I am changing this to a one star as that's as low as it can go. As someone who has gone there for quite a few years and was once a fan, my advice now is "Stay away! Find another urgent care!" Especially stay away from the new young female doctor, George. Dr. George, that is. But that's another story.
Their interest now is in making money, not patient care...and CYA (their's not yours, in case you are wondering). The new low was last Sunday when their staffed unsolicitedly lied to me saying "Dr, Vesal is not writing prescriptions". As in period. Not today...just "not."
He was the only one there last Sunday. I asked where Dr. Risser was, as that who is usually there, and I got another lie. "He worked yesterday but needed to take today off to rest. You'll have to come back on Tuesday between 2 and 7." I found out on Tuesday, today, that he was let go. Big surprise! Now I know why the waiting room was empty on Sunday and maybe why it was empty again today?
I had wondered why Dr. Vesal, who usually has a big smile, last
Sunday seemed to not want to make eye contact. He looked uncomfortable and sheepish which I noted even before I was told he was the only doc on duty and "wasn't prescribing. Wow, how can he help people here who are sick if he isn't prescribing and is alone? My Sh*t detector had kicked in but I wasn't up for pushing it.
Dr. Vesal knows me from when he first started this establishment and volunteered to be my main doctor, recommending a course of treatment I still follow after many years. And it was working! As time went on, without a word to me, his patient, he eventually left the "being my main doctor" to others. His new role as owner was much more hands off, with him seemingly preferring to manage and just drop in occasionally on week-ends. I was disappointed but thought, oh well, I guess he's moved himself up. It was okay as long as there were other doctors there that I liked. Then there weren't.
Toward the end (today is the end), there was really only Dr. Risser who I found helpful, caring and understanding. He was less interested in conforming to passing outside pressures that doctors often face. Instead, he looked at the patient and did what he thought was right, not what the suggested practice standards"du jour" recommended. He had the conviction to do what he thought was best for the patient in front of him. I once thought Dr. Vesal had that but I now think that making money was the real incentive. Now, I think it's doing what's easiest for him. Too bad. I thought he, Dr. Vesal, was the real deal. The new Dr. George with all the answers even before she talks to you or reads your chart, is the new norm at Urgent Irvine Care--medicine by crib notes.
That way of doing business no longer works for Irvine Urgent Care. In come the bureaucrats, like Young Dr. George, with more interest in playing it safe than saying, "No, my patient needs this." Yet, Irvine Urgent Care made a lot of money when they were tending to patient's needs and not caving in to politics masking as medicine. After all, either they didn't care and made bad decisions all those many years before or, it just got inconvenient, too hard under the scrutiny of today. It can't be both ways!
BTW, that Sunday I came in, they never even asked why I was there. It was not just for a med refill but I was put off by their brush off and just decided to let it go and return on Tuesday as "suggested." There's much more I could say, and maybe will at another time.
The icing on the cake during last week-ends' visit was noticing that their receptionist (?) had her child with her and also in the waiting room. The poor child was sniffling and coughing--obviuosly sick. When I first saw the little boy, I thought, "how cute." And he was!! But when the coughing and sneezing started, I stepped outside the door. I myself had been sick with what looked like the same thing for three weeks and didn't want to be subjected to air borne germs in a closed waiting room. I was partly there for help with just that!
I asked the PA on duty (the one who told me that Dr. Vesal wasn't prescribing and also that my favorite, Dr. Risser was out "resting") to mention to Dr. Vesal that it was probably not a good idea to have your employees' sick children playing in the lobby.
I think he did because when I returned Tuesday between 2 and 7, as directed, there was a new sign, prominently displayed, telling patients to wear a mask if they had a cold so others wouldn't get sick. What about your employees' children in the waiting room?
One more thing and I'll stop. I noticed that virtually every negative review here gets rebutted and the blame thrown back on the patient. Check it out! So if you have a complaint, that's how seriously it will get taken. I hope they haven't violated HIPAA (your right to privacy wth reagard to medical conditions) regulations while they were at it! read more