Albany Medical Group
5915 B Hollis Street Emeryville, CA 94608 Phone: (510) 525-2400
Archived Q&A and Reviews
March 2010
Re: Doctor in Berkeley Area?
My husband likes Michael Lewis at the Albany Medical Group. Office is towards the bottom of Solano. He diagnosed a minor heart defect by listening to his heart beat. Husband, 35, was born with it but no doctor ever listened carefully enough. Never feels rushed. Alison
Feb 2009
Re: New doctor for weekend warrior
My primary care physician would fit your bill, though he's in Albany at the Albany Medical Group on Solano near San Pablo. His name is Michael Lewis, and he has not only put up with my athletic excesses into middle age but has assured me that keeping up the cardio health and weight control are very desirable outcomes of the excesses. And he has referred me to excellent sports specialists, etc. a weekend woman warrior
Oct 2008
Re: HealthNet primary care doc you love?
I love Jo Marie Munnich, M.D. of the Albany Medical Group on Solano in Albany. So do both my grown daughter and my husband. And she takes Healthnet. Her number is 510-525-2400. (Press zero if you want to bypass the general info the second time you call.) She is a lovely, helpful and terrific primary care doctor.
Oct 2008
Re: HealthNet primary care doc you love?
I spent a long time searching for a good doctor participating in HealthNet HMO and I can recommend the doctor - Nelson Bunin - I finally settled on. He is with Albany Medical Group at 1181 Solano Ave. I have only had one visit thus far - a new patient visit - but he spent a lot of time reviewing my medical history and discussing the concerns I had at that time. I found him to be both thorough and competent. He has since followed up with several telephone conversations to discuss various issues. Compared to my previous primary care provider, I would rate him as outstanding and would certainly recommend him to others. Dawn
May 2007
Re: Peditrican who takes Blue Cross
I know a fantastic family practitioner in Albany (on Solano) who may take BlueCross. I love Dr Janet Ewing because she really listened. She paid attention to what I said not just about my symptoms but my concerns and fears as well. I saw her for 6 years before I moved to Los Angeles. I even continued going to her when I moved from Berkeley to Fremont. If you look for building a relationship with your doctor, shes the one you want. I cannot say enough good things about her knowledge, diagnostic abilities and bedside manner!! Vaiju
July 2005
I was hoping to get some more recommendations/advice on Albany Medical Group. Only Michael Lewis and Nelson Bunin are accepting new patients right now and the BPN does not have much info on these 2.
BlueCrossPPO patient looking for a PCP
My husband and I have been patients of Dr. Lewis, our primary care physician, for several years. We both find him to be a sensitive and sympathetic yet down-to-earth and pragmatic listener who prefers non-intrusive treatment. He can be strong in his opinions, but he does give the patient full information and allow for patient choices. We were sufficiently impressed with him to decide to make him our son's primary care physician as well. Linda
Dr. Michael Lewis has been my doctor for the last 2-3 years, and I have been overall very happy with his care. He has been receptive to my concernes and, since I tend to stay away from medications as much as possible, has, when feasible, suggested non ''pills'' approaches. I also never felt rushed during the visits and able to ask all the questions I have. I often wait in the ante-room for a while beyond my appt. time (something I'm not too happy about it), however I decided that's something I can live with given I feel positive about his care. giulia
Sept. 2004
Re: Primary Care for my (stubborn) husband
I highly recommend Dr. Michael Lewis on Solano Ave. in Albany. I recently signed on with him as my primary care physician, had a complete physical (first time in many years) and have been very pleased. I am now going to send my husband to Dr. Lewis (like your spouse, my husband hasn't seen a doctor in 10 years....) Dr. Lewis has a great bedside manner, is very thorough, straight forward --- it would be worth checking out if he takes your insurance.
April 2004
Re: Alta Bates Med Group - Primary Care Doctor
I'd like to recommend Jo Marie Munnich on Solano in Albany. I was with another doctor in the practice there and one day had the fortune of seeing her, instead. She's got a very nice, reassuring manner and she assumes you're interested in your body/condition/causes/therapy and explains everything. I switched over to her as a PCP and am very happy with her as well as any referrals she has to make. Karen
I have been seeing Dr. Jo Marie Munnich at Albany Medical Group on Solano Avenue for a few years. She is caring and spends time answering questions. Dr. Munnich is open to and knowledgeable about alternative healing methods, and is also up to date with the most current research in western medicine. I highly recommend her. mc
Sept 2002
Re: Woman GP
I can highly recommend Jo Marie Munnich for an MD. My husband had originally found her, and when my own doctor left HealthNet I decided to give her a try. I have never had a doctor call me so many times in follow-up to sick visits! She is young, enthusiastic and genuinely concerned for the well-being of her patients. She has no problem saying she is unfamiliar with a situation and then she immediately researches it and comes up with options. I really feel like she is working as a partner with me in my health care. I have also been pleased with the office staff and the other doctors in the practice. Last year I was quite sick and the physician on call had me come in on Saturday and then he called that evening and twice on Sunday to check on me. Feel free to contact me via email if you would like more detail. Natasha
I've been going to Jo Marie Munnich for about a year now and have been thoroughly pleased with her. She really takes the time to get to know you, your concerns, and listens to you. She really went out of her way to follow up on something for me. I would definitely recommend her. Alison
Aug 2002
Michelle Tam was assigned to me by Blue Cross when my doctor stopped taking insurance. I saw her once and thought she was friendly and intelligent. She is very young--was wearing jeans and tennis shoes--and shares her office with another doctor and no other staff, from what I could see. Parking is easy around her office. My husband's concern (he had to switch doctors also) was that as an immigrant she might not be sensitive to lifestyle issues which are culturally dependent. As an example, I had my 3 week old daughter with me and Dr. Tam assumed I was bottle feeding her. Recent statistics show that over 60% of new mothers in the US breastfeed so she shouldn't aotomatically assume I was bottle feeding her. Fran
1998
I am very happy with my primary care physician, Dr. Michael Lewis. His office is on Solano Ave. in Albany. He belongs to ABMG. He is a wonderful doctor and a very pleasant person. I had been seeing him for about 5 years. Tatiana
My husband and I have been patients at this practice for many years (more than ten, anyway), and have no complaints with the medical care we've received. Up until fairly recently, we visited the office weekly for me to receive allergy injections, so we're pretty familiar with the operation as well as the medical staff. Our physician is Nelson Bunin, whose easy-going, soft-spoken, non-interventionist style suits us just fine.
There's at least one other doctor in the practice (Michael Lewis) whom we also like. In addition to the two MDs I've mentioned, there's another Michael (Smith), and a woman whose name I can't remember.
The office administration used to be pretty chaotic (more than once, I witnessed patients arriving for appointments that they were then told were on some other day), but has improved. (I suspect the wages paid to the employees are sufficiently low to create less-than-happy employees.) The people who take care of the front desk (including the physicians' assistants, in a job-sharing sort of scheme), are all very friendly, and really grew to love my son, who was born during the time I was getting injections and so was seen by them weekly from birth until he was 2 1/2 and began preschool. He was sort of a mascot, and he loved them, too, especially Angel, the receptionist. Alexis
There is a definite connection between statins & gout, but your current doctor may have reasons for thinking the two not related in your husband's case.
In any event, I highly recommend Nelson Bunin of the Albany Medical Group [still so named although the office is now in Emeryville]: http://albanymedicalgroup.com/
I'm very happy with him. It may be statins for me some day, but we talk the pros and cons each visit, and it's my call.