Sandra Ortiz, MD

I have a 1-year old daughter who developed a croup, when we were out of town on a family vacation. Having two older children who have had croup in the past, I knew that a dose of Prednisone was needed, and would require a prescription. By this time it was after her normal PEDs hours, so I called their on-call service to speak with the doctor on-call that evening to diagnose her symptoms and call in the script.

Dr. Sandra Ortiz (not associated with my daughter’s regular PEDs) called me back and was initially quite helpful. Being out of town, she helped me locate a 24-hour CVS and requested I text her the location on her provided cell number and she would confirm once it was called in. I did and she texted me back right after that the script had been placed.

This is where Dr. Ortiz’s helpfulness ended. Upon arriving at the CVS the pharmacist let me know that the prescription was not filled, because the reception on the phone Dr. Ortiz called on had poor service and they were disconnected. I texted to update Dr. Ortiz that the prescription was in fact never filled and shared the information. Understanding this was her cell phone, I did not want to “abuse” that and left it there thinking she would call right back into the CVS.

After waiting around 30 minutes with no reply, I asked the pharmacist if he was comfortable calling her back to try and complete the prescription. He was, and tried her without success and left a voicemail. I waited another 30-minutes, and still no text back to me or call into the pharmacy. The pharmacist kindly tried her back again, unable to connect and left another voicemail. Since I had not heard back and she did not call in the script, I called the service 3-additional times over the course of my two-hour wait at CVS, and they confirmed the messages were being sent to Dr. Ortiz to call-back.

I eventually left CVS and went back to the hotel room with no medication. Upon returning daughter’s breathing got worse so we had to go to the ER to have her seen. They treated her, and we made it back to the hotel around midnight. The treatment they gave her at the hospital was to last 72-hours, in the meantime they called in a prescription for the Prednisone at my local pharmacy which I could pick up when we went back home the next day. Out of curiosity, I called the out of town CVS around 11:30 pm to see if Dr. Ortiz eventually called them back…she had not.

On our way back home the next day, around 5pm my daughter started to developed that “wheezing” once again and by this time our local pharmacy where the prescription was originally called in by the ER the previous day was closed.

Knowing her PEDs office was closed as well, I called the overnight service yet again to connect with the on-call doctor so they could call in the prescription at my local 24-hour CVS. After sharing all of the information on my daughters symptoms, the service let me know that Dr. Sandra Ortiz would be calling me within 30-minutes to connect.

After waiting an hour, and not receiving a call - I was able to connect with a teladoc through PM Pediatrics and they were able to call in the prescription for us to pick up. As I sit here and write this, it is now 9:25pm (over four hours since I called the service today) and have yet to hear from Dr. Ortiz.

I don’t know the reason why she never called myself, or the CVS back yesterday, or called me back tonight - but I will certainly be letting my daughters regular PEDs office know.

In the end, my daughter received the prescription and help she needed but I wonder if an ER visit and follow-up scramble the following day - could all have been avoided, if Dr. Ortiz simply fulfilled her duties as the on-call doctor this weekend.

Dr. Ortiz has been my 3 Children’s doctor for 23+ years! Her thoroughness, attention details and wellness care for my children is superb. She NEVER RUSHES and
she’s the ONLY doctor I will have my children see in Rockland county! I’m a “doctor snob” and my bar is pretty high, I must say she’s meet all my qualifications and I would not trust anyone else with my children. My oldest child has now aged out of her practice and we’ve since found another doctor. However, she still ask about his well being and I’m ashamed to say I still ask her questions in regards to his health. She’s professional and relatable, she always explains her findings in layman terms. I highly recommend her and I’m grateful for all her amazing work over these last two decades. They don’t make them like her anymore!!!!

Doctor Sandra Ortiz is incredible!!!
I don’t even feel like I’m going to the doctor but family member! Very warm and good atmosphere every time ! I could be really sick and I see doctor Sandra and I feel good again ! Thank You for you’re wonderful hard work !

My daughter's first visit with Dr Sandra Ortiz was in Dec. 2019 for a yearly physical, since her usual doctor retired. Dr. Ortiz was very through, kind, compassionate and knowledgable. Our search for a new primary care doctor. is over, Dr. Ortiz fits the bill!