Patrick F. Carter, MD

STAY AWAY… IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE AND YOUR HEALTH… STAY AWAY… FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR!!!
if there were negative star ratings, he would get the worst… long story short, I almost lost my life because of his lack luster attempts at medicine. After suffering a near death experience, I was hospitalized for almost six (6) months… he would literally hang up on me when I phoned him from my hospital bed!!! He ignored tracking my sugar levels, consequently, multiple surgeries had to be postponed and rescheduled! barely made it out alive because of his apathetic approach to what he calls medicine.
DO NOT GO NEAR HIM!!!

Agree stay away! He announced to an entire waiting room of people that I needed to get a referral for a psychiatrist. When I called him out on his lack of professionalism and violation of privacy laws, he laughed and said, pretend you didn’t hear that. The completely incompetent medical staff didn’t help. I insisted that the office manager write a letter stating my disappointment. It took her 10 minutes to write two sentences, that wasn’t even on letter head and didn’t include her last name.

STAY AWAY!!! This «doctor» needs to be reported to the Medical board for ethical violations. If you care about your health or your loved ones– keep away.

I went to see Dr. Carter today. Unlike some of these reviews might suggest, I found him to be a very sweet older man who did not exhibit any brusqueness or otherwise poor bedside manner. They saw me pretty quickly and frankly I was very grateful they could see me today– I spent almost two hours calling every doctor on my insurance website and no one had appointments this week, much less the same day.
Anyway, my experience with Dr. Carter is that he is professional and very nice. I say give him a chance. :)

Such mixed reviews I had to step in.
What people were saying about his bedside manner is very true — to the point, seemingly harsh, far from friendly, do not talk about anything except the exact problem you made your appointment for (don’t even bring up something else that’s been bothering you that you thought you might wanna get checked out while there — to him it is a SERIOUS misuse of his time as a doctor!). So if you like happy, smiling doctors that remind you of your favorite childhood pediatrician, steer clear.
If you have a general idea what’s wrong with you, maybe something like you’ve been feeling crappy for 3 days and are pretty sure you need a Z-​pack, you need someone to refill your birth control, need some pharmaceutical-​strength Benadryl, by all means, go to Dr. Carter, he can help you. In fact, writing prescriptions is probably his strongest quality.
Since he is a GP, for the ladies out there, I’m not sure if he is religious or something, but he isn’t very understanding on women’s issues. Regular exams were fine and he was professional of course, but when I pried about STD tests he appeared to be uncomfortable «I thought you were in a monogamous relationship?» «Oh you can’t just go test for all that with no symptoms» This is 2012 and men aren’t too well known for being faithful, young people have sexual urges, and it’s the responsible thing to do, so I was a bit surprised to receive additional questions on it.
His administrative assistant is a doll, super sweet, I think she feels bad for us patients and is super nice to make up for his bad attitude. I will say one good thing though… one time when I was waiting too long and really didn’t feel good, I just started crying and pretty much had a panic attack while waiting in one of the little rooms. I stormed out of the office because I couldn’t breathe, and The Angel Aministrative Assistant called me within the hour to make sure I was okay, and told me that when I came back I wouldn’t even have to re-​pay the co-​pay and she’d make sure he was in the room immediately. I very much appreciated that, she saw that I was upset and took action even though she she had no obligation to do so. The third star is for her =)

STAY AWAY! This guy is the WORST. I went to see him for a routine annual echocardiogram due to a family genetic issue and it was a nightmare. He was rude, dismissive, and arrogant. This is from a letter I wrote him after my ordeal (which of course he never responded to):
I came in as a new patient to your office on XXXXX. My employer had switched health plans and I had chosen your office on the Blue Cross provider list online. The purpose of my visit, which I explained to you when I met with you, was twofold: to have a yearly checkup and to make an appointment for an annual echocardiogram, which I have had four times since 1999 due to a genetic history in my family of aortic dissections. I received the checkup with no issue, and discussed with you how I have had echocardiograms every few years for preventative reasons to keep an eye on the size of my aorta. I also clearly stated that the family history, and the echocardiograms I receive, are all involving the ascending aorta. You arranged to have me schedule the appropriate appointment with your administrative assistant once I was out of the patient room.
When I left the room and approached your assistant, she told me that we were going to schedule an abdominal ultrasound. As all four tests that I needed and received in the past were echocardiograms, I asked her if an ultrasound was right. She said it was. I pressed on, saying that I didn’t think that was correct, that I needed to schedule an echocardiogram as my condition has nothing to do with my abdomen and all past tests were not ultrasounds. Your assistant appeared confused, and stated that you had asked her to schedule an ultrasound, but at my insistence, she called up St. Mary’s in front of me and scheduled an echocardiogram.
Right before I was about to leave, she said «Let me just check one more time with the Doctor» and she opened up your office door, which was right behind me, and asked you if I needed an ultrasound or an echocardiogram. You responded (in a short and irritated way) that no, I needed an ultrasound. Since I was right there, I explained to you that that didn’t make any sense to me and that I had always needed an echocardiogram, as it was a view of my ascending aorta and not my abdomen. You responded in (in my opinion) a dismissive and terse way that I was mistaken, and it was clear that you did not consider this a matter for discussion. I conceded to your opinion, as you seemed convinced and after all are the doctor. Your assistant then called up and cancelled the echocardiogram, and scheduled an ultrasound for two days after my office visit.
When I arrived for the ultrasound, and was undergoing the procedure, I asked the technician performing the ultrasound if it was going to allow a view of the ascending aorta, and she responded that in no way would this get a view of it. The only thing it may get a view of, she said, was my descending aorta (an area I have no family history of problems with).
On the way home from the procedure, I called up your office and spoke with your administrative assistant. I explained to her that as I had told both you and her the date of my visit, this was the wrong procedure. I also explained to her that I found the whole situation unprofessional on your part, and asked her to go ahead and schedule the echocardiogram. She did not say much either way, but agreed to schedule the needed procedure as I asked.
I have since received a statement of claims for the echocardiogram from St. Mary’s Medical Center totaling $ 942.00, of which $ 566.89 is not covered by my insurance plan. It is my opinion that this amount is the responsibility of your office, and you specifically, as despite my best efforts to obtain the correct and needed medical care you erred in your professional responsibility, an error which has a direct cost to me of $ 566.89.
***In short, AVOID THIS GUY. I found out he got his degree in Guadalajara, but I was surprised it didn’t come out of a gumball machine. Do yourself a favor– go to your local CVS, Rite-​Aid, or Walgreens instead– you’ll get better care.***

I went to see Dr. Carter because I was having trouble sleeping.
He told me that he didn’t have time to do a work up and I would need to come back another day –WTF I still had to pay my insurance co-​pay!
I’ve since switched insurance and my new doctor at Kaiser is addressing my sleeping problems

I have to say I have to agree with Drue C., Dr. Carter is a great doctor! He is very knowledgable and understanding, he helped me quit smoking and has been very understanding to my many questions.

I finally went to the Doc today and wouldn’t ya know… double whammy!
I have a bacterial infection, which I opted to ignore forever, thus debilitating my immune system to the point that 9 days later it was the proud parent of a viral infection.
When I was at the point of having to crawl to the kitchen to make some theraflu at 4AM, with kleenex stuck to me knees, I decided it was finally time to see a doctor. Problem, I haven’t yet found one I like since my favorite one left town to join the circus or some crazy midlife crisis crap of the sort.
So, I called the only person I know who works in a doctors office and begged her to get me an appointment pronto, which she did, with Dr. Carter.
He is just the sort of doctor I like. Asked a lot of questions that were relevant to my condition, no chit chat about crazy stuff like my job, family, what I do for fun and the weather. Find out what I’ve got, medicate me, give me a note to get out of work, and get me the hell out. No one likes a doctors office so thank you for not prolonging the experience with unneeded talk and wait time. In fact there was no wait at all, even though I didn’t book an appointment in advance.
Oh and one last thing… I am writing this while on Codeine, so I am happy and not coughing for the first time in a long time. How could I give Dr. Carter anything BUT 5 stars right now?!