Dr. Debra Lynn Magnuson, MD

I have never been to a doctor more miserable than Dr. Magnuson. My son is 2.5 and was seen for his 3 year wellness visit. I was shocked at how we were treated by her. Aside from her cold behavior towards my son (he’s a talker and tried to get her attention to no avail; she just ignored him), she was also extremely unprofessional and rude to me! We speak multiple languages at home so my son uses words from those languages to communicate. Her response was “you need to only focus on English, it’s the language of this country.” I was shocked. He goes to school and speaks just fine there but we try to instill in him a foundation of Aramaic at home. When I thanked her for her opinion she then said “if you’re going to continue confusing him with multiple languages, you need to have him see a speech therapist ASAP.” Im confused as to why I was told to do that and also was told multiple times throughout the visit how “delayed” my son is. He speaks perfectly clear he just speaks more than one… language...which I think offended her...? She never showed any compassion, kindness or even smiled at one of my children. She then left and didn’t wish us a good day or even wave at my son after he told her “thank you doctor, I’m all better.” This lady should not be working with children and needs to retake her courses on bedside manner and patient interaction. Never ever going to this clinic again.

My daughter was brought in with a high fever and vomiting. My wife had just been diagnosised with Influenza A a few days prior. Dr. Magnuson dismissed any possibility this was the influenza because of the vomiting and didn’t bother to test my daughter with a simple nose swab. We left the clinic and half way home we decided to go back and get the test done. It was a positive diagnosis. The doctor never once apologized and was offended we even questioned her mighty judgement.

She seems very cold and unhappy.

Dr. Magnuson was the rounding pediatrician at Fairview Ridges (FRH)hospital when I delivered my child. I had such a good experience at FRH except for with her. She was rough, abrasive and seems like a very unhappy person. She didn't seem to recognize that to her my child is just another baby but to me, he is everything. She handled him roughly, criticized some of my decisions about his care, and was generally unpleasant. She even rolled her eyes when I asked her a question. !! When I said something to one of my nurses, she told me that even the nurses dislike Dr. Magnuson. Yikes. I can't imagine why she is a pediatrician.