Dr. Stephen Alan Schmones, MD

Dr. Schmones is a wonderful and excellent doctor who shoots straight and gives you great service. He has a wonderful disposition and bedside manner and makes you feel comfortable discussing any issues. He takes his time with you and never rushes. Easy parking, great staff, really can't say enough great things about him and his practice.

At first everything was great the staff was welcoming and friendly. After a few months the nurse and front desk staff were not as how they seemed to be, the front desk assistant will not transfer you to the doctor if you request it she will hand you over to the nurse, they will not accommodate your schedule if it is within the 4th week or a few days later, the nurse will not have the doctor call you back she speaks on his behalf. I recommend speaking to Dr. Schmones in private of any medical concerns you have, according to the nurse everything is a "liability to the doctor" and she will remind you how long she has been working for him. The nurse becomes very rude and unprofessional and I am not sure if Dr.Schmones is aware, but she cost him a patient and money, plus this one star review due to her unprofessional behavior. I do not recommend him only because of his staff. The last thing a woman expecting her first child needs is an inflexible schedule offered and a demeaning nurse.… I hope no woman especially a high risk pregnancy patient will have to go through what I did with his nurse. Please choose wisely and any signs of her making you uncomfortable please get a new OB., do not wait for the third straw and save yourself any stress during this time. The doctor never took the time to call me back or try to find out the reason of my transfer, shame on the doctor if this was actually the case and he supports his staffs unprofessional behavior.

Substandard care as well as a misdiagnosis that should have absolutely been able to be avoided that led to the recommendation to abort my healthy baby with no genetic issues and healthy pregnancy of mine.

Wonderful, skillful and caring. That's Dr. Schmones.

What a wonderful Doctor! He and his staff took excellent care of me before, during and after both my pregnancies. He has a kind demeanor and excellent listening. When I encountered difficulty in my second pregnancy, he literally saved my life. My family and I are forever grateful.

First of all, I believe that Dr Schmones and his staff deserve respect when posting comments. Also, keeping 'emotion' out it goes a long way and I will do my best to do that. I have been a patient of Dr S since he took over (the late) Dr Zakari's practice. I always found him personable and respectful. He took the time to privately talk to me in his office after the exam--he never rushed the visit. Ten years ago, I had breast augmentation b/c my boobs disappeared after I stopped nursing my second kid. When I went to my regular visit shortly after this surgery, I told him that I had had augmentation; his response to me was "In California, who hasn't?" That felt a bit cold. I was telling him this b/c he was my gyne and of course he needed to know--I wasn't looking for kudos. Ok, I'm over that now...moving on. Since I hit menopause (3 yrs ago), I definitely see a change in him as far as attentiveness to my concerns (and believe me, there are different concerns that surface when you hit… menopause). The first time I noticed this, I thought 'it's just an off day', but unfortunately its been the same for every routine visit thereafter. The exam is quicker than it ever was before (no internal pelvic done the last 2 exams) and it feels rushed anymore. I was having problems with frequent UTIs but this was minimally addressed and certainly not to the point of resolving the cause of the infections. The clincher was my last visit. After my exam, he instructed me to get dressed and to come into his office to chat...this is the usual routine. I had a a couple (very important) questions to ask him, they were of (very) personal nature and they had been severely affecting the physical relationship b/w my husband and me. I walked into his office and waited. He came in and sat down at his desk, leaving the door wide open. He asked me what my questions were. The office staff were milling right outside his door and patients were being shown to their rooms. I said "I'm going to close the door, ok?" After presenting my questions and concerns, he said he was going to prescribe a prescription gel but warned that some insurance companies were starting to not cover it. I mailed the rx into my mail order pharmacy. A week later, I get a call from a Dr S's staff person; she tells me that my insurance company called Dr S to get further information about why he was prescribing the gel but, unfortunately, Dr S refused to talk to my insurance company on the phone because she said the "insurance companies sometimes keep him on the phone for the longest time". So that was the end of that. No follow up from him about this or a recommendation to try something else. This is when I decided a change was needed. I felt rather discarded at this point. I read many comments from pregnant women who love Dr S and perhaps he enjoys pregnant women more but I can not honestly say my needs as a menopausal woman were not met.

Dr. ordered tests that my insurance did not cover and did not ask me first. Never got results, just an $80. bill. When I asked why, the response from the person in the office was: "You are gambling with your health" if you don't have this test. He was trying to push hormone therapy on me as well. All I wanted was a simple annual exam. Weird dude for sure.

1. He did way too many ultrasounds (1 at every appointment.) 2. He preformed a midline episiotomy before I even started pushing having never discussed it with me. It took many painful months to heal. 3. He gave me pitocin at the very beginning of my labor also without disusing it with me. 4. He botched my sons circumcision (he will need surgery to correct it). That said...he's the nicest guy ever. His staff is great & friendly.

If you value your life do not go here. He left a surgical sponge behind and refused to do anything for five months when I returned to him repeatedly. Praise be to God that after one month in the hospital other docotors were able to save my life. I have permanent respuitory problems and abdominal pain fron his mistake.

From a fellow physician who has worked with many, many other docs, Dr. Schmones has a strong knowledge base, sound judgement and excellent surgicals skills compared to others in the field.