cCARE

This was my second chemo infusion center after being seen, or shall I say neglected my oncologist at UCI (Uni Cal Irvine) where I expected better. I ended up hospitalized with no immune system and an infection because of his lackadaisical attitude and not drawing blood after I ran a fever for days. Are you kidding?! My oncologist here, who was on call at my local hospital, Dr. Bessudo, is caring and on top of my care. He gave me his cell phone a direct extension to his MA. The nurses who do my infusions here are very attentive and I had a waaaay better experience for my second and third infusions! I understand the that communication between 4 or 5 offices and their personnel can be difficult, and I gave them 4 stars for that reason. I have had to call twice before getting my response at times, but this is not the norm.
Remember, most the oncologists here serve multiple infusion centers for our convenience. You have to understand in this day and age, you need be advocate yourself, and if the person didn’t get the message or got so many, that they had to prioritize who they called back first– so be it. I call again later that day or next day. I’m pushy like that, but polite and it always works out well.
The only drawback to this office, is that the infusions chairs are a bit close together as it’s a busy smallish office, so not a ton of privacy. I try to be open to what will come way way each time and have met some very nice patients who I’ve enjoyed visiting with, and it makes the time pass quicker. If I want privacy, I pull out my iPad and people respect that (you can even bring earplugs and nap). I will close my review with this… don’t be fooled by fancy offices with privacy a nice view (like at my first center), if you’re doctor sucks, none of that matters! It apparently doesn’t even matter that UCI is a top cancer center in California, it’s all about the your individual provider and the relationship you build with them. I have been extremely happy with my oncologist and the cCARE team. I would not let the first two reviews dissuade you, you will get great care here!

Sadly must agree with the other two reviews. My father has multiple myeloma and has had so much trouble from almost all of the employees of this clinic. Considering patients here are suffering from cancer, one would think the office would be on top of communications with patients as time really does matter… not as if we are talking elective treatments here… but the staff and our Dr. Have been miserable at this. The Dr. Also does not look at records before meeting with the patient, nor does he even seem to know the patients name. Everything is dire. Never optimistic and always pitying instead of supporting. Phone calls are not returned in a timely manner if at all. The only bright spot is the the gal who draws blood for testing who seems honestly caring and professional. If you have another choice before you begin treatment, I would highly suggest going elsewhere.

I found and omission in my medical record — of a positive scan (Feb 2014) that was never documented in notes by my oncologist (Dr Eisenberg) as of Sept 3^rd 2014 he hid these results from me. In July I had another scan (requested by me) !!! showed positive nodes. By July they were bigger and brighter. In JULY he finally called me to get treated because the radiologist called him to discuss which node to biopsy.
after canceling my July appointment (the doctor cancelled it) the Dr never told me that I had a positive scan in February He made me wait until August to get and appointment.
Therefore no interval review was ever done on the February to July scans for interval change The medical record in August had no mention of previous February scan.
I found out by accident when I got a copy of my medical record for a second opinion.
When I asked him about why he never informed me of my February scan results, during March, April, May, June, July, or August — he blamed me and told me it was my responsibility to get the results
The nurse practitioner stood by in the room and told me the standard of care was that I was responsible to get my results. If I never came in they never had to call me. Perfectly acceptable done all the time and applied to all of their patients
This business is now called cCARE and the CEO is Troy Simon
Unprofessional and actually life threatening care.
It is so hard to get anything done here that I need for my care and the unlicensed medical assistants that are handing my requests and won’t let me speak to my doctor
It is so difficult to get appointments. This has been such a stressful place to try to get care.
After all this I got a copy of his note from my last visit and even though I asked many medical questions about his plan of care for me there was nothing medical in the note at all just reiterated how «non compliant» I am. All this because he just missed a scan and could have just said he was sorry. Over the last several years he has told me repeatedly «I care about you» but I always had to reply «That means nothing if you don’t take care of me»

Zero Stars.
I’ve never post a negative review before, but I was so compelled to warn people about this place because the majority of patients that will consider cCare are cancer patients who are fighting for thier life. If you are fighting for your life, this is NOT the place you want to be.
The employees who work at this Doctor’s office are awful. They do not follow up, they do not return phone calls, they are NOT helpful, they act like you are putting THEM out, they are rude, they do not work on your case unless you call and bug them, and they make excuses.
There is not enough space to tell you the laundry list of issues I have had. So I will share this; during my course of treatment at cCare I have waited 7 days for a return phone call, never got it. I then called to follow up (about not hearing back) I spoke to a rude lady who in the course of one 2 minute phone call lied to me, tried to refer me to another Doctor and basically just wanted to get me off of her phone. It wasn’t until I got upset that she did anything to help me. She then accomplished in 10 minutes what she originally told me she couldn’t do.
After that I waited 10 days for a follow up call that I was promised… never got it. After waiting patiently for 10 days to hear back about an RX Insurance Authorization (takes 24 – 48 hours), I had to call. When I did, I insisted on talking to a manager. I was told by the «unit manager» they «dropped the ball» and never submitted it in the first place. All of this while I lay in pain and can’t sleep.
My Radiology Oncologist even told me that SHE couldn’t even get a hold of my cCare doctor through the staff, and had to call him directly on his personal line. SO SO SO BAD. Please do yourself a favor and don’t go here.