UCSD Medical Center - ER Review

Waited 4 hours OUTSIDE IN THE SUN to be told it would probably be another couple hours before I could be seen by a doctor. When I told them I was just going to leave, the incredibly rude and snarky nurse told me "well, it's an emergency room. You usually have to wait a few hours."

Maybe at your facility that's how it works, but I've never had this experience when I was with Scripps or Sharp. It seems to be a culture that they've cultivated there and have let it fester.

I was asked if I wanted to talk to the doctor before I left, which of course I wanted to. The doctor came out and told me I could wait around or go home. Really? How insightful. I waited around 30 more minutes for that? She said they would "discharge" me and another 15 minutes went by before I just got up and left as she had obviously forgotten about me. Discharge me for what? I was never even admitted.

Of course they're going to bill my insurance for this, can't wait to have that battle with them and waste more of my time.

World class facility, Quality care, well managed, great doctors, and personalized care.

The Emergency is not bad.ButTHE PAIN MANAGMENT .PULL A ONE STAR RATE TO A NONE STAR! DR.LERMAN WiLl GIVE YOU SESUIRE meds for pain to achieve payment or cover for some shady leftest power triping satisfaction .H.Will LIE TO YOUR FACE AS. DOALL HIS GREEDY COMRADES. PATHETIC

The care here is TERRIBLE!! I am in the ER as I write this. I have seen two different doctors and both had different plans of care. I was prescribed meds and here I am three hours later and no meds. It took 2 hours just to get a basic x-ray. The lack of care here is unreal.

One of the worst experiences in my life. Stay away from this place. I waited seven hours to receive treatment. This is seriously the ninth circle of Dante's Inferno. There are dozens of sick people waiting around for hours and hours - all sharing germs with each other. I asked the receptionist if I could go outside - I was having a hard time breathing (hence my need to go to the emergency room). She said if I go outside I won't be able to hear my name - I could get skipped. After waiting 7 hours I did not want to get skipped. Words cannot describe how much I hate this place.

Woah! I totally had to rewrite my review of my experience here at UCSD in La Jolla after I had been admitted. IT'S LIKE THEY COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT ME! I saw 6 - count them 6 - doctors before ever reaching my bed on the 3rd floor. Although the ER experience was excellent and nurse Maricris in the ED was wonderful, all else was horrible. The doctors didn't stick to the recovery and pain management plan written on the white board next to my bed (can't even remember what my doctor even looks like at this point), I told them what works and doesn't work on me - they continue with courses of action that are a waste of time. It's like they're trying to pad the bill for when they bill insurance. Unreal. I thought UCSD was here to take care of me. Nothing but issues at this ER, not to mention the entire Hillcrest facility.

Horrible waiting time, no facilities and I seriously waited 2.5 hours before walking to Scripts ER to be seen there and treated within the same amount of time! Highly recommend just going to Scripts ER

They were patronizing and rude. Never got X-ray results after multiple calls to follow up. Cost us $1750 even with insurance.
My husband was having difficulty breathing and we checked in to urgent care. He was admitted after a 3 hour wait, they did chest x-ray which we never got the results for, they just said everything looks fine and they don't know the reason he couldn't breathe. After waiting for another 3 and a half hours, they told us to buy over the counter zantac and still waited for X-ray results until an additional hour, we ended up leaving because I had to go to work. Later we got a $1300 bill plus a $150 bill and copay of $300 and we have insurance. This place is terrible.

Well this was by far the worst experience I had in an ER so far. I went there because I needed some stitches on my lip and the doctor after finishing them he says that they will self dissolve so I didn t have to follow up. Here I am 4 weeks later with the same stitches and guess what!?? It was not a self absorbed suture!

Horrible experience I have been here 10 hours and yet to be seen. I stepped out to eat something after 4 hours and they made me readmitt. Charge nurse was notified and she blew me off. Only reason I continue to wait is that there hospital staff is the best. Worst ER experience ever

Never dealt before with such rude, unpleasant personnel . Avoid this place if at all possible in emergency situations. I can t understand how such un compassionate medical staff can treat a human being. Run away from here

Worst emergency staff, particularly the nurses who are assigned to my 92 year old mom, they are not caring. They are always in a hurry to think that my mom is in pain, she should be treated tenderly. My mom needed a commode and they did not do anything and so my mom ended up with a lot of poop and pee on the bed. She was hungry that early morning and all they can offer is a gelo, she's been with the different hospitals and i think this has the worst unfriendly and lasy nurses who works here in ER. One of the nurses named Jenn even told me that they are understaff and i need to help them, too. It was not my fault if they are under staff they should do something to help their patients right not letting the relatives of the patients do their job. My mom does not deserves this brutal care. We ended up staying in one of ER rooms which is so small and not so private until we were discharged. And they did not even supply us toiletries to use for more than a night of stay. Palomar Medical Center is the best when it comes to caring and nice facilities and has a lot of private rooms.

This has to be the most horrifying Emergency Hospital we have ever come across. My husband was admitted last night because he was referred by an inpatient program to safely detox here. They treated him like garbage and had absolutely no compassion.
If anyone with any kind of medical knowledge about addiction would know, they would say that alcohol detox is one of the most dangerous to do at home or to try and attempt without medical attention. Once he was checked in, he waited in the lobby for another hour or two and was told that there were no beds available and that he wouldn't be able to be admitted here. Mind you, we live in Ramona and drove here specifically because of the recommendation. So once I had received this phone call it was already midnight and had no babysitter(obviously) to come and stay with our 18 month old as he slept. I called again half an hour later because my husband mentioned that one of the case workers were going to be able to take him home, but I had never got a confirmation from him. Luckily, he answered and all of a sudden they are giving him medication and said that he didn't have to leave and that he could get rest. What a sigh of relief, right? WRONG. I received a phone call from my husband at 3 IN THE MORNING saying that they were pretty much kicking him out because, again, "there were no other beds available and he needed to leave." At this point, I am truly panicked- one, because I have to rip my baby out of bed while he was in deep sleep, and two- WE LIVE IN RAMONA and it takes about 35-40 minutes to get here. Judging from the slurred speech, my husband, was exhausted and had medication in his system and they proceeded to let him know where the exit was. By the time I arrived(with my crying baby in the back seat), my husband was nowhere to be found and the gentleman at the screening station was told that he was waiting outside already. After a few minutes of investigating, the gentleman found my husband asleep on the sidewalk. I saw so many staff walking to and from that area and nobody did a damn thing like this was just the norm and who tf cares about this human who passed out after being kicked out. If you want to be treated with kindness and respect, do not come here. They will dehumanize you. They will victim blame. They don't care about you. You are walking dollar signs to them. The only gentleman that was helpful was the one who went across the street to find my husband for me. There are still so many other details that I had to leave out, but you best believe their medical director will be receiving a letter from me for the malpractice that my husband experienced late last night into early this morning. Please reassess your staff since this is obviously not the only bad experience associated with your facility. You should feel absolutely ashamed that you can call yourselves medical professionals, but have an utter disregard for human life.

Horrible experience at this ER. Misdiagnosed by a poor excuse of a Doctor the first time, had to come back a few days later. And of course the charges were outrageous even with my coverage.

Avoid going to this place in emergent or less emergent condition. Staff is non compassionate, totally disorganized, multiple procedural issues at many levels (personnel , pharmacy, lab work , radiology and physician level ) which prevent delivery of care. I am a physician and this the worst emergency department I have ever seen.

Yeah this place is pretty bad. I came in because I felt really sick. I had a bunch of symptoms like being tired and sweats and it pain when swallowing. I came in before noon and left at four. In that amount of time they had three different people ask me the same list of questions. They asked me if I had a sore throat and I said it hurts to swallow. They looked at my throat and said it was inflamed but they said I didn't have a fever. They didn't check for strep and they gave me an undisclosed amount of ibuprofen then just told me to take some ibuprofen until I'm better without telling me how much. I went to a better doctor and he immediately checked for strep and I was positive. At that point I had a 104 fever. He also told me how much ibuprofen I should take.

I went to the ER to change a blocked SPC and was a little worried because of all the negative reviews but I received exceptional care, the ER doctor assured me that he has experience changing these types of catheters and the entire process was quick and painless. I was and still am very grateful. I have been to other ER s for the same issue and they were all awful but UCSD emergency room doctors and staff went above and beyond.

Worst expiernce of my LIFE!!! And I work in healthcare...Stay away from this place, unless you want to be treated like crap. Dr Mary Elizabeth Johnson has zero bedside manner, compassion nor common curtesy. Save your time and money don't not go to that ER even if your dying!! I'm sure she would let you die!! Never have a seen and Doctor behave to so cold and callus towards her patients. If it were up to me UCSD, La Jolla wouldn't receive a penny from me or healthplan.. Find a different job Dr Mary Elizibeth Johnson if you hate your job, which it clearly shows. Stay away from this place people, I suggest you tell others as well.

if I knew emergent situations weren't treated as emergent would of went elsewhere...3 hours plus still waiting

Horrible service. Nurses arent doing their job just chattjng at the nurses station. Waited 6 hours just to be seen and nothing was done.. was sent home with no treatment only nurse examined me.... very disappointed in their service.

Excellent care from start to finish. Referred to ER from primary care physician. I was monitored by several specialists, plus the nurse and doctor from noon to 6 pm for 3 breathing treatment and IV. They really showed that they cared about me, all this while the ER was packed with people. I ve been with UCSD care for over 30 years and some visits are better than others, but everything was on point this day.

Had Blader surgery as an outpatient at Jabobs Medical center, my experience was excellent, from the admitting nurse, to the Anestesoologist, surgeon and the staff at recovery.My only complaint was after a few days had some problems, placed a call to the Urologist on call, and took from 10.30 am till 7. 30 PM to hear back from them after 3 additional calls.

The staff here are the rudest medical staff I've encountered in my life. I've been at Kaiser, Scripps, and Sharp as well and this was the worst treatment at an ER. I wanted to ask them directly, "why are you so rude?"

I burned some fingers and tried to treat them by myself.One finger got really nasty and when I couldn't have access to my Doctor I went to Thorton Hospitals Emergency room,since I was in the area after a routine check up for another issue. . I was concerned because I am a diabetic and about the condition of my finger which wasn't pretty. I received excellent care from Triage Nurse Anne Myers and also very compassionate Dr. Chan. They also sent me home with a jar of excellent topical antibiotic which was silvadene.

My review of this hospital (and its affiliated 1-star rating) is based on all of the truly nightmarish ordeals which I'd experienced in dealing with their billing department. First off, let me just start off by saying that someone by the name of Daniel in their billing department is the rudest, most obnoxious, disrespectful, insincere, and just downright unprofessional "customer service" representative who I've ever come across..... in my entire life!! And suffice it to say, over the course of many years throughout my lifetime, I've interacted with literally hundreds of true "customer service" representatives at various companies and organizations. My experience with this 'Daniel' character at La Jolla Emergency Services' billing office however, was by far and away, the worst of them all!!! Not only does this guy rudely interrupt you left and right and never, EVER validate your frustrations, but his smug, pompous, and just downright sarcastic communication (if you would even technically call it that) style leaves you wanting to literally just throw your phone against the wal!! Lol! No, but seriously, this 'Daniel' guy was just totally rude and disrespectful, not to mention extremely unhelpful, each and every single time that I'd called into their billing office to try to effectuate resolution to a long overdue billing error (on La Jolla Emergency Services' part - not mine) which hadn't been addressed in well over a year. Each and every single time that this 'Daniel' character answered the phone, it was just more of the same: basically listening to "The Greatest Hits" of Rudeness, Disrespect, and Lack of Professionalism!!! So, for that reason alone, my overall rating of this hospital should definitely be a zero. However, after months and months (literally..... well over an entire year) of going back and forth with this hospital's billing department, my billing issue was everntually resolved, and La Jolla Emergency Services must have FINALLY realized that it had been their billing error (again, NOT mine) all along, which had been responsible for that unpaid balance - which by the way, they even had the nerve to send me to a collections agency for, even though it had never been my fault in the first place. Wow!!! Talk about feeling scapegoated by a bureaucratic hospital's own incompetence..... if ever there was a feeling. So, for whomever it is that will ultimately be furnishing the standard: "I'm sorry for any troubles you encountered here..... please call our customer service number so we can address this...... blah...... blah...... blah....." company response below my review, please, just save it!! Honestly, I really don't want to hear any of it. Instead, why don't you please kindly retrain all of your employees (especially this Daniel guy) on respect, professionalism, and at least acting like you care (even if you really don't) about a customer's concerns that they're trying to have resolved. A basic Respect & Common Courtesy 101 class might actually be something which your hospital should invest in for all of your employees...... especially for the exorbitant fees which you charge patients for? Somehow, the two (ridiculously high fees not covered by insurance AND pompousness/rudeness/blatant disrespect) just don't seem to go hand-in-hand all that well together. Thanks for reading, and I seriously hope all of the above issues are indeed addressed by this hospital's administration. For those of you considering receiving "care" from this hospital however, honestly, my best advice would probably be: just don't even bother!

Have been in emergecy room over 34 hours still have not been placed in a regular room.
No monitoring of patients BP.
Has had cuff off.
No follow up.
Sad. Great hospital

I love the staff nurses, techs, and Drs here. My brother is a schizophrenic and has had some medical issues that necessitated an ED visit.
Many times mentally ill people are treated rudely and with distain. We have been treated with kindness and compassion every visit. Our wait time was minimal, labs were done quickly and painlessly, and we saw a doctor within a half an hour. Most importantly the staff here listens to you. Thank you for being the best ED in San Diego.

Broke my heart and they patched it up real well. Cast and everything. Whole nine yards. I'm here every day day! Very fun.

I've spent four hours one afternoon waiting to see a physician for my mother-in-law who was experiencing a major panic attack. We finally left when they told us it could be another 4 hours. The place wasn't even busy. I took her to an MD today and got fast, professional and more compassionate care. Tonight 4 am experiencing excruciating eye pain, the ER could not give me any idea if they could see me in less than four hours. What kind of a Health System runs an ER like this? I have great insurance too. I'm thinking this is a glimpse of what government health care looks like.

This place needs a major culture change. As a physician myself, spending the night here as a patient was definitely an eye opening experience. UCSD s med school makes so many claims about how they re changing patient care, but their hospital is an absolute cluster****. Staff is helpful when you approach them, but disengaged otherwise. Basically an over-glorified urgent care that s been prettied up by UCSD s $4.3bil revenue.

Physicians, it starts with us. Your nurses follow and match the care you put into medicine. If red tape from administration is enough to dehumanize you into diagnosing robots, this profession isn t for you. You aren t right for this profession. I hope that my experience was just the result of an off day. Disgraceful.

I was sexually assaulted and Dr Owen and the charge nurse Rebecca S wouldnt treat me. They kept asking what I wanted. When I refeused pain meds and told the nurse screaming through tears i just needed help she called security. Dr Owen did offer me a tylenol and a pregnancy test, when i came in with severe back pain and stated i wanted no pain meds and i was on my period. She thought i was garbage who got what i deserved. Thank you Dr. Owen for making me feel less human than i already did. Youd think 2 woman would have more empathy for some one whos been attacked. I called back multiple times trying to get help only to get hung up on. This place was almost as bad as the assault. I see now why woman stay silent. Dont go there unless you like abuse and being insulted by a raging bull that hates other woman. Also to the nurse that found it funny, youre a soulless creature. This is where you go to die. At least a part of me did. Thank you for cutting me so deep i cant breathe. Horrible horrible hospital.

Worst ER ever...takes hours to be seen
.stay away if possible...

I would rank a - negative 5 stars if I had that option.

People working there are all kind, but extremely overworked.

I waited for 4 hours in an overcrowded waiting room for a "fairly high priority issue" and still was not treated. Apparently there are no rooms available and they are treating some people in the hallway. I just left, because I don't want to die there.

Nurses were kind. Facility was clean. They tried. Took daughter, who has a history of type 2 diabetes in on the referral of her PCP for sudden, very high blood sugar levels. (Daughter has other complex health issues as well.) Waited in the lobby after triage for 2 hours, then allowed a gurney in the hall (the place was packed). Two more hours and a doctor appeared and asked why she was there. Was told her medical history and that the PCP had recommended the visit in very certain terms. Doctor went away. IV was set and blood drawn. Two hours later doctor reappeared and told us she had Type 2 diabetes, the same blood work that was drawn as at her PCP had the same results. (One of the tests is known for giving false positives for people with one of her other issues, and we discussed that with the doctor, but in examining the paperwork later that is the one of the tests he ordered to check for Type 2 diabetes.) She was ready to be discharged. No meds given just a prescription and a referral - which could have come from the PCP, really. The ER doctor was very nice, but Well, ~THAT~ was pointless and will cost us dearly in co-pays. And, to top it, I'm sure we'll have an insurance nightmare. The PCP had said she had phoned ahead to let them know we were coming by private car. Since PCP was at UCSD and they are supposed to share systems, we assumed all was ready - but while my daughter was laying on the gurney after check-in a guy from registration showed up saying they could not find her insurance in the system, and so she was being treated as a "self-paying" customer. So, one 7 hour stay in the ER, one hysterical daughter, nothing out of it we didn't know when we went in, and I'm sure the bills will arrive soon no matter what we do. I really want to know, now, what the PCP thought was so important that it required an ER trip, when at the ER they did nothing the PCP had not already done?

Ucsd emergency. Be prepared to wait in the waiting room.

Worst hospital ever, there is no respect for patients. I took my pregnant wife because she broke her toe, we had to wait nearly 6 hours and we were not seen by doctor, in addition we were treated badly by the charge nurse.

Take your chances when going to UCSD Jacobs ER. It s July 17th, 2020 and Just released from UCSD Jacobs ER after emergency dialysis and was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. Was supposed to be admitted but was then to go somewhere else. Started out well then went south fast. Night nurse Mindy and Monica and Dr. Coffey were great. Then shift change came and everything changed. AM nurse Eden didn t want to be bothered. Dr. Park nephrologist, from my experience, she was so abrasive I felt like I was getting interrogated. Still needed one dialysis treatment but was denied.unit after miscommunication between travel request for dialysis unit. God send was the dialysis nurse Evelyn who was so helpful. Nurse eden said every time she saw Evelyn, she was being bothered by my request. Thank you to Valerie AM nurse practitioner and Nurse who covered nurse eden for lunch. I was released with pulmonary embolism and was told to go else where. My doctors in Vegas told me to come here assuming that UCSD medical was the best. Vegas doctors were in contact with UCSD doctors who I asked for but was not seen by, so not sure why it was such an insult for me to show up at UCSD Jacobs ER. This whole experience left a really bad perception of UCSD Medical Jacobs. I am Just shocked, appalled and left feeling demeaned by the negative experience, from the supposed one of the best hospitals in CA. Now I am going to be billed for such bad experience. The bad medical staff are giving UCSD Jacobs a bad reputation.

I went to Sharp Urgent Care with a 102 degree temperature, shakes and muscle spasms. After their evaluation the doctor told me I should go to UCSD Emergency because they had better facilities for infectious/weird diseases. That was the worst advice I have ever gotten.

Cut to your emergency room at La Jolla, a germ filled den of coughing, hacking, struggling people. I was there for 4 hours and not once did I see any staff member come by to pick up the piles of dirty (sometimes bloody) blankets that were strewn about. The reception counter, which catches every germ that passes through your facility was never sprayed or wiped down. Did I mention that I was there for 4 hours before being seen? My wife calls it the worst experience of her life. I call it an understaffed hack fest.

Cut to me, in a room. The doctor was attentive and thorough. He admitted that if it was not the flu they probably would not be able to figure it out. They did a swab for influenza, and took blood for some tests. We asked the doc to discharge us since there was no real promise of a solution. He promised to call with the influenza results (or post to MyChart) later that evening. We did not hear from anyone that evening or the next morning and nothing on MyChart so I called and left a message. 2 hours later I got a call from a nurse, she was nice, thorough, and answered my questions. The influenza results were negative. I am still sick and roughly in the same position as before with no path forward.

The net result was a total waste of time I should have stayed home and rode this out in my own bed instead of embarking on that awful experience. I will never come to your emergency room again, unless I am unconscious and an ambulance drops me there.

4 + hours waiting. No one seems concerned. Having issues that needed attention in a timely matter. I would give the a big ZERO if you had it. This is the worst unfortunately this is what the insurance covers

I was hit with an infection in my throat that got extremely worse very quickly. I was unable to eat, drink, swallow, or sleep due to difficulty breathing and extreme pain when swallowing anything. After visiting urgent care three times with no diagnosis or confirmation of what I was infected with, lots of negative results from tests, and multiple rounds of medicine that didnt seem to work, or help numb the area in question I made my way to the ER. Finally realizing how light headed and lethargic I was feeling I basically stumbled into the ER and checked in. Within 10 minutes that had someone checking on me, and another ten minutes I was in a bed. The staff that helped me were amazing, I remember a few names Like Ms. (DR?) Autumn, Dr.Maya, Dr.Julia, Dr.P a tall gentleman, the volunteer Andrew V who is studying to become a doctor, Nurse Brianna, and I apologize but I forget the name of the Doctor and the nurse who cleared me to leave. All the staff involved were amazing, kind and despite their busy days made me feel like the most important person on the planet. Hopefully I don't meet them again in that scenario but they all deserve commendations and have my deepest most sincere grattitude. When I left that night I was able to return home and eat for the first time in days and honestly that is such a gift. Eternally grateful for what you do, Thank you each and every one of you! There were more staff that made it a 5 star visit! I hope you are all blessed, and remain in good health!

Had to take back my 5 star rating due to the AWFUL experience I had last night. They only took lab work, and decided no imaging needed to be done because apparently a CMP, magnesium, and phosphorus show EVERYTHING that could be wrong with me. They refused to do anything more than supportive care such a waste of time & I'm still left feeling miserable today because nobody actually cared to address the issue I came in for!! Thanks for nothing! I will never return to that terrible ER. At this point, I feel like even Sharp would do a better job, and that says a lot because Sharp is pretty awful.

The worst place and worst staff ever. Stay away from it