Nelly Velasquez, MD PA

Office staff take days to call back about referrals, if they call you back at all. I have to badger them about test results because they never call. I agree with the other reviewer who said office staff were incompetent.
Dr. Velasquez herself has made insensitive comments about my sexual orientation.
I was putting up with it until today’s appointment. I’m sitting in the waiting room and haven’t even been seen by the medical assistant. My appointment was an hour ago.
I’m done with the hassle. I’ve been putting up with it because my insurance requires referrals from my PCP for my specialists and I have chronic health issues. I’ve gotta find a new primary care physician but it’s not worth the time and energy to go here.

Office Personell: Incompetent. I called 10 times to get them to fax a prescription. I was assured they would send over. After waiting 5 hours, I called 5 minutes before the office closed to ensure it was sent and they already turned on their automated answering service
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Medical Equipment: Basic vitals are a challenge since their blood pressure cuff does not work 90% of the time. It requires the person to hold it on.
Bed Side Manners: She basically tells you how it is.

I recently got new insurance that required a PCP in their network who would also do referrals, so I had to leave my primary doc of many years. (She doesn’t take insurance, but to me she was worth it, and before this year didn’t have to have referrals for specialists.) I was very nervous about getting a new doctor. Well, there was no need to worry, because Dr. Velasquez is fantastic. I truly didn’t expect to like a new doctor that much, but she is thorough, down to earth, intelligent and knowledgeable. I’m extremely impressed. The referrals process is a pain, but Dr. Velasquez and her staff do their best to streamline things as much as they can. I recommend Dr. Velasquez wholeheartedly.

This doctor was horrible with my mother. She change medication that harm my mom, made my mom a lot more worst then before. She was rude, didn’t have any compassion for my mom overall health. Flat out said, she was lazy and full of excuses. When in reality, my mom is a hardworking woman. Made my mom diabetes worst then ever, wrote a wrong prescription for her thyroid level. Overall this doctor is unfair, rude, and horrible.

We’ve been seeing her for 10 years. Saw her today to compliment that «She is the hardest working MD I’ve known», true – after 45 years in the business. She is a thoughtful Diagnostician or will refer but always shares information, and never «wings it». She is the rare physician to actually listen and uses her clinical findings to collaborate conclusions. One occasion she even made phone calls herself to try and locate a physician for a speciality assessment that was not allowed by insurance. Yes occasionaly there may be a wait, but the time is returned; it has never been a cause for complaint. And I appreciate that the office does not operate as high tech, which allows more hands on deliberations and employs more people.

Dr. Velasquez has been my and my husband’s doctor for almost seven years. I would recommend her to anyone who is in need of good healthcare in Austin. Besides her compassion and thoroughness, I appreciate that she puts her patients first before money. She does not peddle medications that we do not need and she makes herself available many times after hours. I am very grateful to her for her treatment. In fact, once I was too sick to come in to the office. She and I spoke over the phone and were able to diagnose the issue (I had the FLU) and she sent in a prescription to my pharmacy and I was on the road to feeling better — and she did not charge me for that phone call. The receptionist that work with her are also nurses I believe and so sometimes get a bit backed up with work so it is best to call them if you need things in a pinch and call again to speak in person and follow up.

Dr Velasquez is great! My mother and I both use her and I can’t say enough about how wonderful she is. She is very thorough, takes her time, and asks a million questions. She really seems like she cares and never seems like she is in a hurry. The wait time can be long sometimes but it seems to be because she never rushes her patients. She is the only doctor I have seen in a long time that hasn’t been in a hurry. She also personally calls to discuss test results even when they are normal. We are really happy we found her.

My family has used Dr Velasquez as our primary care doctor for about 8 years. She has all the attributes a doctor should have, but which only rare ones do nowadays, starting with:
Compassion – She really cares about her patients as human beings and takes time to talk to them about not only their complaints but their actual lives as well. Today she went above and beyond to personally accompany me to another building to have a particularly stressful test.
Intelligence – she knows her stuff.
Ability to cope well under pressure – in today’s world where electronic medical record software breaks down about every minute and insurance pays less and less, she is never without a totally calm and relatively happy demeanor which doesn’t seem fake.
Communication skills – she is able to «translate» her knowledge to the level of the patient if needed.
Her partner, Dr Swamy, is also a very nice and intelligent person.
We hope to have Dr Velasquez as our doctor until we toddle down that road to the big goodnight.
Mil gracias.

I only gave 4 stars because of the 45 minutes I sat in the patient room waiting for Dr. Velasquez.
I was looking for a good GP and I found Dr. Velasquez on
and she had good reviews. I called and was able to get an appointment for 2 day later. I wasn’t sick so I didn’t need to be seen right away. The office isn’t anything fancy just a basic office. I waited for 15 minutes and then was brought to the back for height, weight, blood pressure and then taken to the patient room. I waited patiently (I had read other reviews from Unilocal that the wait was long) for 45 minutes and Dr. Velasquez finally came in. She is a very kind, sweet, and caring doctor. She wanted to know everything about everything and I appreciated that. She was very thorough and spent 30 minutes with me going over my family history and medical history. I left there and that was that.
I will go back despite waiting for so long. I have other specialists that I see for literally 5 minutes and I’m out the door, so I appreciate her taking the extra time to actually get to know her patients.

Been going to here for years and have had a very positive experience.
She has lots of experience and I trust her opinions and recommendations. I’ve gone to her for everything from my women’s health check ups, allergies, and travel shots/​meds.
Like someone said she makes you feel like a partner in your health.

Dr. Velasquez was extremely homophobic. She asked me if I was gay because I was sexually abused as a child and then tried to say that my son’s disabilities stemmed from my sexuality.
Doctors like this are the reason thirteen year old kids are committing suicide and why queer/​trans folks of all ages do not receive the medical care they need and deserve.

Dr. Velasquez is my primary care physician. She is great. Attentive, professional, caring. I never feel rushed when I am with her. She goes over everything and asks tons of questions, which makes me feel like she is interested and doesn’t want to miss anything. She is always proactive and listens to my opinion as well. Only con is that you have to pay for parking.

The receptionist sucks at her job.

Dr. Velasquez is great. Professional, prudent, and caring– everything I want in my doctor. Only con is paying for parking.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Velasquez for close to 10 years and I really appreciate the time she takes with every visit. She makes me feel like a partner in my health care — not just a patient.

I have been using Dr Nelly Velasquez as my GP for a year now. She is an excellent doctor. She really takes the time to listen to and talk with her patients. You will not find yourself rushed out of her office before you get the chance to ask and be asked important health questions.
Her office is clean, her staff is professional, and she has an excellent bedside manner. I would highly recommend calling Dr Velasquez if you are trying to find a kind and compassionate GP.

I recently had my first appointment for a meet & greet with Dr. Velasquez. I moved from NYC where I had 2 Dr’s I visited regularly for 8 years, so picking a new doctor was agonizing. Dr. Velasquez was incredibly personable and answered all my questions intelligently and succinctly. She was very detailed as she reviewed my new patient history form with me and it was clear that she took time to review it before she entered the exam room. Her staff was also very attentive and friendly. Only downside is paid parking in the hospital’s garage took a while to find a spot. Next time I’ll be sure to include extra time for that.

Dr Velasquez was the on-​call for my 79-​year-​young mother’s internist late on a Sunday afternoon when she was coughing frequently, running a low-​grade fever and gradually weakening. We are typically very leery of calling an on-​call doctor from a different practice whom we haven’t seen before, because the usual outcome is for either the doctor to immediately follow the path of least resistance and send the patient to the ER or to punt it to the regular doctor on his next day in the office. Those types of interactions usually are a waste of time because they aren’t helpful and don’t explore any options you don’t already know.
Although she had never seen my mother, Dr Velasquez immediately took interest in my mom’s case. She helped me work through my mom’s symptoms and determine that it was best we get to the ER immediately rather than prescribe an antibiotic over the phone and wait until the next day when her regular physician would be available. Her interactions with me were simple and easily understood – not filled with medical jargon – and centered on compassion for my mom’s situation and that of my family.
When we arrived at the hospital, my mother was triaged and placed in a treatment room within 30 minutes. The ER staff had acknowledged that Dr Velasquez had called ahead and alerted the ER to our arrival. Despite a half-​full ER waiting room, some of whom had been waiting for three hours to get past triage, we were dealt with swiftly and courteously. I can’t help but think that Dr Velasquez’s call had something to do with the rapid response we got.
But wait, there’s more: When I returned from the hospital, about 5 hours from the point I had first spoken with Dr Velasquez, I got a phone call. It was Dr Velasquez, inquiring as to how things had turned out. She even asked if I was pleased with the decision we had made to go to the ER. I couldn’t thank her enough for following up with me and for helping to reach the conclusion that we needed to be at the hospital.
Of course, based on this one experience with Dr Velasquez, it is not possible for me to comment on her in-​office practice or continuing care. But I can say that the way she treats a total stranger calling about another doctor’s patient late on a Sunday afternoon is awesome. And, to find a doctor in this day and time that cares this much over the phone about a patient she’s never even seen is truly remarkable.
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P. S. I found out later this morning that my mom’s internist who no longer sees patients in the hospital came by to check on her based on call notes that Dr Velasquez had passed along. Follow-​through and follow-​up. Terrific.