California Pacific Medical Center

I delivered here and had a good experience. All the nurses were great, some better than others but overall a good experience. Nurses that I can remember who made my time as comfortable as possible were Laylani (sweetest nurse ever and knowledgable), Tatiana, Priscilla. I enjoyed seeing them everyday that I stayed at CPMC. The food was pretty good for hospital food– a lot of healthy options to choose from. All the doctors and anesthesiologist (Dr Younger) were amazing! The only bad things I have to say is the rooms are really small– not really good for visitors, and the lactation consultants were not good! After my nurse put an order in for me the first day, I figured I would see one soon. I stayed in total 5 days and 4 nights. I had to wait until day 4 to see a consultant despite asking every day when my time would come! I was told that because I was in the hospital longer than other moms I wasn’t as high a priority! I had no milk, had to supplement, and no one even told me to use a pump until day 4! When the lactation consultant came in on day 4 (an older lady with short grey hair) she was completely dismissive and spent a total of 5 minutes with me because my baby had to be taken to the nursery when she walked in! She said that because they had to change his diaper I would have to wait until tomorrow and someone else would see me! All she did was tell me I need to pump (someone should have told me this a few days earlier) and wouldn’t even show me how to use one. All she did was bring in the pump and walk away! I had to ask my nurse how to pump. So on my final day a young blonde lady came in for 10 minutes to check on me, but was pretty much useless and told me things that all the great nurses had already educated me on (in particular Laylani)!!
Overall a positive experience for all the doctors and nurses, but minus one star for the poor service I received from the lactation consultants.

I had surgery on March 1^st 2016. I had to pay before the surgery and they mistakenly overcharged me $ 500. They have since owned up that they made a mistake, but here it is three months later and I have not seen one penny. They sure took my money in a New York minute, and now they’re holding onto it as tightly as if it were their last penny… uh, that would be MY last penny. It’s unfortunate that instead of doing what is right, they’re blindsided by greed. I’ll be surprised if I ever see my money again.
Word of caution, before any procedure go over the cost with a fine tooth comb.

I never write reviews, but this is absurd. I first went to a doctor appointment where he saw me for roughly 5 minutes, did manual muscle testing, and sent me to xray/​MRI. I did the cost estimator on United Healthcare’s website and in the surrounding area, an xray would cost me about $ 75. I decided to go ahead with the xray and skip the MRI since the estimate was ~ 1500. The xray took about 90 seconds to complete and that is being generous.
I was billed $ 550 for the xray. I have been trying to fight this bill for months now, and they have been nothing but rude and unhelpful. They claim that that was an estimate but they don’t put their prices on the cost estimator. To me, that is fraudulent.
I am a healthcare worker (therapist) by background and it is sickening to me that I can’t afford an xray.

CPMC has a nasty habit of overcharging/​upcharging on the most basic procedures, just because they can. This article on New York Times sums it up well:
Case in point: last year, my daughter was diagnosed with (a mild case of) walking pneumonia by her pediatrician. She was referred to CPMC — where the doctor had admissions privileges — who immediately placed her in an emergency room and ran a whole battery of tests. We questioned whether ER and some of the tests were necessary, but they insisted. On the way out, we were asked by the cashier to pay the bill «in full» (so they represented), which we did.
A few months later, we received *three* additional bills: one from CPMC for the outstanding balance (?!), and two from a 3^rd party lab and an independent physician. WTF… I thought we paid the bill in full already? We decided to pay the lab and physician bills, but the additional bill from CPMC is completely arbitrary and unwarranted. Since then, nobody at CPMC or its parent company, Sutter Health, has been able to explain exactly what the additional charges are for, even after repeated attempts. Many months later, we continue to battle with the hospital network and their collections company…
We can corroborate with the NYT article: do yourself a favor and AVOID CPMC /​Sutter Health at all costs, if you can help it. (UCSF is a much better option, as an example.)

Review is for the ambulatory surgery wing in One East where I had surgery and spent an overnight a few nights ago. From the check in staff to the OR staff to the after care nurses and assistants my stay was excellent. The post op rooms on the first floor seem to be private, and I found that to be the best thing. So my husband was able to stay the night with me on a cot that the staff provided willingly. Also the rooms and attached bathrooms seem to have been recently renovated so everything was clean and modern. All of my attending nurses were on top of my care from my IV meds to my needing ice replaced in my ice bag. And the food was actually quite good and was brought up in relatively good time.
All in all I totally recommend CPMC One East if one has to have ambulatory surgery.

I had 2 surgeries here in 2014 and delivered a baby in 2015. My overall experience is positive. Their physicians are very knowledgable and professional. Their nurses are very polite and caring. Their rooms are very clean and doesn’t smell like bleach. The one star taken was for their billing department which was a pain to deal with but so as most medical provider’s billing department. I would comment on them using out of network contractor though. We received «surprise bills» from some unknown physician who claimed they had assisted with the delivery. I called my insurance company and they fixed it. I am not sure why they would bill the patient directly without billing my insurance first, but I would prefer them talk to my insurance provider first before sending me thousands of dollar of their bills.

I would give this hospital 0 stars if possible. My cousin passed away here. The nurses act like they don’t give a shit about their patients or job. You have to request things from them dozens of times to get anything. The nurse Chris is horrible, he doesn’t know anything at all. They kept telling us things then saying actually we can’t do anything sorry. I hate this hospital, I hope to never have to come here again. CHRIS THE NURSE IS A DUMBASS.

This is the hospital where i delivered my baby, and i’m glad that my husband and i agreed on it. First of all, the nurses were all so caring and very helpful with everything! They were prompt when it was time to take my meds and offered to take care of my baby in the nursery while my husband and i got some rest. Our stay here was incredible and the food wasn’t that bad either! On our last night, we got a complimentary «celebration dinner.» For hospital food, it was delicious! The hospital is very clean and the security here is great too!

I cannot express my gratitude for this hospitals labor and delivery services! I had my baby there almost 4.5 months ago and feel so blessed to have had such a great experience. All of my nurses and Drs were so friendly, attentive, and nice. And as anyone can imagine, it’s such a stressful and emotional time, but they were all really so great! And this is coming from a nurse myself! Everyone was really so accommodating and super nice to all my family member! I wouldn’t hesitate to come here again for another birth and def recommend it to anyone

This review is for their prenatal screening services.
I came to get my ultrasound at 13 weeks and everything went smoothly. The whole process was well oiled and I did not have any problems. The check in staff, ultrasound technician, and doctor were all very nice. I am happy to know that these are the people who will be taking care of me through this pregnancy.
Knocking 1 star for difficult parking.
*I plan to update when I give birth in May.*

Great place to give birth at. They took care of me. Gave me all the meds I need. I was high as a kite. Took care of my baby, mommy (me) and even daddy! The only thing was my room was facing the parking lot. The food served was pretty good. Free for the mommy but not for the guest or dad. My epidural didn’t come in until after waiting for 4 – 5 hrs but whatever that’s ok. I can forgive them. To the nurses who took care of us — thank you! You guys are wonderful! Lastly, this place will be forever special to me because this is where my first baby was born. Love love love

This is about my first labor experience on
Dec.23-Christmas Eve 2014. I rushed into the emergency room in the middle of painful contractions, the evening of the 23^rd. They took me in right away, my water broke and I was 5 cm dilated. This is probably one of the worst parts! They could not get my iv in! I’m not talking about 1 or 2 attempts, try 8 and 4 different nurses trying, blood everywhere. It was truly a bloody nightmare, especially for someone who isn’t a big needle fan! If I wasn’t having contractions, I definitely would have fainted. This was the worst part of my visit at the hospital! I ended up with a golf ball sized bruised bump on one arm and bruises all over the other. It looked like I got beat up!
Finally, the anesthesiologist came and he was able to get it in. What a relief! At this point I got taken upstairs to another room. The nurse was amazing and after a little while, the anesthesiologist came back to do my epidural. Can I just say thank god for those! I wasn’t even afraid to get one at that point, I just wanted some relief. It was a strange experience but once it was done, I felt so much better.
We went thru the night but no progress. Christmas Eve morning comes along and my family had been with me all night, which was so comforting but everyone was exhausted!
A new nurse came in and my nightmare returned. Her name was Kim Chung. She was a maybe 30 something year old Asian gal. The first thing that she did when she came in to my room was to tell us this «I’m not a nice nurse, I’m not here to be your friend or to hold your hand, I’m here to help you get your baby out. Your family needs to stay out of my way and on that side of the room and il stay on mine, as she moved everyone’s things around…» I thought that she was joking and giggled a little, until I quickly realized that she was very serious! WTH! Who comes in to a delivery room acting like that? She continued on to say all kinds of rude and insulting things like, «if you faint I will just slap you and if your fiancé faints, well he will be left on the floor because we don’t have time for him.» At this point my family all slowly left the room in shocked! Great. Now I was alone with this crazy woman. When she was with me during the pushing, she said that she was putting an oil or ointment to help get the baby out and it literally looked like she was putting her entire arm inside of me! She said that she was stretching me out. She kept yelling at me saying that I wasn’t pushing the right way, do it again, harder, push here! Hello, I can’t feel anything down there! I told her that I was too exhausted and couldn’t breathe, but she wouldn’t stop. Dr. Poornima Kaul came in and wanted to take me to the operation room and told the nurse to stop the Petocin, but Chung insisted that she had it under control and did not follow the doctors instructions! When my babies heartbeat started slowing down on the monitor, I began to really worry. A new much nicer nurse (middle aged blonde short hair) kept coming in and out telling this woman that her shift was over and that she needed to leave but she refused. Finally, they literally made her leave and thank god that they did, I was given an oxygen mask and this new nurse was so comforting and really helped me calm down. Shortly after that, I was taken in for an emergency c section.
From this point on, my experience here was wonderful! This anesthesiologist (Susan) was a women with long curly hair and she was fantastic and so soothing. I could just thank her a million times for being so amazing! The nurses and Doctor were all very gentle with me. Before I knew it, I had my baby in my arms and I was taken to a recovery room with that same amazing nurse that saved me from my worst nightmare! Thank you for listening to me ramble and beg for water. I was so thirsty after the surgery! I was dealing with recovery from pushing for so many hours and from surgery. It was a lot but I cannot be more thankful for their help in getting my baby out safely.
Every doctor and nurse that saw me during and after the Caesarian were amazing! They were so kind, bringing me liquids all the time to stay hydrated. They helped with my little angel and helped my fiancé with things as well. The next day Dr. Laurie Green came to see me and boy was I happy to see her. She even called me a few times to check in, on Christmas! Thank you for taking the time to do that and your team is truly fantastic. I would give 5 stars, but I cannot get those horrible Iv attempts out of my head or that nurse. She just ruined everything! I really hope I don’t see her again. I will refuse to have her help me because her mannerism was very unwelcoming and she was beyond unfriendly. I guess mean nurses do exist! To everyone else, thank you for being so caring with me. I was sent home with everything that I could need for my little bambino and I am healing so nicely! A special thank you to Jacqueline, Sarah B., Pat V., Susan M and Dr Poornima Kau!

I like the providers but their billing is the worst. I just got a call that I owe $ 300 for a service that was billed separately from the actual doctor’s office. So essentially, I received one bill for an X-​Ray shortly after the service was performed but was never informed of the separate fee from the X-​ray lab itself. Had I know about anytime in the prior six months, I would have been able to use my former employer’s HRA account to pay for this bill; instead I only found out about it once it’s about to go to collections, so now I have to pay out of pocket.
Recently a friend of mine received the same dubious double-​billing treatment from them, only he actually had paid his bills and they had no record of it so they insisted on him paying another several thousand dollars. Unreal! As much as I enjoy the providers there I’m going to avoid any CPMC services as much as possible, the communication is poor and the hidden fees are ridiculous.

My son was just here for an in hospital 48 hour EEG. I have to say that everyone from those who processed his admission to the amazing nurses to the people who brought our food and cleaned our rooms were very efficient, very caring and just lovely people!
The facilities could use a little renovation and it looks like there is some going on in different areas. Parking is atrocious! Ugh! Fees were high, but with validation the cost wasn’t too bad. Before validation, my parking was $ 60 after validation it dropped to $ 24! I was parked for 48 hours.
The kids at this hospital are well cared for. Child life services has tons of movies, activities and things for the kids to do. On Wednesdays, the kids get ice cream sundaes! Another bonus in this hospital is that the parent staying with their child can get meal service to the room as well and there was no charge to the parent!
I can’t say enough about the kindness and caring of all the nurses, but especially Nurses Gabby and Margaret! I would choose this hospital in a heartbeat for in hospital testing services again.

4.5 Star Health Care. They’ve got some of the best medical care available in this city. Especially for Labor & Delivery, it’s going to be hard to find another hospital that even comes close to this place. It’s nicknamed the «baby factory» for a reason. I’ll never forget the wide range and number of different people that helped us. My memory is that they’re all A’s. Some are A minuses, some are pluses but they’re all still A’s. This place rocks.
4 Postpartum — The nurses and doctors are kind of awesome but some are slightly better than others. Mostly personal preference.
2 Star Rooms — Could these rooms get anymore cramped? They really need to reevaluate the offerings in each room and make some investments. The bed the Dads are given to sleep in totally sucks. I was’t expecting a Tempur-​Pedic but, I’d rather just have ditched the crappy recliner and freed up the space in the small room for an inflatable camping mat.
1 Star — The food is pretty good for hospital food but way below the standard given the city. The fact you can literally walk a few blocks away and get really good food on Clement makes putting up with their less than inspiring food really difficult. For the celebratory dinner, my filet was cooked medium well, and my wife’s was cooked solidly medium rare (we both ask for Med. rare). Yeah, I just complained about an overcooked filet served at a hospital. But come on! I think the cut of meat deserves better!

This is the beehive for Doctors.
Parking is horrendous around here so give yourself extra time to park. Please don’t park in my drive way.
Very convenient location to see many many specialists: General, obgyn, back, heart, oncology… blah blah blah. They also have a lab on site (but it is really expensive… lab corp is much more economical). Walgreens is also on site.

Review for labor/​delivery/​recovery:
I was pleased with my experience at CPMC for labor and delivery.
Triage area: This part of the hospital can be great or terrible depending on how many other women walk in when you do. My first time there was excellent. Got taken back right away. They knew just what to do and let me proceed with my birth plan, which included having as few interventions as possible. In fact, with my water having broken early, they let me go home to endure early labor there after making sure baby was ok. My second time to triage area (when in active labor) was a bit more trying, probably in part because in labor but also because three ladies walked in at same time I did. Nonetheless, they had everything in order to admit me and that process went smoothly.
Labor/​delivery: The labor and delivery rooms are lovely (huge, windows with a view, all private, private bathroom, birthing ball, pull out bed/​chair for partner). The labor and delivery nurses were super nice and also supportive of my birth plan (letting me go natural for however long I wanted and letting me do some intermittent monitoring so I could sit on birthing ball etc). I met several nurses during delivery and all were kind and helpful.
Recovery: Nurses attending to the recovery section were kind and helpful for the most part. They tried to bother me and baby as little as possible and sent us home with plenty of stuff (sitz bath, tucks, diapers, gauze for baby, etc) to get us through our first days at home in as much comfort as possible. Recovery rooms are quite a bit smaller than labor/​delivery rooms. but are still private, have big windows with nice view, and private bathroom.
Food: The food at CPMC was surprisingly good. It didn’t feel like hospital food at all. Moreover, they let a guest order meals as well, which was really nice and made it so someone could stay with you.
Overall, I left happy that I had chosen to deliver at CPMC.

I recently came here for surgery and can’t believe I’m going to rate it as a pleasant experience but that is exactly what it was thanks to the wonderful care I received from the 3^rd floor team!
I had an early morning procedure so my experience may be different from a busier time like the afternoon. Everything ran like a well oiled machine, starting with a pre check-​in call that explained everything clearly (including cost). I was also sent a map and info on valet parking for surgery (a bargain at $ 12 for all day as opposed to the hourly rate).
The day of the procedure, I was a bit apprehensive because I had never been to this facility but from the moment I checked in, everyone’s friendly, helpful and professional demeanor set me at ease.
I really like that you are given a private room in which to change, sign paperwork and get an IV. The nurses were so friendly and caring! I believe the main one helping me was named Linda. She constantly kept me informed of what was going on and was extremely attentive.
The nurse who inserted the IV (Kathleen I think. I wish I was better at remembering names!) was a total pro! She immediately distracted me when I told her I don’t like IVs (who does ??) and had a gentle touch. She also numbed me first before putting it in, no one has ever done that before. Kathleen even stroked my arm to help relax me!
I was never kept waiting very long and each person I came in contact with asked if I had any questions. Even the orderlies who graciously wheeled me around were so kind and friendly, offering me blankets and magazines. Usually I’m not too chatty, but I ended up having such nice conversations with every single person that works here. They seemed relaxed but efficient and very concerned for my well-​being.
Even the anesthesiologist made sure I was comfortable with a nice warm pad on the table and jokes to lighten the mood!
Because I was having breast surgery I already had experience with Dr. Fry from the Breast Center across the street. He was wonderful as usual and further put me at ease. The only pain I experienced in the whole day was the shot he gave me to numb the area before putting in a marker and honestly, it wasn’t that painful at all… he’s very good at what he does. His assistant, a beautiful Indian woman, was so kind as well.
Before I knew it, everything was over and I was once again in a private room to recover. Immediately my boyfriend came in (they had called him to let him know when I’d be done) and all my clothes were there waiting for me. Linda came back to check on me and when I was ready there was an orderly waiting to take me downstairs.
Like I mentioned before, a truly well-​oiled machine! All I had to do was relax and everything was taken care of for me in a timely manner! I can’t tell you what a difference that makes! If you have to have breast surgery, please do yourself a favor and come here.
Get this, I even got a call from Linda a few days later to see how I was!

Surgery.
So this is already a challenging thing. To have surgery at a facility staffed with friendly professionals really makes surgery less of a traumatizing experience.
My family dropped me off at the front door and parked on the street. We already planned for them to not wait at the hospital so they did not take advantage of the paid lot attached to the hospital.
I checked in and paid my fees at the crack of dawn without any problems. Then I went upstairs and had to fill out more paperwork.
When it was time for me to go to pre-​surgery, my family went to the waiting room that was already packed with people (maybe an overflow room would be helpful when everyone on the planet is scheduled for the first surgery slot of the day) There were some other areas my family didn’t like but I forgot what they were. I think the room and the parking were the inconveniences they had here that they didn’t have to endure when I had surgery at Mills Peninsula Hospital in San Mateo.
After my doctor met with me and did markings, I met with the anesthesiologist.
Then I was left in the room by myself. Starving, thirsty, and what is this? Am I shaking? I was understandably rattled right before surgery.
The nurse who came to get me noticed I was shaking and sobbing so badly. She was really kind to me while we walked the corridors into my surgical room. It was literally like a traffic jam with patients in gowns and hats walking and others being wheeled into surgery.
If I could give you advice before surgery here, have your family map out where they want to go close to the hospital once you are in surgery. Food and whatnot is always better away from the hospital. Don’t worry — the surgical administrators here are very good about calling family on cell phones to come while your loved ones are in recovery not quite ready to receive visitors yet.
Everyone who worked with me was professional, friendly, and efficient. I appreciate that.

How many nurses does it take to change a lightbulb? Or better yet, in my case, to get through outpatient surgery?
Well, let’s count…
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8… 8!
1) One that took my blood pressure, temperature and weight and showed me my purple couture outfit with matching green socks to be worn during my stay
2) One that inserted the IV into my arm (single hit to my vein, thank goodness!)
3) One that asked me about my medical history and took notes on a computer like a secretary
4) One that introduced himself and assisted the doctor during my operation
5 – 6) Two more nurses that were in the operating room when I entered that room
7) One that helped me post-​operation in the holding room
8) One that helped me post-​operation in my waiting room that gave me pain meds, helped me change, took my blood pressure every 30 minutes, took my temperature a few times
That’s 8 nurses plus my doctor and an anesthesiologist = 10
A total of 10 people helped with my 3 hour operation in which I was at the hospital for a total of 8 hours (check-​in, operation Jenny T. and recovery time). Each and every one of them were friendly, professional, and knew exactly what each had to do for me (or is it to me?). The facilities was typical of a hospital, yucky. The operating room, which I walked into with nurse #4 was surreal and 10x scarier than a brain surgery scene performed by Dr. McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy. I had an entire minute to soak in the sterile room before the anesthesiologist turned me into sleepy town. But overall, I’m so grateful that I had a great surgeon with excellent health care workers. I definitely felt well cared for.
I must admit, I watch way too many Korean soap operas and evil thoughts of dramatic things happening to me made me all the more nervous. My tip to you, don’t watch Korean soap operas prior to surgery because NO, your body will not swapped out for another. Think happy thoughts and know that you are getting well taken care of at this hospital.