Alvie S Hurray, DPM

I’m a patient and have had pleasant experiences on my two visits to Dr. Hurray, so when my stepson needed inserts for flat feet, I thought I knew the perfect doctor. 1 ½ visits in and I am starting to rethink my decision. I still love Dr. Hurray, his office is filled with pleasant and friendly staff. I just wish they were a bit more competent with patient billing and handling advance notice for out of pocket expenses. 5 minutes into my stepson’s 2^nd visit, I get handed a form requesting an additional $ 50 for «out of pocket expenses». I asked the front office staff, why they did not tell my husband who called to make the payments over the phone 20 minutes earlier, and was told, «well he NEVER asked».
Needless to say I refused to make any payment and left with my son. We have the best insurance coverage in the country (government employee) and my stepson’s mother also has insurance, so we have never had to pay for «out of pocket expenses» and were not expecting a bill of $ 650.00. Although they did offer a $ 50 deposit, I was still unwilling to put any money down without double checking with the insurance companies and as the appointment had been on the books for over a month (they knew the orthodics were needed after the first appointment), not one person in the office ever told us anything about additional costs.
We are still unsure if we will be returning, especially after being told «we never asked» about additonal costs!
**As a side note, this particular building is extremely difficult to get into and out of during heavy traffic times, as it’s on a major commuter route.**

I work with the elderly, so I have to go to a lot of foot doctors, but I’ve never had to wait an hour for a 10 minute appointment before. It’s easy for an office to let you know upon arrival that there’s a longer than normal wait. A great office will even call before to let their regular customers know about a long wait. They did neither. There was no water, bathroom, or effort to make clients more comfortable.
The only reason I didn’t give a lower rating is because our wait is normally only 20 minutes and the doctor is fine.

Dr Hurray has been my foot Dr for over 20 years. He has the best bedside manner of any Dr I’ve ever had operate on me. He always has a smile for you.

I had a cortisone injection into my toe joint by Dr. Hurray today and though I am a BEYOND afraid of needles, not to mention the horror stories of friends’ cortisol injection stories. All that for nothing — I could barely feel 3 fairly deep injections. He is just the best at giving an injection — hands down. All the staff was very friendly and i would not hesitate for a second to do it again when this wears off. Thanks to Dr. Hurray and Nicole for making it so painless today. Cheri A.

i went to dr. hurray for orthodics (sp)tics a few years ago and had a very bad experience.
i had pain that i think affected my knee and back adversely. when i talked to dr.
hurray he indicated that i was just getting old. i sought a second opinion and learned that dr. hurray’s orthodics were too hard. they made me feel like i was pounding my feet when i walked. new orthodics and physical therapy have helped me heal.
stephen homer (husband of jantte gross)

I wholeheartedly agree with the preceeding two opinions with respect to Dr. Hurray’s wonderful bedside manner. He is indeed a sincerely very nice man, and that means the world in today’s medical situations.
However, I have had bunion surgery with him, and am not quite comfortable with what I suppose is a lack of professionalism. After the first surgery, I walked on my foot too soon and broke out the screws. Wonderful. So, I got the second surgery. This time, I waited, carefully, because I didn’t want to have further complications.
Well, for some reason, this surgery went badly also. There is something inside that did not connect correctly (the doctor’s comment), and as a result, my big toe is «loose;» it is forced into an open position that renders me looking like a bird of prey! It hurts, too.
Dr. Hurray was not specific enough with me regarding after-​care, and I felt as though I had to fend for myself after the surgeries. When I would say something like, «OK, I have been thinking that I might be able to walk in this weekend’s plans, right?» He would always say, «Yes, that sounds good,» but never sound firm, or really guide me. I believe that I «walked out» the second surgery, also, because I thought that what I was doing was fine.
Now, as I can not comment on Dr, Hurray’s medical decisions, I can only say that now needing a third surgery, something makes me feel wary, and I will not return to him, even though he IS the nicest man around.
There is something else that I have to mention because I believe that it might be an additional illustration of something amiss in Dr. Hurray’s practice.
The doctor’s longstanding assistants are very nice and professional. However, there have been a few who have helped me, and they have worn the absolute worst dress I have ever seen in a medical office. The last pre-​teen-​appearing girl attending to me was wearing jeans with the deliberate rips all over them, a midriff blouse, and open– toed shoes. No uniform. I felt as though I’d been taken to the room by a junior high school student, who should have been taken to the principal’s office for inappropriate dress. Mind you, I am FINE with jeans, or almost whatever dress, but would like to see a lab coat, or something suggesting the seriousness of medicine. These girls screamed for a vocational class in presentation. Dr. Hurray’s not seeing this made me uncomfortable.
To Boot: One day the doctor’s wife was filling-​in as the assistant. Well, as I thought that Dr. Hurray had taken a liking to me and my husband, I had suggested that we four go to dinner. Dr. Hurray initially said «Oh that would be great!» But I don’t think he knew I would follow up. When the doctor’s wife started talking about very personal issues, I assumed it was because she knew that we were going to be going out, and realized that I was a friend as well as a patient.
I could not have been more mistaken. When I asked the doctor if we could settle on dining arrangements, and he became squirmy and uncomfortable. It was blatant that he had no intention of seeing me outside of the practice. he finally said something like, «No, I don’t think so.»
OK. that’s fine. I had forgotten that in this country, glorified physicians don’t accompany «just anybody» and that my suggestion was plain old laughable. Discovering this made the doctor’s wife’s comments to me (about their relationship) seem even more inappropriate — they were offered to a total stranger.
My impression is that this *very nice* man is working very hard, and perhaps is not looking around himself in an evaluative manner. Perhaps he is so burnt-​out that he can no longer be the focused professional whom people know by reputation. The chatty wife, and the ripped-​jeans girl have to go.

Hooray for Dr. Hurray, DPM! After two surgeries and physical therapy, he succeeded in removing my hideous, painful bunions. I shopped around for the best podiatrist in Santa Cruz since my bunions were quite severe and Dr. Hurray came out on top. He has a stellar reputation and a great bedside manner. The first has healed quite beautifully and the second is on the the road to recovery. No, it wasn’t painless, but it was worth the hassle. Soon I can be the runner, dancer and shoe fanatic I was always meant to be.