Vito Cardone

I remember speaking to 2 different nurses; 1 was very accommodating and another one was a little more abrasive. There were a couple of times where I felt that the "abrasive" nurse was lecturing me or not very accommodating to my schedule. Initially, there was a mix up on the medication order and the insurance company denied the request for a specific type of meds. The nurse called and told me I had to talk t the company to see why on this specific medication. The company indicated that the clinic needed to order this specific medication through their specific system and get approval and when I relayed this information the nurse was agitated and basically implied that what I was telling her was not true since she has been doing this for many years. I basically said this is what I was told based on the medication name you gave me. She reviewed the Rx that was sent and basically said, oh wait this is not the medication that was prescribed for you, I will re-send. The nurses follow the protocols very closely; if there are any concerns or questions that you asked the Doctor, make sure you bring this up to the nurses early on; communication may not have occurred with the nurses (e.g. if you are traveling and are planning to start the protocol or monitoring). During the plans for the transfer, I was told by Cardone that we may be able to alter the medication to extend things for my travel needs for the transfer. Since you can not 100% predict when the protocol starts, I was in the middle of taking my meds and being monitored and about 1 month before my work travel was occurring I asked the nurse about this and she basically said I can't travel and that can't happen since the transfer could happen depending on monitoring. About 2 weeks later, after confirmation from hormone monitoring and a date was set for the transfer (before my travel date), I spoke with the other nurse and asked about travel and medication and was very accommodating and got me a letter to travel with my meds. Once everything was successful the nurses were very nice and congratulatory.

They were fantastic- very responsive to emails and call. Always knew who I was

They're great. Anytime that I called and had to leave a vm they got right back to me even though their message says 24 hours. In all the 30+ times I called they got back to me within an hour. Even after hours and on weekends. They're very organized and tell you exactly what the expectations are. It's a little intimidating at first because they present it like a secret mission, but they're simply being detailed and clear.

If there are any questions that I've had, I've been told to make an appointment with the doctor. By the time I have an appointment, the cycle is over and the question is no longer relevant. The nurses will tell you what to do next in your cycle, but don't take the time to explain what your results mean.

I honestly forget their names. I want to say there were 2-3 that we worked with and one was super sweet and nice. The other was perfectly competent, but kind of sounded like she was following a script when she was talking to us (maybe she was just younger/less experienced). The staff who did the blood draws were outsourced from an agency and unfortunately not the best. I remember cringing when certain ones were there (it was a couple of years ago, so I doubt they are the same people now). There were two ultrasound techs and one had better bedside manner than the other (but again I forget which one). In general they could improve on that whole process, it’s never comfortable as it is. I had scar tissue from an unrelated surgery and it helped if I could guide the probe myself... one was fine with it, the other never seemed to remember and I felt awkward having to explain it every time. IMHO, that should always be offered as an option. The donor coordinator also seemed to have some lack of communication with the agency and donor. She was fine with me, but the agency said something after about how difficult it was for the donor compared to other clinics the donor had worked with. It may have been because they were not local and that made it more challenging, but I definitely felt like I needed to apologize and was glad this wasn’t that donors first experience.

Jen was amazing. Amanda was pretty good. Kim had little bed side manner and generally gave off an attitude that was not what I was looking for in my fertility care. It was a tough road and she always made me feel bad about things--even blaming me for doing a shot wrong once when in actuality their clinic had given me false information.

The nursing staff was always friendly and helpful. They were quick to respond to phone calls.