Well, once again I find myself disappointed with the U. C. Davis Medical Group. We have multiple options for medical groups to join since I am a U. C. Davis employee. Originally, I joined the U. C. Davis group but have since left due to incredibly poor treatment by their system (surprising, given that I am a Professor in the U. C. Davis Medical School, but nevermind that for now).
Now today was the last straw in a long series of annoyances so I am going public with it. My wife had a Dr's appointment with Steve Oliver of the U. C. Davis group here in Davis. Her appointment was at 10 AM. They even called a few nights ago to remind us. So - I stayed at home with our 2 year old and our 4 month old. My wife rushed off, stressed about ditching the 4 month old since he had not eaten at the regular time and she was worried about him getting too hungry while she was gone (we avoid taking kids to Drs offices whenever possible).
So she showed up for her appointment a little early. And then she waited and waited. Finally she went up to the counter and asked what was going on. The receptionist flippantly told her that her appointment was actually at 10:30 but that they tell people it is earlier than it really is because many people are late. In other words, they lie to the patients. I am simply stunned by this. Yes people are late for things. So develop some system to punish the late ones or reward the early ones. But lying to your patients is pathetic. I am once again embarassed to be associated with this system, even if peripherally. So - we are now going to switch to the Sutter group - which I have had great experiences with.
Hi-
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your blog. I have 2 stories about UC Davis medical group that I would like to share.
1) A few weeks ago I had a 4pm appointment with my primary care physician. when I arrived for my appointment I was told that my doctor was running behind but they would take me to an examination room where I could wait. I sat in the exam room and waited and waited and eventually fell asleep. I woke up at 5:40pm got up and walked out of the exam room only to find that everyone was gone!Lights were out,
desks were straightened up, chairs were put away and there I was alone in the office. Luckily I was not locked in!!!So, I went home.
Did anyone from the office call to find out why I had not been seen or what happened? NO!!!!!
2)Last week I had a bike accident and went to the ER with a knee injury.The ER doctor told me I had a possible fracture and needed to see my primary care physician for a referral to an orthopedist.So,the next day I see my physician, she says she will put in for a referral and call me back that day with the final x-ray report.Well,5 days later I have not heard from her, I have no referral, and I my husband and I are spending our time fighting through the red tape to get the referral.During this time, the ER doctor had called and confirmed the fracture and told me I needed to see an orthopedist ASAP as the longer I wait the more damage can be done to my knee. My husband has taken 4 days off from work, I am bedridden and cannot walk. We have issued a complaint and are still waiting for the referral. We have emailed, called, called and left messages, and called to issue a formal complaint.
My doctor does not work on Mondays so I am now at the mercy of the on-call doctor.
Thank you for your story and the opportunity to vent.
I am pretty stunned by your story and my experiences. We switched everyone in our family to the Sutter Medical Group and it has all been great so far. My personal Dr., Jamie Saben, is the best I have ever had, including Drs when Iw as a student at Harvard and Stanford. The only negative is that Saben just moved to San Diego but I am sure that I will find a replacement that is good there. As importantly, they treat patients with respect.
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeletejust reading your blog about dr. saben. my brother and his family recently moved to san diego, do you know of dr.saben's practice so that i could pass on the info.
no clue about where he is headed specifically but you could call the sutter west medical group to get a forwarding address
ReplyDeletei tried, but theres no information they can give for some reason. the lady who answer the phone was very rude. im not sure i'd want to go there...
ReplyDeleteHi, your story although as you said pathetic isn't as shocking to me or ,I gather, to most who have experienced U.C. Davis Medical Group as well as many other health providers in the northern California area. I am in Sacramento and have suffered due to incompetence, rudeness, and, simply lack of understanding and caring from U.C. Davis and most recently Mercy Medical Group.
ReplyDelete1. When I was 10 give or take a year or so I fell from my bike which was a normal occurrence for me. However, this time I seemed to have landed in a way that caused a serious gash in my leg my mother knew I need stitches so she took me to the U.C. Davis emergency room which is about ten minutes away. At the time U.C. Davis was our medical group. The "doctor" in formed me when she saw me it wouldn't hurt that she had done it before many many times before, even boasted that her most recent patient said he hadn’t felt a thing. Being young and never had stitches I put my faith in her. It most absolutely hurt and despite the many shots of numbing drugs I felt ever stitch. After about ten minutes of pain my mother told the "doctor" what was going on she dismissed it. She was much to busy with other things apparently the thread she was using was breaking. She was using the wrong kind of thread for the size of the cut. Finally after many attempts to stitch close the wound she said to my mother "Let me go get the doctor" and left the room. My mother was horrified to find out that this was merely a student or intern it was never really clear what her exact title was simply that she was not the doctor. The doctor came in and watched over the rest of the stitching. Allowing the intern/student to finish her “work”. About two weeks later I went to my regular PCP and he said that they were the oddest stitches he had ever seen and that the scare would be three time large then it should of been. However, my PCP who was also a U.C. Davis doctor didn't seem to care all that much and sort of laughed it off. The gravity of the situation didn't hit me until I was much older my leg now gives out a lot and I have a large scar with lines through it that some one rudely remarked reminded them of Frankenstein. Thanks to U.C. Davis for that.
2. My mother finally tired of the terrible services U.C. Davis gave us switched to Mercy Medical group. Where to begin with them? Basically put because of Mercy I now fear the doctor completely instead of just the emergency room. With Mercy you often get these seemingly sadistic doctors who when you tell them your back hurts push on your back harder then seems necessary to understand the word pain in your definition. Which brings me to the point just today My sister when to Urgent Care for her back she was in extricating pain. she waits for 30 minutes in a room which puzzled her since the ugent care was a ghost town hardly any cares in the parking lot. When the doctor finally comes in he doesn't look at her at all only the computer screen. He does a series of tests. Most seem normal until he holds her around the waist and pushes his fist in to her back until she starts crying. She tells him it hurts! that hurts really bad! But he continues until she can not control her tears.......All I can say is I wish I had been in that room......He then tells her its a Sciatica. He does not explain how she could of gotten it what it is you know all those helpful things that could prevent her from agitating it further. Then calls her a couch potato several times in a rambling of sentences that make little sense......my sister is 24 and deals with health insurance for a living and she will never go to the doctor again....... This is what we pay a co pay and insurance for? What’s the point? Who is training these people? I feel sometimes as if the next thing is they will say we need to bleed you with leaches. Thanks so much for your story trying to find someone else with a complaint or message board to talk to others with complaints is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I am glad Sutter is working for you maybe we should switch to.
I have had a very bad experience with Sutter West at Davis and will not recommend then to anyone from UC Davis community. They first lost my results then will not give me an appointment. In fact they keep me on hold for 35 mins in 3 calls so I can talk to the manager only to be told that she is not avaiable to talk. At this point I think are among the worst service providers I have come across so far. So Davis Sutter Medical Family Practise is a big NO for me.
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