Massachusetts General Hospital: Travel & Immunization Center

"An hour and a half to get one shot. I'd recommend looking elsewhere."

"Unable to reach the Travel Medicine Clinic after numerous calls. No one answers the phone and I'm not a patient yet...God only knows what happens when you are a patient at MGH. This place is just a name sake and not a place I'd envisioned where patients are first. I even called the main Infectious Disease Outpatient Clinic number and the representative that answered the phone seemed bothered that I'd called, and transferred me back to the line where no one picks up. Definite do NOT recommend this place. I'd look elsewhere in Boston if you need Travel Medicine...may be even for other medical care. I really don't understand the 5-star ratings on here because so far, the service has been very poor."

"The MGH Travel Clinic, which is the place to get travel or other immunizations, has long wait times for a vaccine appointment, but I have to give them 5 stars because the office actually returned my call to help me book an appointment. Back in late May 2022, I contacted both the Mass General Hospital Travel Clinic and the Tufts Medical Center (TMC) Travel Clinic at the same time. TMC has a message portal on its website where patients can make a request for an appointment and state exactly what they are looking for. In the past, TMC responded to my portal messages with a phone call. I figured whoever would call me first and/or schedule earliest would get my business. TMC never responded to me. I was surprised because TMC has such a great Covid vaccine center that I thought its Travel Clinic would be excellent as well. I've had great interactions with other departments at TMC so thought that TMC would have been the first to respond to me. MGH took 3 business days to call me back. The MGH Travel Clinic was so busy that my first appointment had to be scheduled more than a month out. I had to have an online virtual appointment via Zoom with an MD and then came in for the actual vaccine shot with the nurse. I think MGH does this because it's more profitable than just having one appointment, but I understand the reasoning. Normally, I would've had to pay two copayments, but since I've met my out-of-pocket spending for 2022, I have no more copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles that I have to pay. Maureen the registered nurse who gave me the shot was super organized, friendly, and helpful. She gave me two of the yellow vaccine passports, all filled out with the vaccines that I've had and the dates. She also handed out the proof that I had the vaccine that day. She then walked me back to the reception area and asked the appointment person to book my follow-up. When the appointment person was having problems finding the vaccine type to schedule, Maureen went behind the desk to help. Very impressed with Maureen."

"Got immunized for a trip to Kenya. Great staff, great doctor. On my way in, the gentlemen helping me check in helped make sure I didn't get nailed with a big bill (even for something like this, you almost certainly need a referral from your PCP if you have an HMO). Saw Dr. Larocque, she answered all my questions, though I will say she was very quick and to the point (so it goes in medicine, I suppose). Even getting the shots themselves wasn't bad."

"Staff is very friendly. Doctor Miriam was very thorough on what precautions I should take when traveling. The appointment was also very quick. I was in there for less than an hour."