Elite Pain Management and Recovery Centers - Pain Management in Springfield, Missouri

“I saw all of the reviews on Elite Pain Management and Dr. David Tonkin before I became a patient, but I believe in giving things a chance and not just going off of what others say. But sadly, I never felt heard by Dr. Tonkin, and the bad reviews were almost all true. When I started earlier this year, he immediately passed me off to the nurse practioner. And I adored her. She really seemed to care about the patients and was a ball of sunshine to brighten every day. Then, 2 months ago, I showed up for an appointment and everyone was gone. Just Dr. Tonkin and 1 other person. He said he got everyone else jobs elsewhere and they were just moving to a smaller office. Now it's 1 mostly glass office in an office building, with people walking by just outside, the procedure bed crammed against a glass wall by the glass door and glass windows right next to it. So we went from a clinic with like 10 offices on one side and procedure rooms and a waiting room for them on the other side, to 1 glass office with the procedure bed right in the office. Folks able to watch your procedures, and Dr. Tonkin, the one who doesn't seem to care a lick about us, now taking care of us. We stayed for the nurse's care, not his lack thereof. And now, to top it all off, THEY'RE ONLY OPEN BY APPOINTMENT, and their voicemail box stays full. Meaning that while I've been calling for over 3 weeks trying to tell them that I was in a rollover car accident and get care for it, they haven't a clue. Do your research. Read articles, information, and reviews on both the Dr and the facility before going. Read or listen to how he speaks about patients, their health, pain, and his perception of those, and see how other patients that have been in his care have felt and what they've reported, from how people feel unheard, not taken care of, pressured, and retaliation. 1 or 2 people you can ignore. But so many.....??”

— yesimpossible86

“First let me say I would not even give them one star if it wasn't required to leave review, and I want to address the positive reviews you might find on here. They are likely not accurate and basically done after being pressured to write a review. I can tell you from my experience I was asked numerous times to write a review because they wanted to get more patients. As I don't have a ton of time, nor was I comfortable with giving them a raving review based on my experience, I just informed them I would do it when I had time. After saying this for several months, I was leaving an appointment and went to receptionist to get my next appointment date, and was handed a piece of paper and was told I needed to write out my review so they could put it online, then she would give me my appointment!! Basically I couldn't get follow up appointment until I wrote out the review they wanted! So if it happened to my sister and I, I am pretty sure it was done to others. Be very cautious!! These ppl act like they care about patients but you are just another dollar to line their pockets, until you push back when things aren't done according to their own policy's and procedures! Then you are discharged with no notice, no meds, assuring you have follow up care, or at the very least giving you information to obtain follow up care. They use the old stand by..."if you are having problems, go to the nearest emergency room!" Obviously not the help anyone needs as typically we are smart enough to know if we need "emergency care" we need to go to ER. Always watch every step of their urinalysis drug screen because they are very sloppy with this process! Always ask to see that YOUR name is on the label that goes on your sample! They are bad about sitting UA cup on counter with others and walking away. Also, you will be required to sign paperwork that states the Elite is the only office that can prescribe pain medication, with few exceptions, however when you have another doctor needing to put you on life saving medications that could have negative reaction with the certain pain medication you are taking, Elite refuses make changes, although it would only have to be a limited amount of time. The physician actually sent all the information regarding the medications, potential reaction, time frame, and listed potential alternative medications. But because of Dr. Tonkins inflated ego, he just stated that if this doctor wasn't happy with current pain management, then let him prescribe what was needed. He actually had the office staff call and report this, so I asked for this in writing just to cover myself in case anything was said in the future, due to the pain contract we had been required to sign. Instead of getting that letter, I received an immediate discharge notice. So think really hard before deciding you want to be treated by someone who don't even care that they could kill you, just because it's easier to be a smart ass!”

— Audrey

“All Doctor David Tonkin does is talk about expensive stuff he wants, trash talking other doctors and how he did this or that better than them in school, push suboxone incessantly, push radiofrequency ablation, and make excuses for why he hasn't gotten your spinal cord stimulator approved or your nerve blocks done in months and months and months (always more excuses while he makes more appointments to take your money, of course), records are erroneous, or for why there is literally no medication that you can be put on, except suboxone of course. If you look hard enough you can find videos and interviews by Doctor David Tonkin talking about how all patients want to talk about is their pain as if we're merely petulant children inconveniencing him, rather than patients paying him to take our health care, yes, including our pain, seriously. Just because you specialize in addiction doesn't mean everyone you encounter is an addict. First do no harm includes the harm caused by NOT providing proper care because you just automatically assume and try to find reasons to label them and force them on suboxone or other medications, because you never take people's pain seriously. We look for a pain management doctor to tell us what is hurting, why we're hurting, how to fix it, how to manage the pain until we get to the more long-term fixes, etc.. What kind of doctor goes into managing pain just to whine about pain patients being in.....oh I dunno, pain??? That's like whining and complaining that all cancer patients care about is their cancer. Duh. Common sense. Search David Tonkin, MD and read reviews, news pages, Instagram & Facebook and check image searches. Just make sure you read up on him well before subjecting yourself to his care.”

— GNP Medic

“Patient Warning Elite doesn't care about patients or their lives. They will cancel appointments on a whim. This is the most unprofessional company I have ever dealt with. The owner/doctor clearly has a "better-than-thou" attitude, looking down on patients. Beware--ask your provider to refer you elsewhere.”

— Bradley Thompson