George B Wanna, MD

Administrative Deception and Refusal of Care at NYEE Avoid this specialist office. I have a longstanding, complex history of cholesteatoma. When I first called to make an appointment with Dr. Wanna, I was told by the front desk that I could not make an appointment because I did not yet have an ENT referral. However, after hearing about my condition, the front-desk staff voluntarily offered to contact Dr. Wanna’s office to ask whether an appointment could be arranged. Dr. Wanna’s secretary later called me, but because of my hearing problem, I missed the call. Next morning, I called several times, but each time I reached only a recording and could not reach a person. I therefore asked the front desk to help me contact the office. When the secretary eventually called back, she criticized me for making multiple calls and for asking the front desk to contact them. I apologized. Nevertheless, no matter how I asked, she refused to schedule an appointment. She finally agreed to ask the… doctor. I later received a MyChart message from the secretary telling me to see my previous doctor or go to NYU. Reluctantly, I then saw another ENT doctor at Mount Sinai. After reviewing my case, the doctor determined that my problem required an otology specialist and gave me a formal ENT referral. He told me that with this referral, I could make an appointment with any appropriate specialist. I specifically asked him to put Dr. Wanna’s name on the referral. With this formal referral, I made another appointment with Dr. Wanna, and the appointment was successfully scheduled and appeared in MyChart. However, about a week later, I happened to notice that the appointment had disappeared from MyChart. After I followed up, Dr. Wanna’s secretary called me again and told me that I should see my previous doctor or go to NYU. This was no longer a matter of my initially lacking a referral. I now had a formal ENT referral from another ENT specialist, specifically naming Dr. Wanna, and the appointment had already been successfully scheduled and appeared in MyChart. Yet it was still canceled. I then tried to make an appointment with Dr. Cosetti, but was repeatedly blocked by multiple staff members in the same office. In order to obtain a normal specialist appointment, I eventually succeeded in scheduling an appointment with Dr. Cosetti through another hospital phone channel. The appointment appeared in MyChart, and my insurance had approved it. About two weeks later, the office discovered the appointment and canceled it, then told me to see an outside doctor who had been trained by Dr. Wanna and Dr. Cosetti. Most shocking of all, I was also told by the office that Dr. Cosetti and Dr. Wanna had jointly “reviewed your records” and decided not to see me. But I had never seen either doctor and had never had any opportunity for a consultation with them. If the refusal was a medical decision personally made by the two doctors, I should have been given a clear medical reason. If it was an administrative decision by the office, the doctors’ names should not have been used as a shield. I therefore filed a formal complaint with NYEE Patient Relations when Wanna’s appointment was canceled, but received no response. I then filed a second complaint after Cosetti’s appointment was canceled, and specifically asked: If I had a formal ENT referral, why was I still unable to see these otology specialists? Who actually made the decision to refuse me, and was it a medical decision by the doctors or an administrative decision by the office? However, NYEE Patient Relations avoided this central question in its official response. They did not explain why, despite my formal ENT referral, I still could not see Dr. Wanna or Dr. Cosetti, why the appointments were canceled, or what it actually meant that the two doctors had supposedly “reviewed your records.” Instead, I was simply given the broad statement that “doctors in the same office share identical opinions,” because my previous doctor

I cannot recommend Dr. George Wanna strongly enough. I had a brain tumor that needed to be removed – a large acoustic neuroma and Dr. Wanna was one of the surgeons on my team. He is everything you could look for in a doctor – patient, compassionate, well educated, thorough, and brilliant I might add. His staff is kind and courteous. If you have to go through a life changing event like I went through, I would strongly urge you to see Dr. Wanna and trust his good counsel. He is one of the best. My surgery was successful and one month later I feel great, and I’m home and walking around tumor free. Thank you Doctor again for all that you did for me and my family.

Really bad attitude from his people that run his office at Mt.Sinai.

Had my second visit with Dr. Wanna. A real pro who practices medicine the way it should be, but often is not. He listens to his patients & he is clearly the the smartest guy in the room with no ego.

Dr. Wanna took time with me. He listened carefully, asked me over and over if I had questions. He really seemed to care about what I had to say. He was clear and explained things in a manner that was clear and concise.

I have attended Dr.Wanna for the 2nd time in over a week, He is without question a fantastic Ear Doctor. His kindness, concern and communication put me at ease. In fact the minute he shook my hand and talked to me I could see what a kind and gentle Human being he was. If you want to find a caring and knowledgeable Doctor I reccomend a visit to Dr. Wanna. His receptionist staff are kind, efficent and extremely pleasant.

Very good bedside manner

I would highly recommend Dr. Wanna to any one suffering from ear problems. He takes time to listen and diagnose what your problem may be. He preformed surgery on my left ear and he has been more than carrying in my follow up.