Greg Edward Halko

Dr. Halko came over to me to initial my arm before surgery and I told him that was the wrong arm. He immediately check my medical record and initialed the correct arm. The surgery room was set up for the wrong arm and they had to switch the room around. I heard Dr. Halko talking to the staff and blamed them for setting the room up wrong. Even after all that, Dr. Halko did the wrong surgery on me. It has been almost 2 years and I'm still struggling with his mistake. When I talked to him about it he kept redirecting the conversation and after getting my medical records for my new doctor, there is noting in them about his faux paux. There was a big red flag in this happening. During my consultation, Dr. Halko was scattered and couldn't follow the conversation.

Dr. Halko was a topic on iatrogenic harms doctors cause at a conference, when he wrote an incomprehensible, 'lack of grammar' consent statement, did procedures NOT listed and did NOT do procedures listed, never stated to which finger anything was going to happen, then blamed the patient for the outcome. Dr. Halkko stated "I can only do what the consent form says that is why we have you sign it." In the consent form he stated 'nailbed' repair yet he amputated the finger that needed nailbed repair. Several doctors stated that this unnecessary amputation caused his patient to need an additional 5 surgeries including a reconstruction and lost partial loss in her hand.

If I wrote what I wanted to write, my review would not be posted. I have nothing positive to say. He treated me like I was an inconvenience. When I told him about some innovative procedures, he said that those aren't proven yet. These were procedures other doctors are doing now but he didn't know about them and/or didn't know how to do them. Go to any other doctor.

Dr. Halko assured me that a simple surgery would make my life better with little down time, and no physical therapy would be needed. When I went back, I kept asking why am I not getting better? Why am I worse than before? He said that people recover differently. I went to another doctor and was told that Dr. Halko botched my surgery, and it can't be repaired. He is not only a horrible doctor he has a horrible bedside manner.

I do not have the words to describe the experience I had. I do not any respect for Dr. Halko as a doctor or as a person. He was not able to keep up with the conversation and would ramble. There is nothing compassionate about this man. I left a Mercy review but it was either removed or never posted.

Early last year my wife and I met with Dr. Halko to discuss what could be done after an injury. The clinic said that Dr. Halko could see me that afternoon. Dr. Halko would start a new sentence before he finished the last one. He never finished a thought. When we asked questions the same thing happened. The more we were trying to understand what he was saying, the more agitated he became. My wife asked him if he was okay which seemed to upset him. He spent a lot of time with us but he couldn't articulate anything. We politely left without getting X-rays and made an appointment with his colleague without telling her I had seen Dr. Halko. She was amazing. I felt like I was in great care. I waited until after my PT and a clean bill of health to write a review. At some point, I will get my medical records just to see what he wrote.

The appointments with Dr. Halko were distant. It didn't matter - I didn't need a friend, I needed a competent doctor. After surgery, walked up and said "All went well, will see you in a week" I said, I don't feel well. Something is wrong. He looked at me and walked off. He acted like he didn't hear what I said which was like appointments with him. I ended up in the ER a couple of hours after getting home and if I hadn't gone, I may have died. Bottom line: my blood pressure dropped too low. While in recovery the nurse said it was low but stable and let me go home. The next day a nurse called and she was told what happened but there was no follow up. This was so upsetting that I have never gone back. I do not see Dr. Halko as competent in any way.

My two follow up visits after surgery I expressed concern about infection. He barely acknowledged my hand and arm and said that it all looks great. I finally went to an ER and was hospitalized and given IV antibiotics. I ended up losing part of my thumb. When my medical records were sent to my new doctor, there was nothing written in them about my concerns. He completely ignored everything I said.

My google and Mercy review were removed. During my appointment with Dr. Halko, he was unaware of what I was saying. I asked him if he was okay, and did I need to get someone. He assured me he was fine. I asked him a question and he stood up politely and said it was nice meeting me and left. I later got a copy of my medical record and he wrote something generic in it that had nothing to do with why I was there.

I left this review on Google and Dr. Halko removed it. This is the consent statement Dr. Halko’s medical assistant gave his patient before surgery: Consent statement: "LEFT INCISION AND DRAINAGE INDEX, OPEN FRACTURE, REPAIR EXTENSOR TENDON AND POSSIBLE TENDON GRAFT AND REVISION AMPUTATION, INCISION AND DRAINAGE LEFT LONG FINGER AND NAILBED REPAIR." 1. Dr. Halko tacks on the end of this statement, ‘and nailbed repair’ 2. The only finger with a damaged nail bed was the finger he amputated. 3. In the post-op notes Dr. Halko writes ‘no complications’ - so why did he amputate? 4. Dr. Halko does not state to which finger ‘revision amputation’ would occur. 5. During her consultation with Halko, amputation nor revision amputation were mentioned. 6. Dr. Halko nor anyone from Orthopedic Associates discussed the consent statement with his patient before surgery. 7. No medical doctor has been able to interpret this statement. 9. A Ph.D. English professor said this statement is incomprehensible… and is an ‘utter lack of grammar.’ "