Sonal Haerter, MD

Dr Haerter is one of the most capable and caring physicians I have ever

Dr Haerter is a very professional, kind, and caring person pays attention to your symptoms and problems

I think Dr Haerter is the best doctor I have ever had and I wish all my family and friends could have her as a doctor

Experience with my Provider was very happy and wonderful. She was very thorough and explained to me every aspect of my health with great care and in detail .

Dr Haerter is incredible at what she does! Thankful she my doctor

Dr Haerter is an excellent primary care doctor. She is very knowledgeable, kind and thorough in her questioning.

Wouldn't recommend because Dr. Haerter is over booked

Dr Haerter is WONDERFUL!

Sadly, I worked w Dr. Khatkate-Haerter during her residency at St. Joe’s, prior to becoming one of her patients. In late 2015, while recovering from the flu, I coughed, and I instantly felt my C spine and coccyx “snap/pop” W/in the days/weeks/months/years to come, I became more debilitated. I went to Dr. Haerter about it several times, as I felt myself losing the strength in my arms. She spent the last year of employment at St. Joe’s/Dignity Health/whatever the new name is now, telling me I had fibromyalgia. She told me I would have to learn to live with it. It was my “new norm.” She never once believed me or that the pain was in my NECK and not in my HEAD (even though I’d had a sudden, unprovoked herniation WHILE WORKING THERE JUST EIGHT YEARS PRIOR, LEADING TO AN URGENT FUSION OF C6-C7 to avoid permanent left-sided paralysis, per the words of my 2006 surgeon, Dr. Nicholas Bambakidis - who was/is exceptional). Office note after office note she points to the fact that I… had not been following psychology or psychiatry. That was because I was fighting for my own physical health, while she doubted me (even after working there w her for more than a decade). I was trying like CRAZY to hold onto my job/my life. I was a single mother. I needed to work. Then, after she orders an MRI (finally), she didn’t actually even believe me when I told her the MRI she had ordered was read upside and backwards by a resident AND signed off on by an attending radiologist at Valley Radiology in downtown Phx. (everything in her office notes say, “Per the patient...the patient says... information has not been verified…”) Dr. Raj Singh, the Director of Barrows PM&R in Scottsdale, who she referred me to, took one look at me, and HE KNEW. My left arm was completely curled under due to nerve impingement, and I was shaking from the relentless pain. HE took a look at my MRI, and he noticed, immediately, the misdiagnosis. (He even said, “you didn’t pay for this MRI, did you??!”). Dr. Singh didn’t depend solely on a piece of paper read, dictated, and transcribed by a resident physician about my MRI images. He actually looked at the MRI images. That’s why I went through the seven previous misdiagnosis. Dr. Singh sent me for a STAT, repeat MRI. This incident was very similar to my first massive, unprovoked C-spine herniation, which took surgical intervention to alleviate the nerve impingement paralyzing my left arm (which was preformed at St. Joe’s in 2006). So, as a result of refusing to believe me, Dr. Sonal (Khatkate) Haerter, Dr. Francisco Ponce (Chair of Barrows Brain and Spine now??), two other outside PCPs from One Medical Group at the Biltmore, one outside neurosurgeon, one outside pain management physician, and my rheumatologist there (Dr. Gabriel Colceriu - who was decent and NEVER DOUBTED ME) also misdiagnosed me. Immediately following my second MRI, I had a second C-T spine surgery. A month later, I had my third neck surgery. At that point, my FMLA ran out, my PTO ran out, and I ended up losing the most valued job Ive ever had. Since those surgeries, I have had both hands operated on and two major lumbar-sacral spine surgeries (also an issue I mentioned to Dr. Hearter, but she wouldn’t help me beyond the big “fibromyalgia” dump). She never doubted herself or her colleagues, and she never believed me for a moment. I have been unemployed and disabled since that time. Fortunately, I did finally find a clinician who believed me, and I have a rare genetic soft-tissue condition. It wasn’t in my head, Dr. Haerter. It is in my genetics/spine....like I, your patient AND colleague, stated, upfront. Give your patients the benefit of the doubt. Most do know themselves and their bodies better than the doctor ever will. You’ve had medical training...but sometimes when it looks like a horse, it is. Sometimes, instead, it’s actually a zebra. It’s in the details, if you cared to slow down or look. All of you. It’s supposed to be a partnership. Not a dictatorship. This is story no. one for my book. Thank you.

I have been a patient of Dr. Sonal Haerter for the past 5 years. She is one of the best Internal Medicine physicians in town. I have recommended her to family and friends. Everyone is satisfied with her care. She is intelligent, caring and always follows up on test results.