Ellen Mellow, MD — Local services in New York

Dr. Mellow is the heart doctor with heart. I was sent to her by my community health center, after some disastrous and life threatening cardiac care experiences. She ran me through a battery of tests and with her connections to Cornell Weill completed their comprehensiveness. She created a regimen of care which has sustained me and made me prosper. I see her regularly to be sure I remain on track. This doctor is a marvelous practitioner and I completely rely on her. I can almost say we have become friends. She goes out of her way also to connect me for other medical needs outside of her specialty. (She even called me from abroad when I had an incident). Her staff is also wonderful, professional, attentive and personable. It appears everyone is happy to be in this oasis in the NYC medical desert, practitioners and clients equally. Heart doctor with heart. (an addendum: a couple of years on, from when I first wrote a review of Dr. Mellow, and I can repost it, word for word. Not only am I still under her care with continued skill and success, but when was in a bus accident this past summer, I was in touch with her immediately when there were alarming swelling and severely apparent bruising on my legs. She reviewed the photos I sent, and set up for me promptly a consultation with a (colleague) doctor at the Hospital for Special Surgery, to ensure there was no clotting. As I said in my earlier review, Dr. Mellow is remarkable in her integrity of her vocation in medical care, while also performing this vocation with the greatest of skill and the warmest humanity. (And it should also be mentioned, she has selected and retained staff who are extremely capable in all needs and respects in fulfilling this same purpose.) I...

For those of you who have had to wait for Dr. Mellow, know one thing. She cares about your health. She cares about all of her patients' health--for real. She is not a money-first doctor. She's a patient-first doctor. I do not think she is capable of working in the "get-em-in-get-em-out" mentality of insurance-and-cost-cutting-money-driven health care. If you want a REAL doctor, one who will go through your bloodwork thoroughly and not. miss. things. -- she's your person. If you want someone to process patients like they are on a conveyor belt, she's not for you. She is not a McDoctor. I had shingles close to my eyeball and she personally called a friend of hers, an ophthalmologist, to tell him about my case over the phone, in front of me--to get me in the door at his practice right away. And, by the way, her recommendations for physicians are not made out of the blue, she makes them with intelligence and based on people she's actually worked with. Again, if you want a real doctor, go to Dr. Mellow. Just know that you will be waiting for sure and plan accordingly. If you want conveyor belt medicine, pick a different practice. If you want someone who will keep a sharp eye out for medical error, which by the way at one point Johns Hopkins discovered is the 3rd leading cause of death in this country, then you want Dr. Mellow. Thanks, Dr. Mellow!...

As a longtime patient, I can say she has become very cold and lacks empathy. She also misrepresents my health on my files.

Firstly, numerous times she has fat shamed me and tried to pass it as tough love. I've struggled with my weight my entire life. I have been able to achieve successes on my own, but have just had setbacks (like a herniated disc which left me barely being able to stand up and walk without my knees buckling in pain, amongst many others).

She has called me a liar and refuses to use empathy and accept each patient is human with their own needs. Tries to push expensive specialists on me despite not having the means to afford them.

After sending me for a sleep apnea test, which came back negative, she still lists me as having the disorder. I asked her to update my file. She ignored my request and gave me a 1 month notice informing me she would no longer be my doctor. She lacks awareness and feedback and doesn't like helping those who are overweight.

Plus, as a physician who uses and clearly needs an assistant in the room helping her, she doesn't think to ask if the patient is ok with having a male assistant in there (especially while being ridiculed).

I'm sorry but I can not...