Dr. Todd Henry Freudenberger, MD

My daughter aged out of Seattle Children's at 21 and transferred her pulmonary care to Dr. Freudenberger. She has a complex medical history beginning in infancy. As I had been accustomed for 21 years, I accompanied her to her first appointment with Dr. F. Upon entering the exam room (before I had an opportunity to speak a word) he asked me to leave the room so he could speak to my daughter alone. I did so. A short time later, I was summoned back to the exam room. My daughter later told me that Dr. F asked if she approved me being in the room during the visit and told he was fine with requiring me to stay in the waiting room if I was putting pressure on her to be there. Sounded more like he was putting pressure on her for me NOT to be there. She said she told him multiple times she welcomed my presence there. My impression of Dr. F during this visit was that he finds family members of his patients to be very bothersome and, through his demeanor (failed to acknowledge me, stood… with his back to me the entire time, ignored the one or two comments I attempted to make, etc.) made it clear HE didn't want me there. Note that I am described by others as a reserved and polite person and am not one of those pushy, helicopter parents. Up to this point, I had taken my daughter to hundreds of doctors appointments with many different specialists and was never before treated anything close to this. Most docs welcomed me because I was able to provide them with medical history that my daughter might not be able to, especially care that occurred during her younger years. And pediatricians seem to have a much better understanding about the importance of a supportive family. My daughter and I discussed whether or not she would continue her care with Dr. F after this initial visit. I told her it was completely up to her. Although this behavior bothered my daughter, she decided to continue seeing him because he was recommended by her pediatric pulmonary doctor as knowledgeable and that was important to us both. We both gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought perhaps he was just having a bad day during that visit. Since then, she has been hospitalized at least a couple of times. His behavior toward family members during these stressful times was just as bad as the initial appointment. So ridiculous, we actually laughed about it. He made it so uncomfortable that I (regretfully) stopped attending her routine visits with her. I did go to some visits when she was ill and his behavior did not improve. I'm sure there are other pulmonary doctors in the area that are as skilled or more skilled than Dr. F, so it's really not worth putting up with his rudeness. So, if you have an adult child aging out of Children's and are looking to transfer care to another pulmonologist, my recommendation is that you look elsewhere.

I have been seeing Dr. Freudenberger for a few years now because of my chronic asthma. He is attentive and helpful, like most doctors are, but nothing beyond normal. If you need to see him as soon as possible, however (as he had recommended multiple times at different visits) because of worsening in your condition, it is virtually impossible. I started coughing and my asthma worsened because of a virus and when I called to make an appointment with Dr. F to see if I needed antibiotics maybe, the nurse acted as an investigator: “Is this the same caugh you called about six months ago?” The soonest appointment she could give me was in 3-4 weeks. It is ridiculous. The care and treatment you receive at that office is totally not worth the aggravation and pain you have to go through. And follow-up is simply non-existent.

I was introduced to Dr. Freudenberger after a trip through the Overlake ER to the ICU. I was thoroughly impressed the level of care he provided and the time he spent ensuring I understood everything.

I've had Dr. F for some years now, and it is hard to evaluate one specialist doctor with another because you don't try them out, but I have had confidence in him, find him easy to talk to, takes his time with you once he gets to your exam room. I have multiple health issues and he seems to understand them all. Their clinic is very busy and waiting is the norm. However, their staff attitude is deplorable since Dr. F recently lost his nurse/assistant. They make you feel like you are a crank call, like "what do you want now?" and grill you on why you are calling before you can even talk to a nurse. If I didn't have confidence in Dr. F I would change clinics.

I've been seeing Dr F for several years. He is pleasant, has a good sense of humor. He does listen to my concerns. I find follow-up to be virtually non-existent. I can, however, praise his nurse, who always gets back to me in a timely fashion when I call with questions. Getting an appointment is terrible; I make my regular visit appointments several months in advance. If I have to change it, it can take up to two months to get in.

I felt like he really listened and had all the time in the world to talk to me about my health issues. Good doctors like him are hard to find so I am going out of my way to spread the word.

Dr. Freudenberger is a skilled doctor. I truly believe he saved my husband's life. He is thorough and thoughtful and always takes the time you need at each visit. If I could give him ten stars I would.

he is an arrogant man with very poor bedside manner, a lot of ego, blinded to reality!! did not spend enough time taking care of an critically ill patient, did not spend time explaining much to family, do not recommend him at all

Terrible treatment of my wife while in Overlake Hospital. My wife spent 7 weeks in critical care and after about the third week it was clear clear they just wanted to get her out of there and into their dumping ground little hospital called Kindred. Due to a surgical accident my wife was on a ventilator. Dr. F told my wife just before the transfer that they fell short in her respitory treatment. Then they allowed her to be transported with a hematocrit of 22.5 while the normal low end for a woman is 36. Immediately upon arrival at the other hospital they had to give her two units of blood.