Community Health Centers of Burlington

Community Health Center Riverside is the worst Healthcare facility that I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. I was seeing Heather Stein as my primary for years. I repeatedly complained of extreme fatigue and widespread pain throughout my body. I told her over and over I did not feel right but was met with a dismissive "If you lose weight, you will not hurt so much and you will have more energy." I switched to a different practitioner named Megan O'Brien, who also would not test for anything. Finally, after a over a year, I begged her for just one blood test, an ANA. She said "I will order it just to rule it out" clearly not believing me still. My ANA was positive leading to a referral to Rheumatology at UVM. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Hasimotos and Fibromyalgia. I had been untreated for 9 years at this point since onset of symptoms. Later, Ms O'Brien said she would order tests when I was in a gastrointestinal inflammation flare, in agony. She forgot to order the test and I waited and waited. I got a new doctor. I would have left but I loved my Psychiatrist Dr. Sarah Morse and I was unable to find a new primary care that would accept my insurance. When Dr. Morse left CHC for her own practice, I was placed with Psychiatrist Dr. Lisa Hardy. She took me off a very serious antidepressant without taper sending me into discontinuation syndrome and to the Emergency Room. I frustratingly found no help from CHC. I switched from Dr. Hardy to Psychiatrist Julia Zdanowicz who I also love. In February I called on a Thursday morning at 8am opening explaining I tested positive for Covid and asked for Paxlovid. I waited all day for Nurse Daniel to call me back. Unfortunately he waited until after closing to tell me the best thing he could offer was for me to call back Monday. I had to go to Urgent Care that Saturday where they informed me Paxlovid could only be prescribed within a certain amount of time after symptom onset and I had missed my window due to Daniel's advice. On June 9th, after 3 weeks of being off the same antidepressant that sent me to the ER, I was in a mental health crisis. This is very difficult to talk about but I hope my sharing my experience, maybe it will help or prevent it from happening to someone else. I called that Monday morning at 8am opening and talked to a woman, I told her I was in an extreme mental health crisis after a planned medication discontinuation with my doctor and I was feeling suicidal. She told me she would put an urgent message into my Doctors nurse, Daniel. She also said, if I didn't hear back in couple of hours, call again. 11:35am I called back with the same statement and was told the same thing. Called back after 1pm, I was told to go to the ER and I explained that the ER turned me away stating they do not deal with medication changes and I needed to see my doctor. The man on the phone said all I could do was wait to hear back from Daniel. I called two more times but I was on hold for so long it went to voicemail. I called CHC Pine Street just to see when Dr. Zdanowicz's walk in clinic was. They sent messages to Daniel from there end too. While on was on the phone with Pine Street, Daniel called and left a message with a different organization's telephone number and told me to try them if I was in crisis but he would check in later. After 5:30pm Daniel called back but Dr. Zdanowicz had gone home for the night and I had no help. I am not normally in suicidal extreme crisis mode, it was the medication or lack there of and there was nothing I could do but try to push through. I wrote to patient feedback, spoke to some woman and hoped maybe they would do something to retrain Daniel on how to properly care for patients or something. I was met with a complete blow off and no responses from anyone I tried to raise my complaints with. I know this place is a lot of our only option, and I pray CHC cleans up its act for the sake of it's many patients who have no other choice.

Community Health Center received me in a professional and compassionate manner . I made an appointment for the dental department, as my crown fell off unexpectedly after decades of no problems. The dental professionals were willing to see me on an emergency basis which shortened my appointment time by weeks. I was thrilled they were willing to work with me. On the date of my appointment , l was given several options for treatment. The dentist helped me by narrowing down choices, which l greatly appreciated. My follow-up appointment was eased by the expert skills and demeanor of the dentist ( as my crown no longer fit the confines of the tooth). She shaved off the crown to fit the tooth and viola ! All set! Many thanks to the compassionate and expert care of the Dentistry Department of Community Health Care. I am forever grateful for your professionalism and skill and kindness to me . Many thanks !

Very poor and rude customer service. When you can't understand what there are saying she was very rude. I have a job and can't answer my phone. And when you call back there not available of course. So there goes my prescription. Time to try and find a real doctor.

Had a visit with Benjamin Baker PA-C. The medical staff at the counter were super nice. Unfortunately the medical advice I got was incorrect and not up-to-date with the latest scientific research. This is my usual experience with doctors which was a shame. I almost spent hundreds of dollars on lab tests that would not actually provide me any useful information.

Great healthcare, Dr. Adam Sadowski is kind, professional, and very informative. Highly recommended