Samuel Oomen, MD

Not sure why everyone’s having such a bad time. Maybe this is a different guy with the same name? Dr. Oomen’s current operating address is 365 Lennon Lane, Suite 365, Walnut Creek CA. No such listing is on Unilocal,so I’m assuming this is the guy, and Unilocal’s address is just wrong.
I was referred to Dr Oomen in Jan 2012. His examinations were quite respectful, as brief as possible, and as comfortable as anyone with these conditions can expect. It’s not possible to perform some of these exams without discomfort, as anyone with chronic colorectal conditions knows, but I know an easy exam from a hard one. Dr Oomen made it as painless as possible.
He performed surgery on me in April 2012, which was so remarkably painless that I was actually in virtually no pain afterward, even the same day, where I was having trouble prior. Previous surgeries in that area have left me useless for weeks. Fistulotomy can be very tricky, but mine went great, without any side effects or pain.
I’ve found Dr. Oomen to be absolutely professional and an expert at his craft. I’ve never been asked any strange or uncomfortable questions. I can’t imagine these other reviewers are talking about the same person.
I’ve also had no trouble with the receptionists who have scheduled appointments. All appointments have been kept, and all communication has been solid and without issue.
In short, if you need a colorectal surgeon, you can’t go wrong with Dr. Oomen.

I did not have a good experience with Dr. Oomen or his office staff. I needed to have a hemorrhoid removed and Dr. Oomen performed the rubber band procedure in his office. Something didn’t go correctly — my discomfort lasted for three weeks instead of three days. I had another appointment scheduled for early January but I didn’t want to wait for it, so I called mid-​December to request the doctor see me earlier. The person who took my call told me the front desk was «busy» and that someone would call me back shortly. I explained I was concerned that something was not right. The day came and went with no return call. I then faxed their office with a message for them to schedule me to be seen as soon as possible and just leave me the day and time on my voice mail if they do not reach me directly and they can consider it confirmed unless they hear back from me. Still, no return call. My situation improved for about a week so I let things be, but then I started bleeding quite a bit with each trip to the bathroom — not randomly like before — but ALL of the time. This went on for three weeks during which time I was checking out other rectal surgeons because I really didn’t want to go back to Dr. Oomen, but it was around the holidays and difficult to find another appointment so I waited until my early January appointment since there was no pain, just a lot of blood. I knew something wasn’t right. The day of my appointment, I arrived and the person at the front desk looks at me and says «I guess you didn’t get our message — we had to change your appointment because Dr. Oomen is in surgery all day.» I’m very well connected with technology and it’s next to impossible for me to miss messages — I asked her when the message was left and what number it was left at. She said it was left at my home number. I have internet phone service and can access call logs for each day — on the day she told me they left the message, the only call I had received was from my sister back in Pennsylvania. So they either dialed wrong, or never bothered to call at all. They rescheduled my appointment for three weeks later and I told her I was having problems and couldn’t wait that long, but she was unable to give me an earlier time. I asked if I could see one of the other doctors in the practice and was told that «we don’t let patients hop around from doctor to doctor and they need to see the person they first saw» which made absolutely no sense to me since I wasn’t asking for a consultation — something was wrong with me. I told her to forget about the rescheduled appointment because I obviously needed to find another doctor. She couldn’t have cared less.
As far as Dr. Oomen goes, I did not find him to be a doctor who liked to engage the patient in the treatment. Whenever I would ask him questions about anything, he seemed to take offense — as if I was questioning his abilities. I’ve been burned by bad doctors before — I want to know what is being done to me. Dr. Oomen would just look at me and say «trust me.» After the first procedure, he told me to schedule an appointment for the «next one» and I asked him how many there were that needed removed because at the first appointment, he told me there was only one. He wouldn’t even answer the question! Sorry, I don’t have that kind of blind faith in a doctor — I don’t care how well credentialed they might be.
Look a little farther south and you’ll be able to find better and more accommodating rectal surgeons.