't we contacted by the Dr.'s office?" Her response --with the same smirk-- was: "We left a message on your phone on August 16". (Today is Aug. 20th). Needless to say, no such message was left, otherwise we would --at the very least-- have tried to address such an issue; after all, we had waited for 2 months for this appointment.

While my wife was on the phone to clarify the matter with the health ins. personnel, a patient called and --apparently-- asked to speak with the Dr. The receptionist stated that the Dr. was on vacation. I thought I heard her wrong. Another caller asked the receptionist if she could confirm the new dosage of his/her medication with the Dr. The same response: "The Dr. is on vacation." Wowwwww, The staff --2 months ago-- had given me an appointment knowing well that Dr. Ghazal was going to be on vacation this week.

I couldn't accept this any longer. I stood up and asked the receptionist why I was given an appointment if Dr. Ghazal wasn't going to be there. With the same smirk frozen on her face, she said: "Well, first, you don't have coverage, and then, the Nurse Practitioner would see you." WHAT??? Nurse Practitioner to examine a cardiac patient? At the first visit? WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS??? She asked: "Do you wanna talk to the manager"? I --mistakenly-- said: "Sure!" Waited for another 15 minutes. Not only a manager didn't show up, but the receptionist disappeared into the back office... We left the office. It took about half an hour on the phone to resolve the issue with the insurance company. Now, does anyone think I will go back to Dr. Ghazal's office?? I THANK THE LORD FOR THE INSURANCE CONFUSION AND THE 2 PATIENTS' CALLS TO THE OFFICE ASKING FOR DR. GHAZAL!! God has mercy on me!!

Submitted Aug. 21, 2018