Ucla Health Santa Monica Obgyn's Online Review Report Card

I had an appointment scheduled with the UCLA menopause clinic, which I waited over a year for. They sent me a survey required for the appointment, and I didn't get a reminder from my chart to fill out the survey, so I missed filing it out, and the office canceled my appointment. Despite many many phone calls from me, I have not been able to reschedule and have not even been able to get transferred to the menopause clinic or get a call back to reschedule. Another office said the menopause clinic could not return calls for 3-4 weeks. I would advice going to cedars or elsewhere that at least returns calls

I’m 10 weeks pregnant and trying to get patient-centered care at UCLA has been a nightmare. I assume they are overwhelmed with patients because LA is such a massive city but it truly feels like a factory trying to get through pregnant people and deliveries as quickly as possible, regardless of how it makes the patient feel. First of all, forget about being able to call and speak with front desk staff at your provider’s actual location. UCLA has a centralized phone number with representatives who can only pass on messages to front desk staff. These representatives are otherwise completely lacking in knowledge about how anything works at UCLA. Case in point, my experience. From the beginning, I was hoping to obtain care from one of UCLA’s midwives but was told by a rep from UCLA’s call center I could only see a midwife after meeting with an OBGYN. I said okay and the person scheduled with a doctor out of the Westwood location and the earliest I could be seen is at 10 weeks (!!!!). After going to the appt in Westwood, I call the central phone # again to make an appt with a midwife and am told that actually, I need ANOTHER appt with a dr at the Santa Monica location because the appt with the Westwood location basically “didn’t count” as care needed to be established with a Dr at the Santa Monica location. If this is the policy, why in the world was I scheduled with a dr in Westwood AFTER I had said I want to work with a midwife? Now, I have to see a different dr at 16 weeks and then can only see a midwife at 24 weeks because my 20 week appt has to be with a specialist (which I understand), but this means that I won’t be able to establish care with a midwife until well over halfway into my pregnancy. I am then also informed that the appt with the midwife will be with any midwife who works there and that I may not request a specific provider as the midwives only work 2/5 days and they rotate shifts. The same applies for day of delivery, it will be whoever is available/on call. So basically, it’s impossible to establish a relationship and consistent care with one provider. You better be okay with potentially having a bunch of complete strangers on one of the scariest, most difficult days of your life! The whole thing is a great example of how crappy, impersonal and gross healthcare is in this country. It’s no wonder the US has the highest maternal mortality rate out of all developed nations. If you want to feel like cattle at a factory, UCLA is the place for you! If you want personalized, patient-centered care look elsewhere.

I highly recommend Dr. Kathryn Goldrath for her depth of up-to-date knowledge, technical skills as a surgeon, and her sincere concern for the wellbeing and desired outcome of her patients. I went to Dr. Goldrath after over a decade putting off needed surgery because I lacked confidence in my doctors. Dr. Goldrath gained my trust by explaining both my condition and her suggested treatments thoroughly, bringing up concerns and issues that no previous doctors had mentioned, and giving thorough explanations for her methodology. She also encouraged questions and took my feelings and preferences seriously. On the day of my surgery each member of Dr. Goldrather's team introduced themselves to me and interacted with me as an individual rather than a patient. I credit Dr. Goldrath's attention to detail and deft handling of issues that arose during the surgery for my smooth recovery. I cannot recommend Dr. Goldrath highly enough - I wish that I had found her sooner. The administrative staff and billing department were at times problematic and were a paint to deal with, but it was worth it for the outcome.

Today was one of the worst experiences I've ever had with any of Ucla's medical departments. I had an appointment scheduled at 11 AM.. I drove for an hour and 45 minutes from Pasadena. I called at 11:05 saying that I was two minutes away. I was told that it would be fine to come on in once I parked and got to the elevator. It was out of order so after flying down three flights of stairs I got into the office at 11:22. I was told by a nurse named Sylvia that unfortunately I would not be able to be seen. She was very rude and short. I explained to her how far I had driven and that I am there due to fibroids. I am having anywhere from 2 to 3 periods a month. I also explained that I was willing to wait however long it took to be seen. She then proceeded to tell me that there was nothing she could do and then like I was a child said that I needed to be more considerate of the other patients time and the doctors time. At that point, she handed me some papers and told me that she had already rescheduled me in Marina del Rey Marina del Rey is even further from my home and she didn't even ask me if I was available on that day, she was so rude and insensitive she made me cry. I would have been within the 15 minute grace period. If the elevators were working.. now I have to wait an additional month and a half to be seen. What a waste of gas, time, and parking money just to be treated like a child.. I hope I never have to go back to that office. You would think something as serious as fibroids, multiple periods, and passing out due to blood loss would be cause for a little flexibility. Apparently not! I'd like to assume that the rest of the staff is not as insensitive as Sylvia but I do feel sorry for any patient that have serious medical issues that have to come through that office because clearly it is being run by someone who does not care.

I've waited for a call back for months from any OBGYN in UCLA menopause care team. All I get are weekly automated calls telling me to call to schedule an appointment. Every single time I call, I don't speak with anyone from the menopause care program, only different receptionists saying they'll leave a message that it's high priority but every single time, nothing happens. It's exhausting, frustrating and making me want to leave UCLA all together. I keep holding out hope something will change because I have all my doctors at UCLA. It's a lot of work to change all my doctors but sadly, that is what I'm probably going to need to do. Not getting a call back from an actual live person for months in unacceptable. I've been going to an urgent care because UCLA is not providing care. I've been more than patient. At this point I'm getting angry.

Dr. Ginn may have saved my life and he doesn't even know it! I am soo thankful for the medical professionals here. I was treated like a princess and felt so much better after my endometriosis (laproscopy) surgery. I am less than a week post op but I can already tell that Dr. Ginn and his team got everything and did it with pride + care. My prayers have finally been answered. THANK YOU! PS: Anyone who wants to chat about this bc they have endo or might have it, my reddit is thatssooalyssa, you can also come join the r/endometriosis group for info and support! <3 PPS: Pro tip, if you don't want to deal with parking medi-cal has a free service for transport to any/all medical appts, prescription picks up etc, "Call The Car" is the name of the program, you schedule for a free uber/lyft ride to and from. If you don't have medi-cal your other insurance may have a free transportation program so def work checking too!

I recently gave birth, and I'm so grateful to have had Dr. Chiang as my OB throughout my pregnancy. He always took the time to truly listen to my concerns, answer all my questions, and make sure I felt informed and supported every step of the way. The office staff is also professional, friendly, and very easy to talk to. I highly recommend Dr. Chiang and his team!

Just had our first visit with Ramneek K. Rana, MD and she was so nice. The front desk lady was so nice can't ask for anything more. She explained all the phases my wife and I can expect for appointments what to do/avoid and how their hospital works. The only sad news is they're not a private practice so who your OB physician is for pregnancy may not be the one doing the delivery as they're on call with a rotation for deliveries for when you go into labor.

The actual people were average, but 3$ per 12 mins for parking with max at 30 means your average appointment will cost you $21. Unbelievable scam. One might say not UCLA’s fault. But they have the ability to provide validation or just not associate with such a greedy business.

Dr Amy Stoddard and staff, the most useless and unhelpful office I have ever visited. Waited almost a year for the menopause clinic, they don't prescribe hormone replacement and basically say they can't help cause it's not FDA approved. So why are you taking appointments? To give me an estrogen cream? That every gyno can prescribe? Even testosterone gel that is covered by insurance took 4 months because they didn't know how to submit it correctly. And when you call they say it will take a few weeks to get resubmitted cause they are lazy, when blue shield says they can authorize it in 24 hours. It's like they go out of their way to be useless and unhelpful. They refer you to a neurologist for additional cognitive testing, that will take another 2-3 months to a schedule cause they don't know how to submit a referral and give you the telephone number for an MS clinic! The amount of incompetence is shocking!