HEC Medical Clinic, located at Ala Moana "mall-ish" is a medical clinic that claims to specialize in weight loss, laser procedures (hair removal, weight, and face lift) and other procedures.
Instructions to get there:
Driving down Ke'eaumoku St. toward Ala Moana Shopping Mall -
Go up the ramp (to the mall), take your immediate right, take your next right at the stop sign. There is a parking attendant (sometimes). Park in any visitor stall or other stall instructed by HEC Medical Clinic. If you don't know if you're in the right place -- its the tall building with the "UFO" on top.
I parked at the mall, fronting Genki Sushi. I found it easier this way.
HEC Medical Clinic is on the 8th floor in room #808. When you get there you will be instructed by staff to remove your footwear. You will have to fill out whatever paperwork is standard for your appointment. You are then shown a short 5 minute video in their "consultation" room about weight loss, which I found odd, since I wasn't there for weight loss. Nonetheless, it was informative and showed individual testimonials of happy patients. I was also offered a small cup of alkaline water.
You may have heard the radio ads from Dr. Oda. That's the reason why I checked out their website. I was interested in laser hair removal.
Now, out of respect to HEC Medical Clinic, I wont go into detail about pricing. Though, I found it pretty off-setting before even arriving that nobody could give me price (or even an estimate) about the cost of their laser hair removal procedures. When I questioned what the average cost is, the person that I spoke to was very deflective. They kept saying "only the doctor can go over prices." Then I said, "does everyone get different pricing or something?" and they stated again, "only the doctor can go over pricing." Ok -- cool. I expected the cost to be very high (in comparison to laser hair removal in the area). I was not wrong. What I can say is that you have to buy packaged in quantities of 6 sessions. Additionally, Dr. Oda informed me that any sessions needed beyond 6 would be covered by HEC Medical Clinic and I would have no other out of pocket costs. That's actually kind of nice. When I expressed to Dr. Oda that I was not willing to pay that cost (since ive had treatments prior for less than 1/5th what he priced me at), he was kind enough to offer me a discount. Which made the price bearable but still over double what I can pay in the area for 6 sessions. Now, you may be thinking -- well if your previous sessions didnt work, how can you compare them? Ok -- fair. BUT they did work. I have recently been placed on a hormone medication which caused hair regrowth. Prior to that, I was care free and hair free (yes, you may take that line). I was just shopping around for other options.
I understand that HEC Medical Clinic uses a state of the art laser system and that they back their product to the fullest, but, I explained that I've had laser treatments before...and at no time did anybody ask to see what my current "hair growth" looks like. This leads me to believe that someone with minimal hair and someone who is covered in hair, pay the same cost -- which brings me back to the skeptics behind not being told the cost over the phone. That could have saved me tons of time and effort.
In closing, Dr. Oda is a nice guy. His staff are nice people.
3 stars since I didn't actually receive service and this review is simply based off of interaction with staff from start to finish.
Would have loved to see testimonials from patients that received laser hair removal. I may have been more inclined to be more welcoming to the price.
**I am not paid for this review by HEC Medical Clinic or their competitors. I did not receive any services (free or otherwise) from HEC Medical Clinic or their competitors.** read more