Martinez Outpatient Clinic - VA Northern California Health Care System

"I have received good care overall from VA clinic in Martinez CA. For the last 20 years. VA care was not very good in the 70s, 80s and 90s. There has been much improvement over the years Yes, there still needs much more improvements. Especially in Urgent Care. Wait times are terrible. You could wait hours. Urgent Care shouldn't be called Urgent Care when it takes so long. There usually only one doctor to help all the patients each day. There needs to be more doctors. When you are seen by VA you need to ask questions about everything they are doing,and get answers in writing. They're probably never will be the same as the big hospitals,like Kaiser, ect.. Don't give up on VA hospitals and clinics. Use VA where they can help you ,go somewhere else for other care that you need."

"I am sharing this so that other veterans, especially female veterans, will be extra vigilant and possibly go to another VA clinic, rather than enduring low quality and negligent care. The Northern California VA community care office lost my referral for about 4 months (November to April) for a breast cancer referral, delaying cancer diagnosis. I kept calling to tell them I had been referred for further diagnostic procedures, after suspicious mammograms, (the VA started over, doing diagnostic mammograms all over again, taking an extra 2 months on top of the above time, despite the fact I had multiple records and images brought in with me from the private sector (higher quality care)), and no one in the community care office knew what I was talking about. I had moved to the Martinez area from Sacramento, and explained this over and over, and no doctors at this VA would or could assist, and the referral stayed “lost,” until one day someone called and said, “oh sorry, you’re right,” and “we found the referral.” I finally got diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2020, after first making an appointment at the VA in October 2019. The Martinez VA is the absolute worst VA medical center I’ve been to, and I have been to quite a few in California and Virginia. The reason for sharing this with other veterans is that if I had more advanced cancer, the VA’s negligence and disorganization in the community referral process could have cost me my life. I tried again to go to this VA, three years later, and have yet to be referred to follow up in a breast cancer center (which the private sector surgeon told me I needed to do very 6 months after bilateral mastectomy), despite directly asking the primary care doctor at the Martinez VA. Instead, she routed me to an unnecessary appointment at this VA, (I should NOT have to be screened again by an oncologist when I have clearly got no breasts anymore, and am directly asking to be sent for the required SPECIALIZED post-surgery care. I don’t have the time or bandwidth to jump through so many hoops that this VA required to get to a simple referral for a post-surgical breast center visit. Additionally, on acute care, this year, I had a white and burning tongue, and metallic taste, and the VA doctor said it is just that you have “poor oral hygiene,” and “you need to brush your tongue.” Guess what? Despite “brushing my tongue,” it got worse and worse. Finally, I went to Patient First in another state where I was at the time. The Patient First doctor took the time to test me for COVID, and a low vitamin B-12, and said it didn’t look like a yeast infection, but it could be, and so he actually prescribed a special mouth wash. My tongue immediately got better. He said the remark by the VA doctor that I had “poor oral hygiene” was ridiculous. I go regularly to the dentist and have taken good care of my teeth. The VA doctor wanted me to make another follow up appointment, which would have meant another month or two of suffering. It wasn’t like excruciating pain, but it was tough to eat when everything tasted like metal and my tongue felt like it was on fire. I would like to say this VA medical center is an anomaly, but my experience with the southern California VA’s is actually similar. It is a shame that veterans face this low level of care. Congress needs to just abolish the VA system and design something that actually works. I am expecting to be billed despite the Mission Act for urgent care, but at least I have solved a problem. Instead of getting a referral to get my teeth cleaned. WHAT A JOKE."

"The center is definitly a longer wait some of the time, however the services here are really good. I dont want to say excellent because there is always room for improvement. Over all, there is a pretty solid team here. I did get very upset at the Lab area. But I got over it. This clinic has a nice parking area just outside area so it is best to park there. Over all, I am very happy and you know I hate going to places like this; way to stressful, The most impressive part of all of this is the Telehealth services. Oh and finding specialty care phone connection can be ruff, but you get there eventually."

"I love how people complain about having to weigh for 4 or 5 hours for a walk-in appointment at the VA clinic. Everyone should drop everything they are doing and reschedule their appointment to accommodate this one person's needs/issue. Try making a walk-in appointment at Kiser while paying 75$ copay and the cost of the prescription medication. The VA is by far the best deal in Town. Does it have an issue? Yes, But so does every other medical facility out there. I love the VA; it is cheap/free, convenient, and VET-Friendly..." My mother always said to me. A guarantee is always better than a maybe." I will always be treated at the VA, and it will only cost me some time and transportation there."

"I had a good appointment today. Checked in was swift. The secondary wait was brief and by my appointment time I was in there. Always overhear the old timers talking. Today I was moved as I overheard a gentleman call his friend and asked for prayer for a lady that lost her husband and is having a hard time. So if you believe in prayer to The Most High God please feel free to pray for her and us all actually. Thanks for thinking of others."