Santa Monica Urgent Care

Went in for a minor, but urgent problem, while I was meeting a friend for dinner in Santa Monica. I was impressed with how kind the nurse was and how personable the doctor on staff was. Caring and helpful. I did have to wait longer than I thought necessary as there seemed to be only 2 other patients there. It was a Monday night around 7 pm, but maybe there were other patients tucked away in the patient rooms.
I highly recommend if you are in need of a doctor in a pinch.

Love this place! Everyone here is super nice and so helpful! I was having trouble with my insurance and they were so understanding and the manager Susan helped me figure it all out with no stress.
The place is also super clean and nice! That’s really important to me and parking is really simple. I felt like I was in really good hands. I go here now instead of my regular dr because of the walk-​in policy and how nice everyone is!
Oh also they have some of the medications there so you don’t always have to make a separate trek to the pharmacy. Love this place and so glad I found it!

Very quick. Friendly staff. Wasn’t even finished filling out the new patient info and they already had a nurse bring me into a patient room. In house pharmacy is fairly affordable too. Would definitely go back next time I’m sick

Hands down the best urgent care I have ever been to in the past thirty years. Very clean, modern, professional, with the times, and friendly staff. If I ever need urgent care again, this is my place.

Great experience when I wasn’t feeling so great. Walked in on a weekend, in the middle of flu season, and the wait wasn’t too bad. The fee was surprisingly low, and the care was excellent. The doc was attentive and to the point and gave an honest diagnosis, it was much appreciated. I’ll definitely be referring those I know and returning again.

This urgent care, doctors, staff and office Manager Sussan are amazing.

Negligent misconduct.
I went in for an xray on what turned out to be a fractured hand.
Dr. Newman and his staff told me I would receive the radiologist report within 24 hours. Soon as I left, I called an orthopedic surgery center for follow up appointment with an Ortho. They wanted the radiologist report first (the report by a doctor specializing in xray interpretation). I called SMUC who said they would request the report stat and I would have it in less than 24 hours (the usual time).
Next day, 26 hours later, I called from the orthopedic doctors office and JENNIFER said she «would fax it right away.»
45 minutes later, nothing received by doctor.
I call back, again, and now Jennifer says there is no radiology report.
What?
Why did she tell me 45 minutes earlier that she was «faxing it right away.»
«I was busy,» she said. Turns out Jennifer LIED. The promised radiology report was NEVER done.
Why then when she discovered there is no radiology did she not call me, instead of having my orthopedic doctor’s staff keep checking the fax machine for it – instead of waiting for me to make yet another follow up call to find out why it never arrived?
Good question.
This is unacceptable negligence and fraud by people you are supposed to trust with care of your «urgent» health.
Not.
They called me that night, after the report was no longer needed, to say the report was ready.
If it were a joke it would almost be laughable.
The ‘center’ is located in the middle of the largest homeless population in all west L.A. making it dangerous to drive or walk into. It is completely surrounded by massive train construction (guaranteed to quickly cover you and your car with filth) that took me an added 25 minutes to figure out how to avoid all the traffic constructions and one way streets — not what you want to be doing in pain when minutes count. Plenty of competently managed urgent cares on the westside without risking your health with the stooges at SMUC.
Nice people. Grossly and dangerously incompetent.
Oh, and their xray machine is cheap and old, not what you want when detail and resolution is vital. (CollimtorLX 125).
They also charged me a higher co pay than my insurance company said was applicable. I will settle that when my insurance company adjusts it.

Even when the wait is long this is the best urgent care ever.
I have girl problems. Female plumbing sucks in such a major way. So I came in and Dr Newman did a blood work up and sent me to Tower Imaging for a pelvic ultrasound. Saint John’s, where I was born and where I took my now 9 months dead father a million times.
It’s so great that I see no need for a primary care doc, though my insurance is excellent.
The only annoyance: waiting room music. «Another One Bites The Dust» at full blast with a hormone headache so bad your mother needs to drive you 15 minutes is unpleasant. But there is a PATIO. If you’re in agony and the music bugs you, ask to wait out there. You can’t see it unless you’re behind the desk already.

That’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back.
1) No one told me to sign in and since it was my first time there I had paperwork to fill out. I thought that was in place of signing in.
Well guess what. I didn’t get signed in and ended up waiting 1.5 hours because of it. Someone in the office must have realized I hadn’t signed in and put me at the END of the wait list.
After seeing someone get admitted who was there half the time I was there I asked if people were seen in the order they came in. I assumed so since no one ever asked what I was there for so there was no triage going on. I was told I would be next.
Another 15 minute wait later they called yet another person who was there for about 30 minutes compared to my 1.5 hours.
After complaining they had him sit back down (sorry dude if you’re reading this) and finally let me in.
2) My insurance company (who referred me to this place) told me that I wouldn’t have to pay for anything out of pocket and that my HRA account would cover it. Guess someone forgot to tell this place that because they didn’t care and said I’d be responsible for 100% of the service.
I walked out at this point because I had had enough.

I had an amazing experience at Santa Monica Urgent Care where I gave birth to my son. Even through my doctor Dr. Rastegar was unable to deliver my son, he made sure to check up on me and make sure everything was going smoothly. Dr Elyse Levinsky delivered my son and at one point I was scared cause the nursing kept losing his heartbeat, so Dr Rastegar rushed me to the operating room where she told me everything that she would be doing i had to end up getting cut to get the vacuum in, in order to get out my son quickly as possible. When everything was done she stitched me up, it took 45 minutes but I believe she wanted to make sure I was stitched up right… Thanks to the Mount Sinai Staff, I would surely have another baby there

Dr. Rastegar, the medical director for this facility as well as my favorite Venice Urgent Care remedied the problem with my insurance company –who bore most of the fault. He took amazing care of me and getting my spouse urgent care today. He is unbelievably professional and it is rare that someone puts this much effort into making sure their customers are satisfied. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the result.

The service and availability was excellent.
Confirm all payments/​copay made before you leave… including lab fees.

Best Urgent Care in town.
Staff is friendly, the place is very clean.
Dr Newman in very caring.
I’m happy we live near by, so can get there gas when we need it.

Santa Monica Urgent Care is an incredible facility. As small as it is, it’s one of the more efficient offices I’ve been to.
Look, nobody LIKES reviewing doctor’s offices and medical centers and whatnot. But part of the reason you should be sharing your good (and bad) experiences here on Unilocal is because when you’re in a tough spot and you HAVE to find somebody to take a look at your owie and boo-​boo, you can do better than just eeny, meeny, miny, moe through all the doctors in the area. You can be a little better prepared and know what to expect.
I have had the bad luck to need to go to urgent care about five times over the last two years in LA. I’ve also had the great luck of being able to get in and out of Santa Monica UC fairly quickly all five of those times. The only, ONLY negative association I have with this center is the godawful parking and I do think that the city of Santa Monica needs to figure out how to allot more street parking to medical offices, especially ones like these that are used in cases of emergency. It is obscene to have to circle the block when your body is on fire and you need to see someone immediately! Luckily, my husband usually drops me off and then finds parking somewhere and walks back to the office.
But once you’re inside, the service is exceptionally empathetic and warm. I have never had to wait for longer than 20 minutes. Often it’s even shorter than that – walk in and go straight to the waiting room. The doctor usually see me within minutes of me being in the waiting room, I’m checked up by the nurses, diagnosed, given the prescription, have it filled at the front desk and then I’m on my way home to get all better. Almost like a pit stop for my body (OK, not really, but you know what I mean).
For an urgent care, this one is terrific. Five stars well deserved.

Great spot. Didn’t take my insurance but price was very reasonable and office was run very efficiently. If you’re in a pinch for time this is the spot!

Surprisingly, I had a very good experience here and am grateful for the care I received. I say ‘surprisingly’ because I think of urgent care as a miserable experience to be avoided.
Arriving at 9 am on a Sunday morning feeling unusually sick, I got in right away. The care I received included X-​rays, shots and prescriptions. The doctor was kind, trustworthy and very straightforward with a dry sense of humor.
Total time from start to finish: 80 minutes. As I was leaving, I noticed that the small waiting room had filled up.
Hope never to go again, but was grateful that they were there at 9 am on a Sunday morning, and very professional and efficient in the care provided.

This place is truly amazing and Dr. Glenn Newman is the best! We previously had other primary physicians, but they were always hard to see, they charged weird and unexpected fees, they were not clear in their diagnosis, etc.
Santa Monica Urgent Care and Dr. Newman are the complete opposite. Whenever we need to see a doctor, we just give a call and be sure that Dr. Newman is in the office (he usually is). We go there without appointment, we wait few minutes and we are then treated with careful diagnosis, treatments and kindness!
It is health system as it is supposed to be! Thanks Dr. Newman for being amazing and thanks to the Santa Monica Urgent Care staff for being always kind and efficient!

Three months ago I got really sick, I lost my voice for two weeks and I had the worst dry cough. I visited this clinic twice in 10 days. I must say the people who work there are really nice and welcoming. The price for the visit is great too.
On my first visit the Dr was a man and the nurse was a really nice lady. Dr came to the exam room after 5 minutes which was fast. He checked everything, no blood test though, and he told me that I’ve a bacterial infection (he was wrong). He gave me a bunch of medicines and two injections. I felt good for a day but after that I’ve got much worst, I felt I’m gonna die at any time.
After a few days I went there for the second time and this time the Dr was a woman. The nurse wasn’t friendly this time. I waited more than an hour in the exam room for the Dr, btw the exam room was really freezing, I asked the nurse to bring the temperature down or at least give me a blanket but she totally ignored me and left me at the freezing room. After an hour Dr came and sat on the chair and she didn’t even check me, she just asked me a few questions, and then she told me it’s only a flu (she was right). I asked for a blood test but she told me it’s not necessary which was strange because most of the doctors won’t say anything without a blood test. She gave me few medications and two injections and it actually worked on me and I’ve got better after a few days.
My only problem was I told the nurse and the Dr that I have allergy to lots of medications including all the capsules. Obviously she didn’t even look at my file nor she listened to me when I told her about my allergies. She prescribed capsules for me. I went to the pharmacy and I found out she made a mistake. I was really pissed and I even called them and told them I’m going to sue them for that. However, when I called the clinic the Dr took the time to talk to the pharmacist and she fixed her mistake and gave me a new medication.
The other problem is they don’t accept American Express credit card.

Expect a lot of construction going on around the area. They have a private parking lot as well as free 3 hour street parking.
I got here around 9am on a week day because of a bug bite gone horribly wrong. My foot was super swollen and itchy! I must have waited about 2 hours before they took me in. other than that I love the staff. Very friendly and helpful!

Nice folk at front desk!
Its is one of those things that you just don’t plan on. Your walking along, enjoying 80 degree weather, visiting the west coast chatting up a storm with your son — and then «trip» and next thing you know your on the road holding your elbow.
Next thing you know your looking at a baseball size lump — and your supposed to be on a plane in a few hours to head back east and home. Oh no!
So you Google walk-​ins and you find one with a good Unilocal review rating thats close, and of you go ever hopeful.
From the moment I walked in the front desk staff, the nurses checking me in, to the Doctor and the staff who take the x-​rays. Everyone was focused, supportive, friendly and professional. made a bad day turn into a less bad day and got me on my way.
I hope your all well and healthy; but if you need walk in care — go here.