Julie Lukehart

Review of UC San Diego Shiley Eye Center

The worst!!

The worst!!
My daughter needed glasses at 1 yo and we had Kaiser- had to change insurances and since there are only a handful of pediatric ophthalmologist Shiley was one that we Research that had reputable doctors. Well first it took forever to get through the maze of numbers and receptionist, that were not helpful at all to even get an appointment and confirm insurance coverage. Both doctors we researched that were pediatric were unavailable but we were told that the other doc could help and were pediatric as well. We went for the first appointment and they didn t have us with the right doctor but again assured us that they could see our daughter. We were seen by 1 nurse 2 fellows another nurse and finally the doctor, who was in and out in 5 min, and suggested another appointment and another RX for her glasses. They also suggested that she might need surgery and that we should prepare for that just to be done. We got the new prescription for my daughter and made another appointment 2 months later. At the 2 month appointment they double dilated her eyes, told us she needed a new rx (and kids glasses are not cheap and most of the time need to be custom) and that we should look at surgery schedules since it is muscular and that can only be changed with surgery. We also needed to make another appointment in 2 months. We show up now for the 3rd appointment after 2 month and they tell us she needs surgery, a new RX and that we needed (like we knew we should have been and this was the first time it was mentioned) to be patching her eye. We asked for a second opinion and they were annoyed that we asked. We reached out to her previous ophthalmologist for recommendations and a second opinion and she gave us the name and was surprised that Shiley saw us considering both of their pediatricians were out. Once we saw a new doctor for a second opinion he said that our daughter did not need surgery, did not need eyepatching, and that the prescription that she was given was completely wrong and was making her eyes worse. Luckily my daughter is doing much better now and is able to see with her corrected prescription. But then the nightmare wasn t over, we were sent bills of over $1000 for the multiple appointments for out of network coverage since the doctors that did see her are not part of our plan, Even though the two pediatric ophthalmologists were. The whole thing left us upset, but it was the fact that the first thing suggested was surgery when my daughter did not need it. Would rather pay for better care out of network than return there.