Cheryl Charles MD

Wow! I can’t image this Dr. getting any GOOD reviews. Saw her 5 times because my regular Dr. wasn’t available. I can write a book on this one. If don’t mind a Dr. who insults with facial expression and rude comments. She’ll make you feel worse than you felt going in! During my appointments I found her to be rushed, impatient and insensitive to my health concerns. She didn’t even make eye contact with me. That should tell you a lot. Nurse is great. Office staff awful and Dr Charles terrible. Look at her eyes in that picture?

Selecting Dr Cheryl Charles as my PCP was a huge mistake. It is impossible to get a hold of her — even when urgent. I also waited over an hour each time to see her. She will only stay with patients for 20 minutes! Once she actually told me to «make another appointment if I have so many issues.» That same day I sat in the waiting room for over an hour!!!

I have been a patient of Dr. Charles for over 10 years and have referred both my daughter and niece to her. She was, for a long time, an excellent doctor. However, in recent times, she has become cold, aloof and unresponsive. During my last appointment, I found her to be rushed, impatient and insensitive to my health concerns. She even missed a significant health complaint altogether. I emailed her to express my concerns and to ask about these perceived changes. She flat out ignored me. In my email I was very clear and specific but also open minded and not the least bit hostile or critical. Yet, Dr. Charles chose to simply ignore me. That was about 5 months ago and I have felt alienated from my doctor, choosing to spend money on local urgent care doctors rather than my health insurance and tocall Dr. Charles. To this day, she has never responded to my email. I have now dropped Cedars and Dr. Charles altogether and will start with Kaiser in January. It pains me that after more than ten years with Dr. Charles she could not afford me the decency of responding to my email. Perhaps changes within the Cedars organization has placed new pressures on Dr. Charles to see more patients in less time and that is the reason for the changes. I asked about that in my email to her but again, received no reply. I can no longer recommend Dr. Charles and have moved on.

I’ve been going to Dr. Charles for over 10 years. She is awesome. She is thorough, caring and never have I felt rushed. She truly cares about her patients. Also want to mention that I’ve never had to wait long. The staff schedules the appts in a timely way, and I get a call two days in advance to confirm the appointment.

I love Dr. Charles. She is the first doctor to hear my compliant and is actively working to remedy. I’ve written her via the online tool and immediately she got back to me.
Downside is parking! 12 bucks for 30 minutes… Beverly Hills man!

I love Dr. Charles! She’s been my primary care for 3 – 4 years now and I don’t know how I did it without her. I was seeing another doctor for several years before I got to her. With the other doctor, I had to keep making appointments once every couple weeks and nothing was getting done to control my respiratory problems. Once I got to her it was like *BAM* PROBLEM SOLVED! Dr. Charles is one of those doctors that once you tell her you have an issue (even if its a cold) she wants to get it right the first time and target the problem right away which not many doctors do. I recently moved half-​ways across the country and travel to LA frequently. I have NO intention on changing doctors at all. Good doctors are hard to find and Dr. Charles is definitely a hidden gem that everyone should know about: D
BUT with all this being said, its hard to get an appointment with her and if you have something critical going on, she will fit you in.

I have been with Dr. Charles for close to 20yrs and I love her and her staff. In my own humble opinion I think she is the greatest doctor. She patiently listens to you and doesn’t interrupt and then helps you with whatever problem you may have. If I occasionally have to wait, I don’t care, we do not live in a perfect world and emergencies happen. She has always been there for me. Thank you, Dr. Charles!

I feel very blessed that Dr. Charles is my doctor. I have been Dr. Charles’ patient for over 15 years now and I wouldn’t trade her for any other doctor. She is the most caring doctor there is. She has been working with me with so much care and concern to find the right cure for my chronic body pain. She doesn’t give up. She always calls me when I leave a message that I need to speak with her. One time, she even called me back on July 4^th. That is dedication! I also admire Dr. Charles for her dedication to help the sick in a town in Guatemala. Once every year, she takes time off from her very busy practice here in Beverly Hills to go to Guatemala to offer her services to help the sick there. She is very humble about it. I would never have known about it except for the pictures on the walls in the patient rooms. Dr. Charles is a great find!!!

This was by far the worst doctor I had ever gone to. This is an awful human being who can’t see past her own biases. I went in for a leg injury. My leg was swollen and black and blue. She told me there was nothing wrong. Months later after seeing another doctor I had an MRI and discovered a fracture that healed badly and a torn tendon. After she told me nothing was wrong with my leg she looked in my chart and asked me why I saw an endocrinologist. I explained the surgery I had on my thyroid and how the surgeon thought I had hoshimotos disease and we were going to run some tests. I was having difficulty losing weight even though i was exercising a lot and dieting. At that point she turned to me and said «if you think an endocrinologist is going to help you, you’re living in denial «. She said I needed to stop eating and exercise not hearing a word I said. I was so shocked by her nasty bedside manner. You couldn’t pay me enough money to see her again. In the end I stuck with my endocrinologist who is wonderful. He diagnosed me with hoshimotos disease and other problems. With the right meds I have lost weight and am feeling better. I don’t think Cheryl Charles knows anything. It is shocking that someone like this is allowed to practice medicine.

I called this Dr. at random and spoke to Maryanne, after she convinced me how great and knowledgeable the Dr. is, I scheduled an appointment with her office two months in advance, on the day of the appointment, I ended up waiting in their small waiting room past 45 minutes, I was disappointed. However, I did want to meet the Dr., and I was very happy I did. She took her time with me (spent over two hours) we went over my medical history, and other pertinent information along with blood work and other tests needed — Dr. Charles is very patient, caring and thorough. She immediately referred me to specialists and her staff scheduled follow up appointments for me wtihin two weeks of my original appointments. In addition, I received follow up calls relating to the test results within 48 hours of my appointment.
Since the first appointment I have seen Dr. Charles two additional times and have waited no more then 10 minutes. In fact, one time I was 45 minutes early and she had no problem taking me in right away.

So incredibly disappointing! I was really hopeful that Dr. Charles would be a wonderful fit but boy was I wrong. 1. Horrible bedside manner (total snot) 2. INCREDIBLY LONG WAIT– the first time I went there I waited in the waiting room for over an hr and a half, another time I saw another dr in the practice since she was sooooo behind. This is insane to me why book yourself with appointments you cant keep up. 3. Never expect any paperwork from this office. It is a total sh** show if you need forms filled out or faxed etc. Someone in the office actually told me to just fill the form out myself rather than wait for the dr… are you serious??? I could go on and on but bottom line it was not worth the hassle. I will not be going back. thank goodness!

My husband calls me «Debbie Downer» and my friends call me a «walking disaster ready to happen.» I’ve had pneumonia, pleurisy, lower back L5-​S1 problems, sciatica, cuts, scrapes, knee problems, head injuries, fertility issues, asthma, allergies, acid reflux, ulcers… etc. etc. etc. In fact, I have a collection of ER bracelets to prove it and my husband has a collection of visitor’s stickers from coming to pick me up from the ER. Through all of these ailments, I’ve switched doctors several times and finally found Dr. Charles through my siter who is a doctor. She is FANTASTIC! She calls from home in the evenings and on weekends if she feels the health condition requires special attention. She makes diagnoses over the telephone if you’re really sick so that you can get medication prescribed without waiting for an appointment. If it’s a critical issue, she’ll do her best to squeeze you in. Her response has been so good that my ER visits have significantly dropped off.
I’ve been with her now for 5 years and I don’t think I’ve ever waited more than 15 minutes, so not sure if the 1-​hour waits mentioned by others are a fluke. Her office staff can be a little dizzy, but compared to some of the other receptionists with other Cedars Sinai physicians, they are WAAAAAY better. (At least they answer the phone).
Dr. Charles’ altruism can be seen by her frequent visits to Guatemala to do medical.
She definitely is busy and I think it’s because she is well liked and gets referrals. I went to her through a referral, and I’ve since referred most of my girlfriends to her. I would wait the hour to see her. She is definitely worth the wait.

Dr. Cheryl Charles is a good doctor but could use a little lesson in bedside manner as well as a tune-​up with her office staff. While they’re a friendly enough group, her staff is sometimes slow and disorganized. The care that I have had with Dr. Charles has been satisfactory. My favorite parts of my visits were the moments with her attentive and caring nurses. I’m sort of a nervous wreck most of the time since I have medical anxiety, and her cold demeanor can be a little unsettling. Along the lines of thorough examinations, Dr. Charles is competent with specific examinations such a gynecological or blood work, but did not satisfy my needs as a patient when it came down to my concerns about muscle pains. Telling a patient to do pilates and get fit is easy; teaching them how to first conquer pain and what steps to take in order to succeed is key, yet her practice lacked the latter. Lastly, while she is more of a 3.5, I knocked down .5 of a star because this particular branch of the Cedar Sinai Medical Group only gives you the option to valet park your car, which can get pricey when you’re in there for a few hours.

Dr. Charles is 5 stars.
Her office staff is 1 star.
When it comes to health care, and the people you depend on to help you in this department, it becomes very personal. This is literally, your life. At first I rated it 3 stars, to split the difference, but that’s not fair. Dr. Charles is awesome.
Dr. Charles is one of the best doctors I’ve ever met. She’s smart, professional and incredibly helpful. She really listens and gives great advice. She answers EVERY question and concern. I’ve been seeing her for years and I always leave with print-​outs of information and samples of meds (when necessary). Dr. Charles really does everything she can for her patients.
That being said, she needs a new staff. The nurses are great, this is just the office staff. I have been seeing her for many years and I cannot count how many times I’ve left messages without getting a return phone call. Sometimes I just call just for an appointment, while most other times I call because of something happening right now. I get it, if the doctor cannot see me same day, but they’re not even passing along my messages.
One time, I was having what I thought might be a stroke or something horrible, and called to see if I could talk to Dr. Charles or just get help on where to go. Someone did pick up the phone this time and said «ummmm… well, she doesn’t have anything available today… ummmmmmm…» Okay then, help me figure out what to do because I have an HMO and I can’t really do anything without Dr. Charles approval and feel like I’m dying now. «Ummmm… Urgent care doesn’t open until 7pm…»
So I went to the emergency room. 9 hours later I was diagnosed with a migraine. I had made an appt with Dr. Charles to follow up and she said «Did you call here first?» Yes. I spoke with someone. «Well, I wish they’d have told me you called. I would’ve told you not to go to the emergency room.» Great. I’ve also heard them talking trash about other patients while I’m in the waiting area.
Seriously, when you leave a message saying «I’m really scared and I don’t know what to do and I just really need someone to please call me back, so I at least know you got this» and you don’t get a call back from anyone — that really sucks.
Bottom line: Dr. Charles is great! If you can at least get someone on the phone, instead of leaving a message, go for it!

I am updating my review. Even though I believe Dr. Charles tries hard to be great doctor, I had to change primary doctors after a wait in her office of over an hour. I had booked an appointment weeks in advance, and when I arrived, I was told that I didn’t have an appointment. The staff then booked me another appointment a few weeks later. I intentionally took the first appointment of the day so I could get to work on time. I still waited for an HOUR! in the office. I was quite upset and when I complained, Dr. Charles said, «If you want a doctor who is always on time, then maybe I am not the doctor for you». She has helped me with many issues in the past, so that comment was pretty shocking to me, but I decided that she was right… she wasn’t the doctor for me.

I should preface this by saying that I am a hypochondriac.
Not a «haha, I am slightly germphobic! It’s so adorable! Someone should make a light-​hearted romantic comedy about my foibles and neuroses!» kind of hypochondriac, but rather a «This paper cut has obviously become infected with Streptococcus A, progressed to necrotizing fasciitis, and my organs will begin shutting down unless I go to the ER» kind of hypochondriac.
This is not hyperbole.
That said, Dr. Charles has been my primary care physician for 5 years, which in Hypochondriac Years is more like 35 (they are like dog years, but with a lot more cancer scares). She is thorough, without over-​testing. She is kind, without being wishy-​washy. The office is well-​run and the staff is helpful. I’ve been to an embarrassing number of doctor’s offices (see: aforementioned crippling hypochondriasis) and the fact is, Dr. Charles is the only one I have voluntarily returned to more than twice.
Five stars!