Verified
Verified
This patient has provided documentation of treatment at this clinic.
2021 - 2022, Unsuccessful
Dr. Merhi spent so much time with us in our consult...spent time with me in appointments and called us multiple times to share information...course of the year and multiple cycles, things changed drastically. I never saw him, ever...impossible to get a hold of...after 30 mins and me being in extreme pain he stopped and said we should have done it under anesthesia
[At Rejuvenating Fertility Center] There was a revolving door of nurses, medical assistants and pas etc. It was constantly changing...often called with the wrong information...were nice enough but incredibly disorganized...The list of things over the course of 3 cycles is too long to recount
How was your experience with Zaher Merhi at Rejuvenating Fertility Center?
Like I said before, he's a great talker and at first you will think he will be a great advocate for you. He is very jovial and tends to over promise.
After my 3rd failed transfer he had me come in for a procedure. I have an extremely tilted uterus that makes many procedures difficult. He knew this and had commented on it several times. I came in for the procedure at noon and after 30 mins and me being in extreme pain he stopped and said we should have done it under anesthesia, then asked if I could go upstairs and be sedated. I said I had just eaten so he said I would have to wait another month and come back. Just awful.
He also had a very tense and unprofessional exchange with another doctor on the day of my second retrieval. That Dr left the practice after that. It was strange.
Any time anything went wrong -- which was often -- it was always the fault of the other Dr. or nurse or office staff. And the Dr. I seemed to be passed to without my consent, for monitoring and questions and case management messed up BIG and frequently. For example, they froze a sample of my husband's semen that had zero moving sperm. So when they thawed to use after my retrieval it was useless. My poor husband had to leave work and run uptown to provide a fresh sample. Dr. Merhi passed it off like it wasn't his mistake and not to be upset with him, but the office staff/other Dr. He isn't very professional and the buck never seems to stop with him.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Zaher Merhi at Rejuvenating Fertility Center?
I would highly advise to seek out other care. Their lab is very clearly not up to snuff. I recently went back to look at clinic stats even though we are no longer patients. In the year 2021, they started over 1200 cycles and had 11 live births. I was two of those cycles and while I thought we were giving it all our best effort, that he was on the team to give us our best shot, in truth we didn't stand a chance.
Don't fall for the smiles and early attention. They both go and he is inundated with patients. I'm sure he cares deep down, but he has no time.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Zaher Merhi at Rejuvenating Fertility Center?
At first things were great. Dr. Merhi spent so much time with us in our consult. He spent time with me in appointments and called us multiple times to share information. He had recently opened the office and things seemed manageable. Over the course of the year and multiple cycles, things changed drastically. I never saw him, ever. He was impossible to get a hold of. When I managed to get face time he made so many mistaken comments it was clear he thought he was talking to another patient. He opened several new locations and it got so bad. Then I found myself at the machine-like practice I was avoiding intentionally. I didn't want NYU or Weill, I wanted a smaller practice and he assured me that I would get personalized care. That did not turn out to be the case. The office/billing is also horrible and made so many mistakes. I have gotten someone else's bill twice, both showing a lack of organization and a violation of HIPPA, I saw these women's diagnosis (along with the full name, birthday and STD for one). They could not handle the rate that they expanded at all.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Rejuvenating Fertility Center.
There was a revolving door of nurses, medical assistants and pas etc. It was constantly changing. They often called with the wrong information. One would tell me one thing then another would say something else.
They were nice enough but incredibly disorganized. From previous cycles I knew to go in the morning before my trigger shot (like literally how they get the info of if I'm able). The day before the nurse told me I didn't need to come in. I insisted and then when I got a call later in the afternoon I was told "no one here would ever say that". I came in the next morning for my blood draw and the front desk person said I didn't need to be there, that I wasn't down for monitoring that day. Again, I insisted and after I explained, she said something like "you should definitely be here and it should be in your chart but it's not."
And there were many of these types of issues. Times I wouldn't be called with the next days instructions or dosages etc. Making me call the answering service to get notifications. One day I just walked in to get my instructions because I was close by and they hadn't called but were about to leave for the day.
I'm sure they would have been better if they hadn't had so much change over. They also moved locations since their first space flooded and they had to work out of another office. Then the new office opened a year later and it was a disaster.
Describe your experience with Rejuvenating Fertility Center.
There was so much disorganization. Wrong information sent, follow ups dropped, critical information not shared. They had a flood in their office the day before my retrieval so we had to do the retrieval at another space. Even though I had been fully paid upfront, they tried to charge me the price difference for the new clinic. I agreed on the phone because I didn't want them to cancel my cycle the day before the retrieval but I fought it after the fact. They backed down and I paid my originally quoted price, but it was stressful and unnecessary.
While they were working out of the other space they never seemed to know if we should pay them or Sher for services like semen analysis etc. We got double billed regularly then the bill would get fixed.
My first two cycles were covered by insurance for office visits, they said it was the same for my third. They said they called and checked, I believed them because my plan nor provider changed. A few months ago I got a bill saying I owed them almost $2000 for office visits they said were covered two years ago. I no longer have that insurance and it's now a nightmare trying to deal with it. Why are they so behind on billing that it took over two years to realize?
If you decide to go with this clinic, record every phone call and get everything written and confirmed via email so you have a record when they mess up or tell you that no one in their practice would say x.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Rejuvenating Fertility Center.
Monitoring usually went pretty smoothly. I got good at navigating around the busier hours. Sometimes I had to wait 20-30 min but usually less. Compared to other offices, I will say, at the time the Manhattan office handled monitoring quite well. It was after the visit and getting timely calls that was the problem.
What specific things went wrong at Rejuvenating Fertility Center?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Lost paperwork
- Lost appointments
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Failed to send your chart to another clinic
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Lost results
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
- Failed to consider drug intolerance
- Lost or damaged samples
- Scheduled the wrong procedure
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Rejuvenating Fertility Center.
The list of things over the course of 3 cycles is too long to recount. It started with being told to start my meds on a specific day then my meds not being called into the pharmacy. I then got an "it's okay, just start a day later, it isn't a big deal" message. This process is so stressful and days and dosages can make a huge difference.
They sent me test results and bills for other patients (obviously a huge issue that eroded my trust). This happened more than once.
Some other specific instances were listed elsewhere in the review but it all added up. I felt stuck and even through all the red flags trusted Dr. Merhi and excused issues due to their extreme circumstances of their office flooding and having to move. Then opening all the additional offices. There was a massive difference between my first cycle and my third transfer. They made small mistakes as well as some really big ones, like freezing a bad semen sample and having to stop a procedure due to the extreme pain it caused me knowing we should have used anesthesia to begin with.