Dr. Athena Francesca Zuppa, MD

We dealt with Dr. Zuppa while our son was inpatient. In all honesty, our interactions with her were not at all negative until one situation where we started to disagree and show concern over her treatment plan for our child. At that point she became extremely defensive and abrasive. It was, no doubt, a high emotion situation for our family. We were obviously upset about it and all we wanted were some answers. Instead, she came to our child's bedside and started arguing with us for questioning why certain things were being done. There was no compassion from then on and no attempt to understand where we were coming from and why we were so upset. We have dreaded the idea of having to interact with her again and have agreed that if we were ever inpatient again while she was there, we would demand another doctor for our child's case. We have interacted with many doctors for our child's complex medical care, and this was the only interaction which truly caused us any emotional… distress.

Dr. Zuppa was a pleasure to have to care for my son. She was definitely a huge advocate for my son beyond anything I've ever seen. I always knew he was in good hands whenever she was on service. She made my feelings feel validated and always made time to listen to my concerns. She made sure I was informed of the plan on a daily basis. It was a very difficult time for my husband and I but having Dr. Zuppa there made the experience as best it could be.

She severely lacks bedside manner. Dr. Zuppa would rounded on my son for days without actually looking at him. She was incredibly inflexible, would not deviate from her typical treatment plan to accommodate the unique needs/situation of our family, she was rude, abrasive, and alarmist in her interactions with my husband and me, and displayed the signs of an over-inflated ego. I was RELIEVED and ELATED when the attending doctor changed.