Came here to see Dr. Birmingham, who is very nice, patient, and willing to answer all questions. His care team is also quick to answer via the patient portal. JP is AMAZING too - he is super helpful, also willing to answer everything and go over t multiple times, and is very nice. You can tell he genuinely cares about the patients. If I could just review Dr. Birmingham and JP, I would give them 5 stars. Administratively, they are behind - which is concerning because you would think a center that has done a lot of these surgeries should be well-versed in the protocol. They had sent me a packet of information before my surgery; because I was in the middle of moving, there was some complication with my mailbox causing it to be sent back. They asked me to go pick up the packet at the office; however, when I went to pick it up they could not find it. I then asked them if they could re-mail the packet after my mailbox had been set up. Sheena Lewis proceeded to tell me it would take 10-15 business days despite my address being in the same city as the office. She then proceeded to LECTURE me about how I need to take initiative and responsibility for my own care by going to pick up the packet, which I had CLEARLY DONE the day before. Rather than being apologetic for the Institute's incompetency that has caused me so much difficulty, she talked down to me as if I was a child being ridiculous to ask them to re-mail it. She was extremely rude and condescending. I am very unhappy with this experience. The doctors are fantastic but the supporting staff can be rude and incompetent. read more

Do not go to Northwestern Orthopaedic Institute (aka Northshore Orthopaedics) or Dr. Mark Dolan. This was the worst experience I've ever had with a doctor or an office anywhere. To begin, my first appointment with Dr. Dolan was during a weekday afternoon. I had to take time off of work to take a cab over and then get back to work. I got here 15 minutes before my appointment time and filled out all the paperwork, then I waited and waited. Then I was called 10 minutes later to pay my co-pay, and then I waited and waited. My appointment time came and went, and other people in the waiting area were called in to see other doctors, but still I waited. Half an hour went by. I checked in with the front desk, they assured me I'd be called in soon. No apology. So I waited. One hour after my appointment and I'm still waiting while other patients are going in to see their doctors. So I asked the front desk again and she asks one of the nurses and no one seems to know who Dr. Dolan's nurse is or why he's unable to see me yet. So she tells me she's going to try to call his nurse and will get back to me. Ten minutes later, I go up to her again and ask her if she was able to locate his nurse. No. Then one of them tells me that they don't have any open rooms because they're busy. So I ask why a dozen other people went in before and after my appointment time if they don't have ANY open rooms? I am irate at this point and ask to see a manager. Ten minutes later, the office manager comes to get me and talk to me. FIRST time I'm offered an apology by anyone in this office. I explain the situation to the office manager who informs me Dr. Dolan is running late on his appointments. WHY I ask didn't someone in the office call me to reschedule if he was running so late??? No answer. I explained that I took time off of work, paid for a cab there and back, and all for nothing! So she promises to book me as his third appointment the next morning if I want to go back. I book the appointment and leave ONE HOUR and A HALF after my scheduled appointment time, without having seen the doctor. I come back the next morning and I'm taken in back 5 minutes after my appointment time. I wait another 5 minutes for Dr. Dolan's nurse to come in and ask a bunch of questions and basically stall until the doctor can see me. She leaves and I wait another 10 minutes before Dr. Dolan FINALLY makes an entrance. No apology, no acknowledgment for the day before, no bedside manner. Nothing. He asks a bunch of questions and makes a quick examination, orders x-rays, and then after waiting some more, comes back in the room to tell me the x-rays were fine and that I should just get physical therapy. He doesn't explain anything about what might be causing my pain and tells me an MRI is unnecessary. I insist on getting an MRI just to be sure, so he writes me the order for one. Turns out the MRI did show an abnormality. After getting the MRI, I had the results sent to his office for his diagnosis. A WEEK later and after a follow-up call from me, I get a call from his NURSE! She tells me what she THINKS is my diagnosis and that he would PROBABLY recommend physical therapy. Why is my diagnosis and treatment a guessing game? I ask her to have Dr. Dolan call me to discuss the MRI results and suggested treatment. He NEVER called. I called the nurse TWO more times and WAITED TWO MORE WEEKS to get another call back from the nurse--I pressed her on my diagnosis and asked again what exactly it was--she hesitates and tells me something different than what she told me the first time. I ask her again about my treatment options and she's unable to tell me anything besides give me a referral to ANOTHER doctor at the office who can handle this. Let me tell you that I was not about to pay for another doctor's visit to see another doctor at this office for them to tell me nothing!!! I already did see a doctor--or at least I thought I did--and got no care, diagnosis, or treatment. Dr. Dolan is the worst doctor I've ever been to. Unless your condition requires surgery, you're no longer a patient and basically fall off his radar and he can't be bothered to call you and tell you your MRI results. I called the office again and asked them to mail me my x-rays and medical file. When I received it, I read the doctor's notes and x-ray results which told me a hell of a lot more than he or his nurse did. Apparently my x-rays did show some other serious issues, but I was never told about it. As for my MRI results, I've requested those and will be taking them to another doctor. If you need an orthopaedic doctor, go to Rush University. A family member went there and got way better treatment and care. Do not go to Dr. Dolan or this office. Appointment times mean nothing at this office, staff stand around chatting instead of taking care of patients, and unless your condition requires surgery, you're not treated like a patient or even a human being. Absolutely horrible patient care and service. read more

Dr. Bennett came highly recommended to me by a friend when I was experiencing knee pain. I was ready for the truth of what was going on with my right knee. The office is quite large and impressive. They apparently treat major Chicago athletes, as pictures on the walls indicate. Dr. Adam Bennett is a Board Certified Family Practitioner, sub-specializing in Primary Care Sports Medicine. His areas of special interest are sports medicine, non-surgical musculoskeletal care, overuse injuries, and injury prevention. The physician assistant evaluated me with a series of questions with her tablet (and this was before tablets became popular!). Dr. Bennett came in and was so easy to talk to and really listened to my concerns. He ordered up the xrays and was immediately able to tell me where the inflammation was and diagnosed me with a sliding knee cap, with a prescription for 6 weeks of physical therapy twice a week. Since I don't live near here, I asked if I could take the prescription with me to somewhere more convenience. So off I went to Athletico for six weeks. The physical therapist there sent him my reports and he evaluated me afterwards. All was well. If I ever experience a injuries of this nature in the future, Dr. Bennett will be my first call! read more

I will leave 4, and not 5 stars, only because of their delay with appointments. While reviews about their organizational skills and time management are true, but I wanted to say how much I appreciate the work that Dr. Dolan has done. I had FAI on my left hip joint and couldn't walk without pain. Dr. Dolan did an amazing hip arthroscopy that healed my hip, and now I got back to an active life. When you live with pain constantly and don't even have a hope to heal - a doctor that can fix it - is a blessing. Btw, Dr. Dolan no longer works here. Thank you for your amazing "work aka healing", Dr. Dolan! read more

I was seen here by a doctor and a PA. I never felt like either cared about what I was going through, not in the slightest. It took me a year to talk my Dr into an MRI and even then it was on the part of my back that HE thought the issue was coming from, not me, not my physical therapists. I was told that pain is normal for my age (I was 34 at the time and having a lot of pain.) Really bad experiences. read more

Dr Victoria Brander is knowledgeable about Connective Tissue Disorders. The office management should make efforts to shorten the hours of wait time so that she can have ample time with patients she obviously cares for. I do not believe it is her fault that patients wait hours at their appointments, but that the scheduling needs to be evaluated and something should change so that she can give the time she wants to devote to each patient. I wish the office was well managed so that continued care could be planned on but the 4 hour wait time was just TOO long. read more

** Double check with your insurance company to make sure care is covered. Espceially if you have a BC/BS PPO While Dr. Bennett was extremely friendly and professional his billing practices are a bit questionable. My visit was due to my feet falling asleep. I am teacher and explained to him that I cannot afford expensive treatements. He then told me that he would like to get an x-ray of my back. I walked two doors down from my exam room and got my x-ray. - I was then charged $400.00 for the x-ray. BC/BS stated the x-ray was charged as an in hospital not in doctor's office visit even though the I never left the hall that my exam room was in. I have never had this happen to me before and I have had x-rays in the past. read more

My first visit I waited 2.5 hours in the patient room and never saw a Dr. or was even checked on - even after going to the reception desk twice to let them know I was still waiting so I left. They called and apologized and asked me to please come back. I did today. 3 hours later I left livid after once again not seeing the Dr. On the elevator ride down, I was with two other patients who were storming out after waiting multiple hours and never seeing a Dr. Six hours wasted - plus travel time, parking fees, and the bill I am sure I will still get from my insurance company....Obviously, this place has no respect for their patients. Please don't waste your time like I did, stupidly, TWICE. read more

What is wrong with this place ? I waited two MONTHS for an appointment with Dr. Victoria Brander. I arrived EARLY for my appointment and had completed all my intake docs before I arrived; I took a half day off work for this appointment which was to include transit time to/from the appointment. To make this short and sweet, this organization (or lack thereof) has a blatant disrespect for their patients - completely incompetent and unprofessional front desk staff (talking to each other as if patients aren't standing right in front of them, waiting to be helped, about each other's boyfriends and such) which obviously bleeds down directly from the top here. The "Doctor" never showed up after I waited over TWO HOURS after my appointment time and no one (uniforms wandering the halls each time I opened the door of the room I sat in forever.....) could tell me WHEN the doctor might show up to see me. Finally, I put my shoes back on, gathered my coat and walked out. No one seemed to care either. I announced to the front desk and to an escorting nurse that I would like them to inform the doctor that I was not going to be waiting another moment for her, and to ensure that I was not billed some crazy hidden fee for just walking in their front door for nothing. I wish patients could bill their doctors for the loss of time (salary, etc.) for their absolute lack of decency. Clearly this is a systemic problem with this place based on the reviews before mine. I didn't think to check Yelp on this doctor or practice because she came highly recommended by another doctor that I trust. Oh well. Greasing palms isn't a new practice I guess. If I could, I would give this place -10 stars. read more

I really wasn't impressed with the service here and I feel like the doctor didn't even care about what was ailing me. Long story short, I slipped and hurt my knee, came in to the office only to have him watch me struggle to walk and him "examine" my leg (with my jeans on). I'm still so upset about what happened that I don't want to finish this review. The Doctor didn't believe that I was hurt and told me to go without any support or splint. He reluctantly told me to get an MRI to see what was up and then agreed to a brace. He said someone would be in to fit me for a brace and then he would come back in. The woman who fit me left the door open after she left and the doctor walked by several times looking into my room, but never came back. Finally, I was so upset that I called a nurse over that had walked by. She was so apologetic and took me to another area to get my brace looked at. The initial woman who fit me for my brace saw me again and with such an attitude checked it and dismissed me. She made me walk all the way back down a long hall to go see the doctor again. None of these people in this office know a thing about communication. I had to tell my story over and over so many times to different receptionists and nurses. Someone finally got the Doctor and he arrived to the waiting room in a very bothered manner and sent me away saying I was done. By the time I waddled with my crutches, in pain, back to my car, the darn brace slid down my leg. A few days later I came back to get a different brace and that didn't even help. Another long story short, I had my MRI and the doctor revealed that I had some tendon and tissue damage. Had I been in a sports injury I think the doctor finally would have taken some interest in what was ailing me. I'll never go back to this doctor again. read more

First experience was positive. Went to see Dr. Ghate about knee issues. Previously diagonosed elsewhere with Patellar Tendonitis, I came here because pain still lingering after 5 weeks of no running. I ran 5 marathons this year, with the most recent on 11/5/11. His Physician Assistant Jay asked a lot of questions. I did get a battery of x-rays and it showed a stress fracture. Will be doing MRI there soon and visiting with another doctor in their practice in January that works with marathoners. I like these guys. Confident. Knowledgeable. read more

My overall experience was not good. I went for a doctor's visit and ended up paying for a doctor's visit and an x-ray that I thought was part of the visit. There was no discussion about whether my insurance would cover the x-ray or whether I wanted to go somewhere else. I was just led into a different room in the same office complex. Several months later I got a large bill for an x-ray. The staff never seemed to understand the issue and blamed my insurance, but it was not the fault of my insurance. I tried to have the situation resolved, finally paid the bill and then got a letter that my bill had been sent to collections. In general, it is difficult to contact anyone at the office and the billing department is rude and not helpful. read more

I would not recommended this group. We had to take my son three time over there for minor crack in his arm. Each time we had to wait 90+ min from our scheduled appointment before doctor came to check on my son. Their excuse was doctor had an emergency. I can understand this as a possibility once, but each time it was same excuse. Also, this is worst doctor's office I have seen in past 20 year, there is no private room and multiple people share the same area for examination. Also, they don't even has blood pressure monitoring cuffs for kids. During our initial visit, nurse brought blood pressure monitoring cuffs for adult and when she realized the patient was my son, she said she would get the one for kids. She never came back to check the blood pressure and when she realized that they don't have one, she completely avoid us. Overall, really bad service. I will never go there again If you go there be prepared to wait for long time. read more

De. Sara L. Edwards is one of those really good doctors! Good attitude and very understanding. If you want the best she is it! Had two surgeries with Dr. Edwards...one left meniscus tear in November and one right meniscus tear in February. Left knee was a clean up from a previous doctors bad job. Went smooth no pain and healed in three weeks no issues since. Right knee was even better. No pain and walked right out. Limp was gone a few hours later. In two days i felt like i was at full strength. No swelling or pain killers necessary. Its as though the surgery never even happened. Amazing!!! She isn't going to be one of those doctors that wants to make you get surgery just for the sake of it. After having a bad experience she didn't try to push me into getting surgery right away. She will have you go through therapy and try to avoid surgery as a first option in order to really understand the issues at play. Dr. Edwards also isn't afraid to state the obvious (she has published articles) about joints and weight and how you can make your life easier. read more

I cannot imagine why someone would want to become a doctor when they have absolutely no concern for others. The doctor runs about 2 hours late, phone calls are not returned and the email portal doesn't seem to be monitored. If emails are returned they provide the wrong information. I have heard the doctor is very good but I no longer care. I feel if I have any self respect I need to go to a doctor's office that treats me like a human being. read more

I have nothing but good things to say about the doctors I have seen within the practice HOWEVER ever since they became part of NorthShore University Health Systems their billing practices are HORRIBLE. Make sure you ask them how they are going to bill/code things for the insurance company before you get anything done. read more

I waited 45 minutes in the room to see the Dr. Bennett. He rushed in and rushed out telling me there was nothing wrong. My Knee was twice its size and obviously swollen. He didn't appear to be blind. I asked what were the results of the radiology report for all the test he had me take. He said they showed nothing. When I requested to see them, I was told they couldn't find them. When the test were finally found they showed a lot different result than what he told me. I realize he probably had never read them. He left the room and never came back. I don't make appointments to have to relay questions to an assistant that has to keep running back and forth for an answer. On my way out still in excruciating pain with a bad limp he saw me and said "That limp doesn't look that bad" What a diagnosis! By the way CHECK YOUR BILL! I WAS DOUBLE BILLED! Anyone can make a mistake, like I did. read more

Dr. Patrick Birmingham and his PA, JP Veron, were fantastic for my hip laparoscopy. The appointments were scheduled fast, surgery went great, recovery went even smoother. I am now 10 months post-op and have never felt better. I did extensive research for choosing a ortho specializing in hips and this specific procedure. Dr. Birmingham was one of 3 or 4 in the Chicagoland area with the requirements I looked for and I am very happy I chose him. His PA was fantastic in responding to any questions/emergencies I had throughout the recovery. read more

I had a terrible experience here both with the doctor and with the medical records department. I came to see Dr. Kelikan twice for an ankle injury. Both times he was too rushed to explain things and take questions. He was incredibly rude and even sarcastically asked me if I understood English at one point. I decided to switch doctors (Rush Orthopaedics rocks!) and had requested medical records be sent to my new doctor a month in advance. When I arrived, I was surprised to learn that nothing had been sent. I called the medical records department multiple times, left multiple messages, and never received a callback. I went to Northwestern Orthopaedic after my appointment at Rush and refused to leave until they physically handed me my medical records. They claimed to have never received my voicemails earlier that day and blamed the new company that they outsourced this to. Do not waste your time going here! read more

No. Just no. I saw Dr. Birmingham after I decided to switch care from my doctor in the suburbs. I had surgery for a labral tear in my hip and a partial hamstring tear back in May and I am still in pain (surgery not done by Dr. Birmingham). After meeting with Dr. Birmingham's fellow and explaining all the treatment I have been through to this point, I met Dr. Birmingham. He told me that he thought it was my sciatic nerve and he doesn't give medication or deal with sciatic nerve issues (sounding strange, since he is an orthopedic doc, but..ok), and the only real solution he had was to get on a plane and go see his friend, who is a doc who deals with sciatic nerve problems in Dallas. WHAT??? Yes, this is what he actually told my husband and me. So, apparently, there are no docs who deal with sciatic nerve issues in Chicago. He didn't want to get an MRI, to confirm it is my sciatic nerve... nothing. I should just get on a plane and go to Dallas. What is wrong with this man? He is useless and wasted my husband and my time. Do people actually listen to him and do this??? I cannot NOT recommend this man enough. Do not waste your time, money and energy. This is just unprofessional, bad care, and bad advice. I might not be a doctor, but I have been dealing with my leg long enough to know when I am receiving good care and when I am not. I saw another physician and got an MRI. My hamstring re-tore and I have a rip in my joint. So much for my sciatic nerve. Beware. read more

I had a meniscus surgery with Dr. Nuber that went terribly wrong. After seeing him for over a year I lacked over 10 degrees of extension. After Nuber messed up my knee worse than it was before the surgery he passed me off to other doctors at Northwestern. I saw Bennett, Brander, Ghate, and Bowen none of which knew what was wrong with my knee. I have a condition called arthofibrosis. After seeing the doctors for over a year at northwestern I decided to go to Vail, Colorado to see Dr. Steadman who knew right away what was wrong with my knee. My greatest regret is not going to Steadman in the first place. For the reputation of being the "Chicago Bears" doctor Nuber has not kept up with current medical practices. The surgeries I have had with Steadman to fix my knee Dr. Nuber does not perform. I would recommend Steadman to anyone who wants to go see the best and if you do not want to travel to Colorado I would find someone else in Chicago because I would not trust Nuber touching my leg. Kneeguru.com is a good website if you are trying to research knee conditions and experiences people have with there doctors. read more