Dr. Ryan J. Soose/UPMC Mercy (UPMC Mercy – Division of Sinonasal Disorders and Allergy)

Dr. Ryan J. Soose

UPMC Mercy (UPMC Mercy – Division of Sinonasal Disorders and Allergy)

1400 Locust St. Bldg. D, Suite 2100

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Office Phone: (412) 232-3687

 

What type of medicine does the provider practice?        

Otolaryngology/Ear Nose & Throat Doctor specializing in Sleep Disorders

Would you recommend this provider to others?              

 Yes

When was your last visit with the provider          

0-5 months ago

Why did/do you see this provider?         

Multiple Sleep Problems

What was/is your experience making an appointment with this provider?           

It was difficult because I didn’t have a name at first and my rheumatologist told me to see any ENT, but each ENT has a specification, and I had to deal with UPMC central scheduling not understanding all of those specifications. I had to wait many months for an appointment with this guy because he sees a lot of patients and first appointments take more time. Now that I am in the system and have his name, appointments are easy to make on myupmc.com. 

Was/is the provider affordable?              

I am on medicaid UPMC so I do not pay anything for specialists. Uninsured or folks without insurance that covers UPMC would not find this affordable. Insured may depending on coverage.

Please describe your experience with the provider.       

This guy is extremely thorough, knowledgeable, and a good listener. He knows a lot about sleep disorders and neurological issues on top of ENT issues. I have had sleep problems since I was a child that have often been dismissed or ignored by doctors until recently. He not only took them seriously but was able to discover the (neurological) issue with sleep studies. He also went the extra mile- my sleep data was weird and he had something like 4 different specialists analyze the data to make sure they agreed with his finding. He gave me multiple options and multiple possible explanations for issues as well as ruled out apnea. Note for trans people: I never told him preferred pronouns (it is tiring and I often don’t have the energy) so he used pronouns matching my gender marker on my medical forms, not my gender. If pronouns are important to you, make sure you tell them or remind them if they don’t match your gender marker. Folks in this office have told me they welcome the correction. UPMC Mercy’s ENT department is my favorite doctors office for this and other reasons.

 Please describe your experience with the provider’s support staff (if applicable).            

Staff was nice. He had a couple of students/residents in the room that he was teaching while he saw me. I don’t mind this because I like contributing to education and research so that my population is better represented. The staff at this place are always really nice to me. I see multiple providers here.

What identities do you have?    

white, 34 years old, trans masculine but my gender is read in different ways all the time by people, butch, queer, disabled, working class but not working, chubby, tattoos

Tell us if the provider or practice is especially good with a certain community, has special skills or services.           

I know this office does voice therapy and coaching for trans people so they are familiar with having trans people in their office and waiting room. And their doctors are highly specialized in various fields.

What can you share about this provider’s identities and/or the practice’s affiliations that may be important to their clients?               

White guy. Not sure of anything else.

What did you observe or experience about the accessibility of the practice?       

This hospital has free parking for 3 hours and is about 1 block away from Forbes where many buses stop. There is an elevator in the garage and a walkway into the hospital from one of the floors. Many doors are electronically operated in the hospital but the ENT office itself is not. The office waiting room has 2 gender neutral single stall restrooms and a water fountain. I think many signs at UPMC have braille. As far as some of my hospital experiences go, average amount of walking to get from my car to the office. The elevator is close to the garage walkway and the elevator opens right in front of the ENT office.

UPMC Mercy Voice Center/Dr. Libby J. Smith

Dr. Libby J. Smith DO

UPMC Mercy Voice Center

University Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists — Mercy Hospital

Building D, Suite 2100

1400 Locust Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

412-232-3687

What type of medicine does the provider practice?        

Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose, Throat) Specific to Voice Issues

Would you recommend this provider to others?              

 Yes, absolutely.

When was your last visit with the provider          

0-5 months ago.

Why did/do you see this provider?         

 Breathing, speaking, swallowing issues due to unilateral vocal fold paralysis after nerve damage from thyroid cancer surgery.

What was/is your experience making an appointment with this provider?           

My surgeon made the first appointment and other appointments are kind of hard to make unless you make them at the office because UPMC’s system often redirects people to the call center and the call center is really confused about ENTs because there are so many sub specialties. Best ways to get an appointment- message the office through the myupmc.com portal, have your doctor call, or make an appt in person

Was/is the provider affordable?              

UPMC for You Medicaid has me covered but proceed with caution due to all of the feuding.

Please describe your experience with the provider.       

I had to have multiple tests done that were either really uncomfortable or painful including a scope through my nose and down my throat and 2 EMGs where wires were stuck in my neck to test nerve function. Dr. Smith is very direct which I REALLY appreciate. Some doctors had been downplaying the severity of this complication- assuring me everything was fine (when none of it is) and she is just straight up honest. Your nerve doesn’t work and there is only a 5% chance it ever will again.

Even though she is direct she is still really kind and caring. She has to either be family (LGBTQ) or have loved ones who are. She has been kind about trans stuff (though she randomly started using different pronouns at my last visit, but I think it’s because staff was switching them around during my last EMG and that sucked). She lets me ask a million questions and she really knows her stuff. She also gave me a bunch of options and really seemed to believe that my choices were important and the best for me to make.

TL;DR: Direct, honest, caring, intelligent, and helpful with really uncomfortable testing procedures.

 Please describe your experience with the provider’s support staff (if applicable).            

There are a lot of residents, students, and researchers in this place so there are often a LOT of people in the room at times which can be intimidating. I like being part of teaching and research because I am a weird person with a complicated case and I hope it will help future people with complicated struggles. But, it can be tough when there are more people and more possibilities for them to mess everything up.

One of her residents was the first doctor to ever ask my preferred pronouns, the nursing staff is SO KIND and comforting. The front desk staff is nice (but usually busy it’s a busy office.)

What identities do you have?    

Trans (read as different genders all the time), Queer, DFAB, disabled and unable to work, mid-30s, chubby, poor, white, very small support system.

What can you share about this provider’s identities and/or the practice’s affiliations that may be important to their clients?               

They have a transgender specific vocal and respiratory therapist and while I never really wanted vocal coaching for trans issues, they have scheduled me with her which is nice; they know what trans people are but I’m not sure how educated the staff is on the whole aside from being nice, people with a LOT of different medical issues come there and a variety of ages and abilities       White, female, DO, maybe lgbtq- knowledgeable about trans/queer stuff, most of the staff was white people though.

What did you observe or experience about the accessibility of the practice?       

 Mercy hospital has free parking for the 1st 3 hours, most doors, including many restroom doors, are sensor operated and automatic, elevators are accessible, it is a religious hospital but no one has confronted me with anything religious aside from there being some jesus pics in the hallway, the doors to the voice center office are NOT automatic unfortunately, it is not a super far walk from the garage elevator, to the hallway, to the elevator in the hospital, to the office.

Mercy hospital is on Forbes ave bus lines.

I am not sure about language, Deaf/Hoh accessibility.