Dr. Homer K Lew, DO

The first time I met with Dr. Lew, I was pleased that he took the time to discuss my health situation, although it did take some time to get an appointment. He is typically booked out 4-6 weeks. He seems knowledgeable, and is very personable. But.... I then had an urgent situation. Ruptured disc, unbearable pain. Dr. Lew had previously referred me to a Neurosurgeon for existing disc degenerative disease. I had waited over 2 months to see this specialist. My injury occurred the weekend before my scheduled appt. I ended up in the ER. They treated the pain and released me with no tests, no other care. I thought, well, at least I finally have the appt with the specialist. Since it had taken 2 months of waiting to see this doctor and I now had this unbearable injury that needed immediate attention, I called Dr. Lew's office to see if I could get an emergency MRI approved to take with me so the specialist could address my urgent need. Although I called first thing Monday am, his office did… not return my call until 4pm after they had seen all their regularly scheduled patients, even though I had indicated it was urgent and I had been in the hospital over the weekend, and was in extreme pain. Too late to do anything for my appt with the specialist. Then, when my appt with the specialist was cancelled because the specialist was called on a trauma case, I still had to pester his office several times to get an MRI approved to take with me when I would finally see the specialist. Finally, when I arrived for a prescheduled appt 10 days after my injury, and having received no care for it, I was hoping to get some kind of support; referral to another specialist or something. They told me to leave and do to the ER. I refused and yelled I am not leaving his office without some kind of care (I was in pain and was getting no help from no-one, and I could get nothing without his approval.) He eventually came to the waiting room to see me on the floor crying, and said that this is not the way to behave, and that I needed to leave. I have never dealt with a doctor who had seemingly zero empathy or caring for one of his patients clearly in need of help, being failed by the healthcare system. He was more focused on getting me out of his office and disinterest in helping me when I needed help most. The definition of good healthcare includes receiving care in a timely manner when care is needed. This doctor fails on that criteria. So, if you are never faced with an urgent situation, great doctor. If you are, terrible doctor.