Charles B. Wang Community Health Center — Local services in New York

I had an appointment to see Dr. Charmaine Young back in Dec 2020. She is super popular! And for good reason. She has an excellent bedside manner and you don’t feel rushed. She asks you all of the questions and when you bring anything up, she gives you her full attention. Body language is engaged and the entire initial visit took me about an hour. From checking in to getting out.

For starters, Charles B. Wang community center is located on Canal street. Your map might take you to an old location a few blocks down but rest assured, this office is on the corner of a block on Canal.

As soon as you walk into the ground floor, you are stopped at a COVID checkpoint. Someone will verify that you have an appointment in the building that day and time. They will take your temperature and ask you to use the provided hand sanitizer. The provided hand sanitizer isn’t the newer generic cheap kinds either. I’m sure it’s Purell, which in my standard is the best. No bad smell or sticky residue. Excellent.

They tell you what floor to head up to and off you go into the elevators. The waiting room is spacious, and my appointment was at noon so it was pretty empty. There were only 3 patients including myself. The seating is spaced apart, there is ‘x’ marked tape on seats to encourage 6 feet/2meter spacing. There is plexiglass between you and the receptionists.

BTW: I am Filipino-American and often get mistaken for being Chinese which I’m used to but for fellow non-Chinese patients, the receptionists speak fluent English so making appointments over the phone is super easy and non-anxiety inducing. When I called them to make my first appointment the lady on the line was so kind and made me feel like I chose the right place for my healthcare needs. Don’t you hate the receptionists who sound super bored and rush you off the line? Not the case with this place. They sound engaged in the phone call and listen to you without cutting you off.

Anyway, the receptionist takes your insurance, you fill out paperwork, the usual doctor's office drill. I get called and chat with the doc who takes my medical history and addresses my concerns. The nurse performs all the annual physical tests and they even pull up my Electronic Health Record to let me know I’m due for my tetanus shot! Wow! I absolutely love that.

Got my shots, scheduled my next appointment. I came back a few days ago this February to get a second dose of a vaccine and the same check in procedure was in place on the ground floor. I went to the 3rd floor this time to wait for the nurse who would be administering my shot. This visit took about 25 minutes, I was 5 minutes late but if I was on time, the visit might have taken less than half an hour. Overall, this place makes wellness visits so seamless.

Lab results are available to view on your patient portal. You can even message your doctor if you have any questions or concerns from your last visit. The nurses will also send you a message if you’ve got a flag on your blood-work. Excellent service and I couldn’t be happier. I look forward to my next annual physical!

The entire office is clean and sterile. They wipe down everything after you’ve touched or sat somewhere. They’re taking this pandemic seriously which should be the standard!! I highly recommend this place to everyone. You can check which physicians who work here on their website, also. That’s convenient and great for shy or socially anxious people like me!

Parking is tough in Chinatown so fellow drivers keep that in mind. It’s pretty good for transit users though. Aside from that, the location is pretty convenient in my opinion. Banks are nearby, food spots for takeout are all around, and the subway on the corner.

I'm super glad to have found an Asian-American healthcare facility. My previous PCP's have all been ethnically different & I often felt a disconnect with them as the care felt lacking in some ways. It's hard to explain. Dr. Young speaks fluent English and I can relate to her better. She's easy to talk to and non-judgemental. 10 stars...

UPDATE: They were kind enough to call to explain some of the issues I've had and clear up misunderstandings which was very helpful! Check to see if your insurance didn't give you a separate medicaid card, and call them to ask. Also based on your specific insurance's policy plan, you will have to switch your primary to the one at Charles B Wang. My policy plan had asked for this.

Old Review: So far my experience has been wonderful. Staff were very attentive and explained the check-in processes to me. The only thing I would complain about is that every time I go, they ask me for my Medicaid card when I don't have one, I have Healthfirst Medicaid which is different than just Medicaid.

Also if you want to see the doctor, you need to switch over to them as your primary, which can be inconvenient for those who want different primaries. For me, I didn't have a primary so this was alright.

Otherwise my doctor, Carmen Chen has been wonderfully supportive. She listened to the fact that I have a lot of trauma, both medically and in my past which affect me today. She has encouraged the steps I have taken to work through my trauma, and has helped me with getting to where I need to go (referrals).

I would also say if you want to look into a psychiatrist, if you have a lot of trauma like me, it would be best being looked elsewhere or looking for a therapist. Because they can only provide medicine for people who are just struggling a little, compared to people like me who need extra help.

All in all I would say this...

Had a terrible experience from OBGYN. I was told consulation is fine from the doctor so I assume consulation was to get knowledge and information. Instead, the minute I was brought to the room, I was told to change my clothes for pap smear. Despite verbalizing I don't feel comfortable, I was still asked to do so twice and the medical assistant had a rude attitude about it when I refused the pap smear. The person who I spoke to also was neither kind nor patient with her bedside manners when I verbalize discomfort. What kind of place asks you to change clothes right away without asking if you're comfortable doing it and still proceeds to ask when you denied to do so? Extremely disappointed.

This also happen at the 1st pcp visit with the new doctor on 4/2024 as well where I was ask to move to bed despite expressing my discomfort more than once. I honestly do not understand how come patients voices are not being heard by the medical assistants and nurses while working at a job that requires so much people interaction. Right away, I call asking to speak to management about the lack of consideration and care from the nurses. This never happen at former doctor visits.

Lastly, if and when you call the front desk, most times they usually are rude, dismissive, or impatient.One thing that I appreciate was Dr. Sha Zhu the pediatrician who I saw previously. She was a great pcp who always listen and had great bedside manners. Sad that I had to switch from her as...