Dr. Riley Joseph Williams, MD

From the way he spoke to me and dismissed my experience of recovery, it was my impression that Dr. Williams has little respect for patients who aren't elite athletes and/or who don't recover in his timeframe. He wouldn't listen to my concerns when my recovery was slow, and when I showed up at my last appointment with a notebook open so my questions would be quick to ask and I could take notes on his answers--he commanded me brusquely: "No. We're not gonna do that." and motioned for me to put the notebook away. I agreed to take part in a voluntary follow-up research study of his, and I was told in the consent process that I'd be shown the results of the MRI I had as part of the study. This was not done, which I consider a violation of ethics and patient trust. The study's questionnaire was full of sports-related questions about how well I could "cut" and jump. My concerns were more about using stairs and walking again, both of which have remained painful and difficult in spite of my… commitment to my physical therapy. These problems with basic functioning were not interesting to Williams in my visits to his office. Williams strongly suggested in my appointments that the only possible explanation for a less-than-ideal recovery could be that I was lying about doing my rehab. I wore a women's size 12 when I went into surgery, and as I told him, I'd lost 45 pounds of post-injury weight to get as ready as possible for the surgery and recovery. I continued to do PT three times a week in the clinic and on the other days, exercised at home. Just minutes after I told him this, he lectured me about how I would have to decide to lose weight and exercise so I could get better. Not to lose "more" weight--just weight. It was as if he had never heard me, or as if he assumed I was lying. If you want a doctor who's going to build trust with you and show respect for you as a person, I can't recommend Williams.

I would not recommend Dr Riley Williams. The sign of a successful surgery from a patient’s perspective is to repair the issue. He operated on my right shoulder labrum in 2019. It seemed to heal well at first but it is 2021 and it feels torn again and I have pain most every day. In 2020 he operated on my left shoulder labrum. That one has been in pain ever since surgery and subsequent MRIs have revealed persistent damage and inflammation despite it being over a year since surgery. I wish that I never had surgery on it honestly. I don’t think Dr Williams is bad, but I had two unsuccessful surgeries with him. I would recommend trying PT hard (almost every day (at home or whatever) for a few months) before surgery. And then if you need to go the surgery route, get two opinions. Dr Williams make the surgery sound very simple and is very cocky about his ability. That may be justified, I am only two data points out of his career, but overall, I would explore a different option… based upon my experience. Lastly, I was happy with how HSS was run, very responsive for the whole process.. until the end.. When my shoulders were just not healing and I came back into the office, it seemed like Dr Williams was avoiding coming into my room, I sat in the room for over an hour. I already felt bad enough that I had been through 2 unsuccessful surgeries, but then the fact that he was avoiding my room made me feel worse about using him. This last piece rubbed me the wrong way, I thought it lacked class.

Riley Williams-placing my trust in you was the biggest regret of my entire life. You grossly minimized the complexity of your recommended procedure, selling a minimally invasive procedure for a small partial thickness defect of my knee. What I received was a graft three times the size discussed. In addition, you removed medial meniscus that I begged you prior to surgery not to touch. You acted with full discretion, which you DID NOT HAVE! As a result of your overly aggressive procedure, and unauthorized removal of meniscus, my knee is exceedingly worse. Now I am a prime candidate for a total knee replacement, which I was nowhere near prior to meeting you. The treatment that I received and the way you sold the procedure was reckless and immoral. Clearly you've demonstrated you were more interested in a larger payday than in my outcome. A Disalvo

Smart and knowledgeable Dr. however his bedside manner is terrible. The office is staff is horrible. They are beyond rude especially the office manager Karen. She is extremely rude and I am shocked he allows her behavior to ruin his practice.

My husband needed knee replacement surgery. Dr. Williams came highly recommended by another doctor whose staff, over the phone, told me they didn't do knee surgery so I should call Dr. Williams.Dr. Williams office required I send test results before they would consider him for an appt. I sent MRI and x-ray reports. Based on those they gave my husband an appt. My husband saw Williams last week. He took another set of xrays. And when they finally sat down, Dr. Williams said, "I don't do knee surgery anymore. Here are the cards of 3 doctors I recommend." This is what the staff should have told me as soon as I sent the test results. Instead, our insurance was hit for HUNDREDS of dollars, we had to pay co-pays for the office visit and x-rays and no service whatsoever was rendered. When I called the office back to complain about this treatment, or LACK thereof, they were rude and hostile and hung up on me!! I would NEVER recommend this man. Now we are back to square one looking for a… surgeon. And no, I won't contact anyone he recommended either.

I don’t even know where to start. I rue the day that I met Dr. Williams. He ruined my life. When I came to him, I had already had 3 knee surgeries and told him that I wanted a knee replacement. He denied it immediately saying I was too young. Instead he wanted to the bio uni oats procedure which is what he’s most popular for. He made the surgery seem like no big deal and told me I would be back doing things within 3 weeks… how misled I was. He was so unbelievably cocky and arrogant. Unfortunately, our relationship has been nothing but him misleading me and doing things without permission. This made my knee far worse than it was before I went into his office. First he told me that he was going to put new cartilage in my tibia and femur and specifically said how he was going to do that. When I woke up from the surgery he said he changed his mind. I would have never agreed to the surgery had I known he was going to go back on his word seeing as I had arthritis on both parts. In fact… when he showed me the opp photos, the whole surgery seemed pointless since he replaced 10% of my knee with new cartilage, but there was still a good 50% with severe cartilage damage. A few weeks after the surgery he told me that he loosened up the ligaments on the medial side of my knee to “relieve pressure”. Well, somehow, I left surgery with a grade 3 mcl deficiency and now have no medial knee stability. Which means that his surgery only left me with another problem. I’ll have to get my MCL reconstructed in the next few months because of this. PS I’ve never had an mcl issue before this surgery. I also asked him if his surgery would impact me getting a knee replacement if it didn’t work. He said no it would not. Well, once it became obvious it wasn’t going to work I went to over 10 knee replacement doctors and they all said it was going to create a huge issue in doing the knee replacement. When I finally got it done, they had to use a femoral augment in the area in which he put the allograft. This will shorten the life of my knee replacement. Next, when I came to my office for my 8 week visit I told him that other knee replacement doctors were hesitant to operate because of the added complication. He told me to give it 6 more weeks and if I still was unhappy he would team up with a doctor to help replace it. After I patiently waited… and the only reason I waited to move forward… I reached out to him and he went back on his word. He only gave me a few names and essentially said this is your problem now. Liar. Lastly, after about 6 weeks post surgery he stopped answering any of my emails / messages. The reason being that I went to another doctor at HSS and complained about the persistent pain that was crippling me. Dr. Williams found out and went off on my in our next office visit. He has ignored me ever since and been extremely rude to me. Separate from the doctor, his staff is atrocious. Literally be prepared to want to pull your hair out after each phone call seeing as they are the rudest people you could possibly come across. They aren’t willing to help you, and they make you feel like an inconvenience every time you call. They treat you the same way most people treat bill collectors on the phone. I would do anything to go back in time and not have surgery with him. I haven't walked since his surgery and he stole my opportunity to have a successful knee replacement.

For several years I have had a separated shoulder which does not require any medical treatment to live a normal life. For a few months I have had a pain in my shoulder blade extending up to the base of my neck which caused migraines. I was told by another doctor the surgery would likely help and recommended it. I have had ACL replacement in the past and like most try to avoid surgery so I got a second opinion which was from Dr. Williams. Within 5 minutes Dr Williams identified the problem and touched the exact spot were the source of the issue was which was on the front of my shoulder which I had no idea was causing the issue. In the end he told prescribed physical therapy. This was almost a year ago and since then the issue has gone away and I do not have the pain in my shoulder blade anymore. In addition his staff was extremely friendly. I left forgetting a piece of paper work and the young lady ran to the elevator bank on a separate floor to get it to me.

Everything about the experience was great. Quick, efficient and very helpful staff. Dr. WIlliams immediately inspired confidence. Operation was smooth as was recovery and follow-up. I really haven't had a better professional services experience anywhere else for anything. Totally world-class soup to nuts.

Extremely happy with appointment, they called my daughter in and I was not even done completing the forms (normally other doctors offices make you wait at least 30 after you complete the forms to call your name). Very accommodating, staff super friendly!!! Dr. Riley Williams was very professional and explained everything in detail regarding what to expect from operation.

Excellent. I've had two previous surgeries one shoulder. I should have went to him from the start. He found and repaired everything and knew what was going on while other doctors were refusing. Staff is friendly. The wait is not very long (per doctor appointment timeframes). He spends the necessary time with you explaining everything you need to know. Ask questions, he will have an answer. I'm shocked people had bad visits here. I just don't see it. I have and will continue to recommend Dr. Williams.