UCSF Screening and Acute Care Center

Where should I start on this nightmare experience…
First, go to the ER and bypass this option entirely, especially if you need medical assistance on Saturday. Since they do not accept phone appointments on that day, I had to drive there, make the appointment, then drive home and back three hours later through Pride traffic since I live in the Mission.
I had an infected finger that was extremely painful and full of obvious pus. The nurse practitioner took one look and said the doctor needed to handle my issue. He made a small hole (his words, not mine), and told me to go home and soak it in warm water, which made my finger throb even more. I ditched this option and bore the intense discomfort.
On Monday, I returned for a follow up appointment, and the doctor, Lance Montauk, said he wished he had made the hole bigger. I was returned to the same and very helpful and communicative nurse practitioner, Chris Fox, who arranged for a hand consult and the orthopedist even came to me in Acute Care. I was then directed to the ER for pain management and medical care.
With all of the medical advances in this country, I am stupefied that better local anesthesias aren’t available as I underwent two of the most painful procedures I’ve ever experienced as they opened up the infection and attempted to treat this by now much larger problem.
They found a bed for me in the ER hallway and when one became available in the hospital, I was admitted at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday. At 10:00 a.m., I was told there was no time to wash up since they wanted me in the OR now. At 5:00 p.m., they operated, removed the nail, cleaned up the infection, and I remained in the hospital for four days.
Two weeks and one day have passed since surgery and I am tethered to three warm soaks per day plus as much unbandaged air time that I can accommodate. The stitches will be removed in two days, and I have been referred to hand therapy starting next week.
As I said, a nightmare of pain and mismanagement. The nail may or may not grow back.

For a predominantly Walk In based clinic, this is a great resource. I do have a general Doc, but I had smashed up my hand and knew I’d need an x-​ray and as much as I love One Medical I didn’t think they’d have the resources for my issue in the office and they’d refer me elsewhere for an x-​ray anyways. That’s what led me to the center. First, the nurses and the staff working up front are stellar, calm, nice, and work efficiently to get you seen as soon as possible. I did have to wait about an hour to start being seen, but it all was smooth from there. I got my vitals taken, a Nurse practitioner then checked out my hand. I do have to say with the amount of pain I was in it didn’t feel great having her yanking on me and being super nonchalant ‚“I don’t think it’s broken but we should x-​ray it”. I was sent up to X-​ray got in right away and then went back down to re-​meet with the Nurse practitioner. She was nicer, the x-​rays were negative for a break, but then she gave me a very again nonchalant explanation of my hand injury, how I needed a hand splint to keep my fingers from curling in and making things worse, and her hypothesis my shooting pains were from nerve damage. I felt like I had to ask a ton of follow up questions to feel comfortable before I left (like you know… what if I’m still in pain after 10 days? What would be a next step? Yo, can I please get something for my pain?). I think her attitude seriously wasn’t a lack of her medical prowess, but she is probably slammed by her back to back schedule of people which is why I do say if you aren’t bleeding to death and don’t need the ER, but you are going through something and need urgent care this IS a good place to go. Just keep in mind you are going to have to wait.

My experience here was ok. It was better than bad, but not quite good. My bike chain broke on the way my appointment and delayed me a bit but I still arrived 20 minutes early. The confirmation email I received advised me to arrive 30 minutes before my appointment, but I figured that 20 minutes would be acceptable. No. I arrived at 9:11covered in grease and sweat and the receptionist informed me that I was too late to make my 9:30 appointment. :-(She turned my frown upside down though when she told me that they could get me in at 10. A nurse came out at about 9:45 and called my name so I guess we split the difference! They were friendly, but a bit dismissive. Overall they did a decent job, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit like a number. Good for an emergency visit, when your regular physician doesn’t have an opening soon enough for you. Satisfied, but not happy.

I was really skeptical at first because of all the bad reviews, but I decided to give this a try — great thing I did! I had a really bad problem that I needed help with immediately. My primary doctor is fully booked until July 9^th, so I scheduled an appointment here through the website the same day at 6pm. A lady from the office called me 30 minutes later to confirm. I was advised to come in 30 minutes early so I did, and once I checked in I was seen right away. Carol, the LVN, and Dr. Bui-​Duy were so nice and attentive! Just a quick test, finding out the results, and prescribing medications took about 45 minutes! I also love how they electronically send the prescriptions to a pharmacy of your choice. I was in and out of that building like a breeze. Will definitely come back.

Very bad experience with super rude doctor.

Could be better. Could be worse.
I’ve been here a couple of different times now for medical situations that couldn’t wait that long. The facilities are OK, leaning a little on the old side. The physicians seem to be just attentive and caring enough. The nurse on my recent visit however was apparently rushing to go off to lunch or something. It really wasn’t that busy, but she basically shoved the thermometer in my mouth and ran through her series of questions within 5 seconds, barely giving me enough time to even answer. Not appreciated.
For the overall experience, I give 3 stars. For the front desk staff alone, I give 4.
The online appointment tool is useful.

Dr Nadler couldn’t care less for his patient. The only one star goes to a nice physician assistant on duty that day. As for Dr Nadler, he did a very brief physical examination and didn’t even tell me if my EKG is normal or not. Did nothing about my sore throat and cough nor prescribe me a medication. I had to ask for it!
I would rather go to CPMC or somewhere else next time. Never USCF again!

Since I come here in case of an emergency when I can’t get an immediate appointment where I normally go, I guess this place will do. It does take a while to be seen but once you’re in, you’re out in 5 minutes. Well, if it was severe, the ER is across the street!

Went for TERRIBLE LOWER BACK PAIN, possible bulging disk,
Dr. Nadler was so unattached, didn’t care about what I had to say as far as pain and was in such a hurry to take off…$ 400+ for this bull shit care… wrote me some BS pain meds that do NOTHING but make me feel dizzy and weird, don’t take the pain away at all… then referred me to Physical therapy like I’m even able to do anything…
Terrible visit. will never go there again and Dr. Nadler is the WORST Doctor I’ve ever been to…

I also went here and saw Dr. Nadler. He’s horrible. If you have an appointment with him you’re better off going somewhere else. He seems to not care at all about figuring out what’s wrong with the person in front of him.

I woke up one morning with pain from swallowing and thought it was possible that I had strep. So I decided to go to UCSF Acute Care. I was greeted by a nice young woman at the front desk (the saving grace of the entire operation) and was told I’d have an appointment in about 1.25 hours. Not bad for a walk in at the end of the day. The nurse took about 5 – 10 minutes to take my vitals and was all business — he wasn’t particularly nice. I then went walking around for about an hour and showed back up in time for my appointment.
The doctor, I believe Dr. Nadler (as this is the name on my bill), brought me into the room and seemed like he was in a complete rush the entire time. He asked me what I did and a couple other questions. He checked my lungs, then took a look at my tonsils and said that oh yes, they are very red. He swabbed for a strep test, saying the results should be back by monday, and asked me to take it up to the lab across the street.
He also said he’d prescribe me some medicine which he insisted would make me feel better. I asked him more questions about my tonsils and he flippantly answered them while writing in my file and not looking at me. All this took about 15 minutes. I has to ask about the prescription and THEN he told me he’d sent it to my pharmacy.
I go pick up my subscription… it’s an anti-​inflammatory (similar to asprin or ibuprofen) for people with arthritis. This medicine did NOTHING — no pain relief, no swelling relief, no reaction at all.
Monday rolls around and I don’t get a call about my results. I eventually got better on my own without the medicine prescribed to me. I called them TWO WEEKS LATER and they said that they don’t call if the results are negative — if only Dr. Nadler had told me that, I wouldn’t have waited around expecting a call.
To top all this off, my bill was $ 438 for that initial visit and $ 171 for a strep test. I called the billing department and was told that $ 438 is their standard charge. Fortunately I have some insurance to cover this, although both those charges ate up about ²⁄₃ of the reserve. Ridiculous!!! Over $ 600 for a 1.25 hour wait, unhelpful doctor with no prognosis, and medicine that did nothing.

I had an appointment in the morning, and a doctor said that I would need to call at 4pm to learn a test result, and depending on that either buy some medicine or wait for the other test result. I have been trying to obtain the result for 2hours. The representatives are just transferring me from one line to another back and forth. I cannot get any follow up.
Also they use only electronic prescriptions, so you are not flexible picking up a store after you selected it once.

I’ll reference the multiple 1-​star reviews for Dr. Paul Nadler, since he was the physician I saw during my visit to this facility:
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At the time I chose to visit this facility I did not know that I would be seeing this doctor. Had I known this in advance, I would not have made the visit.
The doctor’s attempts to diagnose me failed. Nonetheless, I received a bill for the procedure. That’s fine. But while the doctor got my verbal consent to make these attempts at diagnosis (none of which involved lab work), he did not inform me that this would cross the threshold from ‘regular office visit’ to ‘procedure.’ Had he informed me of this, I would have called my insurance company to see how much would be covered and make an informed decision on whether to proceed.
So I urge you all — when a doctor asks for your consent or takes any action regardless of how insignificant it seems at the time, ask them if it will trigger another charge or bring you into a new billing category. This is your responsibility, as neither the doctor nor their staff will tell you. At least this doctor’s office didn’t. And now they’ve got extra money in their pocket. How about that?

As someone who has grown up in a family of doctors and RNs, I have had my share of hospital experiences, and UCSF never fails to be the best place I have ever gone to. I’ve been to the care center four times now, and I now feel compelled to give them a great review.
About four days ago, I noticed a bad UTI coming on. Unfortunately, they’re a reoccurring annoyance for me, so I was very aware of what the issue was. Also, only three weeks ago, my insurance plan lapsed, and I no longer have any.
I showed up to UCSF, and there was a sign in front of the door saying that they were overbooked, and couldn’t take anymore drop-​in patients, and that I’d have to go to the ER instead. I decided instead of blindly doing that and dropping a ton more $$, I could at least ask and see if I could make an appointment for a day or two later, considering I wasn’t in any life threatening danger, and I’m pretty used to this condition. Horraaaay for cranberry pills and AZO.
They were very busy, and operations themselves were going through some new training for a new system. One of the gals behind the counter noticed me right away, explained this, but asked me what my issue was. When I told her, she had such a look of sympathy/​understanding, and she told me to hold on a moment (filled out the «paperwork») and she came back saying that they could squeeze me in, since I was so sure of what my condition was, and that I probably wouldn’t even need to see a doctor. She also went into my issue of no insurance plan, and tried working within her means to make sure I didn’t have to burn a hole in my pocket.
I only had to wait about twenty minutes to see the nurse, take my vitals, pee in a cup, and suddenly, I was in a room with a Doctor! Not only did she prescribe an antibiotic right away, she also gave me a referral to a doctor I could use once I had insurance… actually an issue I have been dealing with since I moved here six years ago. She also told me about other hospitals that might treat me for less.
—-
Not to drop names. but I have gone to a HOSPITAL for the same issue only a few years back. Because of the strange dye and glucose properties in AZO, the doctors there misdiagnosed me, and claimed I had untreated diabetes. I waited, terrified in the ER by myself for them to come back four hours later and tell me I had a UTI. Then charged me a $ 1,000 six months later +prescription costs.
Again, I can’t say it enough: UCSF is the best. The care I get here is so worth a very slight variation of $$.

Recently while playing tennis, I seem to have injured my elbow. The pain was so severe I could not extend my arm without excruciating pain.
The doctor I was seen by, Dr. Gonzales, first was suggesting it should get better in a few days. After clarifying that I’ve had pain for two weeks without any improvement, he scheduled me for an MRI.
So far so good right? Read on.
After receiving my MRI results, which showed an intact medial ligament and inflamed ulnar nerve, he said, «hmm this is a very unusual thing, I’ve never seen something like this, this is very strange, you stretched your ulnar nerve. You must have stretched it in a ‘very special’ way».
At first I believed it, but then I did a simple google search and learned that it is a well known fact that a sprained Ulnar Collateral Ligament of elbow causes inflammation of the Ulnar Nerve. it makes no sense for a nerve to stretch, because the nerve is not like a cord in the arm. This was a well known fact — about which this «acute care» physician evidentally knew little.
Upon my insistence that I get referred to a specialist, he contacted the nurse in neurology and together they decided I would be fine after two weeks of «gentle rest». To top it all off, he refused to give me a doctor’s note for my tennis club membership, preventing me from putting my membership on hold. To this day my right arm is useless for reaching down and extending my arm to grasp something, let alone play tennis. Now I have to go through the whole process again to try to get a referral to a competent specialist — almost a complete waste of my time!

DO NOT GO THERE!!!
One star is too much for this place.
I could have died as a result of their care. I ended up in the ER because of one of the doctors, Dr Nadler.
Dr. Nadler doesn’t care and he is dangerous. I went in for a facial rash, and I happened to also have a lingering cold. Dr. Nadler said my rash was eczema and he prescribed steroids. He looked at my cold and said that because it’s been 4 weeks I should go on antibiotics that it is standard procedure and he insisted. I told him I had a bad reaction to penicillin a year before that felt like I was having a heart attack. He told me that’s not an allergic reaction but rather an upset stomach and he prescribed amoxicillin.
I ended up in the ER with a full blown allergic reaction to the amoxicillin. I could have died. I was sick for weeks.
In the ER I also found out that my rash wasn’t eczema and there I was with a steroid treatment I didn’t need either. The dermatologist in the ER had the knowledge and humility to say that making a diagnosis of a rash is difficult and that I needed to have a follow up exam to review the diagnosis. She was the definition of a professional. Dr. Nadler appears to me to be checked out. How else can I explain him prescribing antibiotics for a cold and dismissing my concerns regarding the penicillin? How else can I explain his attitude in diagnosing the rash…
Of his two diagnoses he got (wait for it) none correct. Such level of carelessness is unforgivable.
Now to add insult to injury, when I appealed the bills for Dr. Nadler outrageous treatment, the head of the center, Dr. Null rejected my complaint. Typical cover your ass… What we did was correct
So not only this center has Dr. Nadler who doesn’t care and is content with wrong diagnosis and dangerous treatments, but also it is managed by Dr. Null who has no management/​customer relations skills. No wonder the service is so bad. It trickles from the top.

Let’s be clear, they are not open until 8pm.
I called to clarify and ask what I needed to bring with me and was informed that they had a set number of appointments for the day and once those were filled they would no longer see patients. I asked if I could put my name down for an appointment and was told no, I would need to come in person. When I asked what happened if I got their and the appointments were filled, I was told I’d be turned away and advised to go to the ER.
How is this helpful?

I had pulled a muscle in my back at the gym and needed some relief!
I couldnt get in with my regular dr for weeks and was able to get in and out of here within a couple hours. You can call and make an appt, but if you cant get one you can always still walk in.
They arent available on weekends or holidays, which is usually when I end up needing a dr! But the doc was quick, which I appreciated. He wrote me an Rx and sent me on my way.
Thanks UCSF!

Can’t believe I was in and out of here on a weekend in 40 minutes! No really, I was.
I hate going to my current doctor’s office and have been putting off finding a new one. But I’ve been fighting off a bad cough the past few days and it’s was winning. After falling asleep last night from exhaustion from coughing, I finally went in to get it checked out.
So one doctor’s appointment and 3 prescriptions later (it’s not what you think — I have lung issues so I got a cough suppressant, my inhaler which I haven’t used for a long time, and a cough syrup for night time, meaning to put me out at night) I’m a happy camper breathing a little easier, at least until time for my next dose.
Just an FYI — I tried making an appointment over the phone because I’ve been here before for an elbow injury, but found out they don’t make appointments on the weekends or holidays, just Monday — Friday. I’ll try to plan my illnesses better (yes, a little sarcasm).
Really, I do need to find a new doctor. Or do I???

I guess some weird looking bug crawled into my left ear while I was sleeping, because I woke up at 3 am howling. I took some Ibuprofen which killed the pain, but all day at work I felt like some little kid was ceaselessly giving me a «wet willy». I guess that’s better than a «hot carl», but I digress.
So I headed to SACC after work, crossing my fingers that they’d still be able to squeeze me in before closing. They got me in and out with a prescription for an antibiotic and a painkiller in a matter of 10 minutes, leaving me plenty of time to get over to Girls’ Mudwresting at CELLspace.