Kaiser urgent care

"Very crowded. 3 hour wait time on a Thursday afternoon. The care I receive is top-notch. But seriously, longer wait timed than the Emergency Room"

"Really nice customer service. Both times I’ve been here, it’s been on a weekend and not too busy. I did get there early. They have a quick routine, sending you to different rooms promptly and productively. In-in-out quickly for an urgent care. Pharmacy is quick as well. Great service and clean environment."

"Worst Urgent Care ever!!! My husband and I went to the Urgent Care at 6 pm as he was having flu-like symptoms and his asthma was getting worse. They said that they were at capacity and we would need to go to the ER. This is the second time they told us the same thing. Don't understand why they supposedly are open til 9 but can't take anyone past 5:30. Also the front desk lady is very rude, no compassion whatsoever"

"Been here since 8:45am, 15 minutes before opening. I tell reception, I have a growth in my trachea. He notes it as a sore throat, and assigned me low priority I assume? I corrected it with check-in and said it’s a growth! Not just a sore throat, meaning I cannot swallow food because it gets stuck, and I had to perform the heimlich on myself that same morning! Still put in low priority I guess. It’s 10:40 and the doctor finally showed up only to tell me to go to the ER. Two hours wasted and who knows how many more after I leave here. Still waiting for …. Idk …. to be told which ER to go to? half a work day lost. . . Whats infuriating is that I tried to call Urgent Care last night for 45 minutes, and speak to someone to ask if they have this capability to diagnose my condition. The appointment services couldn’t get ahold of anyone to ask that simple question and save all of us time …. Thanks Kaiser"

"I went to Kaiser Otay urgent care on 12/7/2022 at 6:45 pm. I was having pain in my calf and thought it may be a blood clot. I had a stroke in February of 2022, because of a blood clot, so I wanted reassurance it wasn’t happening again. To my surprise, I was told by the triage nurse, RN H that they were closed. I was told to go to the ER on Zion or return tomorrow at 9am. He further stated that there are usually two doctors working, but this evening there was only one. He didn’t ask for my medical history, assess my symptoms or my leg. Just this robotic, un-empathetic response as if he was reading off of a cue card. I was upset and left. I verbalized that Kaiser needed to do better. Being short a physician should NEVER be a reason to deny someone care. If that were the case, a sign stating “Closed”, should have been placed on the door as a core measure and the clinic should have been placed on divert. I should not have to drive 20 minutes away, risk a potential blood clot from traveling in the bloodstream, causing a stroke, heart attack, car crash or even death. At 7 pm, I went back and asked to see the charge nurse. I wanted a more detailed explanation. While waiting, RN H approached me with a card with instructions on how to make a formal complaint with member services. Thank you, I plan to. At 7:10 pm, as I continued waiting, a lady came in complaining of skipped heart beats. She stated that she called the nurse advice line and was instructed to come to urgent care. To my surprise, she too was denied care. He told her the same thing: “I’m sorry, but we’re closed. You have to go to another urgent care or the ER”. As with me, he didn’t ask for her medical history, assess her heart rate and rhythm, oxygen saturation or if she was having chest pain. In fact, the only question he asked her was how long she had been having the skipped beats. She could have been in a fatal heart rhythm like atrial fibrillation, third degree heart block or actively having a heart attack. It is his job as a triage nurse to assess these things before instructing her to seek care 20 minutes away. There is ALWAYS something that can be done. Time is critical!! This is a basic nursing skill! At the very least, he could have obtained an EKG to rule out such findings before putting her on the road. Just because someone doesn’t present clutching their chest doesn’t mean they aren’t having an emergent cardiac event. Looking shocked and confused, she and her husband asked why she couldn’t be seen. Her husband stated, “I thought the heart was a priority? The advice nurse said you’re open until 9pm”. They were visibly upset. As they were leaving, I asked RN H to give them a card to contact member services. After ten minutes, I was able to speak with Charge Nurse P. I explained both scenarios, my concerns and disappointment with care. He was nice and apologetic. I’m grateful he listened to my concerns. I explained that this should never be the case. Patients aren’t given adequate explanations and just turned away. They are upset, confused and don’t feel valued. Likely a contributing factor to decreased patient satisfaction. I verbalized that I also work as a Kaiser RN and our patients deserve better. It’s our job to advocate for them to ensure that they are receiving the best possible care, as described in our Mission Statement. If we/they are not receiving excellent care, we need to create awareness and escalate the matters to management. We must also give clear, precise explanations, reasoning, and rationales behind why the usual protocols and routines on any given day need to be altered. In addition, if a patient does drive to the ER, especially if driving alone, they need education on when to pull over and call 911, seek help in a well lit area with people, alert a family member or friend what is going on, their location and destination and have them alert authorities in the event of no or lost communication. This is always best practice. Core practices and measures need to be reviewed. “Our ability to trust is based on our life experiences”."