UCSD and VA San Diego Reviews

All staff members are truly there to help the veterans.

Best in the nation. I am a cancer patient, PTSD, multiple TBIs, etc. Watched a dead vet be wheeled into Phoenix VA where I had to wait two months for an initial appointment. So happy to be back in San Diego! Those who complain must not visit emergency rooms and other VAs as I cannot fathom how they have room to complain. Banner, Kaiser, Scripps have convinced me VASD is hands down, a better provider. Good luck and Semper Fi reader.

Even though they have been friendly and helpful it's been a year since I got out and I just finally got an appointment set up to start working on my claims

I had colon cancer and they saved my life they did the operation that took care of me in the hospital after the operation and they did excellent follow-up I owe them my life God bless them

Nothing but amazing things to say. The staff deals with a lot of angry, cranky people that complain about everything. Kudos to everyone at this facility for keeping calm and staying positive!

I receive excellent care, my only wish is that Cardiology wasn't half way across the campus from parking. Parking on south end Cardiology on North end. They should allow Bdg 25 patients to park on North Side of building.

I agree that "You get back what you put in"
If you care about your treatment, you will get concerned staff who will use everything at their disposal to help you. I believe the care is as good as a USAF hospital or even better. I know it's better than many civilian hospitals.
However, I agree its not perfect, But one thing I know for sure is when my employer shut down, and when I was broke, unemployed, emotionally broken, uninsured, and barely able to walk because of a torn Achilles tendon and with blood pressure so high I could have dropped dead at any time, They stepped up and helped me and got me back on track when nobody else cared. For that, I will be forever grateful.

Everyone is ver nice and helpful. Nurses take good care of my husband when he is there.

Efficient, fast and friendly. Everyone here that I've come across have been well mannered and great people. Always a pleasure, despite the occasional long wait times....

Timely care, helpful and professional staff. One of the best I've been to.

I have been to the Miami, Phoenix, and La Jolla VA medical centers. The La Jolla VA center is by far the worst facility. I actually moved away from San Diego to get away from the La Jolla VA center. Unfortunately, personal reasons forced me back to San Diego area and this facility.

The quality of medical care at the VA is inferior and humiliating to dissuade others from seeking care. Every dollar spent on you; means one less dollar for another veteran. This is how the US Government funds the VA and thanks you for your service. The VA separate but equal medical care system sole purpose is to reduce the financial burden on the government.

To save the government money, VA doctors are encouraged to deny treatments to its patients. The bad VA doctors will mislead you on your medical status hoping you will go home and die, seek treatment elsewhere, or get better on your own. The good VA doctors will tell you they are not allowed to prescribe the correct treatment because of budgetary constraints.

When you read reviews for the La Jolla VA, remember veterans are generally grateful for any type of treatment from their government and will overlook the obvious. Other veterans that want to complain take their life in their hands due to retaliation.

Are there good outcomes in the VA system? YES.
Are veterans needlessly suffering and dying due to the VA system? YES.
Would any other group in this country tolerate the VA medical care system? NO
Are veterans given better treatment than illegal aliens? NO

Thank you America for your service.

WHEN VISITING A FAMILY MEMBER I THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT - CLEAN & PROFESSIONALLY RAN

Too many people crying if you do not like the service go somewhere else

Don't go to the ER unless you have hours and hours to waste.....

Haven't had any issues @ the VA since I've been going there (2013)

Received a notice to make a follow-up appointment with the liver clinic. Waited for almost 2 months. Took me 30 minutes to drive there and approx 45 minutes in the waiting room. After I was called to see this lady doctor I was out of there in less than 15 minutes. Didn't even do any physical exam. I told her that i don't need to follow-up with them anymore. What a waste of my time. Took a day off and postponed my jury duty for nothing. VA hospital has a long way to go even after all the negative publicity from the media.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of consistency. Your care seems to depend on the particular case manager, provider, or services. I still don't understand how Civilians are diagnosing and treating Veterans - we need more Veterans in these positions.

Avoid going into mental health inpatient - you can go in self-admitted, but they control when you get out. If you have a choice between VA or out-in-town; go out-in-town for your care. Providers both inpatient and outpatient overdose patients to keep them "zombied-out."

Everything you say or do can and will be held against you for the VA's benefit. If you are filing a claim, expect to be denied and have to file an appeal.

My first choice, if I had no other choices.

I have been going to the La Jolla VA for many years and I can tell you the service that I received has always been outstanding. Rather than complaining you should be thankful that you are being taken care of. Think of all the vets that are not and stop your sniveling.

Hard to give any medical center a 5, especially at such a large organization with so many departments, but they do have a very organized structure. Yes, wait times are there, but it's to be expected.

Anyone who gives them a 2 or less rating was most likely their own fault, and/or they were a less urgent case than others.

Overall, i've been going here for 3 years, and never had a problem making appointments or being seen. Very nice doctors, and knowledgeable. When you decide to work with the VA you are choosing non-specialty care over the outside medical world (civilian). For people like me, I am patient, and understand that other people are just as important as me. When it comes to the VA, your own self-direction and/or your caregivers is what will help you. Always ask the staff if you feel like you've been waiting too long or need an appointment etc. They are not going to jump at any individual person and attend to them like they might at a civilian or individualized care facility, because this is a mass service to Veterans.

After having my appointment moved up a few hours was great. When entering the building my 14 year old daughter was told she couldn't come in after being confirmed twice she could showing a strong lack of communication. Fifteen minutes went by before even asking if we needed assistance while we continued to stand in front by the cold entrance way.

After finally getting an appointment 2 months away..I get to the clinic check in, wait 20 minutes, finally go up to the counter only to find out that my doctor isn't even in. Now I have a nice 2 hour drive back home.

This is one of the better VA hospitals that I've been to.

Spent 7 hours in the ER at the VA hospital no wonder folks are complaining about the VA, seems they are more concerned with the COVID than the veterans...

The worse va er ever

Here from Florida took me 2 1/5 hours to see a dr. For a wicked cold. Need a Zpak and inhaler. Absolutely the worse!!!!

In florida you are in and out. So grateful I dont live here....

Great service also ..
Emergency Room here. .
Always good nd best doctors have there.
Treatment 24hours ..
Food quality good.
All kind of medicine found here.
24hurs open doctors service ..

Pretty much the worst hospital I've been to. Extremely Unorganized/unprofessional. I was brought here against my will 6 DIFFERENT TIMES and I am not a veteran and neither is anyone I know. I was given medical examination and advice by a person who was not a real/registered doctor or nurse. Are you kidding me??? This hospital has zero security and have no clue who goes in and out. Even was I was checked in, they have zero record of it. I tried to file a formal complaint and was repeatedly hung up on. They filmed and recorded me without my permission/consent. This place is a disgrace to our vets. They just dope up everyone who walks in the door, and give them a long term plan of opiates to keep them coming back. Oh and good luck trying to solve any issues with a federal hospital. This place is a haven of evil.

I have been going to the VA since sometime in the 1990's . My doctor , Dr Nilesh Shah is the best doctor I have ever had in or out of government. The system is about 3 stars, and never go to the emergency room if you are really having an emergency. I have come across some great doctors. If this was just about Dr. Shah this would be a straight 5 star for me. I can only speak of my experience .

I have been receiving health care through the VA for over five years and up until recently have been very pleased. During the last year the doctor turnover rate has been deplorable!

So much for continuity of care when my PCP changes every six months, when one of my specialty docs has changed three times in the last year, and I have needed to access the Choice Program to be out sourced just to get scrips refilled.

And today... at the direction of one of my specialty docs I have been trying to schedule a diagnostic test that has been ordered . I just gave up this effort today after being on hold for well over two hours.

And with all that... I remain sincerely grateful that I am able to secure health care through the VA. yeesh

I get all of my healthcare here since '06. The Dr's, nurses, & staff are attentive & caring.

Slowest VA, and they didn't even have that many people.. I believe they had one doctor to handle everything ..I never had problems with the VA but this by far have to be the worse facility and rude staff.

Wait times excessive, lucky if you can get through in 30 minutes.

Recently had a surgery to remove a fibroid and Dr Semo, Dr Stellar and team were all amazing!!! There was a lot of preparation with MRIs and Blood Labs and Anesthesia Consults etc, so I was % confident and optimistic going in

My recovery has been good and I m just elated to receive this level of service at no cost to me as a benefit of being a veteran.

I know people hear crazy things about the VA in general but this is one location DEFINITELY trying to break the stereotype. They re kind, caring, and they treated me like family.

God bless them at the VA La Jolla!

I guess this VA runs like all the others. I'm traveling and here in SD, and need to see a doctor. But because this isn't MY VA, I have to be enrolled. Unfortunately, all I can do is leave a message and wait 24h hours. Guess this emergency allergic reaction will have to wait too? I suppose if that's the policy and thisi was a real urgent life or death situation I'd be better off just taking a taxi to the morgue

Called today (3/15/16 @1615) to find out if I'm eligible for treatment. Went thru the Chinese menu of button pushing and was supposed to be connected to a person, instead I was sent to that person's voice-mail. Recorded voice said the mail-box in question was full so I couldn't be connected, then went on to say "goodbye, try again later". New way to winnow the wheat from the chaff I guess (also, cuts patient load) and improves site statistics.

Thanks.

I had hernia surgery here it could not have went better. I know the VA gets a lot of flak in the press but I'm telling you this was really fantastic.

I have always had pretty good treatment at the va medical center La Jolla. I don't know what i would do if it wasn't for being able to go to the va and get treatment

Go to a local clinic if you can. Long wait times, impossible to make an appt, careless staff. Went to a labratory today to get my lab work done and received a call you back to notify that they used the wrong tubes and I need to coma back??? Hey it was my blood lol.Very disappointing compare to other VA facilities.

I just thought I would take time and share my personal experiences dealing with the SD VAMC psychiatric department just so that other veterans will know what to expect and will not have to learn the hard way like I did I served 5 years in the US Military and received an honorable discharge right before getting out I voluntarily requested psychiatric treatment because I was having personal difficulties and I thought they would be able to help but that has not been the case things have only gotten worse I will describe for you the treatment I have received I initially was given a diagnosis of depression and then I was given drugs to treat that so-called condition along with those drugs came side effects and when they observe the side effects they inform me that I also had additional conditions that required additional drugs to treat and that process has repeated over and over and I still have depression as well as many other side effects and negative psychiatric disorder labels as well so basically these drugs just shut down/destabilize parts ofthe psychiatric patients brain sothat they willnot realize that theyare unhappy but they also shutdown the parts ofthe brain thatare responsible formaking logical decisions thatare required to live a productive life and function normally andthat iswhat theyconsider tobe an acceptable form of treatment if you tellthem thedrugs theyare giving you arenot helping butonly causing additional problems theywill justtell you thatyou havenot been takingthem longenough butthey don't really tellyou howlong is long enough they just tell you tokeep taking them theywill ask you ifyou have a weapon orif you intend on hurting yourself or anyone else and whenyou tellthem no theywill refuseto provide youwith beneficial treatment andonly offer togive youthe same drugs that obviously provides you no benefit only sideeffects ifyou become visibly angry or distraught because they refusedto provideyou withthe proper treatmentthen theywill tellyou thatyou becoming angry isa symptom ofyour mentalcondition takingthe drugsthey provide isactually aform ofself-harm because theyare verytoxic addictive,mentally destabilizing andhave many unpleasant sideeffects itdoesn't matter whatis wrong withthe patient because antidepressants antipsychotics and mood stabilizers will prettymuch shut anyone's brain down nomatter whatis wrong withthem and aslong asthey are quiet and non-disruptive then thatis considered an acceptable treatment then theycan labelyou whatever theywant even ifit ruins thepatient's life manypeople respondto psychiatric drugs differently sothey haveto keeptrying different drugs oneach patient untilthey findthe onesthat givethem thedesired affect so ifyou agreeto takethese drugsyou're basically agreeing tobe experimented onwith mind-altering substances with manynegative sideeffects my experience hasbeen extremely frustrating forme because I reallyhave no idea howto makethem provideme withproper treatment instead of tranquilizers and gaslighting that's all I'mreally tryingto get what I wouldlike to happen isif someone readsthis itwould benice ifthey started listening tothe patients and try to provide them with proper treatment instead of just gaslighting them that's all I really want so far my experience would be comparable to treading water in the ocean and callin out for help and having someone toss me an anchor to catch it's really no mystery to me why so many prior service members choose to permanently relieve there suffering the way that so many do they claim that they what to pervent that from happening but they refuse to provide proper treatment while at the same time prescribe drugs that have that listed as a known side effects I guess no matter what they do in the end they can all ways say that they are the experts and theyhave a piece of paper somewhere to prove it and ifthe patients condition does not improve and only gets worse it's because there is something wrong with him it only requires the strength of a Warrior to get help here because of how difficult they make it

I've only gone there as last resort, SERIOUSLY. Ya always gotta wait & wait & wait, they're not really into the customer service and their concern should be for veterans that have gotten just outta the service only. For us other blokes, they're packed with homeless veterans that fill the system full of their woes, please don't get me wrong though every one of them needs OUR help. They're just packed full of people and not enough staff. Amen hubba bubba & all the skittles you can eat..

The San Diego VA is an abortion!! I almost lost my mind today!

This is the third major VA system I've been a regular at- Ann Arbor, Chicago, and now here... This is the FIRST time I've genuinely felt like I'd rather seek healthcare at the DMV!!!!

Actually, that's not fair to the California DMV- it was WAY easier to get my car registered here than it has been to get my combat-injured ASS taken care of at the VAMC La Jolla!!!!

Planning to write my congressman, it's helped before...

I wish I could rate it lower!!!! Time hacks and time management dosent mean or apply to these ppl!!!! They seem like your irrelevant and they get paid reguardless.... let's say you have an appointment at 1300 and you show up at 1230 but they wait until 1330 to announce their computers have been down for 3 hours and now will be a first come first serve basis...then 1345 the staff finally helps someone as the staff walks in with McDonald's....heinous!!!.... but I want to live with some quality of life so...joke is on me!!!!

I had surgery with the hospital. It was for my colostomy because I had ulcers in my system. I was released with barely any information and when I call they act like I m the one at fault instead of getting me help. This is all before COVID-19 btw. So I tried to set appointment to meet gastrointestinal department and they said that they will contact me. So I waited and they called me while I was in my class. They called from the hospital so I called back and they told me to set another appointment. They only called me once and I missed the call and they never attempted to reach out to me again. So I ve had to literally try to take care of myself because I ve felt like I ve been abandoned and with all the COVID-19 stuff going on I don t see myself getting any kind of help soon. Been need medical attention and they don t even care to help even though they know I need help.

People working hard nonstop, taking care of others endlessly while some times taking care of their family when they're not here.... I'm not going to be selfish, because I'm not behind those desks/ walls as long as they have been. Awesome job y'all at the VA! . For those complaining; Go to another hospital if you feel you're not being attended or apply for a job to help them take care of others who fell like you. No one's forcing you to go to this one.