Urology: Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation: Orinda

May 2023

Whose idea was it to mash together urgent care + radiology + ob/gyn? When I arrived there was a pre-teen continually vomiting violently into a bucket in the same waiting area as a bunch of pregnant ladies and people getting cancer screenings. I could see it being in the same building---fine--but this should *not* be the same waiting area! And there were only 2 admins for those 3 offices, so check in was as slow as molasses. It was 15 minutes in line before you can even talk to a person behind the desk. This represents the worst of what medicine is becoming.

Mar 2023

The admin and support staff often verges on amazing incompetence. This location is being grossly mismanaged. You can't talk to anyone who actually has any information; they just leave vague useless voicemails and use a phone system that keeps your phone from ringing so you can't tell when they're calling you so that you can actually talk to them. You spend more time talking to their new stupid phonebot system than anyone who does anything other than take messages for other people you're trying to talk to. You can't trust the information you're given by support staff. One doctor assistant actually lied to me about my blood pressure telling me it was 120/80 right after measuring it when I knew for a fact I had hypertension and had measured my pressure just an hour beforehand. The doctor retook my pressure and it wasn't even close to 120/80. Another one once reported to me that my bone density scan was healthy and normal. When I received the written report, after having to request it, it reported that I had osteopenia, the precursor to osteoporosis. The lab doesn't keep regular hours and repeatedly closes early due to staffing shortages. Recently, it took me 3 trips from Concord to Orinda to get a blood draw and then they didn't mail me the results even though I did all they asked to ensure that they would. This is not the first time that's happened. I saw my primary care doctor Stephanie Singson for an annual physical recently. Within ten minutes she was telling me she had another patient to see and kept trying to give me the bum's rush even though there wasn't even any time involved for a Pap smear or breast exam. They don't allow even ten minutes for an so-called annual exam? I've been trying for a week to get a physical therapy referral from the support staff for an injury Dr. Singson already knew about but no one will tell me when it will be processed or why it's being delayed. Even though a doctor can generate a referral within minutes if you're there in person, if you request the referral by phone even after the doctor knows about the request, there's a "referral department" requests have to go through even when there's no advance insurance approval needed and they take many days for what I don't know. They once delayed an urgent request for a brain MRI waiting for Medicare approval even though Medicare advance approval for MRIs is not needed.