Dignity Health - California Hospital Medical Center

"I woke on the morning of February 27th, 2024 not feeling well at all. So I decided to go to this emergency room since I was having trouble swallowing. I was very uncomfortable after registering because they took me into the room directly behind where people where registering and I had to tell them my symptoms. I told the physician assistant my symptoms and she pretty much blew me off. They only tested me for 1 thing. While i was waiting in the waiting room with other people she informed me about my test results, I felt very uncomfortable talking about my test results in a waiting room with other people. This is very unproffesional. This was one of the most uncomfortable hospital vistis i have ever had, i am disgusted with the way my symptoms were ignored and blew off like it was absolutley nothing. I also never saw a doctor. I waited two hours for the results. Once I left there, I called my primary care physician for an appointment. I visted my wonderful primary care doctor the next day at 9:00 am and he diagnosed me with something completely different from what the physician assistant in the emergency room did. I was misdiagnosed at this facility. Nothing was accomplished in the 4.5 hours I was there besides an extremely high insurance bill. I am disappointed and disgusted in the treament I received at this emergency room and I will never ever go back there. I also filed a complaint with the california department of public health as well. I would not recommend this ER!"

"I came to this hospital on a referral from my primary care physician because I had an abnormal EKG after throwing up out of the blue one morning. My overall impressions of the doctors, nurses, and staff is that they are actually phenomenal, though overworked. Because hospitals prioritize patients with more urgent issues, mine was lower importance, so I ended up being there about 9 hours overall. During that time I got to see and hear a lot of doctor/patient interactions while I waited. I've never seen a group of doctors who were more attentive, compassionate, and patient than the doctors working in this hospital. They truly listened and went out of their way to connect with their patients, no matter who their patients were or why they were there. There was so much respect, even to patients who seemed clearly to be drug-seeking or had severe mental illness or were highly demanding and reactive. I was also impressed by how many doctors spoke multiple languages, and how attentive they were to making sure their patients were conversing in the language that was most comfortable to the patient. Clearly the doctors and staff who work here have a deep calling to practice medicine and deliver the best medical care possible to people regardless of money. These are not the doctors and nurses who got into this business to get rich, these are the doctors and nurses who got into this business because they want to help people, and that shows in every interaction. All of that said, the clientele coming into this hospital was very mixed. There were severely mentally ill people or homeless people coming straight off the streets, there were people who were fairly obviously drug-seeking, but there were also a ton of families with young children or elderly people being accompanied by neighbors who cared for them. (Once the hospital gets people checked in, the people who seem mentally unstable are moved into rooms where they can be watched more carefully.) In terms of hospital facilities, the system is somewhat confusing when you come in because you move from place to place depending on which stage of triage and treatment you are in. Sometimes there weren't enough chairs for people and they would be standing around. And when patients originally come in you have to go through security and through check in, which feels very impersonal and like they're expecting to get robbed. Before you check in there is really no attention, so people in pain were standing in line with nowhere to sit while they waited. At the same time, given the clientele, it has to be done this way to protect the patients and the medical staff. If they could add chairs to the hallway, that would make a big difference. As you are moving through the system it takes a long time if you are not severely ill, but the pace is fairly steady and you are clearly being tracked even when it feels like you are not. The job of an ER is to determine who needs care more quickly and prioritize those people. This hospital was clearly doing that, which was frustrating to people who were lower priority and expected the hospital to work like a bank where the people who come in first get treated first. Some of those people would start to get loud and irritated, but the hospital staff would treat them with patience and kindness anyway. The staff was also incredibly gentle with patients who had clearly not followed medical advice. For example, one patient had been discharged from surgery with care instructions for a drainage tube, but he didn't like the drainage tube and decided to cut it off. Not surprisingly, it created problems and he ended up back in the hospital. Instead of scolding him about it, the doctors were exceptionally kind and they just handled the problem. The same patient also wanted his IV removed because he didn't like IVs, and after explaining why the IV was there, the doctors were incredibly flexible. Overall, the doctors, nurses, and staff are five star plus, but I gave a 4-star rating because the location and situation make the hospital rough around the edges."

"My mom had surgery here yesterday. Dr. Morrisey was great and incredibly attentive, but the nurses here are awful and I don’t understand how these women are RN. My mom was in the same day surgery unit after her surgery, the nurse tending to her named Genevieve was awful. There was another nurse whose name I can’t remember that was also terrible, it was a short woman who looked similar to the other nurse. They both kept speaking in what I believe was mandarin so I hope that helps to identify them so that this doesn’t happen to someone else. They both knew nothing about my moms procedure, Genevieve asked me twice if my mom had a hysterectomy in the past because she had previous abdominal scars and I had to explain to her both times it was intestinal surgery that she had. She was not listening to anything we told her but the cherry on top of everything was that her and the other nurse had to place a Foley catheter on my mom and they could not do it and hurt my mom. I was kicked out the room when they were placing but I saw them running back and forth panicked after a while so I went to check and my mom was upset and in so much pain. She asked me for help so I complained to a male nurse who was in the unit and he called the charge nurse over who got the catheter in super fast, didn’t even take her a minute while the other two kept poking and hurting my mom for 10 minutes. She said they were stretching her legs wide open and kept trying to shove the catheter in her urethra and when they couldn’t, they just pulled her legs even wider. Mind you, she had a vaginal surgery and they could’ve seriously injured her. My mom has had surgeries before and does not complain easily, these two idiot women made her cry. I work at a ER vet and our technicians treat the animals with much more compassion and care than these nurses do. I’m thankful I can advocate for my mom but worry about those who come alone into the hospital and can’t speak up for themselves, incredibly scary that this is what our healthcare system is. I have no complaints about the charge nurse or the male nurse, they were both lovely and helpful."

"I have heard nothing but awful stories from this excuse of a hospital. My closest friend has gallstones that have entered her bile duct and caused repeated severe gallbladder attacks, which Dignity Health itself defines as a medical emergency. She has been in persistent and severe pain for months, with her health taking a turn for this worth this past month resulting in many ER visits and hospital admissions. Rather than provide her with the necessary surgery to remove her gallbladder and stop this emergency, California Hospital has instead decided to repeatedly deny her inpatient surgery, going as far as to lie in her chart about what caused her pain. They have forced her to seek outpatient surgery, promising to provide a referral. Surprising no one, they did not even place the referral after a week and counting. Her condition worsens each day. I wonder if California Hospital will be more willing to provide her with the surgery she needs when her gallbladder ruptures due to their constant negligence. Avoid this place at all costs if you value your health."

"I visited this medical center for a dermatological consultation, and I was incredibly impressed. The service was top-notch, with a friendly and knowledgeable staff that made me feel comfortable throughout the entire process. The dermatologist was thorough, addressing all my concerns and providing expert advice. What truly stood out was the exceptional value for the quality of care I received. I left with a comprehensive treatment plan and the confidence that my skin was in capable hands."