Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation: Orinda

"The first impression when we walked in was that the place doesn't look clean, especially the chairs in the waiting area. My husband needed to be seen for abdominal pain. He checked in at 3:40pm, the estimated wait time was an hour and a half and they work until 5pm. Right at 4:45 we were told that they won't see him, because they probably are not equipped and told us to go to Emergency room. They never asked him how much does it hurt or see him and decided they were not equipped. Waited there for more than an hour and got kicked out, because they are closing in 15 minutes is what it felt like."

"Easy to find. Parking lots (yes lots) were all full and are small when you have an SUV an a child you have to take out. Maybe it was the time of day I went. I am not sure but very limited parking even with the space they try to give. As there is limited street parking cause it turns into residential houses. Staff were overall friendly and nice. The receptionist at the Lab, seemed a bit cold. As she was the only one to not even acknowledge me as I stood in line. But the tech was epic an I didn’t even feel the blood draw!!!! Sadly it’s the only Sutter health out in the East Bay. Avoid the one in Antioch as it’s horrible and the quality is not what is seen or expect at other Sutter healths."

"Normally, everything goes smoothly here. But two things happened here today for me. 1. Had to wait almost an hour for meeting the doctor without having any updates from the medical assistant. This is happening for me the second time here. 2. Felt a little dizzy and asked water to medical assistant and she didn't show up after that."

"I have 2 primary issues with the experience at Sutter East Bay in Orinda: 1) In my opinion, they have dishonest and deceptive billing practices - the cost estimate they publish on their website for the type of visit I had is $65; the actual bill I received was $330. I contested it, and after having to follow-up several times after they didn't respond within the time they said they would (over about 3 months), they finally reviewed it and (of course) re-affirmed that it was correct and threatened to send it to collections if I didn't pay (they had been billing me and threatening all along). They would not provide details about the billing codes they used, nor how the bill mapped to the cost estimates that they publish on their website. Insurance bill up-coding (e.g. charging for a more complex service than was actually performed) is a huge problem in this industry, and a major reason behind why health care costs are so out of control. 2) The quality of care is unacceptably poor - while the doctor I saw at this most recent visit was very nice (as was the other doctor I saw last year for a general check-up), he wasn't able to add any more value than I got from searching my symptoms on Google or speaking with the advice nurse over the phone when making the appointment. The only value I got from the visit was a referral for a blood test (which didn't require the visit), and a referral to another doctor to try and figure out what he couldn't (for another charge, of course - the good-old boys referral club). Definitely not worth the $330 they charged me. Additionally, unfortunately even with the blood test, nobody ever followed-up to give me the results. Initially I figured that may be a good sign - there were no issues (although odd that nobody would let me know that). But after about a month, my curiosity got the better of me and I called to ask about it, at which point they told me there was actually a slight abnormality which I should come back in for (you guessed it - for an additional charge). Finding new and innovative ways to bill me never seemed to lack; competence in care and concern for my well-being certainly didn't come across as their priority. Overall, this is a very poorly run operation, built around their prioritization of profit over patient well-being. Had their response to any of this been to take responsibility and correct the issues, I could accept that - even honest businesses make mistakes. But businesses with integrity own up to those mistakes and make them right. Sutter East Bay did not do that in my case - they did exactly the opposite - and judging from the other reviews I've seen online, that seems to be commonplace for their business."

"While pregnant with my first baby last year I visited an OB here and loved her! So attentive, knowledgeable and kind, she always took the time to answer all our questions and we never felt rushed. She caught my preeclampsia (even though test results were borderline, and I had little to no symptoms), trusted her gut instinct, and got me to the hospital in time for further testing and delivered early which saved both me and my baby. So thankful for her! Everyone at the front desk was also helpful and kind. Will be coming back here for baby #2!"