Dr. David Winters, DO

Very down to earth and practical. Discusses issues in terms you can understand. A great Doctor and a good guy!

I went to Dr. Winters because of good reviews and I was new in town but later regretted my decision after learning more about him. After asking another one of my doctors for a referral he mentioned a doctor he highly recommended in the same office as Dr. Winters. So I tried to get an appointment. I was not only not allowed to see the doctor I was referred to but given the reason that " we don't change doctors in THIS office" . So basically they control your healthcare choices and you have no control of who you would choose has your healthcare provider!

This doctor was totally unprofessional! My daughter called and needed advice he was extremely rude, she has never dealt with this doctor but loves the other physicians at the practice. I wouldn’t recommend him to anyone.

Dr Winters bedside manners, time he spends with you, or appropriate follow up are below par. Dr Winters will recognize you but only after he steps into the room. He doesn’t prepare himself for who he is seeing, and doesn’t remember what your specific complaints and ailments are or what your medical history looks like. This for instance led to an incorrect interpretation of one of my EKGs. He’s just focused on entering an extensive list of questions and responses into his computer’s database (the exact same questions at every visit). He explained this was required by the system and that it was important because if not done properly he would receive penalty points. This ritual basically consumes the time he spends with you. The office, Memorial Health, and their admin have many problems: incorrect allocation of ‘reason for visit’, incorrect billing, not returning phone calls, and other irritations. This would not be so bad if one could truly get hold of for instance the ‘Office… Manager’ or ‘Records’ and in this way try to straighten out an issue. Unfortunately these two are only available through an answering system and will only respond after insistent calls or leaving messages with the front desk. There is also quite a turnover in medical staff, such as nurses, which does not aid the personal touch one expects to find when one sees his/her family doctor. Memorial Health also has a problem with ‘patient’s records’, e.g. nurses are allowed to update and alter these very important personal files without supervision or an appropriate verification/approval process. This has led to omissions and incorrect entries. When confronted with an incorrect entry neither the Doctor nor the Office Manager checked with me but left it to the nurse who inputted the info to deal with the issue. This would not have been too bad if the nurse had not belligerently and emphatically denied that there was any problem with my records!! Needless to say this greatly worried and upset me. I believed that there would be no further issues, but …… I had an upcoming yearly physical and ……. One (1) hour before my scheduled appointment I received a call from the ‘Office Manager’ letting me know Dr Winters had dropped me as a patient!! Totally unprofessional, unethical and disregard of the Hippocratic Oath. Dr Winters did not bother finding out what happened or even call me himself and neither did anyone else at Memorial Health. I have been with Memorial Health for the last 6+ years but clearly ‘Patients’ don’t matter. I have endured the poor medical treatment out of complacency because I only needed the doctor for my yearly wellness exam and refill of meds, and fortunately never for urgent care or illness.

Compassionate , understanding , good listener very knowledgeable .

Dr. Winters did not know what to do with my daughter's headaches and would not refer her to the right specialist either, time to get a new doctor.

Our family has had Dr Winters for our Dr for many years, and each of us really love him. He has seen us through many medical problems, and handled them professionally and is a kind man. He spends the time you need to answer questions. We have a adult son who has Downs Syndrome and can't say enough about how he treats him and sets us all at ease. I recommend him to anyone, and respect his love for his profession both here and in Africa where he goes as well. He is compassionate, and has a deep faith which I know makes him the man that he is.

He seems overworked and never seems to give you his full attention. If you have the flu or ear infection etc then I think he would be fine to see but he has a bad reputation among other doctors in Chattanooga. His staff takes days to get back to you for refills and such...be careful and look further cause he has on more than one occasion even given me incorrect scripts.. The many has too many pts and it shows!

I have been a patient of Dr Winters for quite a few years. He has a wonderful bedside manner and at the same time, tells it like it is! I love that he gets right to the point, while addressing each and every concern that you may have. He gives back as well! He makes a trip to a small village in Africa every year and has helped those folks in every way possible while there including building them a water tower! They had to carry water from a stream before that. He taught them basic everyday things such as brushing teeth, etc. As my personal care physican he is just the best in every category! I can't say enough great things about him. If something needs to be seen by a specialist, he's dead on key when suggesting the right person for that as well. I don't know what I would do if he ever retires!!

Dr. Winters deserves his "best of the best" distinction. He knows and cares about his patients and is knowledgeable and thorough. He is also mission oriented and regularly volunteers for medical mission work in Africa.