Hollywood-Wilshire Clinic

Hi I’ve been here twice and there has been absolutely no wait. There actually has been no one here. The clinic itself is very clean and nice for a free clinic. Also keep in mind this is a FREE clinic so this isn’t a ritz Carlton of places. If you have to wait (which I never have) remember you’re being taken care of for FREE and they give you FREE medicine on the spot. They’re very organized they always have your number on file. STD results are available in 4 days. I think this place is great & convenient and not crowded like Parent Parenthood. Also keep in mind beggars can’t be choosers so if you don’t like waiting 2 hours for free service then go somewhere else honestly and pay. What else more can you ask for?

If you have any other options over Saban, please do yourself a favor and go there instead.
I have a fairly serious condition, and have been to Saban on Melrose 5 times now. I have never seen a doctor there, but only a Nurse Practitioner who verbally abuses me every time I see him. I’m not kidding. I feel like a battered wife. I sit there quietly in pain while he abuses me. Let me be clear: he’s not a cold fish by the book doctor. He’s a verbally abusive prick. Last time I was yelled at for not yet seeing a specialist, though the NP didn’t refer me to that specialist. I’ve been referred to two others (both with a 2 month wait time, so I haven’t seen them yet). When I pointed out to the NP that he hadn’t referred me to the 3^rd specialist, and there’s nothing I can do without his referral, he stormed out of the room. Do I leave? Is the NP coming back? In other words, he forgot the referral on my earlier visits, and it was my fault for not knowing I needed to see that particular specialist. I really don’t understand why he wants to work in a field with sick people. He is easily the meanest health professional I have ever been involved with.
Recently, I had an appointment for a meds refill. That’s all. But I was 12 minutes late (I assure you, through no fault of my own), and he refused to see me. The support staff tried their best, it seemed, but seeing me for 3 minutes was out of the question. These are meds I need, and I was told to go to the emergency room. I told them I could wait until after the last patient, because an emergency room visit to get a refill of meds would take longer and be a waste of ER doctor time and resources, but he still refused. So if you have an appointment here, don’t be late! One day, I had an appointment, and had to wait over 3 hours to be seen. I’ve had 5 appointments, and have always waited at least an hour, so apparently it doesn’t work the other way ’round. Seriously, DON’T BE LATE!
If you go as a «walk in», get there when they open. They have more staff in the morning, but unless you are really lucky, expect an all day wait. You are put on a list, and you have to hope someone is 12 minutes late and rejected before you move up on that list. If you DO have an appointment and are late, they will NOT change your status to «walk in» and you are out of luck. Period. I’ve been a walk-​in because the abusive Nurse Practitioner can’t count. The number of pills prescribed was too few to reach my next appointment. When I asked a regular nurse about it, she said «You’ll have to come as a walk-​in». So don’t expect much in the follow up department. In fact, if you have a chronic or serious condition, stay as far away from this place as possible.
If you make an appointment by phone, expect a minimum 30 minute «on hold» time, with the same annoying guitar song (even if you like it, I promise you that you’ll hate it by the time they answer your call).
BTW, you CANNOT go to another Saban clinic if you have been assigned to that one through Medi-​cal, Healthway L.A., etc. (believe me, I’ve tried) Perhaps their other clinics are better.
If you drive there, give yourself plenty of time. Patient parking is extremely limited. I have a handicapped placard, and even then can often not get a space. Street parking is limited to an hour.
I have read all of the reviews for Saban, and am frankly surprised to see that anyone got to see an M.D. There are a series of file holders with staff names on them when you walk into the exam area. There seems to be only one MD on staff. I’ve seen him only in passing in the hallway, and he seems very nice. Wish I could see him. The rest are Nurse Practitioners.
Believe me, if I didn’t HAVE to go here, I wouldn’t. Once I’m through with a very likely surgery, I’ll spend a huge amount of time trying to find a half decent place. Frankly, I can’t imagine a worse place than Saban’s Hollywood/​Wilshire clinic.

I’m actually going to call my provider and change to another clinic. My first visit alone took me two hours just for the doctor to see me for less than 5 minutes and tell me that I am fine. I am on hold right now for 20+ minutes and still holding with no answer for a re-​schedule for lab. Find another clinic to help you out.

My mom had an appointment today at 10:30 am for results. Was told that her wait time would be very long. 3 hours later she is told that she has two patient ahead of her. She is a diabetic and didn’t have her blood pressure or glucose testing done, which are mandatory for any diabetic patient. When she finally gets to see the doctor, they tell that they don’t have her ultrasound, instead of trying to get the ultrasound faxed over they reschedule her for another day. Stay away from Dr.Javdanfar. Will be filling a grievance to her medical HMO. Will give two stars because there are other great clinicians that care.

Truthfully I only come here because it’s too late to change clinics.
This is a horrible clinic & would not recommend this place to anyone.
Starting off with parking; there’s only around 7spots for patients the rest are for employees ! So there’s never parking.
Second you can have an appointment all you want but you better plan ahead& make sure you have something to do because you will be called in if you’re lucky an hour after.
But if you’re late they won’t take you In.
Third of all, the staff feels like they own the world & don’t always try to help out or anything. But some are nice & try to help NOT ALL.
only because it’s a «free clinic» doesn’t mean we get to put up with shit they still get paid!
Only reason I come here is because they are linked with cedars sinar that’s why they get 2 starts

I have been coming here for about 2 years now. Staff and doctors are great, but waiting an hour to be seen after your scheduled appointment is unacceptable! Not impressed!

First, let me state that I am giving this facility and staff a ONE-​STAR rating because healthcare is serious business, and «mediocre» or «average» should not be an option FOR ANYONE providing healthcare services. It should pretty much be shooting for excellence or nothing. The Saban Community Clinic (Hollywood — Wilshire branch) is anything BUT excellent.
There are those who have very low expectations for their healthcare and what makes a healthcare facility exemplary. Also, I have noticed that those receiving low cost or no cost care are often so grateful that they tend to overlook what is, and should be, basic to good healthcare. So, compared to nothing, or another clinic that is even worse, I suppose I would rate this clinic with multiple stars too, but a review is NOT about whether this clinic is better than some other clinic that falls short.
Another thing I have noticed is that many of the reviews I have read here about Saban are giving the facility high marks for COST, LOW COST or NO COST tesing, etc. Saban has nothing to do with these policies. They provide services through guidelines set up through plans, such as Medi-​Cal, etc. These plans determine who pays for what and how much if at all, so crediting this clinic with praise because, Obamacare mandates that a service is free is not a credit to Saban Clinic.
I have found that the doctors here are uniformly trying very hard to treat each and every patient and family with the utmost professionalism and knowhow. They are courteous, compassionate and thoughtful, operating under enormous financial and system pressures.
That said, if you are expecting this facility to be like a hospital or professional medical building, forget it. Exam rooms are usually not very clean. On many occasions, I have been placed in an exam room which is filthy, with blood or medical solutions or just plain dirt on the floor or the exam table or counters where instruments are setting. Often, the paper on the exam table is soiled or has not been changed from the previous patient (s).
Wait times are extremely long at every step and stage of a visit. Clerical staff is not overtly friendly, but fairly professional in their interactions with patients, although they have also lost files, records or financial information from time to time, requiring these things to be caught down the line. This can cause great inconvenience when you least expect it. Mixed up scheduling and appointment dates are a frequent complaint, or even scheduling patients inadvertently on Federal Holidays when the clinic is closed.
A great deal of attention is paid to making sure that staff and medical personnel are buffered from patients. Telephones to all departments are frequently unanswered, and you will find that you are lucky if your call goes to a voicemail. Many, if not most departments, have their incoming calls routed to voicemail telling the caller that the lines are busy and to call back another time. Frequently, that «other time» is when the facility is closed. Few phones with voicemail will even accept a message.
If you are waiting for a referral to a specialist requested by your doctor, the one individual who handles this will not return your call for weeks on end if at all, prompting you to call back over and over and experience the above mentioned voicemail song and dance.
If you have a problem with your prescribed medication, such as a reaction or side effect, and you call and do get through to clinic personnel by some miracle and a live person actually answers the phone, you will be met with a staff that literally has no idea what to do with your call. I have seen that frequently such calls are simply referred to the dispensary staff who similarly have no policy or training to handle such a basic issue as a reaction to a prescribed medication. Whatever happens, you will NEVER be connected to any medical staff.
Basic healthcare, meaning an annual physical, which is supposed to be one of the new goals for patients under Obamacare’s preventative healthcare aspect, are absurd. Yes, staff will take your blood pressure, weight/​height, etc., and a doctor will look in your eyes and ears and listen to your lungs and heart. However, regardless of age or medical history, such as family history of skin, colon or other cancers, there will be no examination of your chest. back, skin, prostate, feet, etc.
If you have a family history of, osteoporosis, there will be no testing and the topic will actually be poo-​pooed by some doctors at the clinic. Also, doctors come and go, so there is little continuity and follow up between one doctor treating a patient and the next. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that any patient needs to be a good medical consumer. However, at the Saban Community Clinic (Hollywood –Wilshire branch), it is nearly impossible for even an experienced medical consumer to receive high quality medical care without inordinate work and knowledge on the part of the patient.

Great staff, clean, quiet, helpful, FREE. Results over the phone in a couple of days, or within a week for printouts. Thanks guys!

Saban has been a lifesaver, literally. Self-​employed without insurance, all of a sudden, beginning in 2009, I had an onslaught of medical problems. Very expensive medical problems. Without Saban Hollywood-​Wilshire Clinic and the staff (both permanent and seemingly pro bono), I would be a bankrupt invalid on disability. Thankfully, I remain a productive, fiscally solvent member of society.
After the implementation of the ACA, the situation at the clinic has improved quite a bit. Before the ACA, each visit used to be at minimum a half-​day wait. Clearly, far more people were turning to the clinic for care than was ideal. The staff nonetheless hung in there valiantly and tried to give the best care possible. Some of the doctors (seemingly from Cedars Sinai) were better than others. Some were downright wonderful, some could have hid their aversion a bit better. Nonetheless, I was receiving at times free service, paying $ 25 a visit at most for expensive services (incl. minor surgery) that sometimes took me to Cedars Sinai even, where I learned how amazing medical care could be. Really. The bill for Cedars Sinai (x-​rays, blood-​work) = $ 4 for parking. Yup. $ 0 in hospital bills.
That said, the clinic did miss an important underlying condition that may have gone misdiagnosed and mistreated for years. The problems doesn’t seem irremediable, but it would have been nice to be spared years of suffering. I attribute that to not having one designated doctor in charge. Yes, it would have been nice to get consistent service from one designated doctor in a timely fashion. That is why we all want access to primary care physicians under affordable insurance coverage, isn’t it? Or Kaiser-Permanente’s model of healthcare.
Post-​ACA, the visits are prompt and at most 2 hours long. It’s been sort of amazing. The care still seems to be provided by a rotating crew of doctors rather than by a permanent staff, so take that into consideration. I still have access to $ 0−25/visit care at both the clinic and at Cedars Sinai for lab work. Yes, even now, I still pay very little because the clinic staff goes out of their way to minimize the fee I would have to pay. I adore the staffer in charge of the pharmacy, who has the best customer service philosophy. In general, I am thankful for the dedicated staff at Saban, since they work hard for the underprivileged.
Just know that parking is tough. Learn to read parking signs correctly, and be careful where you park when. Remember that the clinic staff are there to help you, and not your help to demand things from. And be grateful that they exist as a resource for people like me who’d otherwise be healthcare beggars who can’t afford to choose.

I would never recommend to make an appointment over the phone. I’ve been told to come Thursday at 6.15pm. So, I came and sign in at 6.10pm. After 45 minutes, I came to the window and asked why nobody calls me in? They told me that I supposed to come in the day before and now I have to wait a line about 30 people ahead of me. After I said that my appointment was scheduled today (not the day before) they asked me: Do you have a proof? I had to make another appointment, but this time I’ve got a paper (proof). I needed to check after I was in Cedar-Sinai’s ER and need to follow up as soon as possible. But, nobody cares. I wish I could afford the insurance and never come to this terrible place again… So, if you need an appointment — make sure you have a proof of it. Customer service is absent over there. I have no words to describe my disappointment. It doesn’t deserve even 1 star. It feels like nobody cares about you. I wish I remember the lady’s name who made my appointment. I hope she would feel the same pain I do. Don’t want to use bad language here — but you know what I mean…

Free services! Got a TB Chest Xray, done took 1 hour 30 min to get viewed, and another 30 min to get a less than a minute chest xray. PRICE you cant beat, waiting time is LONG. But for me it got worse. Went in there without knowing that they has separate parkings for employees and so on. WELL parked in the wrong place. Came out and saw a 53 $$ ticket from a sheriffs. Now I understand a parking officer giving a ticket but a sheriff? I guess they forgot their main objective. So went for free services and came out with a ticket. Might as well should’ve gone to a private clinic and paid that FASTER service, and 2 – 3 day results instead of 2 – 3 weeks. && for the management of the clinic a little advise, put a big sign saying EMPLOYEE PARKING on the wilton melrose entry.

Thank God for Unilocal!
I have called around to so many of the local clinics here in LA, and they were all asking for hundreds of dollars to get full panel testing done. Good hell!
No matter your budget, you should be able to get tested. The Hollywood Wilshire Clinic makes this possible. 100% FREE STD Testing, Hallelujah!
I went in just as they opened, 7:30 AM. I was worried to see the line of 20+ people outside, but I was the only one there for STD testing. I went upstairs to the STD testing office, and was greeted by a friendly clerk who gave me two simple forms to fill out.
Enjoy the humorous décor in the waiting room. My personal favorite would be the «101 Ways to Make Love Without Doin’ It» poster. Some gems of insight included (but were not limited to) «Bake Cookies, Rent A Video, Share an Ice Cream Cone, Gaze at Each Other, Play Footsies, Give Each Other Sexy Looks» and of course «Give Diamonds».
I waited for about a half hour to see a nurse in the waiting room. By the time I got called back there were only two or three others in the waiting room. It wasn’t over crowded (which is somehow what I was expecting). My nurse asked the usual probing questions. I peed in a cup, had my blood drawn, was given a stack of condoms and sent on my way.
Results in 1 week. Love this place!