Kobayashi Joel EH, MD

This was my second visit to this office. Dr. Kobayashi is friendly, efficient, and knowledgeable. He remembers small details about his patients. Lady at the counter was nice and polite. No long wait times, no long checkouts. In & Out. There is a lab downstairs for blood work, which is computerized and connected to Dr’s office. You can get good care, and save time.
New garage just opened up, which charges $ 4 for up to 2 hours of parking. Validate your ticket to get $ 1 discount. If you feel like walking, you can park in the Neil S.B. Park and walk (or park on the street past Waimalu Plaza) — at least you can tell the doctor you did exercise :)

Dr. Kobayashi is an «OK» doctor… just OK. I have nothing good or nothing bad to say about him personally. BUT… his office staff on the other hand is JUST HORRIBLE especially his WIFE! They lost a VERY good front office gal named Didi. She was AWESOME with the patients when they called and really gave a warm feeling to that office. Too bad she quit but I understand why! Nurse Gladys is also very sweet and caring and does her job well. Everyone else is taking is practice downhill!
After Didi quit, I had to call for an appointment and his wife answered the phone and she was SO RUDE! Could tell she couldn’t handle the phones and managing the front at the same time. Kept putting me on hold, time and time again until I finally hung up!
Called again today and guess they finally hired someone named Karen? She must have been trained by the dr’s wife because she was just as bad too! They make no effort to try and squeeze you in like other dr’s do since you;re sick??? It’s just «we’re booked and screw you» is basically what they are saying without having to say it! So after numerous rings, Karen finally answers the phone and tells me they are booked today and also half day so no, I can’t come in to see dr. Doesn’t ask what’s wrong or how long I’ve been sick. Then she places me on hold… then comes back 5 min later and I can hear her talking to someone so I say «hello??» She says «Oh, hold on a minute» and places me on hold AGAIN!!! I hung up! Now I am looking for a new doctor!

I called this office to see if I could schedule a new patient appointment for my mother. The receptionist took down my information and then told me she would pass it on to the doctor for his approval. I called a few days later to check back to see if he had made a decision, and the receptionist was short with me and said that they would call us when they’ve made a decision. It has been weeks now, and no one ever got back to me. I guess we won’t be going here.
This is not a review on the doctor — just a review on how I was treated and that there was no follow up.

I have to agree with Derek T. A lot of my extended family goes to Dr. Kobayashi and he has always been very straight forward and easy to talk to. He diagnoses and then talks to you about your options. The office staff are always friendly and remember me and my wife even though we only get in there once or twice a year. And I don’t mean after they look at our file, I mean when you call and say who you are and need an appointment.

I checked into this place the other week, and was very surprised to read the review posted by Marisa O. Not sure why she would choose to post such an unflattering review so far after the fact that it is pretty much useless and obsolete, but felt that I should post a more current one.
I was also a patient of Dr. Inada, along with most of my family, 7 of us. When he passed away (which was almost 10 years ago) I was a bit unsure about his replacement. Dr. Joel Kobayashi had been assisting Dr. Inada for awhile, since he had been pretty ill. He was young and seemed pretty inexperienced and a little nervous, however, Inada had picked him, so we all decided to stick with him. Despite some initial growing pains, we’ve all been very satisfied with the service we receive.
Dr. Kobayashi’s current staff are very friendly and accommodating. One of the only things that Marisa did get correct was that the nurses take turns at the front desk. I’ve never seen them be unpleasant or seem unhappy about doing so though, in fact, I think they kind of like the change.
Over the years, Kobayashi’s really developed into a great doctor. He’s very friendly and straight-​forward. He has no problem giving us his opinion on anything, and since my whole family goes there, he’s become very comfortable with us as well. Appointments are usually pretty timely, and if need be, they’ve stayed in for lunch or after work hours when I’ve had emergencies, just to fit me in. I’ll continue to see him, and would definitely recommend him to anyone.

I must start by saying that I was a part of Dr. Inada’s patient list that Dr. Kobayashi inherited as a part of the practice. When I first saw Dr. Kobayashi I was in the middle of an ongoing illness that Dr. Inada was diagnosing and treating.
That being said, I have never had a doctor that cared so little. After continuously going back to him (because my symptoms would not go away) he told me that it was «all in my head» and prescribed some anti-​depressants (which by the way caused me to have a car accident and made me actually depressed). It turned out (after I DEMANDED to see a specialist) that I needed surgery.
In addition to his inability to diagnose and treat me, and his reluctance to refer me to a specialist, he makes his nurses take turns as his receptionist which makes them very grouchy, and his one receptionist/​nurse, Lani, initially refused to give me an appointment when I had the flu. She said there were no more appointments for that day (very sassily, I might add). What good is having a doctor that can’t see patients when they’re sick?!
Needless to say, I have since found a doctor who is kind, thoughtful, with a great reception and nursing staff and who is always ready to give me an appointment when I need it. I would NOT recommend going to see Dr. Kobayashi. There are many other internists on this island that care about their patients well-​being.