Pearl Health Center

Very satisfied with our new doctor. We were 10 minutes late, and received prompt attention. The doctor made sure that she established a good repore with my son and talked about things that he liked. She address every question I had and gave me more information than I could have hoped for.

This place is by FAR the worst medical office I’ve ever been to.
I came here due to it being in the Oregon Health Plan’s network but was soon made aware that it’s basically just a stop for them to make referrals to other doctors.
The physical nurse Kendra can’t do anything for you other than send you to a REAL doctor, while the «mental health specialist» Marianne actually admitted she will only prescribe antidepressants no matter what your personal issues are or she’ll need to refer you to someone else as well.
THIS IS NOT A DOCTORS OFFICE!!!
100% WASTE OF TIME!!!
… they don’t even deserve the one star, wasted 3 months of my time and health.

DO NOT GO HERE unless you like paying for nothing. They are the WORST! I was seeing a doctor here and she quit, with very short notice. When I asked if she had a referral for someone else, she told me I should find another practice because this place is so terrible.
After all that and having to find a new doctor abruptly, I received a bill for hundreds of dollars nearly a year later! They had been covered by my insurance plan when I went, but when they finally go around to billing them they no longer were. When I called and spoke to the billing department the manager was rude and unhelpful. She also refused to resubmit the bill to my insurance company as they requested to have it adjusted. They also billed me for dates I had never even been there.

Most of the people I’ve seen here (note: none for naturopathy, but as PCPs) are competent, but the office itself has never been on time. I’ve waited as long as 45 minutes past my appointment time to be seen, and I’ve never been seen on time. The one time my bus was delayed and I arrived 5 minutes past my appointment time, I waited 20 minutes anyway because the office had «triple booked» according to the medical assistant.
Additionally, a doctor I saw early on made me feel uncomfortable (just by listening poorly, interrupting, not making eye contact) and I asked to be seen by someone else thereafter. I saw a different doctor the next time, but was assigned to him for the appointment after that, at which point he asked me why I hadn’t gone to him the previous time. I believe the office should have handled been organized about this.
The short version: This is an unprofessional and poorly organized (if conveniently located) office and I would not recommend it.
Edit: interesting to see that the doctor I had a poor experience with is also mentioned several times in other negative reviews, but I will say that the appointment I had with Shari House went well.

Take the warnings seriously! Dr Shari House is apparently uninterested in feedback from patients regarding treatments that work for them, and her demeanor is disdainful and dismissive. Considering that literally every other mention of her in these reviews is negative, it looks like a real pattern. I should also mention that I have never once been seen on time here, and there have been many visits where I’ve had to ask the receptionist several times if my doctor knew I was waiting. It’s not worth your time, effort and frustration to deal with this place.

This was the worst Dr. visit I’ve ever had. I had a change of insurance and had to go here. The environment and reception staff was good, but when the Doctor entered the room it was all downhill. Dr. Joseph Resendiz is the worst Dr. I’ve ever seen. He was cold, disinterested and condescending! I felt so uncomfortable with him. I’m a clinical social worker, so trust me when I say, this man has no bedside manner at all. I can’t imagine greeting a new patient with the lack of enthusiasm or common curtesy that this man showed me. Frankly, I’m dumbfounded. It’s hard to describe the interaction because there wasn’t much of one. I requested that he contact my insurance company to get authorization for a medication that I’ve been taking for several years. He looked at me with an annoyed expression and said that he couldn’t do that because he didn’t know if I was ever prescribed this medication in the past and why I couldn’t take an alternative. I showed him the prescription bottle from my last Doctor and had already explained bad reactions that I’d had to alternative medications. He said he would look into it but he probably couldn’t get the medication approved. I called my insurance for follow up, and he never sent the request to them.

First, I want to say, while it is wonderful to Unilocal and get the word out whether positive or negative, you can also call your insurance company and register a formal complaint.
I’ve been here 3x. Each time has been an awful experience. First, Dr. Freshman-​House, owner & doctor. Ummm, no thanks. Curse, cold, overall — terrible.
Then I had to have some blood work done. Hmmm, I was the first appointment — the tech was in — made me wait an hour — kept making excuses — I walked out.
I really wanted to give it one last chance with Dr. Resendiz. This guy is a cold, unprofessional, arrogant ass. I was horrified by his behavior. Maybe he should move into another profession where he is not expected to be helping people that feel crummy.
This is all over the course of a year. I luckily do not have to go to the doctors that often.
Now of course as I speak with people randomly, I hear about how terrible these doctors are + just look at these reviews. Looks like there were some lucky folks who had good experiences. I’m happy for them.
Needless to say, three bad experiences and I am moving on.
Ha! I just read the other reviews about Joe Resendiz — I had the same experience. Meds & he wrote two referrals. He walked out of the room without saying goodbye or anything, just left. Wow! My issue is my back. This drip should not be a doctor.

I’ve been a patient here for years. I’ve had some really good doctors, but of course, really good doctors get taken in by bigger, better facilities.
I went to see Joseph Resendiz. He has the personality and bedside manner of a bowl of wet oatmeal.
I went in specifically to discuss my weight and inability to lose weight and found out that my blood pressure was high. I didn’t know why, it never had been before. Then, was informed that for years it had been considered medium/​high anyway. No one had ever told me that. So, that little tidbit of information just sat unused and un-​dealt with (even from what I thought were good doctors before him). On top of that, he then looked at me and said, «Have you considered diet and exercise?»
NO…HOLY COW!!! WHY HASN’T ANYONE THOUGHT TO ASK ME THAT ALL THESE YEARS?
Seriously though, he’s clueless, not very helpful and the office has just devolved into a pretty awful place. Save your money and keep looking. All the good doctors left.

I have been treated in the past by a number of practioners at this location and have always had exemplary care, until now. I called after dislocating my pelvis and right hip trying to be seen by my primary care provider who was booked heavily. So I agreed to be treated by Joseph Resendiz, (I refuse to refer to him as doctor). After castigating me for seeking treatment first by my chiropractor (who I have sucessfully been treated by for nearly 15 years), I was informed that this man wasn’t a“hands on” practitioner (what the heck does that even mean?). I found him to be autocratic, arrogant, lacking in empathy and compassion, and ultimately felt as though he thought I was a huge waste of his time! I was seeking only something to relieve the muscle spasms, and perhaps a few tylenol 3 for the extreme pain. I am allergic to everything else, so it’s not like I’m a drug seeker! Was told to alternate heat and ice (which I have done diligently for past five days (this was a follow up from ER by the way), and offered to refer me to physical therapy. I have worked in many capacities in this city for some of the toughest Western practioners there are, from Neurosurgeons, to Oncologists, and while their interactions with their staff may not have been that great, their care of their patients was exemplary. This man is sorely and sadly lacking in humanity, and care and concern. Another case of someone working with the public when he obviously doesn’t like people! He does this excellent group of practicing Doctors a grave disservice by his poor attitude (still pissed that you didn’t make it into medical school?), and shouldn’t be allowed to treat a fish let alone another human being! I would not refer him to anyone at any time under any circumstances.

My husband’s back recently went out, and he was bent over at a thirty degree angle, with shooting pain in his low back. I suggested that he see a doctor who takes our insurance. I spent a couple of hours combing through the list of providers on our insurance’s website, and I finally found Dr. Joseph Resendiz, an osteopathic physician at Pearl Health Center.
When my husband showed up at Pearl Health Center, he told multiple people, including the front desk receptionist and a medical aide, that the reason for his visit was low back pain, and that he was hoping to receive an osteopathic adjustment.
When Dr. Resendiz came into the patient room to see him, he asked the reason for
his visit. As he was talking about his low back pain, Dr. Resendiz made very little eye
contact and did not bother to suppress several yawns. He told my husband that he doesn’t do adjustments, and that he couldn’t do anything to help him besides giving him referrals (which he never received). My husband was flabbergasted that this was his response. He didn’t know what to say. He left the health center angry, confused and frustrated.
My husband did not receive from Dr. Resendiz courtesy, respect or responsiveness
to his needs. He felt very little concern or empathy from Dr. Resendiz. He will not return to or recommend Pearl Health Center to anyone we know.

I was seen here a few months back by Dr. Daniel Stroud, who made my experience here great. However I return to see a new doctor because Dr. Stroud had left, I saw Dr. Resendiz. Never again will I go back to him, he is absolutely the worst doctor I have ever been seen by. He makes you feel like you’re less of a person than he is because he has some phony degree that is not even a medical doctor. He is rude and inconsiderate and should never have been given the chance to be a doctor

I’m really sad to be writing this review. I live in NW and was happy to find a clinic close enough to home I could walk there. Unfortunately, I think I will be DRIVING to my next doctor appointment… somewhere else. I’ve had doctors with not-​so-​good bed-​side-​manners before and am willing to ignore that sort of thing if the CARE and KNOWLEDGE make up for it. Sadly, I don’t feel like I got either at PHC.
I could go on about the tired and worn medical equipment, the way the doc seemed distracted the whole time, (never introducing himself, barely looked at me, made me repeat myself several times), or his condescending «answers» to any of my questions, but the truth is… it doesn’t make me feel any better. My search for decent care continues…*sigh*

I have been seeing Dr Benson for about 2 – 3 months now who is a Naturopath at PHC. She has done more for me in the few months I have seen her than all the Western Medical doctors I have been to in the 3o some odd years I have been seeing them. I was on pharm meds for so long and we sat down and talked at my last appointment. She talked to me and gave me advice on what I can do to better my life. I wanted to give her a big hug but when I left she shook my hand with both of her hands (one on each side of my hand) which was really comforting and made me realize then that she did care about my well being and that she loves her job. The only thing that is weird is she is great at talking to you and typing on the computer while looking at you at the same time. That is quite a multitasking feat.

Dr. Resendiz’s manner is impersonal to the point of being rude. He was extremely dismissive of the pain I was experiencing from what turned out to be a fairly serious situation. He made me feel like I was being a pain for speaking up about my symptoms. He even rolled his eyes at me at one point. He also kept trying to push naturopathic care on me even after I politely explained that I prefer an evidence based approach. I have twice left this office in tears. It’s a good thing I didn’t let him shame me into silence about the pain I was experiencing, because I ended up having emergency surgery to remove a large ovarian cyst.

I’m sorry to report that I had a really unpleasant experience with Shari House FNP when I was at the Pearl Health Center in 2012. I had recently been in a car accident, and although I received urgent care immediately following the accident, a month later I was still experiencing pain. I was up in Portland for an extended visit and made an appointment with Shari House based on my positive experience with her as my primary care provider in 2007. Long story short, although I appreciated Pearl Health Center’s effort to schedule an appointment for me (as a prior patient) while I was in town, Shari House made it clear that if she had known I was coming in because of a car accident that she would not have agreed to see me. According to her, it is «complicated» for her billing department to deal with auto insurance claims and she prefers not to do so. This was information she passed on to me while I was sitting in a paper dressing gown, as I was asking her to PLEASE just examine my neck and head. I assured her that I had been upfront about the nature of the injury when I scheduled the appointment, that I would pay for the visit myself and that I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t any nerve damage etc. She eventually agreed to take a cash payment after I essentially begged her. Her bedside manner was so upsetting — additionally, she was extremely dismissive of the pain I was experiencing.

This is a tough review to write because the person I see there, my therapist Dr. Brooks Oglesby-​Junk, is absolutely amazing! But the owner, Shari House who I saw once to try and find out what’s causing my chronic back pain, is the worst excuse for a medical practitioner that I have ever come across. (sorry for the length of this review but the information in it is all relevant and critical to the experience)
First I’ll start with the good, Brooks has taken the time to get to know me, has been happy to work with me on the weird way my body handles medications, actually listens, gives great advice, has helped me make great progress on issues that have been bothering me for years, and has basically been an all around savior to me. I have recommended her to every friend I have in need of a therapist, and would go see her every day just to talk if I could. It’s hard to find someone like her, and I feel incredibly lucky that I did. I honestly don’t know how I could have made it through some very dark and tough times without her.
Also the staff is very nice there. Everyone from the front desk staff to the medical assistants have always been incredibly welcoming, not fake at all, a real joy to encounter during my weekly visits. This is not always the case with some medical offices where the staff can be incredibly impersonal or very fake.
Now for the bad, and it’s pretty bad. The owner actually made me cry after visiting her. I had an appointment with another doctor because I’ve had chronic back pain for several years. I used to be on pain medication to deal with it, and at the time the pain was getting to an unbearable point. I really wanted to find out what was causing the pain and hopefully get that taken care of. It was so bad I was even willing to undergo surgery if that’s what it took. Unfortunately my insurance doesn’t cover alternative medicine so medication or MRI, surgery, etc. have been my only options. Of course if I knew what was going on that might give me more options.
I was put in a room to wait for my doctor but the person who came in was Shari House, who I later found out was not even a doctor but a nurse practitioner. Had I known this I would not have agreed to be seen by her. She told me that the doctor my appointment was with was not taking on any new clients and acted as if it was my fault I had been scheduled with him (uh, do I do the booking for your office?). She was very irritated that I was even there when there was an office meeting about to start (again, did I do my own booking?) and has a snippy, condescending attitude toward me the entire time.
I told her about the back pain I’ve had for years, well over a decade, and that I used to be on pain meds, but would rather find out the cause of it and find out if there’s another way to solve it before looking at that route again. With her snippy attitude she then told me that not only would she not do an MRI to find the cause, she would never do surgery to fix it even if an MRI showed that would help, she would not prescribe pain meds to help (which I’d said in the beginning I was look for an alternative solution to anyway), and that it was all mostly likely all in my head anyway and all she’d do is suggest I get therapy (she apparently didn’t realie I was seeing a therapist in HER practice, way to check my records) and probably anti-​depressants. I almost felt like she was being so horrible to me to specifically dissuade me from wanting to be a patient there. It worked. After she left the room, vowing that she would do nothing for me (I was imaging the years of pain anyway, right?) I burst into tears. I don’t cry easily but I felt harassed and assaulted by her. It was a terrible feeling and I left as quickly as I could.
I hate that she gets any of the money from me visiting my therapist, but Brooks is too good for me to stop seeing. However, I want everyone out there to know what a complete quack Shari House is. I don’t know why she would get into medicine in the first place, isn’t it supposed to be about helping people? Something she clearly has no interest in.
*** EDIT: Sadly Brooks has left this practice. :(***

I was encouraged to write this review after expressing some complaints to friends. Several years ago, Pearl Health Center was suggested to me by a friend after I mentioned some health concerns I had. I wound up seeing Shari House, and sorely regret it. Despite the «alternative» nature of the business, Shari’s answer to everything was prescription meds. I was feeling tired and having energy issues, so she put me on antidepressants (a later doctor suggested boosting my Vitamin D, which helped much more). She suggested I take Lipitor since I was slightly overweight. I noticed that no matter how many times I returned, she didn’t seem to remember much about me, my health issues, lifestyle, or what I discussed in previous visits. Not only did her quick and easy «take this drug and see what happens» approach not help, it later hurt me since I now have «pre-​existing conditions» despite the opinions of subsequent health professionals. If you see Shari House, be wary of easy diagnosis and having drugs prescribed without much thought or concern for long term considerations.

I needed to have a few stitches removed, so I looked for a convenient general practice location through my insurance and found this place. Their office is not like your typical medical office, it’s very basic with a bit of a bohemian vibe. It was not crowded when I was there for mid-​weekday appointment, yet I still had to wait for at least 15 minutes.
I was then taken back to a cramped, dimly lit examination room. Definitely low key as well as low tech. Imagine the school nurse’s office at an old middle school and you are probably on the right track. All this would have been fine to just get my quick procedure done and leave, but things didn’t go very smoothly.
I laid back on the convertible chair/​table while nurse number one labored for quite a while trying to locate and remove my sutures in the dim light with no magnification. Eventually giving up, she called in nurse number two with younger eyes. Every time someone opened the door, it would bang against a metal table obstructing it from opening all the way, then they would have to squeeze past my feet to come around to the other side of the table. After over an hour of prodding to get the first couple stitches out, I was asked to come back the next day and they would try again.
When I came back the next day, the process began again. Finally, the nurses gave up and called in the doctor who was able to complete the removal within a few minutes. The best part is, they charged my insurance (and me for a copay) a hefty fee for BOTH visits despite the fact that it was their failure to complete the requested service the first time…
It seems like this place is well loved by people who’ve sought it out purposefully, but I would not go here again.

Dr. Howell is no longer at the Pearl Health Center, he moved to Portland Integrated Health & Sports Medicine on NW Flanders.
Dr. Howell gets 5 stars.
Pearl Health gets 4 stars.

I went to this office two years ago for a painful lump in my finger and the Nurse Practitioner/​Owner, Shari House was very dismissive and pretty much told me I was crazy. (She said she couldn’t feel it or see it– totally visible.) I didn’t listen and went to another physician who said it was easily felt and was perplexed that Ms. House did not see it because as he said, «It’s very apparent.» In any case it turned out to be a fatty tissue deposit. I never went back to Pearl Clinic though and had forgotten about that incident.
My health insurance assigned me to Pearl Clinic. Yesterday, I went in– clinic is touted as integrative medicine and I thought with my unique health issues it could be nice to have someone NOT throwing medication at me but rather helping me to focus on overall health and wellness. I went in to talk about blood pressure issues caused by preeclampsia. As I have been under a great deal of stress both during and after my pregnancy I explained some of those circumstances as I believe the stress to be a contributing factor and wanted it taken into account– as holistic medicine takes in all aspects.
After talking to me for no more than 7 minutes, Ms. House decided I needed to be on anti-​depressants. I asked why and she said, «because you’re depressed. You don’t think you’re depressed?» I answered,“No. In fact anyone who knows me would categorize me as positive and optimistic to a fault.” She then questioned me on family background (no history of depression.) This did NOT deter her. She then began telling me that millions of women are on blood pressure and depression medication. I said well, I don’t believe I need anti-​depressants and I don’t want them.
She got snarky with me and said, «Well, why are you here? You’re here because you think I know more than you right?» (At this point I doubted that!) But I explained that I wanted some healthful non-​medication suggestions of how to get my body reset to pre-​pregnancy levels. She said, «You’re blood pressure is fine,» it was at ¹³⁸⁄₈₈ that day (this is considered pre-​hypertension) but my BP shifts throughout a day and could be at Hypertensive 1 or hypertension two levels depending on time of day etc. But she never asked me what my home readings were– she never asked me what my pre-​pregnancy BP was or when it shifted. I explained to her that my normal BP used to be ¹¹⁷⁄₇₀ and I wanted it back where it used to be.
At this point, she flippantly says, «Well– lose 20 pounds. Exercise 30 minutes a day, every day and cut 300 calories from your diet. I want you to lose two pounds this week.»
Her first approach was to give me anti-​depressants saying this would fix my blood pressure– then the next was lose weight. Things she NEVER considered before making either recommendation:
–I am breast feeding (she didn’t ask this) and as such need to intake 500 more calories a day to support this– she wants me to cut 300 calories instead– can you say bone density loss?
–I just barely got my appetite back and have begun eating normally again (I was under-​eating during pregnancy and after due to health issues.)
–I was malnourished after giving birth to my child having lost 25 pounds during the first two trimesters of pregnancy and then put 15 back on finally in the last trimester. (a healthy pregancy gains 15 to 25 pounds from their starting weight.) And after giving birth I immediately lost 23 pounds in 4 weeks.
What she DID know was that, as a woman who just gave birth 4 months ago I was already 10 pounds lighter than I was two years ago when I visited her office. So obviously I had probably lost a great deal of weight since the pregnancy (she didn’t ask?!) and that did not resolve the blood pressure issues, as she said just losing 10 – 20 pounds would.
Ironically, when I balked at the anti-​depressants she told me, «You’re just looking at a number (referring to the BP) your not looking at the whole picture– I’m treating the whole person.»
WOW– Really? When you didn’t even get the whole story and aren’t looking at the basic information that even a layman’s pregnancy manual such as the «What to Expect.» tomes clearly states.
She could have created some real health and safety issues in an early postpartum, breastfeeding woman with hypertension.
Before I left, as an afterthought, she decided to order blood work and request my records from the hospital.
What an idea! Maybe you might want to get that info before prescribing anything. Maybe you should get to know a patient more than 7 minutes before prescribing anti-​depressants for High blood pressure!!! And since I am having blood pressure issues maybe you should check my heart and bloodwork before prescribing any intense shifts in exercise routines.
Not only was this NOT integrative medicine or holistic care but it was even grossly irresponsible for Western Medicine. Steer clear of the negligent care here.
My other health care providers have insisted I NOT go back to her!