Stacy L Waneka, MD

I was thrilled initially to find a solo practitioner physician who took our insurance. And my complaints are not necessarily with care. This office charges extra ($ 10) beyond co-​pay each time you visit, $ 25 extra for same day appointments, $ 10 for prescription refills and extra for speaking on the phone (if you have deep pockets you can pay an annual flat fee of several hundred dollars to bypass these add-​ons). Ok – it is admirable to be an individual practitioner in this era – but fees do increase health care expenditures, already high enough. We have a family member with 5 scrips each month and to pay $ 10 for each renewal is a lot. Usually the pharmacy calls in a batch but in one case due to who knows what at the pharmacy or the doctor’s office calls were made two days apart. Despite the fact that we had put our bank card on file at the office, no charges were put through. We were in an extremely busy state and eventually paid the $ 20 though it should only have been $ 10 but the office saw fit to send a late fee of &25.25!to collections and ruin our credit. I know it is rough to be a solo practitioner but this is outrageous. We changed health insurance last year and needed to go with a plan that was accepted (the new plan was not accepted at this office) and I had hoped this office would start to accept our new plan but now I feel differently. There seems to be no understanding that $ 10 or $ 25 is a hardship in addition to the cost of insurance, co-​pays, lab costs, etc. Don’t feel comfortable going to an office that charges beyond regular copays, etc. and then will send you to collections when you don’t pay a late fee. They could have called us before they did this. They could have been satisfied with their $ 20.

I never post reviews, but when a medical office is this unaccommodating and obnoxious, it could be useful information. My experiences were similar to the other 1star reviews. The nickel and diming. The condescending and unaccommodating office manager in particular, Jeffrey and the medical assistant. Sour faces. Wrong line of work for their personality type?
One of the physicians agreed that the staff has repetitive issues with courtesy. She encouraged me to voice my complaints so the staff realize that it’s not just the doctor who finds them rude.
This is unlike any medical office I’ve been to. I signed a clipboard full of consents, HIPPHA forms; didn’t notice the ridiculous fee schedule I also apparently signed.
An email to/​from this office can cost $ 10.00. Giving you normal test results; $ 25.00. Reading your old records. $ 50.00. Old records arrive at office on different dates; no problem except if you mind being gouged another $ 50.00.
Oh yeah, add another $ 10.00 to every visit for «billing».
The MD dropped some charges after I said I was leaving this practice. Too late!
There’s was no ability the reason with the office manager.
I was looking for an in-​network physician. To keep my health expenses in check. I had the added surprise of discovering a blatant lie in my medical record. The office manager said I threatened to sue the practice. Never ever said that. He is dishonest! In his billing too! Deceptive.
By the way, I’m a disabled critical care nurse (35 years). Kind and compassionate professionals very often offer discounts to other professionals as a courtesy, and for sure they don’t worsen financial hardship with nonsense charges. Not all patients who walk into the office are wealthy.
I’m guessing this doctor wants you to pay her office administrative fees? I don’t think that’s within the spirit of being an in-​network doctor. It’s certainly took me by surprise. It was only added insult to add the cherry on the sundae by dealing with rude and unkind office help.
Look for another MD. Run!!!
Stay healthy!

Dr. Kovacs & Dr. Waneka are both great doctors and very personable and kind people. My son has gone to them since birth and they’ve given him terrific care, and made the doctor’s office an easy place for him to visit that is not intimidating. Their practice is a really nice part of the community. Everyone from the billing manager to the nurse to the doctors know us by first name when we arrive for an appointment and treat us with familiarity and a friendly and helpful approach to health or billing related issues that may arise. The billing system for me has been easy and seamless. I prefer Dr. Waneka’s practice over others that are larger, less personable, and include more red tape for any little matter. I also appreciate that the doctors both give us time and do not rush in and rush out, leaving us with an illegible prescription. Dr. Waneka and Dr. Kovacs answer all of my questions and seem happy to do so.

I was thrilled to meet Dr. Kovacs. She immediately put me at ease. She has a very calming and pleasant demeanor! The appointment was not rushed and I had plenty of time to ask all of my questions. She put a lot of thought into my questions and never acted like it was a stupid question. After dealing with doctors that were rushed in the past, this was an extremely nice experience!

This practice is great and anyone on here writing bad reviews clearly does not understand how difficult it is to be a healthcare provider in this day and age. All of my dealings with Dr. Waneka as well as Dr. Kovacs have been fantastic. Very professional bedside manner and you feel confident you are getting the care you need. Mark K. and the others on here who have given bad reviews are probably a little too used to their plastic surgeon or day spa. Healthcare and physicians see hundreds of patients a week, and they deal with a lot, no matter what the specialty is. If you need quality care you should not look anywhere else but to Dr. Waneka and Dr. Kovacs.

Dr. Waneka is a horrible physician. Rude and arrogant. Doesn’t listen to your concerns as a patient. All she wants you to do is schedule a physical to make more money. Has another doc in the office Dr. Kovacs who is even worse. Office administrator is also very rude when you speak to him. Definitely taking my family else where.

I saw Dr Waneka for several years and found her to be a wonderful knowledgeable dr. This is no longer the case. I am sorry to day that she turned from a caring personal physician into a mean, cold, money grubbing person & hires her staff accordingly. You had better be prepared to pay through the nose now for mediocre care. Run, don’t walk, away from this dr.

I was a long-​time patient of Dr. Waneka’s and moved around from office to office with her practice as she became more established in the Palisades. I transitioned smoothly as she became busier and was overjoyed with Dr. McDermott, whom I began to see regularly. At that time, her receptionist was completely off-​putting, but her nursing staff, namely Amy, was fantastic.
Unfortunately, in recent years, everything has reversed: her receptionist is very prompt, efficient and extremely friendly, but her nursing staff has gone downhill. Dr. McDermott and Dr. Waneka parted ways, unfortunately, and Dr. Waneka is rarely available to see patients. I admit, this is a late review, as she and I parted ways about a year ago, but one that I have been meaning to write, nonetheless, and not easily.
She’s a wonderful doctor, but as a single, working woman, I felt that she and her staff began to prioritize families and pregnant women. I understand if that’s the direction she wanted to take her practice, but as my main physician of many years, a conversation regarding my next steps of finding a new practitioner would have been appreciated. Also, I felt her nursing staff was cold, dismissive and almost bothered by honest medical questions and concerns. Dr. Waneka herself confirmed that information a nurse gave me once (which made me very nervous regarding my health), was in fact wrong.
In short, Dr. Waneka is a terrific doctor, but I no longer recommend her to friends and family because of her nursing staff, her personal unavailability and how quickly she can disregard patients, especially those who had been with her from her beginnings. Additionally, billing became a huge issue, with a few mistakes in the office– double billing, as well as lost records of payments.

Initially I felt the same way as most of the positive reviews. Sure she nickels and dimes you over same day appointments, phone consultation fees, and a bunch of other slightly ridiculous fees that I have never before encountered, but she provides great service. That is only how I felt on the first visit. I have not seen Dr. Waneka since then, I have instead been referred to her nurse practicioner (so much for small and personal) if you want to see Dr. Waneka her scheduling tends to be about a month out. Also, I recently had an ultrasound done because I am experiencing side pain. After 3 weeks without a word I contacted them to receive my results and was very coldly told that my file says a nurse left a message saying the results were normal. I said that was interesting and never received any message, and was once again simply told that’s what my file said. So not only am I paying more to go here, but I am being treated quite poorly with no follow up. Beyond that, should we not be scheduling another visit to see what is actually causing the pain since the ultrasound was normal? No concern for the patient, just high prices.

This is a family practice, and Dr. Waneka is amazing. She is calm and patient and she is extremely thorough. I brought my 3-​year-​old in, and she spent lots of time talking to my daughter before examining her. Dr. Waneka gives old fashioned service. If she does charge for a few extras it is obvious that she does so in order to keep her practice small and personal. I am used to seeing doctors that overbook, don’t spend with their patients and have an overworked staff. Dr. Waneka’s office clearly does not subscribe to that trend.

I have been going to Dr. Waneka for more years than I can remember. In cases when I needed to see her time was always made available. She does not over prescribe medications, which is a big plus as far as I am concerned. I would not even consider leaving her practice as I have been given the best care I could possibly receive.
As for her fee schedule, it is exactly the same as the one my cardiologist uses. I find it both logical and reasonable when one realizes that insurance companies pay a doctor far less per visit than I would pay my plumber just to show up at my door. I may be wrong but I doubt that my plumber spent four years in medical school, not to mention collage or university before and residency after.
There are only so many working hours in any given day and Dr. Waneka has always spent a fair amount of time with me on each visit, even when I was seen on short notice. I could not ask for anything more from a doctor.

I have been going to Dr. Waneka for that past 7 years and I have to say she is an incredibly sweet and caring woman, but don’t be deceived by her warm hospitable charm. Her billing structure has changed in the past year. Her practice now uses deceptive billing techniques, and has unfortunately started to nickle and dime her long time patients in a blatant effort to make more money. This is very disheartening as I have enjoyed her practice and even refer friends, but read the fine print because when you receive your final bill, there will be a few unwelcomed suprises that cannot be changed.
Additionally, in order to receive my results I was either going to have to pay an over the phone consultation fee or make another appointment.

I just moved to LA in January and finding a primary doctor was extremely important to me. My husband’s co-​worker recommended Dr. Waneka and since I didn’t know anyone in the area I took her word for it. I am so glad I did because she is an amazing doctor. She really takes the time to listen to you, in fact she actually SEES you instead of sending in a nurse to do the ‘easy’ stuff. She has given me great referrals and the staff is very friendly too! You couldn’t ask for anything more.