Dr. Genene Mergia Bekele, MD

rare disorder - referred to Dr B - huge learning curve for him. as primary bread winner including medical insurance for family I needed to know prognosis - would I be disabled? In this country it has become common for the woman to be the primary income earner. Needing to know and plan accordingly is important. Unfortunately I have learned that dr B is not alone in his cultural attitude infliction on US patients. A woman should not have to have her husband ask the questions necessary to determine the future of their family and the dr has the right to be a total bully about it but I have the right to complain and now I have.

I think Dr. Bekele is a very good physician, but his office staff is horrible. They have no customer service skills, and Dr. Bekele really needs to look at his management practices and make some changes. I have never cancelled an appointment until I called last week for an upcoming appointment scheduled for three days later. I did not want to reschedule at the time due to work priorities which makes it difficult to drive across town or from home which is 100 miles away. I told them at this time I would call later to reschedule. I received a call this morning from his staff who wanted to know if I wanted to close my account. What?? I tried to explain that currently I am not sure when I will have time in the near future to reschedule and that I will call when I have a better idea. Again the gal asked me if I wanted to close my account, and I said if that is what you want, then by all means go ahead. Just in awe at the lack of professionalism, understanding and caring from his staff!!!!

The Dr is wonderful. His front office person is unprofessional, rude, inappropriate, abrupt and confrontal.

I've been a patient of Dr Bekele for 4 years. I do think he is a good doctor. Sometimes things are rushed, particularly when I was first seeing him and was being diagnosed. However, I have yet to see a doctor without feeling rushed so that is nothing new. Usually I am able to ask questions, and he does genuinely seem to care. For instance, I had some lab results that concerned him, however due to the frequent travel that I do for my job, I was not able to schedule an appointment as soon as he would have liked, and I received a light scolding for that. However, I agree with the previous reviews about his office staff, particularly his office manager. I don't think she means to be rude, but often she is... just due to a different personality. She just has a very rigid way of doing things, and basically I have to carefully think about strategy before having a conversation with her. If you can overlook the staff, which is difficult to do since they are your primary contact, then I'd… recommend Dr Bekele

Worst staff ever....!!! Great doctor....!!!

this web site didnt offer where the doctor was from nor a picture because I do not feel comfortable seeing doctors with accents or trust doctors from other countries I called them. I first asked where were they, did they accept my insurance,when was the first apt and she clearly answered very nicely then I asked what the doctors origin is. right away she transferred me to the office manager I complained about being transferred to the office manager and I proceeded to ask where the doctor is from she then asked me what does this have to do with this business and started questioning me about why I was calling who am I and because the name of my business came up on their caller id she started questioning me about that. I told her that I was trying to possibly become a new patient. she refused several times to give me her name and kept blaming the girl at the front saying she is new. she kept repeating herself about how she thought it was so unnecessary for anyone to call and ask where… the doctor is from, so I told her I was going to report her and she refused to give me her name then she hung up on me.

Dr. Bekele is a great doctor, love him because he diagnosed a complex condition that I have that other doctors missed. But I cannot get treatment here. His nurses and receptionists are on a power trip and they made a decision to basically kick me to the curb. In 2011 Dr. Bekele told me that I had a rare disease and explained that I needed to have a certain test to confirm it. He said there was no hurry and it was optional to have that test done. He couldn't treat me for anything else and there wasn't much left for him to do until I got that test done. I was afraid to do the test and two months went by. My insurance lapsed and finally I got new insurance. So I called his office 18 months later, because I was feeling much worse than before and wanted to get the test done in the hospital. The receptionist was *EXTREMELY* rude to me and said "you better find a different doctor - you're not welcome here anymore". I was in shock when I asked why, she stated that because I hadn't been there… in over 18 months they could no longer accept me as a patient. I was in total disbelief. Keep in mind that Dr. Bekele was not treating me in the first place - he was simply trying to identify my medical condition, which he did, but did not start me on any medications. I did not feel that I was being non-compliant in any way! I explained everything to her five times over the phone and she insisted that I could not return. They left me high and dry with a rare medical condition. Basically abandonment from my perspective, if not a legal perspective. The receptionist even claimed that I previously told them that I didn't want to come back but I made no such statement. Falsification, abandonment, punishment. This is no way to treat a person. Although the doctor is great, the rest of the staff should be investigated in my opinion. My feelings are badly hurt and I am left with a rare medical condition.

Staff is very cold and impersonal which is the same for Dr Bekele. I find him hard to understand and get annoyed that I'm asked the same question several times. It's like he hasn't looked at my folder before coming into the exam room. He wants lab work but have a very difficult time getting the paperwork to get it. Then he doesn't share it with my GP. I hardly ever see other patients in his office. Either their very efficient or lack patients.

I am usually a pretty quiet customer, but Dr. Bekele's office staff is the most unprofessional, rude medical staff I have ever come across. Dr. Bekele is fair and accurate, but not overly personable or caring. I have not had much luck in AZ finding a caring endocrinologist though, so maybe they are a breed of their own.

Uncaring attitude of office staff is my biggest complaint. They are very impersonal, except for Lisa.