Sutter Neuroscience Medical Group

I am a Scoliosis patient and have had three visits at this office. Although the doctor I saw was nice, getting in touch with this office has been a huge nightmare! My problems started when I arrived for my first appointment and was told by the medical assistant that she would only load one of my imaging CD’s that I had, even though I had called ahead and specified that I had several. This ruined my entire visit as the doctor couldn’t look at my images. The medical assistant routinely took TEN days to return emails. Many times I called and got a busy line, or an out of order message. Other times, I would be on hold for twenty minutes or longer. The stress of trying to deal with this place truly made my pain from my Scoliosis worse. Further, they are very elusive when you ask to speak to anyone in charge. I am now a patient at UC Davis and very happy there. Very glad I am not at this Sutter affiliate anymore.

I could not have had a better experience BOTH times I have been to this office. Dr. Chesak is remarkable. I have trouble deciding which personal feature I like best about him: his perfect bedside manner, his attentiveness to detail, his willingness to go above and beyond while respecting your budget and health, or his ability to help you relax in even the most absurdly terrible conditions.
As a doctors daughter and frequently sick person I can say that Dr. Chesak is one physician I wish could be my primary care instead of just my neurologist.
The staff here is also friendly, approachable and knowledgable. I always feel at ease even when I know I am there for a not so comfortable reason.

Before getting insurance that included the Sutter Medical Group I spent over 2 years with a pinched nerve in my neck that sent excruciating pain down my arm. Within a month of getting this insurance I had an appointment with Dr. Reimer. He did a thorough neuro exam and sent me for a CT and fresh MRI and scheduled me with the neurosurgeon, Dr. Fox. It took a month to get in to see Dr. Fox, but he was very nice and offered me the options. I chose surgery and he scheduled me for later that same month. After over 2 years of constant pain and getting pills pushed at me, I finally got an actual solution. Surgical recovery was easy compared to the pain I had been living with. The staff is always very nice and the surgeons are first rate, I will always be thankful I was able to get treated by Dr. Reimer and Dr. Fox. The only reason I can’t add a fifth star is because of how long it takes to get in to see anyone. They don’t have enough neurologists available for the number of patients they have.

Sutter Neuroscience has made great strides in the scope of patient care. They have many more Neurologists on staff than other clinics in Sacramento. Like any Specialist, it may take some time to schedule an appointment. However, they offer good services to patients in Sacramento Valley.

The star rating is for Sutter’s pricing and administration only.
Our pediatrician suspected that our daughter might have a condition wherein one of her skull sutures (open places between the plates of the skull) may have fused early, so he gave us a referral to Dr. Ciricello at Sutter Neuroscience.
We had three total consults in as many months — two with Ciricello’s PA, and one with the doctor. Each visit consisted of a 5 – 10 minute consult wherein the PA or doctor felt our daughter’s skull. The PA was able to tell on the first visit that nothing had fused, but wanted to see her once a month for a while to make sure that her skull continued to grow normally.
We have no complaints about the care — both Ciricello and his PA were very pleasant, gentle, quick but informative, and I have no question that they know their stuff. We are thrilled that our daughter doesn’t have this condition or need the surgery required to correct it.
However, we just received our first bill — over $ 400 for the first visit. For a 10-​minute (max) consult with a physician’s assistant. No lab work, scans or any equipment used other than a scale and thermometer to get her weight and temperature. FOR 10 MINUTES WITH A PA. Seriously???
We have a high-​deductible insurance plan, so we’ll be paying for this (and the two subsequent visits) out of pocket. Sutter does offer a discount for cash-​only patients, which is not available to us because we technically have insurance.
After a little investigating (which I regret not doing in advance… but you know, having a newborn who may potentially need surgery on her skull does tend to make one focus their research efforts elsewhere), I found out that apparently the Sutter Health system has so much market power that they are able to charge significantly more for just about everything than smaller doctors and hospital systems.
A much smaller complaint is the Neuroscience department’s administration. It took us forever to get the initial appointment, we made several calls before anyone would call us back. And we were not allowed to schedule follow-​up appointments at the office — instead, we were told that someone would call us to schedule them. I have no doubt that we’d still be waiting to hear from them if we hadn’t made follow-​up calls ourselves. Not a big deal, it’s just a weird hassle for something that’s typically a simple, routine function for most doctor’s offices.
I have no doubt that anyone who needs neurosurgery will get very good care here. But if you have a high-​deductible insurance plan like ours, it is probably worthwhile trying to find out if you’d be better off seeking treatment at UC Davis’ neurosurgery system.