Commonwealth Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation PC

The couple of times I’ve used this group (different family members), the staff is indifferent, the doctors arrogant and the wait time is ridiculous. They are always running an hour behind. But, I need PT for an accident and so, because they are convenient, I thought I would try again. For PT – the wait for an appointment was 3 weeks! Usually if you need PT, you need it in a timely manner. I believe, if you ever get in there, the care is pretty good… but the difficulties in scheduling and wait time just aren’t worth it.

I got an immediate appointment with Dr. Sumida when I called about recurrent elbow pain. From start to finish, I was treated with the utmost respect, speed, and accuracy. Both the PA who saw me initially (sorry, don’t remember her name) and Dr. Sumida were professional, pleasant, and — unlike many doctors’ offices — FAST. I mean, I was out of there in no time.
Love this place!

Was told by the rudest receptionist that they don’t treat patients who have been in car accidents, no matter how long ago it’s been. Literally the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Ill make sure to tell my patients to steer clear from this facility.

Please note — this business is now part of OrthoVirginia, a giant chain of Ortho facilities in Virginia.
After visiting the Fairfax location of OrthoVirginia last week for a hand injury, I still have no diagnosis, am still in pain, and have to go see an actual orthopedist somewhere else — thanks to the utterly deplorable experience I had at this facility.
In short, the office culture is very disrespectful of patients and unprofessional; the rooms were dirty (iodine freshly spilled on the exam bed);the nursing (?) staff are disrespectful of each other; patients are herded from room to room with no explanation, even when taking an x-​ray that was done with no physical exam of my injured hand preceding that test; the physician’s assistant did no physical exam and rather than diagnose my injury proceeded to tell me my pain was from arthritis and then he proceeded to tell me that my hands would probably be disfigured when I «become an old lady» and that he could order an MRI if I wanted to, but that the problem was arthritis. And by the way, in case you think I am an «old lady» I assure you that I am completely fit and in perfect health otherwise. Maybe because at my age I could have been Josh’s (the PA) mother he belittled me as not requiring his attention?
I did not need a 25 year old with a 2 yr technical degree and questionable medical training to take an x-​ray to tell me I have arthritis, which is not even problematic for me and is typical for anyone my age. What I needed was an orthopedist to examine the hand I INJURED PLAYING SOFTBALL and make an appropriate diagnosis based on evidence and proper medical protocols. X-​rays cannot see hairline or stress fractures, or any soft tissues, so to just wave me away as though I’m incompetent to know if I got hurt playing softball or have arthritis pain is beyond idiotic and incredibly unprofessional just as a service professional.
DO NOT go to this place if you want to actually have your problem resolved and be treated as though you exist.

Save yourself the trouble. Go to another practice.
I had ACL Replacement Surgery with Dr McConnell in May 2014. I REGRET CHOOSING HIM AS MY SURGEON. I’m still not able to exercise nor is my knee fixed. He is the most ill-​mannered doctor I have ever met and my knee not being fixed proves he is not as competent as his egotistical mouth claims.
He does not listen to you, he only rattles off how many surgeries he has done over the span of his whatever decade long career. He does not give you information to help you understand what will be happening. Not only did he leave out crucial parts of what he was planning to do during surgery, he acts as if you should be able to read his mind. Don’t ever ask him a question because you’re curious or because you want to understand something, he will bite your head off.
Prior to the surgery, the practice mailed me an envelope addressed to me with someone else’s pre-​op papers in the mail with the wrong patient name, date, and type of surgery. They also don’t inform you that the insurance company ONLY pays for 90 days worth of follow-​up. So when they had me go on Day 93 for a follow-​up, and had me continue to go for a total of 6 months — none of those extra visits were covered by the surgery/​insurance. At $ 40/​pop they were getting expensive!
Post surgery, I specifically asked him if he could give me a list of things I should be doing or working towards (so that he would stop mistreating me at the followup appointments). He lost his temper, yelled at me, then left the room! He returned 10 minutes later and tossed out a quick sentence stating «dutch uncle» — meaning he prefers to be harsh with his patients I guess? I had to google it. ha. I even decided to bring someone with me to a couple of the appointments so that I didn’t have to deal with him alone! This guy is the MOST conceited, rude, and unfriendly doctor I have ever met.
5 months post surgery my knee started getting worse instead of better. McConnell said he didn’t know what it could be and prescribed me a steroid pack to take and said come back next month. ?? I was like «uhmm. but, but wait what could– «trying to get out a question while he was turning — but instead he rushed out of the room.
I called to request an appointment 7 months post surgery with a different doctor at Commonwealth and the office would not let me see one (Dr. Sumida), stating it was a conflict. I said but this is a new condition, they still said no. I thought this was obnoxious. I called 4 times to try to get an appointment and they wouldn’t let me. I even left a message for Dr. Sumida himself, but he did not ever return my call. Wouldn’t the group collectively prefer to have a commonality; such as, fix the patient?
Also beware they will order unnecessary X-​rays. I knew I did not break any bones, yet he had 6 X-​rays taken! I suppose they order so much because they make money off of it (it’s in the same office). And guess what? You’re insurance might not even cover it. The one he ordered 2 days after surgery wasn’t covered.
The only good thing that I experienced was the awesome staff at Virginia Hospital Center when I had my surgery (not from anyone at commonwealth) The hospital staff were ALL truly amazing. (Just have a different practice/​doctor handle your surgery and have it done there.)
Thanks for reading my post. I hope you heal quickly and experience a speedy recovery without any suffering. Good luck and I hope this post helped some of you with any decisions you need to make.

They have consolidated their appt line which has made making an appt more efficient in my mind.
I saw Dr. Sumida today for the first time and he was wonderful. He was very knowledgeable, warm, friendly, and personable. I’d definitely go back to this practice.

Officially two months since my daughter’s surgery! after the HORRIBLE experience at the ER at Alexandria Hospital I called a couple of my friends (that thankfully are doctors in the Fairfax and Arlington area)
they all told me commonwealth ! so I called them and made an appt and came in. My daughter saw Dr.Avery. He was totally amazing! he performed her surgery and was totally nice. the entire office was great! If any of my kids or myself broke a bone I will def come here again!

A typical patient mill. 2 ½ hours and $ 50 copay for 5 minutes with the Dr. Scheduled appointment for 11:50 AM and didn’t get to an exam room until 12:45 PM. Then, we waited ANOTHER 90 minutes in the exam room. I guess the 1 star we are forced to give can go towards the privilege of getting to sit in the private exam room for 90 minutes instead of iin the standing room only waiting room. People resorted to sitting on the floor. Unfortunately, there’s been so much consolidation in the orthopaedist industry in our area that we don’t have many alternatives… atleast for pediatric that’s close to us. The unfriendly front desk staff aren’t doing much to help the situation. The Dr assistent are friendlier though. Would not recommend this practice.

My review is for the Annandale office. I was sent there by Alexandria hospital — why they didn’t send us to the office close by on Duke Street is beyond me but we made the appointment in Annandale per their suggestion. This practice is hit or miss. Mr. Chazz is excellent and the x-​ray tech — she is a wonderful woman who is amazing with kids but this place has so many patients at one time — that is part of the issue. Our first appointment, we were there for 2 HOURS. Anyway, we were seen for a total by everyone for 15 minutes during that 2 hour appointment. The 2^nd time we were there, again we waited forever and then apparently our appt was over and no one told us. At that appointment, they didn’t have what we needed, so they sent us to Vienna to get an appliance made for our child but they neglected to tell me that we had to have an appointment with the new group. Thankfully that group was understanding and helpful. I had to pull teeth to get paperwork for my child’s school to say what his restrictions were and most times, I only had about two minutes with the doctor and didn’t even get to ask questions. At our most recent appointment, I asked to make an appointment and the woman at the front desk asked me when the doctor wanted to see us again — she didn’t say because we barely saw her — so they wouldn’t make an appointment for us — she told me to call another day — SERIOUSLY? Dr. McHale is very pleasant and clearly knows her stuff but there are so many patients rolling in and out of this office that if you get 5 minutes of her time — consider yourself lucky.

Dr Sumida is one of the best orthopedic surgeon I have ever seen, I have been suffering from my knee for more than 3 years, meniscus tear, he was so honest an clear, he treats patients with a high quality an professionally.
And he will do the best for you for the long run, after I have seen more than 9 orthopedic surgeons on Northern Virginia, he is the one who treated me well.
And rehab Unit at Commonwealth is great, you have to meet Leanne Dunaway, PT, DPT, she has been my PT for a while, she works hard and explains everything for you, she also encourage you and take you there to the other side where you can practice your normal life again.

Got an appointment within 24 hours of calling. Check in was quick — staff was friendly and professional. I really liked Dr. Sumida. He was professional, friendly, and took extra time to draw the anatomy of a knee when explaining my injury. It was only my first appointment, but so far they were awesome!

Unthinkable 1 hour+ wait times every time I’ve been here just for 10 minutes with a doctor. They completely overbook themselves so even the morning appointments run an hour late.

A few months ago, I went in to see Dr. McConnell for some persistent pain all around my knee. Here’s the thing about doctor’s offices — patients want non-​MD staff to be efficient and methodical. But, personally, I want my Dr. to take the time to talk to me. I agree with the other folks who said this place was run like a mill. Everybody else at the place was fantastic, especially the PT who gave me my brace and took the time to answer my questions and treat me like a human being.
But, honestly, I have never been so mistreated by a Dr. in my life. I literally, almost got up and walked out. McConnell was rude, brusque and refused to explain how all the stuff in my knee worked together. I have tight hamstrings, and I have always had tight hamstrings — I was always the only 6 year old kid who couldn’t touch his toes. I’ve also been an athlete since then, over 20 years. I’m pretty well acquainted with my muscles, particularly my leg muscles. He basically tsk-​tsked me for having tight hamstrings, told me to stretch them out every night, and never explained to me how or why, when I dove playing ultimate frisbee and landed on the front of my knee, the sides of my knees should hurt. He treated me like a child and refused to answer my questions. Even now, months later, I’m bristling at how angry I was at this cocky blankety-​blank who gives doctors a bad name.
That being said, I have a colleague who’s told me that the other doc’s at Commonwealth are fantastic and have done surgeries for both of her adult children. I’m supposed to schedule a follow-​up in another month or two, and I’ll request one of them.

I very much like Dr. Parker, but either he or the managing partners are overbooking patients. Wait times are VERY long (we arrived on time and saw three other patients for the same doctor at the SAME TIME). This isn’t the first occurrence.
Additionally, like most specialists in this wacky health care system, this practice will look to ring the register on you, so beware if you have high deductibles on your insurance policy.
I hope Dr. Parker goes out on his own and follows a more reasonable business model.

This place runs like a mill. They are rushing patients in and out. Very low level of professionalism. Upon telling PA Laura M. That I felt uncomfortable with a cortisone shot and asking her what my other options were she got a huge attitude with me. I explained to her my concerns about getting a cortisone shot after already having done a week of prednisone without a clear diagnosis from their office (now two weeks since my injury and still in increasing pain). I asked what the diagnosis was and she kept giving me different answers of the possibilities and telling me we were going to just inject cortisone in my arm to see if it got better, not even knowing what the problem was. In the end she begrudgingly gave me a script for an MRI with little to no instruction on what I should do and walked out of the room so abruptly I didn’t even know the appointment was over. She was so angry because i was uncomfrtoable and didnt understand the treatment plan. (even though I repeatedly asked her for clarification that she could not give me) She ended the appointment in a very hostile manner. Have never seen such unprofessionalism in a medical practice. Will not return to this place.
The level of unprofessionalism is astounding. Please do not give this practice your business. They don’t provide any level of quality of care or service.

None of the staff here; whether at the front desk or the surgeons themselves, have any reality of professionalism. I’ve been here twice and both times, to their credit, they’ve taken me to the exam room immediately. From there, however, it’s obvious that none of the staff have any professionalism. They’re giddy, loud, rude, and they act like uncontrolled teenagers. The exams on both occasions were not thorough and they couldn’t answer specific questions concerning my injuries.
Be forewarned… go elsewhere if you want a trustworthy opinion or exam. I can only imagine how they act in the OR!

I love this practice! I have been going to Commonwealth for over three years. I started with their Springfield location and moved to Arlington this past June. Dr. Romness is my doctor. We scheduled a bilateral knee replacement for September 10,2012. The office was so well prepared. They gave me a large folder with step by step instructions, prescriptions, class times, etc… I just had to follow everything until surgery day.
My knees are now two weeks old and the office has always accommodated me in any way they can, including working me in right away to get the staples removed from my knees when I didn’t need a home care nurse because I was having such an amazing recovery!
I have never ever had rude staff or felt the office was too busy for me. I have only had amazing care that resulted in a wildly successful bilateral knee surgery!

Saw Dr. McConnell based on a friend’s recommendation for a knee issue that turned out to be nothing serious.
Staff was all very friendly.
Facility was clean.
Great location being right at the hospital.
Doctor was… Short, to the point, didn’t waste my time, and for that I’m appreciative.
I’m not dying to injure myself again to pay them another visit, but they’d certainly get my business next time.

My experience is very similar to the previous posting about Dr. McConnell. I injured my foot while running and was barely able to walk. I’ve twisted my ankle many, many times while playing basketball and am no stranger to foot injuries and orthopedic doctors. This was my first experience at Commonwealth. and I was fortunate (or not) to be able to get in for an appointment the next day.
Once I arrived, I felt like that the management staff was pretty good and I was pretty quickly ushered to the waiting room. However, I was seemingly also quickly ushered out. My meeting with Dr. McConnell was very brief and cursory. Like I mentioned, I was in a lot of pain and could barely walk. He talked for about 5 minutes, told me that they were going to take X-​rays and left. I was barely able to get a word in and thought that x-​rays were going to tell him everything he needed to know. After my x-​rays, he came and told me that I had nothing. I proceeded to tell him that I was indeed in a lot of pain and could barely walk. He seemed to be somewhat irritated with me and said that he was going to prescribe a bone scan, which would tell him exactly what he needed to know. Again, before I had much of a chance to ask questions, he told me to call him after the bone scan and quickly left.
I was left in the room without much reprieve for my hurt foot and only the promise of a bone scan. The bone scan didn’t end up showing anything and after a week, I still can’t step. When I spoke with him over the phone and told him that I was still in a lot of pain, he merely suggested that I buy some crutches.
There are many other injuries to the foot, other than a break. All other doctors I have previously have at least taken the time to understand my injury and even to prescribe specific treatments (whether a brace or rehabilitation) or suggestions for the pain (i.e. ice and/​or heat). Dr. McConnell did none of these and I definitely won’t be going back to see him.

It’s almost a bit unfair to rate a practice as large as Commonwealth together, but I think the variety of quality in the practice is a reflection on it as a whole. For the practice: 2.5
Dr. Pettrone: Had an issue which he was able to resolve fast which I greatly appreciated. I’m a fan of this doc. 4 stars.
Dr. Lefkin: I saw him after fracturing my fifth metatarsal (pinkie toe). He took the conservative approach and didn’t perform surgery. The pain stayed around for months and was heightened when my foot was bent inward. About four months later, I reinjured in the same spot/​same fracture. His conservative approach failed me and now I’m getting surgery next week and will have to go through the 6 – 8 week healing process again. Through research online I learned that sometimes the fracture can heal on its own unless the bone is displaced (mine was displaced). I’m annoyed. 1 star.
Administrative Staff at the Tyson’s Office: Not impressive. I called for a DMV disability form (you need it signed by the doc). I went picked it up and they gave it to me in an envelope. Now bad on me for not checking it before leaving, but bad on them for giving me the wrong state! The doctor had signed and filled out a Virginia form when I’m a D.C. resident. Really annoying to go back again when not so mobile and easily corrected if they checked my address before giving the doc the form.