William Schell, MD — Local services in New York

I used to have a high opinion of Dr. Schell, I saw him for a few years. However after my most recent experience I cannot recommend him. I had a fall (slipped and fell down a few stairs) and landed sideways on my leg. It was extremely painful and I went to the ER. I had an x-ray done that showed an injury, but it didn't show enough detail to diagnose the type of injury. I was pregnant so I couldn't do an MRI. I went to Dr. Schell and he insisted it was just runner's knee and that I only needed physical therapy to treat it. So I started physical therapy for runner's knee.

After I had the baby I saw a pain management doctor about my knee. And he was immediately alarmed, he didn't think it was runner's knee, especially given the x-ray and amount of swelling, and ordered an MRI. Well my MRI shows that it's actually a MENISCUS TEAR AND moderate quadriceps tendinosis with a interstitial tear of the distal fibers. And all the physical therapy I've been doing has actually been making it WORSE.

I could've looked past the fact that he misdiagnosed me, I actually scheduled a virtual visit to follow up with him about my knee and sent the MRI results to his office. But a couple of days later his staff called me and said that they would cancel my appointment unless I came in person.

I re-iterated to them that this was a follow up visit about the same injury that I came into the office for 5 months ago and that I just wanted to go over the results of my MRI to see what treatment he'd recommend. Going to the office in person right now is challenging since I have a baby and don't live nearby. I asked them to communicate that to him thinking it had been a misunderstanding. Nope, he still wouldn't see me. I was pretty shocked, I thought if anything he'd be apologetic that he made such a huge error and be eager to go over the results. But nope, they canceled my appointment.

I understand that without an MRI he wouldn't be able to see the exact injury, but the fact that he didn't think there was an injury is pretty alarming. My pain management doctor isn't even an orthopedist and immediately knew something was extremely wrong with my knee. And the fact he couldn't even meet with me to go over my MRI results is just absurd.

Anyways take it from this long time patient - go somewhere else! That's what I'm...

I follow my instincts!! I followed my heart and I did it , I had the surgery!! I would 100% recommend D.Schell. I was a victim of domestic violence July 13th 2023, I was rushed to the hospital with a broken clavicle , after the emergency room at Cornell, after the emergency room I had to see my doctor , my doctor recommended me a orthopedic that didn’t do the type of surgery I needed for the clavicle (broken, needed plates and screws 😞) and so I searched on my own and found Dr.Schell and let me tell you about Dr.Schell and his staff. From day one I walked in into his office my heart told me that I needed to trust this doctor and that’s what I did , he was so great at trying to explain to me the whole procedure and of course I couldn’t take the extra info of how the whole process was going to be because I get anxious and also my heart had already told me I had to trust him and I did, I couldn’t let him tell me much because I knew he was amazing ! And again because of me being so nervous and it was just a lot for me to take too, however he did explained while I was crying , it was a lot to hear but I heard it , I had no choice, I went home he gave me some time to made the decision and so I did and couple of days later I was scheduled a surgery day, his coordinator made sure I get a sooner appointment since I was in so much pain she was great communicating with me. The day of surgery (7/28/23) I had all types of scary feelings because of my anxiety I did bring a friend with me to support and when Dr.Schell came in while I was getting prepared for surgery even my friend said this doctor is amazing !! And let me tell you he is. Dr.Schell and his team made my experience to be amazing ,despite with all the pain I had after the surgery which he already had warned me about how the recovery process would be. I want say it was a delightful experience having them all be part of this painful journey of mine.I am super happy. I am in recovery mode, and I follow up with Dr.Schell every two weeks or so and everything is looking great so far. I would million times recommend Dr.Schell ....

If I were writing the review on only Dr. Schell, his work and bedside manner I would give 5 stars. Unfortunately time and time again I’ve had issues with his office that is a complete mess. The first time I had an issue I called and left a message every day for eight days straight to get paperwork filled out for my employer, no one ever returned my call or filled out paperwork or got back to me in any way. The only reason the paperwork ended up getting filled out is because I had an appointment and brought it to the next appointment. After that there have been times I’ve needed to get in touch with the office, either because I had a question, needed a refill, to schedule an appointment etc and several times the answering service picks up and tells me the phone lines are down and so there’s no way to get in touch with anyone. Now as I write this I’ve been on hold bounced back and forth between people for almost an hour because I again need paperwork filled out from my employer (paperwork that takes no more than 1 minute to fill out). I’ve been told that I have to wait until Friday (I originally sent Monday)to have it filled out (?) which makes no sense and I’ve never encountered at a Dr’s office before such an unwillingness to help a patient with something so simple. I also work in healthcare and cannot imagine just blatantly ignoring a patient and being so unprofessional. The part that is the most frustrating is that I’ve left several messages and get no call back, when I do get a person on the phone like I have a few times right now I am given the run around and keep getting put back on hold. As a surgeon Dr. Schell is great, but because of the many times I’ve had to waste so much of my time to try and resolve something so simple I...