Chen Austin, MD

so upset! I loved this doctor and now she is gone! I’ve been looking for her for over a year! I don’t know who to go to. I loved her frank bedside manner. I’m just glad I came upon all this info here as I had no idea what happened to her and I never got a letter and had been her patient for probably a decade or longer.

This doctor is no longer in New York, but rather at this small location in Pottsville, PA. I booked an appointment here although I live out in Philly. I truly wish I could have given «Dr.» Chen zero stars. Not only did I wait an hour and a half for my appointment in a waiting room filled with the most foul smelling patients my nose has ever experienced, but Ms. Chen had the nerve to make rude comments about me in the room when I was called back. Long story short, Ms. Chen had told me I have crazy amounts of precancerous cells, but left the room without assuring me if I would be okay or not. So, naturally, I went home freaking out and panicking that something was wrong. A few days later my mother received a phone call — not me — WHO IS THE ONE ON THE CONTACT SHEET. When I called them back they told me everything is fine and that there is not a single sign of precancerous cells at all and that the results were good. My question is, WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU LIE TO A PATIENT WHEN YOU CANNOT EVEN SEE CANCER CELLS WITHOUT LAB RESULTS??? My advice, never EVER go to this doctor, I know another unlucky person who Ms. Chen assured her baby had down syndrome — guess what — -the baby was fine. This whole office is just a bunch of money-​grabbing assholes. Go elsewhere.

Nightmare doctor!
Dr. Chen delivered my baby, and for that I am grateful. But being in her care and the delivery itself was all a gamble, luckily, in the end, my daughter came out fine.
Here is why she is getting 1 star:
— during my second trimester, sometime in the winter, the weather made it very difficult for me to travel to her (I was coming from out of state), so I called to cancel the appointment I had made. She calls me back that night and threatened to drop me as her patient! I am not kidding! She did not merely suggest or hint at something vague, she flat out threatened to drop me. As you may know, switching OB/GYN’s mid-​pregnancy is very difficult because due to liability issues, many doctors will not take new patients who were under someone else’s care. So after lecturing me on the phone to the point of having me in tears, she scares me into seeing her lest I be stranded.
— about one month before my due date, I started having severe contractions. I called her up and she told me to monitor the situation and wait. That’s reasonable and fairly normal. As the situation progresses, the cramps get worse. I call her again. She tells me to go take a shower. A few hours later I’m in full labor, BLEEDING, and call her again, she yells at me for bothering her in the middle of the night and tells me to go to sleep, I insist on seeing her and demand so… she reluctantly agrees to see me. I rush out to her office, heavily bleeding, in full labor. She checks me quickly in her office and confirms that I am fully dilated and ready to give birth. By the time I was in the hospital soon after, I give birth in less than 10 minutes, because most of my labor was spent at home and in the backseat of a car, because she would not believe me.
I was terrified out of my mind. Since I was fully dilated, I had no time for an epidural or any form of pain management. My birth plan, which I carefully discussed with her many times all went out the window, I did not even get a tylenol for the pain. Everything escalated to an emergency situation. I pushed so hard, all the while she was yelling at me!, that I tore pretty badly. Right after delivering the baby, she had to stitch me up. Now imagine getting stitches right after delivery. Imagine the indescribable pain. I cried, and she screamed at me the whole time like a banshee.
When all was finally over, her office had difficulty getting in touch with my insurance for a day, so she called me and made more threats. I called my insurance and they told me that this was an administrative matter between the insurance and the doctor and that it was ILLEGAL and inappropriate to involve the patients in this way. She harrassed me until the insurance company finally finished the paperwork.
Please read all the bad reviews of her in
You’ll see that she goes so far as to call your family if she runs into administrative issues with the insurance. She will hound you like a crazy person.
Yes, her bedside manner is strange and unfriendly. Something I’m willing to overlook if she was a competent doctor. BUT she’s not.
I’m sure some patients have good experiences with her, I’m sure she doesnt always endanger the lives of her patients. I’m sure some people like her attitude and consider the yelling to be «straightforwardness» — — but think about it, in NYC where there are truly wonderful and competent OB/GYN’s out there, why would you risk going to one that could very well be a nightmare???
It’s not worth the risk to you or your baby!
Good luck to all mommies and I hope you all find great prenatal care :)

Dr. Chen is a VERY dedicated doctor that give you 110% of your money’s worth for her services. She’s truly AMAZING and knows what she is doing and give out more of her time and informations on health issues than any other doctors.
I and my 2 daughters misses her .She did save my daughter’s life. Last April, she went to work in Uganda (Doctor without Borders) and supposed to be in Philadelphia last July, 2013
I just search for her at Fox Chase Cancer center in Philadephlia. and can’t find her or come close to finding any doctor to replace her.
Anyone of her patients has any news on where to find her?
Or if anyone could recommend a women doctor
(Obstetrics?Gynecology)

I never got any notice about Dr. Chen leaving her practice, and I am bummed, cause I loved her. Last time I saw her, probably late 2012, she said she was only stopping the ob part, not the gyn.
According to her letter to another patient, Laura R. from June 13, 2013 — attached above, she is keeping this email permanently:
.
Took several years to find her after Virginia Wreath, my previous gyn, also quit. Who are we going to go to now, girls?
oy.
reno

Dr. Chen was recommended by a friend. While I agree with those who write that she is thorough, I was uncomfortable with her personality. During my initial session, she was bossy and impatient, and I did not feel that she listened well. Since my friend had so highly recommended her, I went for one additional appointment, hoping I’d just caught her on a bad day, but unfortunately she was even bossier and more impatient the second time. I left quite upset and switched to another doctor. In all fairness, I have to say that my friend had a great experience with her, but Dr. Chen’s personality was a major issue for me. (update– I see in some more recent reviews that she has left the country without setting up access for her former patients to their medical records, not good).

I did some digging and found the following e-​mail on the Tribeca Citizen site. She went to Uganda on a fellowship and apparently sent this e-​mail to her patients. I never received it.

Dr. Chen mentioned she will go abroad and will contact us via phone on how to get our records before she leaves. Been calling her phone everyday and the phone is always busy. Finally went to her office and it is closed. No notes on the door. The whole street is under construction.
Very unprofessional of her not to leave steps on how we can get our medical records.
If anyone has info kindly advised.
Thank you.

I have exactly the same question. I have been trying to track her down for the last couple of weeks. I got no notice at all by mail, phone, email that she was retiring. I’ve been her patient for over a decade and I have no idea how to get my medical history back. Please post if you find out any information!

Dr. Chen seemed to have retired abroad without a trace. Does anyone know what happened to her or where patients can get their records?

I don’t get disappointed in Unilocal often, but this time I was.
Dr Chen didn’t strike me as a knowledgable woman, ready to jump to conclusions without properly listening to my concerns. Her recommendations were odd and not even sure how medically sound. She is rushed too.
The clinic itself was odd too — it looks like converted warehouse and didn’t look particularly clean. I’m not a picky one about these things and don’t need everything to sterile. This place just really didn’t seem trustworthy. The equipment, whatever little there was, looked outdated too
The wait was so long! First we had a preliminary VERY QUICK chat. Note that she was scribbling notes on a piece on paper (i.e. not a medical record) RIGHT ON THE EXAMINATION TABLE positioning herself between the things where my legs would go. This is just odd. She then left me to change and made me wait for 40 minutes!!! You think it’s unprofessional but then it gets better. Right when she’s about to start, she gets a call on her cell phone and excuses herself for another 15 minutes. She didn’t close the door (and I’m there with my legs spread out) and I was overhearing her conversation. She was arguing with someone about installing security cameras because of a man who keeps peeking in! Great… I’m there lying in a sheet thinking that I’m being observed by some freak. She then comes back and explains that the guy who sells hot dogs right in front of her clinic masturbates to women who are coming in for a medical visit!!! Then she goes onto a racist rant about how he does it because he’s muslim. This is just too much…
I will never again choose a doctor through Unilocal.People give great review based on how nice a doctor is, and not as much based on their professionalism and knowledge. I guess when you go for a regular check up and have no medical issues, a doctor being nice and making you feel at ease is really what you care about. Fine. But a 5 star rating based on that gives false impression. Of course, not all Unilocalers are like that, but I wish there were fewer.

Please look at hidden reviews before making your choice. This is after all an important choice.

My wife’s doctor who delivered our baby (I’m just the husband).
A bossy but an amazing doctor. Without going in to all the detail, I believe my wife would have been told to have a C-​section by a typical doctor because of several factors that complicated her labor. Chen was patient and committed to vaginal birth if at all possible, which it was.
Chen is always informative, succinct, approachable, pleasant, and encouraging. Her office manner can sometimes be abrasive but her bed side manner was top notch. What an exceptional person she is. You can tell she is 110% dedicated to her practice and patients from her actions and words.
She is a one doctor practice. She delivers your baby, not another doctor who you barely met because your principal ob is on vacation when you deliver. Her work is her life and she is passionate and prideful about it.
Couple of notes:
If you plan to have a mid-​wife or doula, she isn’t your doctor. She plays that role in labor and delivery.
Be prepared to meet a head strong woman. She has 20 years experience to go up against your internet learning. Everything she said made sense but it was hard, at the time, to have her shoot down or take the air out of ideas we had from reading websites.
Our online education was still extremely helpful, don’t get me wrong, but, as you have probably heard already, the only thing you can rely on once labor starts is that everything you planned gets tossed out the window. Chen was the operative factor in the process and we are happy she was.

I love Dr. Chen.
It took me a looonnnng time to find an OBGYN in the city that met my requirements (takes my insurance, walking distance of my office, female). It took a while to get an appointment with her, when i called in mid-​September her latest appointment was more than a month away.
The appointment went great, the waiting time was not outrageous, the office was clean, the receptionist friendly. Dr. Chen is certainly a character, I can see how she may come off a bit harsh, but I found her to be very friendly, funny, non-​judgemental and extremely knowledgeable.
She is very thorough. When reading through my family history, she saw that I have immediate family members with Diabetes, she asked more detailed questions then asked me what I was doing to prevent it myself later in life. No doctor had ever even asked me this, let alone give me advice on how to take preventative measures, until Dr. Chen.
I made my appointment for next years exam on the spot. I would recommend her to anyone!

I’ve been to Dr. Chen twice now, for regular yearly check-​ups as my gynecologist. I really like her and would definitely recommend her. She’s professional, extremely knowledgeable, and is one of the only drs I’ve ever been to who manages to make a pap smear not be awkward… More than that, she and her receptionist stayed late specifically for me so that I could go after work (how many drs do that??). Her office is great and the receptionist has always been helpful and friendly. Dr. Chen listens to my concerns, and though she may seem a bit brusque, I think that’s just her personality and I NEVER felt like she was rushing me out. If you want a gynecologist who will be your BFF, she may not be for you, but if you want a doctor who truly knows her stuff, I’d recommend her in a heartbeat.

I believe Dr. Chen is now located in Tribeca. Her offices are nice, well-​kept and the front reception is generally helpful and relatively friendly. I did like their use of electronic patient systems and the Dr. was easy to reach via email.
However, I found Dr. Chen to be quite abrasive and had a bedside manner that was nearly impossible to deal with. She is thorough and probably technically and medically very astute, however she failed to listen, interrupted often when I explaining symptoms or concerns and interjected far too often with conclusions and judgments without hearing me through. Overall, she was dismissive of my problems, which I found to be very insulting. I also found her difficult to follow – she was not clear in her explanations of her diagnoses.
Personally would not recommend her.

She’s the best OBGYN in the downtown area who accepts Oxford Liberty. Registered at Roosevelt Hospital — the best place to give birth in NYC. Her new office is located on Chambers Street near Broadway. She will basically see you, talk to you for a long time, monitor your diet, and micromanage your pregnancy if need be to ensure you have a healthy birth. Perhaps not for everyone. One thing for sure, she takes her job seriously. A kind of no nonsense woman.