Eyecare Associates of San Francisco

I noted that some of the reviews are not updated. My understanding is that this practice has changed hand in the summer of 2015 and now headed by Dr. Tan. After spending a miserable 4-​month with Pacific Eye Associates, who failed to properly diagnose and then refused to treat my chronic chalazion, I found Eyecare Associates and Dr. Tan in October. He explained to me what the treatment options were (consistent with what I had found online), and proceeded to treat it with a simple steroid shot. My debacle was over in a week. The chalazion has since subsided with no sign of recurring.
Dr. Tan is very matter-​of-​fact and professional. The day I first visited the office was packed with people, but he still managed to make time to walk me through the pros and cons of the treatment the best he could (he was in a hurry as I could tell). It is true that I had to wait somewhere between 45 mins to an hour in every visit in the waiting room, but same as Pacific Eyes Associate, which I went to multiple times this summer but they never fixed my problem!
I would recommend Dr. Tan to anyone who needs a good ophthalmologist.

Though I really like the Dr Gelbart and his technician, but I did not like my recent experience at all.
1) I literally waited for 59 minutes before I was called in for the first time. Then I was called in, got my eyes dilated, then waited a bit more, then called in again to get the test, then waited a bit more and only then I got to talk to a doctor. So overall it took way more than 2 hours.
2) I was promised that I would have a digital copy of OCT, but after the appointment they said they don’t know how to export it. I know that some other places easily do export and provide you with a digital copy in high resolution. I emailed one of their managers, but after one reply they just ignore me.
Maybe another office is ran better.

Dr, Kerman has to be the worst doctor in the world. Had an eye infection. Went to see Dr Kerman. Waiting room is a dump and expect at least an hour wait before you get to see the doctor. He gave me a prescription which did not clear up the infection. Went back. During the exam, he said an eyelash was about to fall into my eye and that he would remove it for me. Imagine my shock when I got billed an extra $ 80 for the eyelash removal, which they bill as SURGERY!!!
Not only is he totally unscrupulous, he never cured my eye infection and I had to see yet another doctor to get that cleared up.
Avoid like the plague

Last June, when I felt like there were «cobwebs, floaters and flashers» in my right eye I called and got an immediate appointment with Dr Kerman. He gave me a full eye exam and a comprehensive exam looking for any evidence of a retinal tear. Dr. Kerman was able to determine that there was no retinal tear and that my symptoms were part of the natural aging process. Dr Kerman told me that the floaters, etc. should be gone in about 6 months. He set my mind at ease and after 6 months, it was hard to see any floaters in my right eye. Dr Kerman explained how critical it was to find a retinal tear as early as possible and not to hesitate to call if the symptoms did not go away or got worse.
So, six months after the floaters, etc. event in my right eye, the same thing happened in my left eye. As instructed by Dr Kerman, I called immediately for an appointment. Since it was Saturday morning, the office was closed and Dr. Kerman was on call. He told me to meet him at the Stonestown office. He came in, opened the office, gave me the same comprehensive eye exam as with my right eye. The exam took more than a hour. Once again, there was no retinal tear and I was very relieved. I really appreciated that he came in on his day off, opened the office and did not let me wait until Monday to be seen.
I knew of Eye Care Associates because I used to take my mother to another Dr in the office. Yes, there were a lot of older patients; Mom was 90 and she had to use a walker as did other patients. A lot of older people are at greater risk for eye issues. I received excellent care and I did not have a walker.

«WHOA, this looks like a walker parking lot.» –Receptionist, Eyecare Associates of San Francisco
Come Thursday morning, I woke up with an inflamed eye. I went to work in my glasses (I’m a contact lens wearer) and have everyone asking me, «What’s up with the glasses?» I tell them I might have pink eye and all the responses were, «What did he/​your bf do to you?» Unfortunately, my «bf» is a 10lb hairy, toxic gas emitting pomeranian that wakes me up every morning with his truck driver snore.
I couldn’t get an appointment with my primary physician or my regular opthamologist so I was given a referral to Dr. Solomon Gelbart at Eyecare Associates of San Francisco.
I was relieved when they were able to give me a same day 4:15 PM appointment. However, everything went downhill from there.
Upon my arrival, I walked in to what I thought was an AARP Convention. Every patient had walkers with tennis ball stoppers and/​or canes and were slouched over the seat snoring. I thought maybe my coke goggles led me to the wrong office, so I went outside to double check the Suite number. Suite #448 it was.
Timeline of Events:
4:07 PM: Arrived at reception desk.
4:16 PM: Finally, got acknowledged and given new patient forms to fill-​out.
4:20 PM: ZzZzZzZ *crows feet start forming*
5:18 PM: The receptionist asked for my medical history (shouldn’t that be in the new patient forms?).
5:22 PM: My name is called and I scream to myself like I’ve just won the lottery, «YES!».
5:34 PM: After an eye exam, I was told, «You may go back to the waiting room now and the Dr. will see you soon». (WTH!!! You mean, you aren’t the Dr??? #*@&)
5:35 PM: ZzZzZz *white hairs start sprouting*
6:00 PM: My name is called again and I go to the back.
6:01 PM: ZzZzZz *turkey neck starts sagging*
6:14 PM: Dr. Gelbart walks in.
6:20 PM: I leave the office.
Although Dr. Gelbart apologized for the wait, a 2 hour wait with an appointment is absolutely ridiculous and inexcusable! I could have been seen faster at the ER (which I had been before). And, if they knew they were going to be busy (as they admitted), well then don’t overbook your appointments.
I have to add that the receptionist told another patient that he was after me but Dr. Gelbart saw him first.
With the atrocious wait, no wonder everyone was disintegrating in the waiting room.
P. S.- I didn’t have pink eye but was diagnosed with an eye infection. When I asked if it was contagious, I was told «I’m not sure».

Staff at the Buckingham way office are extremely rude and incompetent. I would suggest going to a different office.

I am pleased with my ophthalmologist, Dr. Gelbart.
However, the billing department has been harassing me for insurance information which IT deleted accidentally from my record.
This harassing individual needs to be replaced or placed on psychiatric medication, in my Medical opinion.

Last year, to save a little bit of money I went to Costco for an eye exam – a mistake, because going back to see Dr. Barry Kerman at Eyecare Associates made me again realize the truth in the saying «you pay for what you get». Dr. Kerman had saved my optical nerves, and that is the truth. Also, he patiently and clearly explains the details of what is going on with a patient’s eyes. Office assistants are polite and efficient also.

I was refereed to Eye Care Associates by my optometrist
Initially i was seen by Dr. Gilbert Inspite of his busy schedule he was considerate enought to squeeze us in his schedule even though we were lost in downtown streets of san francisco searching for parking.
Besides this, even though my wife and 1 yr baby was with me and baby being fussy and irritated Dr. Glibert was not at all distracted. He gave us his full time by squeezing in his other patients.
Even though he was going out of station for next two weeks He asked his collleague Dr. Michelle Bloomer to follow up with him.
Dr Bloomer is also a friendly person with expert in her field. She makes you feel comfortable and is patient enough to answer all your questions till you are satisfied. On her second visit she said to us that we can get our eye pressure checked by our optometrist as she could understand that it is very difficult for us to drive from san jose to san francisco each week.
Over all experience with both Dr. Gilbert and Dr. Bloomer will be enriching for you and you will realise that you are in safe hands.

I saw Dr. Michele Bloomer, and was very happy with the visit. She is thorough with her exam while still being friendy and easy to interact with. The office staff was very pleasant, and there is easy free parking underground.

Expensive for the service and facility it’s in. Watch out for additional charges that come later in the form of a bill. Granted the bill was not a lot, but I find it a little fishy that I was not warned of it in advance. I particularly remember being told that my insurance would cover me for a regular eye exam but if I wanted an exam for contacts, I’d have to pay extra. That’s normal. I would think that I could have been warned that the regular eye exam may not be fully covered either. Maybe it was a careless oversight, but I didn’t get such great value for the services rendered so do not appreciate having to pay more later. They are quite incompetent overall. They misspelled my name, my address, and even got my phone number wrong. Well that can explain why they forgot to mention the additional fees. Would you want to go to such a place to care for the health of your eyes? I only went there because it was close to where I live, but there others that aren’t too far away. Even Costco is beginning to sound good.