Inland Valley Cardiovascular Center 39755 Murrieta Hot Springs Road, Murrieta, CA 92563

"Dr. Desai saved my life! On a Friday night two months ago, I suddenly developed excruciating chest pain. My wife drove me to the Inland Valley Hospital Emergency Room. After an EKG and some blood tests I was informed that I was having a heart attack. Dr. Desai was consulted and he came to see me soon after - by now it was early Saturday morning. However Dr. Desai informed me that while I urgently needed a cardiac angiogram, the Inland Valley Hospital lacked those faacilities and services. I learned that the nearby Loma Linda Hospital Murieta branch did have the necessary equipment and Dr. Desai kindly phoned ahead so that ER was expecting me. When I informed the nurses that I was leaving to go to Loma Linda down the street, an arrogant male nurse tried to stop me from leaving! Over his objections I left anyway and my wife drove me to Loma Linda 15 minutes away. Dr. Desai performed the angiogram that same day. However the angiogram showed that my coronary arteries were actually in a critical life-threatening state. Dr. Howe - an amazing CardioThoracic Surgeon - was called in and scheduled me for emergency open heart surgery that Sunday morning. So I'm alive today because of Dr. Desai and Dr. Howe. And my care at Loma Linda Murrieta was exceptional and second to none. I can't thank all of them enough. I'm a retired Neurologist - not a Cardiologist. Nevertheless my medical training always emphasized that the needs of the patient must always come first. And so I was exceptionally lucky to have Dr. Desai not only as my Cardiologist, but also as my personal patient advocate - thank you again Dr. Desai!"

"Don’t waste your time!!!! They don’t pay attention to any paperwork, authorizations, or anything. My daughter needs to see a cardiologist, she’s under 18, she’s waited over a month. They had the paperwork, THEY called to book the appointment and her date of birth was verified, THEY called to confirm the appointment….we show up and they then say, oh we can’t see her, she has to wait even longer!!!!! Her doctor sent her to a cardiologist because she’s worried. I am sick to my stomach, especially since they didn’t care, couldn’t even look me in they eyes."

"I was very disappointed with the level of care Dr Desai provided. He spent about 4 minutes in the room for the consult and during that time was on the phone with someone else discussing another patient. Seriously, what has happened to our health care? The only reason IVCC received 2 stars instead of 1 was the office staff seemed somewhat helpful and nice. If you're looking for a cardiologist who genuinely cares, please look elsewhere."

"My husband went to see Dr Lai's when an issue with his heart was found during his knee surgery. After discovering his ejection fraction was 35% he ordered that an angiogram be performed. Dr Desai performed this and he was actually great. He answered all our questions and was confident (which made us feel better). After a follow up with Dr Lai's he basically told us he had no idea what caused my 44 year old (very fit and healthy otherwise) husbands heart condition. I get this...it happens, sometimes you can't pin point the cause. But then he said the angiogram showed no blockage and stated that "although it is NOT a blockage we will go ahead and treat it like one. Take a baby aspirin everyday and in six months I'll see you again. If nothing has changed you'll probably need to get on a donor list." He also mentioned people with an EF that low typically live about 5 years. We are now seeing a great Doctor at Cedar-Sinai who has put my husband on the correct medication for his condition. He's also told us positive information and provided us with UPDATED statistics. If Dr. Lai's had been upfront and told us there were Doctors better suited to help us with this issue I would have respected that. Instead he gave us the worst news of our lives with zero hope. My recommendation is if you do not have a minor heart condition that can be treated with aspirin find a better Doctor."