Dr. Rolando Garcia, MD. BigBend Pediatric Care 13131 Kings Lake Drive, Gibsonton, FL 33534

"After moving here from south Florida a little over 7 months ago, I did not think I was going to have a problem finding decent pediatric care. I was wrong to choose this office for my children. This was our experience. My first experience with this office had me waiting in the waiting room 2 hours past our appointment time. I had my ALREADY HEALTHY 4 year old and 10 month old, so for them, that was a very long time. (No explanation why it took so long. No apology. My son needed a vax and my daughter needed a check-up for VPK and a referral to a pediatric opthalmologist, so I couldn't leave.) That was the end of June. After that first visit, I had already made up my mind that I was going to change doctors, but literally a day or 2 after sitting in that office for hours, my kids were sick. I had no choice and brought them in again. We waited almost an hour between the waiting room and sitting in the exam room, just to be told, "Just a cold. Give them tylenol." A few more days and sleepless nights go by. My kids can't breathe, they can't sleep. This is not just a cold. I call, I'm mad. I bring them in again. (mid July) We missed our kids open house because she was so sick. They are tested for RSV and Covid-19. *I feel I should mention that the pregnant nurse was NOT gentle while giving them their tests. (my kids cried the entire time after the tests and my daughter's nose bled in the car while I was driving home.) They now have RSV....They now need albuterol treatments 3 times a day, Bromphenir every 6 hours as a cough suppressant, prescription Motrin every 6 hours. No change for a week. I BRING THEM AGAIN. My kids are weak, they've lost weight, We are so mad...My husband speaks with Dr. Rolando and once again we are off the the pharmacy for more Motrin, an antibiotic, Albuterol, Budesonide, Bromphenir and Prednisone. August. My daughter's teeth are turning GRAY.... (Still waiting for them to send the authorization to pediatric opthalmologist) I call them because I have a question about the dose of prednisone my children are receiving....the office put them on them SAME dose even though my son was 1 and my daughter was 4 and obviously different weights....I felt there was an error and wanted to speak with the doctor or nurse or even the office manager. I don't want to go in for ANOTHER visit. I shouldn't have to drag my kids out again. I needed some answers. Almost 2 days goes by with no call back. So, I have my husband call. He speaks perfect spanish and explains our concerns, only to be told by someone who answers phones...that "if we don't like it, we can get a second opinion and good luck." That was the last straw. I was DONE. I had no choice but to take them to the ER. The only time my kids were ever in an ER, is when they were born....I feel terrible for my kids and this awful experience. I have since been back with my original pediatrician, STILL trying to get my kids back to normal. (Their original pediatric south of us, but I drove them. )Their immune systems are still low. My daughter has terrible fears now. She won't let anyone near her nose and cries when getting looked at for any reason at the doctor office. It is now December and her teeth are finally back to normal but the dentist wasn't sure if the would turn back at all. *Update: No one ever contacted us. No one ever called to check on my children. I then filed the complaint with the insurance company back when it happened. My daughter still has extreme phobias due to this experience. She won't let anyone near her ears, or nose. She is terrified of going to all doctors. It has been two years. She never had a problem before this experience. My advice to you is don't bring your kids here, but if you do... wipe down the chairs in the waiting room BEFORE you sit, wipe down the exam room too while you wait, you'll have a lot of time."

"Yes it can get crowded at times and busy but the Dr is great and caring. What I do is make sure I plan a day where im not in a rush so I can wait. My son's have been seeing Dr. Rolando Garcia for 3 years now and he always makes sure they are taken care of. He is very knowledgeable and always knows what is going on."

"I gave it a star, but it doesn't deserve that star, I never gave a bad review to anyone, let alone a doctor, I tell you my story to raise awareness and open the eyes of you parents, I am new in this area and I looked for this doctor on the internet, since I don't know, on the day of my appointment I had to wait and when he saw me, I explained why I was there and he told me who gave me the diagnosis and I answered that I was a mother and I knew that something was not right, then My daughter, who was only 7 years old, upon seeing the doctor's, He's attitude gave off an attitude that was not pleasant for a pediatrician, she did not allow herself to be examined by the doctor, since the matter we were dealing with was due to advanced growth of her small parts, I tell her that Yes, a nurse can check her and she was offended, and with a haughty attitude she replied that no nurse was there to determine a diagnosis, which I understand, but I also know that there are male pediatricians who do that so that our girls don't feel like that, anyway. I jumped by sending a letter to the school that my daughter has learning difficulties and other things, to the point that she also gave me a referral for a neurologist. As a mother, I know that she doesn't have any problems with that, and even knowing that she doesn't It's like that, I took the note to school and the teacher told me, She doesn't have that problem, she's a normal and very intelligent girl and well, you know how it got, the worse it got. In conclusion, I changed doctors and I write this review so that it remains marked and that no mother goes through this unpleasant thing with her children, this doctor should not be a doctor, he should not care for our children, I will not leave him like this and report him to all the necessary parts. If we remain silent this will continue to happen and they will continue to play with our children."

"I think that it’s crazy that my children have to wait two hours everytime they are seen. Last month my daughter had Covid. She wasn’t seen til two hours later. You guys need to do better than this. Considering the doctor only comes in for 5 minutes to talk to you why is it that it takes two hours to see one patient."

"Worst experience ever! Scheduled a newborn appointment and the place was packed! Then they couldn’t figure out insurance and told us to pay the $100 and they would reimburse us after they straightened it out. Initial appointment was horrible. Dr Garcia was very dismissive and did not even examine the baby. The next visit was just as bad and when we asked when they were going to reimburse the $100 the girl at the desk said only the other girl knew how to do that and we would have to call back later which we did and they kept giving us the run around and never did refund the money. But the worst was when we showed up for a scheduled appointment two weeks later and there was a sign on the door saying the office was closed until the next week. They even sent us a text confirming the appointment the night before!!! I understand things happen but couldn’t someone call and let us know?? They clearly don’t care about their patients. It seems like it’s more of a get ‘em in, get ‘em out - see how many people we see in one day kind of a place. We changed doctors after this. I just didn’t get a good feeling about them and certainly wouldn’t trust my child to them."