Like a previous reviewer who gave Dr. Cafaro 5 stars, I have been her patient for over 20 years. Unlike him I am not surprised that people give mixed reviews, but I believe the reviews are mixed primarily because her front desk staff unfortunately does not represent the quality or character of the practice as a whole - that is, the service is spotty and, to be honest, one member of the front staff is downright surly. When I first began seeing Dr. Cafaro in 1992 her office staff was efficient, empathetic, entertaining, and most loveable - the best office staff I had ever had the pleasure of going through when I needed to see my doctor. I have no idea what happened as people moved on in their careers and others were hired. She took me as her patient in the wake of a catastrophic year in which they had lost 14 men to AIDS. Newly arrived in San Francisco, I had been phoning through a lengthy list to find a doctor. I was turned down time after time, and I was fortunate to be added to Dr. Cafaro's patient roll. Over the years Dr. Cafaro has become one of the nation's most respected doctors in the field of retroviruses, dealing daily with HIV, HepC, and other medical nightmares that have, as a result of her work and that of so many others, gradually been brought under some semblance of control. Dr. Cafaro is the most brilliant personal physician I have known. She is able to take random symptoms and make sense of them. She is a healer. And she takes her time. One person describes her as garrulous, not negatively; I would not, however, agree. She has a wonderful sense of humor, but over the course of an appointment, she gathers odd bits of information, sometimes seemingly unrelated, and by appointment end, she generally secures a solution to even enigmatic difficulties. Also, unlike many physicians trained in western medicine, she recommends medical practices that fall under the umbrella of medical care, but are often viewed skeptically by western doctors. She does not deny the power of eastern medicine, for example, and if she is perplexed by a condition will recommend naturopathy and other umbrella practices. Her primary PA, Jennifer Chen, is well trained, efficient, and brusque. She provides a counterpoint to Dr. Cafaro's more leisurely approach to medicine, but, unlike a previous PA who remained only a short time, she is excellent at what she does. She is blunt, can be skeptical, but unlike one brutal harangue against her in these reviews, she is not angry, bitter, or hateful. She simply does not strive to be your mother. I call attention to this because as a professor I have read studies of student evaluations, and I believe that students' expectations of women professors are much like patients' expectations of female doctors: they want nurturers, women who exude empathy and affection, who for all intents and purposes behave like their ideal mother (and perhaps not like their real mother at all). They do not expect this from men, and, indeed, for the very same traits that they lower their ratings of women professors, they honor male professors. Much of the same, I believe, goes on in people's minds when they go to a woman doctor or PA. The brusqueness that they would describe as intelligence and incisiveness in a male doctor or PA, they experience as bitchiness from a woman doctor or PA. That's the way of our world. Female professionals have to live with it and discover ways of dealing with it. Jen is outstanding; she could easily be a doctor if she chose to be. We are the ones who need to examine our preconceptions of how women professionals need to behave. read more

I'm Valerie K. Lewis and have been a patient of Dr Cafaro since 2007 and I love her overall concern, listening ear.... She's a jewel read more

Virginia Cafaro, MD - I'm Valerie K. Lewis - Doctors Near Me - San Francisco, California

Been seeing her since early 200s. Wonderful doctor, thorough, professional, and personable.

The best. I've been seeing Dr. Cafaro for almost three decades. Hands down outstanding medical care, from her and Dr. Higgins, and the rest of the team at Wellspring. Yes, the practice has had times been busy, but Dr. Cafaro's breadth of experience and astuteness at tackling complex medical issues is nonpareil in the field, as is her kindness and humor. read more

Very knowledgeable and has been on the forefront of HIV management since the beginning.

I absolutely love Dr. Cafaro. I have been seeing her since 1997. The problem is that now I live in the East Bay and it's quite a trek to get to Davies, but I have been unable to find anyone who can offer the care that she does. She got me enrolled in several studies. The last one included a comprehensive coronary exam, so now I know how my heart is doing and I have access to a lot of good information. She's often running late, but it's because she takes her time with each patient, and insurance is to blame for overscheduling and all of the paperwork they have to do. It's not a perfect practice, but I cannot find any other that is comparable. My biggest fear is that she's going to retire soon. read more

She's an HIV specialist. She got me through the AIDS epidemic, heart disease, substance issues, cancer. You name it! I've seen just her for almost 30 years now, and no one else at Wellspring. Maybe she gives preferential treatment to her HIV+ patients. I don't know. I'm grateful to have had the same doctor all this time. No doctor is right for everyone. If you are not happy, speak up. If necessary find a new doctor. You don't even really need a good reason to switch other than you are not comfortable with the treatment you are receiving. Don't make a big issue about it. Just move on. Regarding the office staff, I feel your pain. I deal with them as little as possible. Phone calls, forget it. I communicate with her office solely through MyChart and they get back go me within a day. When she tells me "You're golden! Get out of here!", it's music to my ears! read more

I'm impressed by the number of positive reviews. Based on them, I suspect that Dr Carfaro's professional interests and commitments focus on treating illnesses--and serious ones, at that--rather than people who go to see her for an annual physical, as I did. I recently signed up for Dr Mark Higgins at Wellspring. This was going to be my first annual physical (and wellness) exam. I was told he couldn't see me due to a family emergency, that I'd be seeing Dr Cafaro, instead. Dr Cafaro asked me to take a seat, and then sat in front of her computer monitor. Presumably reading from her monitor, she then asked me a bunch of questions (about meds, other doctors I see, and family history), prefacing one or two of them with "Medicare wants to know ...." After about 20 minutes of that, she put her stethoscope to her ears, and listened to my breathing. She also took my blood pressure because I asked her to. (It was unusually high when the assistant checked me in.) Call me old-fashioned, but in all my 70+ years of getting annual physicals (my previous doctor just retired), never have I had a more cursory one--one where, apart from that stethoscope touching my chest and back, there was no touching (at all!), and almost no expression of interest, much less desire to get to know me. It seemed to me that the receptionist could have done pretty much the same thing--i.e., read from what was displayed on a computer monitor, tick some boxes, and enter a few words here and there. When I went to Lab Corps, I learned that the urinalysis had been miscoded--that is, I learned about this upon going back to LabCorb a second time to find out why I hadn't been asked to pee in a cup. All in all, I think my insurance company and I deserved more in return for whatever Dr Cafaro charged. read more

Dr.Cafaro is amazing, I have seen her for many years now and can tell you she is a top-notch in all ways. She will sit and talk to me about all my health issues as well as my personal issues. I never ever feel like I am being rushed. She is so thoughtful. Her assistance Charlotte is also amazing. Every tasks that I have asked Charlotte about she handles and get right back to me. These ladies are both amazing. HIghly recommend Dr. Cafaro! read more

I have been going to Dr. Cafaro for many years now. She's my primary care physician. I couldn't be happier having her as my Doctor! She's responsive, knowledgable, and full of good humor and common sense. I know that my health is in excellent hands and her open and warm personality allows me to feel I can discuss all of my concerns freely with her. Her practical advice, as well as medical knowledge is first- rate. In my recent visit I received smooth, pleasant and efficient help from the office staff and medical assistants. Highly recommended -- its so great to have a long-term and stable relationship with someone of Dr. Cafaro's calibre. read more

Dr Cafaro has been harmful in her treatment to trans patients. There is no room for judgemental and transphobic physicians in the medical field. I do not recommend this physician, especially for trans and non-binary patients. Some of her actions include invalidating a patient's identity, mis-gendering, and providing personal judgements and advice instead of useful information and medical assistance for what a patient was seeking help for. read more

It's really unfortunate how this review has absolutely nothing to do with Virginia but only her receptionist. I was scheduling an appointment and the lady (who sounded like she just woke up) was incredibly inconvenienced when I called. You set the tone for the office and doctor and for you to treat new patients this way is a horrible sign. After she hung up on me I thought about how I'd much rather take my business somewhere else. I called back and immediately canceled my appointment. I let the receptionist know how I felt and it almost seemed like she work up at that moment. Dr. Cafaro, I suggest you find another receptionist who is passionate even the slightest. read more

Dr. Cafaro is not only compassionate, kind and extremely competent but also up to date on various facts and procedures. She has a quick and funny sense of humor and is also willing to listen to the patients point of view. I feel so fortunate to have her as my primary care physician. What a down to earth person! read more

I've been with them for 10 years, and the only reason I haven't switched offices is because I'm lazy, lazy, lazy and healthy as a horse. I go there once a year for my pap smear and to get my BC prescription refilled. It's a painful process that usually requires leaving three or four messages before you get a call back, but since it only happens once a year, I just deal. Not so much this year. After leaving EIGHT messages over the course of three weeks, I finally got a call back and was scheduled for an appointment more than two weeks later. Well, yesterday morning I realized that Auntie Flow will be visiting on the day of my appointment. So I called to (a) reschedule and (b) get an extra month refill on my prescription. Surprisingly, one of the twits from the office called back (in just a little more than 24 hours, *gasp*) to tell me as snooty as can be that she doesn't think that they can do that and that I should have taken care of scheduling an appointment in time. Not even my laziness puts up with that, so guess what, Dr Cafaro: you'll never have the pleasure of meeting me (yes, in 10 years of being her patient, I've yet to even see that woman), we shall be like two ships passing each other at sea, again and again and again. I'm off to find a practitioner who actually sees his/her patients and has an office staff that works at least some of the time. read more

If I could rate Dr. Cafaro with 10 stars I would. First let me comment on those people who have posted negative remarks about Dr. Cafaro at the same time as they admitted choosing their Doctor randomly out of a book. Seriously, if you don;t have the time or won't put in the effort to research your Doctor, you don't really have the right to complain. Dr. Cafaro is a genius whose field of specialty oncology and infectious disease, by nature, means she is going to spend most of her time and effort on people who have serious chronic diseases. If you complain that you never get to see her, it's probably because shes helping people who are fighting for their lives everyday, so take your routine "physicals" and stick em where the sun don't shine. Also, you go to a Doctor to get treatments for physical ailments. Not to be treated like royalty by the office staff. If you don't like the receptionist, try treating them better next time, instead of calling them names. Admittedly, I've been going to Dr. Cafaro's office for over 20 years, so I am very aware of all her abilities as well as the short comings of her staff, that being said, I have never seen anyone except Dr. Cafaro save on two occasions when Virginia was out of the country and I had an emergency. I have trusted my life to Virginia for over 20 years and I hope to trust her with it for another 20. Simply put, she is the best qualified physician I have ever seen. read more

Went for a yearly physical and the coding on the labs got screwed up. Tried to get her office to fix it with CPMC but the bills kept coming in. Told them that I got a collections warning and her office said they'd take care of it. Well, two months later I'm now getting sent to collections for a completely coverable visit. Additionally, when I spoke with "Jeff" who handles their billing, he basically gave me the "what do you want us to do?" He wasn't sympathetic, didn't reassure me that they'd take care of it, and basically said that I'm probably going to have to pay it. That is my last visit to her office...time to shop for a new doctor. read more

It is ten years ago this week that PA Jennifer came to my hospital bedside in tears, apologizing for having missed the heart attack I enjoyed while in her exam room. Let us hope she learned a lesson. One I paid for dearly, and almost with my life. BE CAREFUL. read more

I have Jen as my doc. She is smart, efficient and attentive. All the reviews about the front desk peeps is true indeed. They are substandard. You need to be kind, and persistent and you'll get what you need. Same goes for life. It's seems like all doctor's offices in S.F. suffer from the front desk indifference syndrome... read more

I must echo the reports of everyone else here on Yelp regarding Dr. Cafaro. She, herself, is a wonderful physician, very knowledgeable, friendly and great to talk to. But nobody in her office will bother to pick up the phone. Dr. Cafaro is impossible to see. Her PACs are competent but always being left in the hands of a nurse practitioner makes me feel un-cared-for by the presiding doctor. The office staff is the weak link here. They're not particularly friendly and patients should NEVER have to be shunted to voicemail ... and often then never called back anyway! Today, after 2 years care at Wellspring Medical Group, I was yet again unable to get a human on the phone, except to be put on hold and tranfered to a voicemail box. I am thus leaving the practice for friendlier waters. read more

I've been going to Dr. Cafaro's office for about 7 years. I've only ever spoken to Dr. Cafaro myself once, but usually I see Jen. She's great. She always calls me back within a few hours of me leaving her a message. The office is far from perfect, but its by far the best doctor's office experience I've had in San Francisco, and believe me I've been to quite a few. I'm surprised to see such a low score and all the negative reviews. read more

I love Dr. Cafaro and have seen her personally many times over the years. Her PA's are also always friendly and helpful to me when I visit. They have improved their telephone system, and generally I get a call returned the same day. The receptionist is very abrupt and dismissive, but I'm not going there to see her. read more

I met her on my first visit; She seemed great. Never saw her again. Instead, I was assigned diffrent Dr. / RN each visit. This caused communication problems that proved dangerous. This sort of thing is probably pretty common these days, so perhaps it's not fair to blame Dr. Cafaro in particular... read more

I've downgraded my rating because it is so hard to get anyone on the phone in this office.

While I'll agree that the front office staff is inconsistent in their levels of compassion and professionalism, I cannot praise the entire medical staff (MA's, mid-levels, other docs, and *especially* Dr. Cafaro) enough! My wife (who is extremely medically complicated) and I (not so much) have both been seeing Dr. Cafaro herself as our primary provider ~3 years, and the only time either of us have had to wait for a non-emergency visit more than10 days is when she's out for vacation, etc. We both find her to be extremely committed, caring and attentive - generally spending anywhere from 30-45 minutes w/each of us - as well as informative and responsive, and with great follow-through. I couldn't ask for a better provider for either of us! I say all this, not only as a consumer (as well as a witness/advocate for my wife's often appalling experiences w/allegedly top-of-the-line privately insured healthcare here in SF), but as someone who has worked in the healthcare field in the bay area for over 25 years - including as a medical case manager and social services director, and as clinic manager - as well as intimate friend/family of healthcare providers (including nurse practitioners, nurses and social workers.) It's an increasingly harrowing healthcare world out there for all of us! And with all that, I feel more and more grateful for finding Dr. Cafaro all the time. read more

People are being a little too rough here. I've been seeing Dr. Cafaro for years. You just need to understand the system. PA Jennifer Chin is great. Yes... you rarely see Dr. Cafaro, but you can if you need to, but no need because... Jennifer is great. Yes they don't answer their phones often. Just leave a message for Jennifer and she gets back to you same day. Never had any problems, their staff has always been responsive. I'm happy with Dr. Cafaro's office and service. read more

Great doctor, wouldn't want anyone else but her office staff sucks when it comes to the phones. Sometimes it is very difficult to reach anyone, even her PA. Wish that problem would be corrected but I see no signs of it happening anytime soon. read more

I have taken some time before writing this review, because I never met Dr. Cafaro. I have heard she is excellent. Unfortunately I've realized I am simply not willing to return to her office after my visit. I scheduled an appointment for a physical. The appointment was set with the PA which is fairly standard practice now, so I had no concerns with that. They suggested I get there 15 minutes early to complete paperwork. I ended up being ten minutes early (traffic snafu on my tiny one-way street), then waited several minutes to talk to the receptionist (okay, she was helping someone so no problem there). The receptionist was very nice; she handed me the paperwork. I sat down to fill out the paperwork. I am very fast at this since I am very organized. I completed the paperwork quickly and waited, and waited . . . . Several people were called to the back while I waited. I went to the desk to make sure that I didn't need to sign in or something; she assured me I did not and I would be called soon. So I waited longer, now 25 minutes past my appointment time. The PA finally called me to the back and took my paperwork. She then focused on entering the information into the computer. She was very nasty in her tone and attitude as if I had somehow put her out by showing up for a physical. She expressed anger that she had trouble finding my information in the computer system, "Someone must have put you in here before. There's no way you don't have health problems." This comment seemed to be based solely on my weight and appearance. While over-weight, I am not exactly 500 lbs. My family has a rare genetic disorder that includes a possible variety of symptoms. It is important to understand what the actual effects are. When explaining about my brother's series of heart surgeries, she cut me off and snottily said, "You already told me he has [the disorder]. I don't care about this." She also insisted on sending a prescription order through to Walgreens that I told her I did not want her to do. Since she was too angry to listen to me, it wasn't worth the fight. She did find some of my former records in the system, then told me "Your numbers looked okay then but they could be better. Besides, I'm sure they are much worse now." I really enjoyed being judged based on my appearance, especially since my "numbers" are better now. After yet more unpleasant repartee, I was informed that we were running late so she did not have time to do a physical and I would need to schedule another appointment. (Of course my insurance was charged for a physical. It's only going to pay for one in a year.) And, "We're going to need to see your test results before we can do anything." Again, thanks for the preconception and I think you can still do a physical exam without knowing my cholesterol levels. Also, I wasn't late - she was. I can understand medical offices falling behind, but penalizing me was not fair. I asked for a mammogram order since it had been a few years. She was visibly angry, barking at me "I have to do a breast exam first!" as if that was a major setback for her. She did do the exam; I just half stripped right then and there, no gown. Another staff member started walking into the room during the exam. Hello hallway friends! Here are my boobs! I was told to go down the hall. The office takes a photo of new patients. I said hello to the woman in the small office. Again, I was hit with nasty attitude. It's not my request that they take my photo, yet somehow she felt free to speak to me as if I was garbage and treat me as if I was putting her out. Strangely, throughout the whole experience, I stayed quite pleasant. I said my goodbyes to the nice receptionist and left. But as the days went on, I realized I am not willing to go back to this office, and I haven't had the blood tests or mammogram done using the slips provided. I simply do not want to go back to an office in which they feel it is okay to be nasty and dismissive in tone and attitude. If they are this rude and resistant when I simply need a physical, I cannot expect to be treated much better if I have an issue. So, unless Dr. Cafaro makes major staff changes, I'll go elsewhere. read more

If I could give this woman no stars, I would. I picked her to be my PCP randomly out of the book about 10 years ago. Everything about her office staff sucked from the get-go, but given that I only went once a year for my annual exam, I just dealt with it. I saw Jennifer Chen for years because to see Cafaro you have to plan your medical emergencies six months in advance. Jennifer was constantly rude, dismissive, and bordering on negligent. When I found a lump in my breast and was FREAKING OUT, she asked to look at my breast, didn't actually touch my chest at all, rolled her eyes, gave me a wave of the hand, and said "Oh you don't have cancer!" Really? Because the last time I checked, breast cancer wasn't visible to the human eye. I had to fight tooth and nail for her to give me a mammogram referral, and I ended up having surgery (not cancer, thankfully, but serious enough to warrant surgery). She frequently talked over me, and rarely did I get the sense she was actually listening to me--not a trait you want in a medical professional. And dear sweet Jesus, let me just take a moment to discuss her office staff. Much has been made here about their lack of urgency in calling people back. Every single time I needed to see someone, I had to call no fewer than three times. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Unacceptable. I finally started calling them out on it, telling whatever cretin finally called me back that I was sick of having to leave multiple messages. And never was I offered an apology, not once. Instead I was offered atttitude and snottiness. And never once did I speak to someone there who had any sort of basic verbal skills. I'm not talking about people born elsewhere for whom English is a second language; I'm talking American-born people who speak at a maybe a seventh-grade level. Does she hire her staff from the bottom of the nursing barrel? I expect a doctor's office staff to be somewhat articulate and knowledgeable. You'll find none of that here. About three years ago, I developed a chronic condition that required more doctor's visits than I'd previously experienced. I decided to stop seeing her PAs and finally see the woman herself. It takes MONTHS to see her, and when I did, she was personable enough, but it was clear from the start and from every subsequent visit that she's running nothing more than a factory. She must see 60 patients a day. What this means for her unlucky patients is that they get all of three whole minutes to explain their condition while she halfheartedly listens and figures out how best to usher you out of her office because she's got 50 people in her waiting room. (And don't get me started how many times I've sat in her waiting room for 45+ minutes, as though her time is more valuable than mine.) You've barely finished describing your symptoms and she's already writing you a prescription for something because throwing drugs at the problem is easier than using her brain and trying to get to the bottom of a medical problem that is complex and requires some actual medical know-how. My wife saw her as well and Cafaro just said "Oh you have high cholesterol? Here is this drug that's new on the market. Bye." We had to do our own research and discovered enough disturbing side effects that my wife quit taking it. And Cafaro never even scheduled follow-up blood work to see if the drug was working at bringing her cholesterol down. I've had the same experience with zero follow-through as well. I've had to call and call and call to get results of tests she's scheduled. We as patients have not gone to medical school. As a doctor, it's YOUR JOB to take the time and discuss test results with us, discuss our concerns about side effects of drugs, and discuss our medical histories at length. Instead, she just leaves her patients to wander around in a morass of medical confusion. Seriously, this place makes me angry. As if health care isn't fucked up enough in this day and age. We're all striving to find a doctor who provides personal attention, concern for our medical issues, and is an advocate for your health. I cannot emphasize enough that Cafaro is NONE of these things. I finally, finally, finally after three years of putting up with this crap, bit the bullet and did research to find a new PCP. Yes, it was a pain in the ass, but when you're sick, you shouldn't have to include Putting Up with a Crappy Doctor on the list of things you have to deal with. I now have a doctor who is responsive, attentive, and takes the time to hear me and think about my issues. Those doctors are out there, people, and I urge you all to go find one because you won't find it at this office. read more

Absolutely horrible experience. In the two years I have had her as my PCP - I have never seen her. Her staff (the other doctors and NP) are extremely rude. I have had a doctor unable to locate my medical records and said that the doctor who had seen me before had left and was very unorganized! I also have called to make appointments specifying that I am in pain (not extreme) and would like to see someone and the first available was in a month. Do not recommend. read more

This doctor may be great. Unfortunately I never got to meet her. Dr. Cafaro, you need to fire your office staff. Having sat in your waiting room for a while, now I know why they never answer the phone...they are all too busy chatting about their personal lives. I was looking for a primary care doctor. I should've gotten a clue when I had to call 5 times to get someone to call me back...nobody returned my messages over several weeks. Finally one day, somebody picked up the phone. Imagine being sick and needing to reach your doctor... I saw a nurse practitioner who was very nice but never got to meet the doctor. That's not conducive to starting a relationship with a new doctor. read more

Dr. Cafaro is nice, and very experienced. However, she spends most of her appt. time with her computer instead of the patient. Her office staff is the worst I've ever encountered. The office staff does not answer the phones, they don't return phone calls, which resulted in a trip to the emergency room for me a couple of months ago. I left a detailed message relaying serious symptoms at 9:15 a.m. and never got a call back. The message was left with a live person (for a change). They also billed my partner for a missed appt. and the office staff accused him of lying when he said he called and left a message (because nobody bothers to answer the phones) -- he had to produce his cell phone bill to get them to drop the charge. He wrote Dr. Cafaro a letter about it and she never bothered to respond. He will not return to her office. If you have anything that can be potentially serious -- find another doctor, you are not in good hands with Dr. Cafaro's office (although Dr. Cafaro herself is good). Matt B. read more

I've been going to Dr. Cafaro's office for over four years now. I've actually never met her--I've never needed to. I've never had any issue serious enough to see a doctor for (with one exception, in which case I needed a specialist, so I went to one). I've always seen Kelly, whose training as a physician's assistant makes her more than qualified to treat the things I've needed treated. I remember being very much put at ease by their new patient questionaire--while it had sections for alcohol and smoking, for recreational drugs it said "discuss with provider." Right off the bat I knew that they recognized that to get the best health care I need to be honest, and to be honest I need to be able to trust them. I'm certainly no crackhead, but I don't really want to put everything in writing, you know? I have gotten no judgmental behavior there either. I've had doctors in the past treat me badly because I have a different lifestyle than they do. (Holy crap, piercings?? I must be from the devil.) If Kelly has ever had any issue with the way I live my life, she's never shown it; she's always respectful. I have never seen Dr. Cafaro, but I referred a friend of mine to her office, and she saw Jen. She was delighted with Jen, but had more serious medical problems than a P.A. can address, so she then saw Dr. Cafaro. My friend was delighted with her too. I just called to make an appointment (I agree they can be a pain to get a hold of, but this time it went perfectly smoothly). Apparently Kelly no longer works there, so I'll be seeing Jen this time. I could have gotten an appointment with Dr. Cafaro, but I'm perfectly happy with P.A.s. People who insist on seeing the doctor should actually insist to the office instead of whine about it on Yelp; they'd give you the appointment. You might have to wait longer, though. That's why doctors have P.A.s--so they can have more patients get seen for minor or routine medical care and free themselves up to deal with more serious issues. read more

Dr. Cafaro has been our primary care physician since 2007 and we are very happy with her. She is great! She listens to her patient's concern and address each of them. Funny and bubbly! But her office staff and the way operates sucks! It has gotten better actually with regards to talking to a live person. What I usually do is write a letter and fax it to her office. Staff is very impersonable. I guess they don't realize that it's the patients that keeping food on their table and roof over their heads. Billing is not good either....needs lot of improvement. Charging me for no show and have called their office that I cancelled it ahead of time. The filipina medical assistant....don't like her. I went to pick up some samples of medication that Dr. Cafaro would like me to try but she doesn't want to give it to me since my insurance has approved it and has called into the pharmacy...I live far I'm already in the office I know it's been called in but what is the difference??? Samples doesn't cost them any $$$ it's given to them free. She gave it to me but with a lot of hesitation and atttitude!!!! Send her back for Customer Service training!!! read more

An acquaintance who is always trying to dump on my recommendations told me about "negative reviews" for Dr Cafaro, my doc for over a decade with whom i meet 3 or 4 times a year. I had to look. I started with Virginia when my previous doc didn't want to switch meds when i was having problems with my previous meds. I think she is one of the best infectious docs in the city. Brilliant with new drugs, new problems, new regimens, new generics and supplements. She is great especially with proactive patients. I read the reviews, bad and good. The bad reviews are mostly BS. Course i'm prejudiced but it strikes me that the bad reviews are simply people who are very poor at organizing their communications with a very very busy office. I know personally all of the staff personnel, especially Jeff. The computer sys is only a year or so old, so they're still somewhat getting used to it. I shake my head in wonderment at anyone who only sees her twice a decade, then wants instant service. It always takes a day or so to reach the doc, but every time i've "declared an emergency" and needed an asap appt (about once every two years), I reach a human when the office is open and I have been able to get an appt within 24 hours, Virginia always "squeezes me in" or with Jennifer. (Anything worse than that should be dealt with in an emergency room). And, yes, it takes a couple weeks for a regular appointment. Would you rather have Dr Cafaro turning away new patients? She regularly has a sign on the door, "no reps, too busy." Yes they have a lunch period, but so does every doc office, and if they tried to answer phones, they'd never get a break. read more

Dr Cafaro herself is a wonderful doctor and very nice person. But, out of maybe 15 visits, I have only seen her twice. And if she actually saw me occasionally when I go in and i did not have to deal with her sometimes very rude front office staff, there would be no problem. But, I am right now trying to find a new doctor because I do want to occasionally talk to the doctor herself and I don't want to be treated so insensitively by the staff. Her PAs are not the problem, they are quite nice, but the front office staff and whoever it is who returns phone calls can be really downright mean and nasty sometimes. It's hard to understand why dr. Cafaro tolerates them. She should call them sometime, pretending to be a patient, and see how they treat her. read more

Love Virginia. Turns out as a guy i've been lucky to have two women doctors, both of whom have been outstanding. Michelle A. on the East Coast and Viiginia here on the west coast. For those complaining that they never see Virginia. how about asking for your appointment to be with Virginia? Doesn't sound hard does it? I moved to san francisco over 10 years ago. I left my doctor at stanford as it would be too much to work and travel down their (it would mean taking time off, could you believe he cried, scared the crap out of me even though he was cute). I was introduced to virginia and I just thank god that I met her as most doctors dont really listen to their patients or allow their patients to play an active role in their own well being (learned that the hard way). Thank you Virginia and Jennifer! read more

Dr. Cafaro is the best doctor. I have been going to Dr. Cafaro for 4 years now. I have always been able to get in the same day for more urgent matters. But if it's a day when she isn't in, I see one of the PA's. All of the staff are friendly and do their best to get back to you quickly. I've had excellent assistance from Jeff when I had questions or issues with billing or medical records. All of the PAs are great. But, I prefer to see the same provider. Virginia is friendly, takes time to answer questions, and I highly recommend her. read more

The best doctor ever. Dr. Cafaro is always up to date in her medical knowledge. Generally appointments are on time. The staff is always pleasant. read more

Dr. Virginia Cafaro is incredibly transphobic and unprofessional, I went in to talk about starting testosterone and I received a 30 minute lecture about how I was a "confused lesbian" and that 'sometimes when neither boys or girls like us we look for other answers, and that testosterone would destroy my body and that i would regret top surgery and phalloplasty'. She did not even let me interject or ask me what I wanted, I never even brought up phalloplasty because that is not something I want, however it was about 10 minutes worth of a 30 minutes lecture. This lecture was a response to me saying that I wanted to start testosterone, and she assumed the rest. I found this incredibly offensive, the fact that she decided my identity and tried to steer me away from it is incredibly harmful. Her lecture was incredibly hateful and offensive. She even proceeded to tell me about other patients which I felt was incredibly inappropriate and violates their privacy. She also dismissed the fact that I could bipolar 2 by saying "you are just depressed and your therapist is wrong". To top it all off she assured me that I would get 'Anal cancer' if I did not get the shot she recommended for me, and described the many ways I could die of Anal cancer and if I we're pregnant how it would effect the baby. I do not think this individual should be practicing medicine, I will not be returning to this practice and I recommend that you do not either. read more

I go once every 3 or 4 years, but like everyone says, they can't answer the phone. Not only that, after the perfunctory outgoing message my call got routed to an infinite ring, ring, ring. Hung up and tried again. Same thing. Hung up and tried again and was able to leave a message, at least. Not too reassured that it would get heard, but I got a callback within 15 minutes to schedule an appt. Since I am so infrequent, my records are never at the office and they just start from scratch. My only critique of the PA I see is that it's a highly clinical approach. Sometimes I'd like to know what's in my body before getting the Z-pack. That could just be a criticism of the medical system in general, but I don't feel heard when I express this concern. Oh, and in 15 years I've never met the elusive Dr. Cafaro. read more