Gateway Spine & Pain Physicians

I really cant rate Dr. Hong as a doctor because I never got in to see him. But I can rate him on what him and his staff did to me! You see, pain physicians have a little secret that they dont tell you they do. If you make an appointment with them, they have access to a list of all pain medications that you have been prescribed by other doctors. This includes every prescription that you have ever had filled and needed your drivers license to pick up from the pharmacy, including some anti-​depressants, pain meds and muscle relaxants, steroids, etc… The only thing is, is that this list does not tell the physicians office doing an inquiry, how long ago you were prescribed the medication and if you are still taking it! I suffer from chronic pain due to illness, I moved a year ago and sadly had to leave the doctor who was treating my condition. I found another doctor close to my home and started going there. I was not happy with the turnover of physicians leaving that practice rapidly and other issues, so I decided to search for another pain management doctor. Dr Hong was suggested to me by someone, so I checked out his website, Gateway spine and pain. I was happy to see that he treated both conditions I suffer from as they were listed as conditions he treats on his website. I called to set up an appointment, the woman on the phone confirmed that doctor Hong could treat my conditions. All I told her was what I was suffering from and that I was not happy with my current treatment. I made an appointment, and she told me that she was sending out forms for me to fill out and to bring any x-​rays or m.r.i.‘s that I had along with me to my first appointment.
I got the papers in the mail and started working on getting all the records for my first appointment. However about a week after I made my appointment, I got a message from gateway spine and pain, cancelling my appointment! The receptionist who left the message said that Dr. Hong did not treat my illnesses, (even though as stated on his website, he did) and that I should either continue with my current doctor (whom she named by his name, on the voicemail which hmmmm, I never told her my doctors name) or to go see a Rheumatologist, but that dr Hong could not see me!
I know exactly why this was done to me! Dr Hong checked this list that is available to pain management doctors, and judged me as a «pill shopper» and canceled the appointment because I was deemed something that I was NOT!
I was devastated that a physician would do this without having the history behind what is on that list available to all doctors who check!
I have suffered from chronic illness and the pain associated with this illness for over 15 years! Of course the list of medications that previous doctors have prescribed is going to be long from attempting to relieve pain… I have been prescribed everything from meloxican, to tramadol to flexeril and more, and unfortunately with the progression of any illness, certain medications stop working! But this list available to physicians does not tell that story, so an unfair judgement was made and Dr Hong refused to see me based on a totally unfair assumption!
Thankfully on the recommendation from my primary physician, I found another pain management physician, one who admitted that they check patients out to see if they are «pill shoppers» but fortunately this physician did not make a very unfair assumption and judgement like Dr. Hong did. He is currently treating my illness, and Gateway Spine and Pain and Dr. Hong can sit in judgement of people seeking help from them and reap those unfair assumptions, by not having any patients! Please look elsewhere for your pain management needs!