Golden Gate Obstetrics & Gynecology

I’ve been going to Golden Gate for my annual exams for the past four years, and have never had any issues. I’m currently going to Dr. Berguig and like her. She’s friendly, efficient, and never keeps me waiting.

Called numerous times and left messages requesting for lab work results done months ago. No one called back although they kept saying someone will follow up. Poor admin.
I was charged more than $ 2000 of ‘lab work’ ($ 4000 plus before insurance discounted it) the doc sent me; with no one to interpret these results or sent me results, i had no idea those tests were so costly! the various service providers eventually found me and sent me large bills. I didn’t like it that the doc didn’t tell me what to expect.
Thanks to Unilocal,someone finally responded. Results were finally sent to me upon my request and I am given ‘log in ’ details to access ‘my account. Account ??? In this ‘account’ that I didn’t know existed since I was a patient, the doc wrote me short notes after the results were released. It is very unprofessional to communicate this way without affirmation of response. It is like writing to a wrong email address and expect you have done your job sending the message.
So, after MONTHS of my last visit I have large bills, belated tests and no interpretation of the results. Lesson learnt, always ask your doc WHY and what kind of tests are you sent for and HOW MUCH they cost.
Never needed to do this before– tests were usually under a hundred bucks and you would think they have the courtesy to inform you if it’s a large sum and very expensive test– what if your insurance does not cover? It’s poor sight of business practice not to communicate clearly and in advance of your services.

This review was written back in February 2014. I didn’t really have time to finish the review when I was pregnant and after having my baby, well… I definitely didnt have free time to Unilocal.haha…
anyway, I went back and forth on whether I should post this or not — but in hopes that it will help someone make a good decision, I decided to post it.
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I am really disappointed in this practice. I am in my third trimester and recently switched over to GGOG — due to many reasons. I thought it would be helpful to have a doctor close by as I am working and I dont have time do go down to my doctor in the peninsula and get back to work… the commute itself was about 2 hours.
However, I realize this practice runs late an hour consistently. I have had 3 appts with them and all three times were an hour or more behind. I am almost never able to get anyone via phone… it’s very frustrating — especially coming from Womens Care Medical Group in RWC.
They don’t ever answer their calls. They must just have phones as an accessory. When I am in the office, I never HEAR the phone ring or even see someone answering it so they must have it on silent.
They overbook their appointments and do not give you a heads up when they are running late. Their admin were nice– but they need to overhaul their operations and make it more efficient.
I am a working professional and in between them running over an hour late on all appointments and actual appointment time and the time that takes me to get there and back… it’s a long trek at one point, it took me over 4 hours because of the wait time. I was trying to save myself some time by coming to Golden Gate, but it’s proving to be not worth it at all. The doctor apologized to me all three or four times telling me that she never runs late… and that she felt embarrassed she was constantly late with my appointments.
Honestly, I don’t want to go through all the details here… Contact me personally and I share more in detail about my experience with the doctor there as well. I would rather not discuss everything on a public forum but I have had one of the most horrible experience there. Believe me… I have been to better doctors and doctors offices. I personally would AVOID them at all cost.
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That was my review as of 2014 and since then I am hoping they changed things around (I am assuming by glowing reviews from fellow reviewers in the recent months?).
As for me, I decided to go with my gut and go back to Womens Care Medical Group and delivered with my favorite doctor there (who also went out of her way to come to the hospital an hour after she had just arrived from Hawaii just to deliver my baby and make sure that we were well taken care of…) I don’t regret that decision at all.

Being a woman is tough for many reasons, but being able to go to a doctors office that is as nice as this one makes it an easier task than I’ve experienced in the past. The lobby is modern and welcoming, the front desk staff is super friendly and helpful and the doctors I’ve seen are awesome.
Dr. Meister is basically my favorite of all time. She’s freakin’ hilarious and knows her stuff. It will be a few more years until I think about getting pregnant, but I can’t wait to be on that journey with her as my doc. She also helped me get acquainted with Script Dash, which is an awesome prescription delivery service that I use now. I also briefly had an interaction with Dr. Franca and she was just as helpful and knowledgable.
Definitely recomended!

This is a phenomenal practice, and all staff, nurses and doctors are experts in their field and make patients feel extremely safe and comfortable. I have referred 3 friends here and all have has fantastic experiences as well. I have seen a variety of nurses and doctors and all went above and beyond answering my questions and making sure I felt comfortable. And the receptionist staff is beyond friendly. This place is fantastic — and has a super convenient location!

this review is for dr. berguig and the staff at gg obstetrics. i’ve seen her twice and because of unforeseen circumstances, my appointments lasted 3 hours. there were so many little things that were like red flags to me — inconsiderate little remarks and general insensitivity that one does not want in an Ob or their office.
like some of the other reviewers here, it took them forever to get back to me about a highly sensitive test regarding an ultrasound i had. i had to call them ten times in one day to reach someone. what frustrated me the most is that even though i signed a form saying that leaving results on my voicemail was fine, they kept asking me to call them back. in the end, the test results were fine but not leaving the message explicitly made me scared for nothing.
the next ultrasound that took 3 hours was because dr. berguig could not find the baby on the ultrasound machine they had in their office. she used an endovaginal ultrasound and scared us repeatedly by asking us how we knew we were pregnant, if i had any cramping or bleeding — it was as if she did not believe i was pregnant. she kept probing trying to find the baby with the wand and when i said it was painful, she seemed surprised and said that it shouldn’t be painful. she finally referred me next door to ucsf imaging center and we had to wait for an hour and half to see a technician because dr. berguig took so long to get them the order even though they were right next door. when i finally saw someone, they simply did the ultrasound on the belly and found the baby right away. much less invasive than an endovaginal ultrasound which dr. berguig said was necessary at this early time of pregnancy.
the ultrasound technician explained that my uterus is very difficult to see with an endovaginal ultrasound and that she remembered that from the last visit which is why she used the standard belly ultrasound instead. what confuses me is that dr. berguig was not even looking at my uterus on the ultrasound but she made those two hours between her visit and our next ultrasound really frightening.
when we came back to her office for a consult, she did apologize. she asked me if i had any questions and when i did question her about a few things, she seemed annoyed and irritated by my questions and kept answering that we could talk about that at a later time. i’m sorry, what is the point of asking me if i have any questions if you’re going to deem them irrelevant?
on a side note — doesn’t anyone else find those gigantic advertisements for liposuction and botox for the neighboring skin center in the front room disturbing and offensive?
when i called to cancel my appt with dr. berguig and tell them i no longer plan on seeing her, they were very impolite and did not even ask me if there was any reason for it. apparently, they do not care about losing patients or finding out how they could do better in the future. the biggest red flag of all.
in my opinion, an ob office should be a welcoming and nurturing place for women. this is definitely nowhere close to that.

I can’t say enough about this practice. Dr. Wiggins and her staff are incredibly compassionate and helpful. It’s easy to get a person on the phone, call backs are timely — the longest I’ve waited is a day. People are friendly and open to problem solving with and for you. Rhonda and Lorraine are true health advocates and partners. I’ve had other practices close or drop the ball and have had to reach out to this office for extra support and help — often complicated and time sensitive. They go above and beyond. Dr. Wiggins is warm and open and I trust in her care. She is a support and gently advises you on your health — but works with you on what feels right for you. This is important for this type practice. I am SO relieved that they are in my insurance plan, which I will continue to pay top dollar for — just so I can continue to go to this office!

This review has two parts — general care + Labor & Delivery Support.
The reason this review has 3 stars and not fewer are twofold. 1. Dr. Berguig and her nurse (Jessie) are top notch. Super relaxed, supportive, responsive. Every visit with them is calm and informative. I strongly recommend Dr. Berguig for general care. 2. Based on my experience this practice does have highly competent physicians from a technical point of view.
This review on L&D in particular is for mama’s that are interested in a practice that is universally supportive of natural birth and/​or expect compassion during the most intense part of pregnancy — labor and delivery. During my pregnancy Dr. Berguig was supportive of a natural birth, but the chances of getting her when you’re ready to deliver are slim given the logistics of coverage at the hospital. She was also very skilled at talking through the myriad of tests, decisions, risks during pregnancy and never demonstrated a bias one way or the other. She simply provided the relevant information to help my husband and I make the decision that was best for us.
Unfortunately around the time of my due date Dr. Berguig was out of the office and I saw Dr. Franca in the office and then Dr. Meister was the attending physician at my son’s birth.
Dr. Franca admitted she was overwhelmed during my 40wk+1 day appt because many of her peers were out. This did not give me confidence in her attention to my progress/​next steps. She recommended I go to CPMC for tests the following day because of borderline high blood pressure. This is totally fine and reasonable from my point of view. After the tests the next day I called the GGOBGYN office to ask Dr. Franca some clarifying questions about the recommendation she had passed through the nurse. She told me she was ‘too busy to explain’ and I should talk to the Dr. on call at CPMC from the practice. Had she told me the day before to refer to the Dr on call I would have, but she did not. Therefore I was disappointed at her response and lack of compassion. She was after all the Dr. who was telling me to be admitted and induced. I am a first time Mama and all I wanted was a chance to clarify why she was recommending what she was recommending.
From there I ended up seeing Dr. Meister in triage at CPMC. Upon entering the room she saw that I was upset. Her first comment was ‘Let me guess, you’re upset because your birth plan isn’t going as hoped’. I had never met Dr. Meister and her comment was quite presumptuous. The reality was I was upset because her colleague had cut me off from asking questions during a stressful moment. Dr. Meister was able to answer my questions and it was evident she is technically very competent. My husband and I asked if we could take some time to reflect and make a decision. To which she responded we’d have to sign a waiver and that a woman who had done the same (taken a few hours to get some perspective) ended up having a stillbirth. This did NOT help a first time soon to be laboring woman stay calm. I understand needing to sign a waiver if we were to leave, but to reference a stillbirth to a 40wk pregnant woman was unnerving. The lack of compassion was shocking. It felt like a nasty negotiation tactic to get me to do what she was recommending. We ultimately followed her guidance, but it was not without some anxiety. Fast forward to labor and although I had been progressing with out pain meds even under induction her recommendation at 7 cm dilated was that I get an epidural to avoid the risk of a c-​section given where my baby was positioned at that point. This was also practical and good technical advice. Unfortunately however the way it was presented came across as abrupt and unsupportive of any alternative approach. I was tired and it wasn’t easy, but there was no reason to think I could not get through the birth naturally. Ultimately the CPMC nurse, my birth doula and husband were able to support me to get to the finish line naturally. Her comments and body language throughout the 14 hour period gave the impression she thought natural childbirth was nonsense. There were other things she said that I will refrain from posting, but hopefully this gives enough detail to provide insight to other future mamas deciding on what to do.
I did not have a chance to have this debate with her and would love to know what she really thinks. However, in a situation like this she and Dr. Franca’s actions and words lacked the compassion that I had hoped to encounter. I take 100% responsibility for having selected GGOBGYN as the practice to support me through the pregnancy. Although I wanted a natural birth I also wanted confidence that if something were to go wrong I would be in the care of true experts. I did have some post delivery complications that Dr. Meister handled swiftly, but the lack of compassion during this critical time is enough to send me elsewhere if in fact I’m lucky enough to have another child.

Fantastic doctors and friendly staff.
This review is for pregnancy and postpartum care at GG Obgyn:
Dr. Franca was great; answered my questions thoroughly and called me HERSELF to discuss test results and recommended next steps. She responded quickly to any concerns I had during pregnancy and as needed, fit me in same day to see what was going on. She made every effort to be there herself on the day of delivery.
As it happened, I was delivered by Dr. Dimsdale, who was also excellent. He was in the hospital for literally 24 hours and was available for questions and checked in throughout the labor. He helped follow my wishes (I wanted to avoid interventions or c-​section), and at the end of the day, safely delivered the baby. The office sent a dr. to check on me every day I was in the hospital, and the office has a dr. there all day on weekends (not just coming in when called). I ended up meeting Dr. Meister, Dr. Fang, and Dr. Lam, all of whom were also patient, helpful and answered any questions.
The GG Obgyn office itself is fairly modern, and they can do some lab work there, although they refer you to another local lab for more complicated tests. The staff are by and large very friendly and helpful (with the exception of one interaction and I haven’t seen that individual since).
I would highly recommend GG Obgyn to anyone who is pregnant or planning to have a baby.

terrible follow up, even after a scary Mammogram or other test results no one will call you UNTIL you call them and have them dig up the info! i have never seen such bad administrative staff at a place this pretty! come on already, it’s 2015!
doctors used to be good, now they just want to wrap it up. sigh. changed my doctor and went farther to stanford.

I loved this place. Beautiful office space, although location can be challenging during traffic hours. Dr. Leslie Meister was fantastic throughout my pre-​natal, delivery and post-​partum care. She was up beat and did lots of teaching, which I appreciated as another physician – there are just some things we don’t learn about in medical school or when you’re in another specialty. Unfortunately, I’ve moved away and have found care elsewhere but not nearly as easy to schedule as this place was.

came here saw Dr. Wiggin and she took care of me for my annual exam. It was a good and decent office visit. She is nice, professional and helpful. however, when I try to make my appointment the following year since it’s a long wait to see Dr. Wiggin I gave another dr. a try. and she turn out to me very inexperience and lack of patience for questions. I admit I am always super nervous when it come to see Dr. but she has no experience to handle nervous patient. Time to find another Gynecologist.

My first doctor office visit since moving to the Bay Area and was just great. Front desk staff is really welcoming and friendly. Dr. Dimsdale however is AWESOME. He has a fabulous bedside manner and isn’t one of those doctors that runs tests to just run tests. He actually didn’t run a specific test because of the number of false positives that it usually gives and was completely upfront about that. He’s thorough, friendly, well-​informed, completely non-​judgemental and comforting and positive — all of which you want from a doctor. Am really excited to have found such an amazing facility in the city and would highly recommend them and Dr. Dimsdale specifically to anyone looking for an OBGYN.

I should have written this review 3 years ago when I was pregnant and a patient of Dr. Wiggins. To say that I had a rough pregnancy would be an understatement. I was sick every single day, had some pretty scary results from my genetic testing, and I ended up being induced at 36.5 weeks due to increased blood pressure. My entire experience with Dr. Wiggins and ultimately Dr. Callen (who delievered my son at CPMC) was nothing short of amazing. Both Dr. Wiggins and Dr. Callen are warm and friendly. This is a busy office and sometimes the waits are long, but I believe that it’s worth the level of care that is delivered. Any time I needed to get in for an unplanned visit, and there were many throughout my pregnancy, they were always very accomodating. Dr. Callen ended up delivering my son, who aside from being a little small, was overall healthy. Dr. Callen was great in the delivery room and I was truly happy with the experience-​I felt safe, well cared for, and confident that everything was going to be ok.

I am a huge fan. They are my favorite people!
The staff is warm, friendly and considerate even when I’m a full grown adult afraid of getting shots.
My doctor is Dr. Dimsdale and he is very knowledgable and provide a sense of calm to whatever my medical concerns may be. All the docs are top notch and I won’t hesitate to see any of them in case Dr. D isn’t in. I feel like my care is really in good hands.

I have nothing but good things to say about this place. The staff is always so sweet and great about answering questions and setting appointments. Dr. muir is also amazing.

I love Dr. Dimsdale! I saw him during my pregnancy, and I was lucky enough to have him as the delivering doctor. He always took the time to answer all of my questions, and I loved his witty personality. My delivery was smooth and quick since Dr. Dimsdale told me how to push properly and it only took 15 minutes until we got to meet our son.

WARNING! This practice seems to have it all going on — a nicely appointed office, on-​site amenities like a skincare /​massage center, they deliver at the well-​regarded CPMC, etc.
However, several unacceptable incidents have occurred and observations have been made that allow me to fairly say that you should consider other options for prenatal care. Long review, but medical care when you’re pregnant, especially for the first time, is important!
1) Scheduling /​wait time. I agree with other reviewers who have mentioned how disorganized and overbooked this practice is. My very first appointment to verify my pregnancy — GGOBYN attempted to cancel hours before I came in. After a bit of fuss on my part, my husband and I got in and waited over an hour to see a physician. Upon each of my subsequent visits, I’ve noticed the same trend — you’ll likely wait at LEAST 30 – 45 minutes before seeing anyone, and if you’re in the routine check-​up stage of the pregnancy, only expect to see your doctor for 5 minutes max.
2) Quality of care. I have only seen Dr. Lam and therefore cannot speak for any of the other doctors. However, I never felt totally comfortable asking the million questions that a first-​time pregnant woman is bound to have. He seemed impatient and dismissive. I was having some skin issues, and after he told me not to use salicylic acid, he sent me over to the on-​site skin center for their products… all of which contained salicylic acid. Hmm. Also, you do not see the doctor long enough or at enough of a frequency to form any kind of relationship, at least in the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy. All the more involved testing and ultrasounds are outsourced to SF Perinatal. Just FYI.
3) Incorrect Medical Record Keeping. This did it for me and pushed me to write this review. I made the decision to switch practices (best move ever, btw. I now feel totally comfortable, supported and actually cared about). Upon request for transfer of medical records, GGOBYN sent my new practice totally incorrect records. Half of my record had been mixed up with another patient’s, with totally incorrect surgical and family history. Completely unacceptable. If I hadn’t checked the documents, it may have affected course of care/​treatment at my new provider. At the very least, it’s been a huge inconvenience and something that I find completely appalling.
Just my personal experience here. But I think a lot of other women, especially around the halfway point of their pregnancy, have the same realization as me. My new practice (St. Lukes Women’s Center), receives a significant number of transfers from this practice. I’ve also anecdotally heard of many women who had a first baby at CPMC and decided to make the switch to a lower-​intervention hospital like St. Lukes. Not a coincidence. Save yourself the heartache and start with a different provider!

Worst obstetrics and gynecologists ever! First of all, they have no obstetricians only gynecologists. I had a high risk condition with my pregnancy and Dr. Fung Lam gave us a painful HSG test and never gave us the complete results. The test was taken in December 2013. It’s been a few months and they never gave us the complete results of the HSG test till date! In Dec 2013, I took 4 tests here through Labcorp, which is in the same building as their office. The results of that test have not been given to me till date, but they happily billed me $ 500 after insurance for those tests. For the HSG test, I had to threaten to sue them in order for them to provide me with my results and they still gave me less than half the results.
People working here greet you with a smile but that’s where it starts and ends, they never get back to you. You can never get anyone on the phone and VMs are never returned. Their doctors pretend to be busy and don’t give you appointments, but are not actually busy. I had to visit the ER and was advised by ER to urgently see gynecologist Dr Lam the next day and get urgent tests done. I call this office and they say they have no appointments for the day as well as the next 2 months. My friend who had been seeing an obgyn in this exact office, gave them a call that same day as I did, to see the exact same doctor — and they gave her a same day appointment within 2 hours of her call and even told her that their calendar looks pretty good for appointments all afternoon, whereas the same time they told me that they are not just booked for the entire day but the next 2 months. Our phone calls to them were 10 minutes apart, and in fact, I called them before my friend did, so how in the world they get booked for entire 2 months is surprising to me! Wow! Very discriminating and unprofessional!
Couple of months pregnant, I found a great OBGYN in San Mateo area and she was surprised and angry as to how can someone who call themselves obgyn be so unprofessional and cant even do their basic job! She was furious as to why they won’t provide us with the complete results of the HSG tests. Wonder what golden gate obgyn is getting paid for? I reported these people to the concerned authorities. Any action has been taken or not we don’t know, but we certainly hope that karma gets back to them and they shut down one day. My new OBGYN spends an hour or more of her time with me and my husband on every visit, answers every question and doubts we have with patience, available via texts and phone calls in case of emergencies, available to provide same day appointments for emergencies, always checks up on me like a family member and keeps a tab on everything related to my pregnancy and health. That’s what a good ogbyn is like if you think what this particular obgyn provides in the name of service and care is actually that!
Dr. Fung Lam and Dr. Wiggins — did not have a good experience with both of them. Dr Wiggins rushed me and Dr Lam was never available to even provide /​discuss my test results. Ashley — I felt was the worst employee in this office. She is supposed to get back with test results and never till date provided me with my first four labcorp test results as well as the rest of the HSG test results. I called countless times, left a VM each time. I even signed a paper saying they can leave me a VM regarding my test results and they just would not. Thereafter, I had to call them numerous times again and still never heard back from them. It was the most frustrating experience of my life & no pregnant woman /​woman trying to get pregnant should have to go through this.
I would not recommend any doctor in this office. Try to find an OBGYN in the peninsula or north bay if need be, trust me, its worth the drive and you are in safe hands, but do not put your pregnancy and your baby’s life in the hands of these people. If you have a uterus condition or high risk pregnancy, I would not trust the doctors at golden gate obgyn, but would go find a proper Obstetrician or a proper Gynecologist who will actually think of your health and well being and work with you. Even if you have a normal pregnancy might as well find a good, caring gynecologist for your needs than these guys. Worst experience ever.

So far, I LOVE THIS PLACE. The receptionists are very sweet, the offices are beautiful and modern and clean… no nasty doctor lighting.
I had a really rough beginning to my pregnancy with sickness and depression, so my husband called to make an appointment and explained the urgency of the situation. It was around Xmas (right after) so it was already a busy time… but they said they would try to fit me in and they did… they were able to get me in… which is quite a feat to get into an OB so quick.
Dr. Jason Dimsdale seems amazing and I am so excited I was randomly assigned with him. He seems very knowledgeable but willing to answer questions and always takes time to explain things to me. He helped calm my nerves and make me feel better about my sickness and depression. He took control and told me what needed to be done, etc. which was really a relief since this is my first pregnancy and I have no idea what I am doing :) I was a little worried to be seeing a male, as I wasn’t sure I was as comfortable as I would be with a women, but he is very reassuring and easy to speak with.
They also have a system of you peeing at home and bringing it in to your appointment, instead of having to do it at the doctors appointment. I think this is a nice option. They check certain levels at each visit.
They are located right next to the lab too, so you don’t have to go to another place in the city to get blood drawn and tests done. This is a really nice feature. I went right over with the papers after my appointment and had the blood drawn, etc. for the tests needed and they said they would send results to the doctor.
I am looking forward to my next visit at this office, as it is a very nice place.
Another bonus for this place is that they have a skin and massage place on site. They also sell vitamins, etc. They do prenatal massages and other treatments.
This place helped to ease my concerns and everyone seemed to go out of their way to be very nice.
So happy my husband found this place for us. I recommend coming here!