Dignity Health In Mt Shasta has the ruedest pieces of shit ever. The lady told me, no new paitents theyre too booked up, and they prefer not taking people from Redding because were non local...
That is a travesty, Kaitlyn. You've been way too sick for way too long. In other countries, it's routine to get same day care. I will say vis a vis Kaiser/Sutter -- the two monoliths that dominate this part of the world -- it depends where you go. Kaiser Redwood City and Sutter Palo Alto are miserable places. Huge, factory-like, most of the docs who work there are miserable. Sutter in particular is known for disrespecting its medical staff and signing up more, more, more patients. The ophthalmologist I've seen in Palo Alto literally runs from room to room before spending five minutes with me (clearly it's one of their more lucrative specialties.) Recently I went to Sutter San Carlos with my mom and a completely different vibe. People actually seem happy to be working there. The lighting isn't harsh; it's a much more inviting place, and the front desk is pleasant -- no snapping at patients. She saw the same orthoped she sees in Palo Alto, and even he seemed more relaxed. I also took my son to Kaiser San Mateo when we couldn't get an appointment for weeks anywhere closer. A much smaller facility than RC, and again, nice, competent people who don't act like they wish you'd just disappear and leave them alone. So whatever mandates are coming down from corporate, some facilities still manage to keep the "care" in caregiving.
Haven't had a problem at all with specialists so far. In fact my specialists experience has been better than primary care.
I think it kinda depends on what speciality you are going in to see. For anyone planning to have a kid in the Peninsula (or ends up with one unplanned, I guess) Kaiser RWC was pretty good.
I have Kaiser as well and I have been pretty satisfied with them. My doctor’s office is right next the airport and they can do labs and x-rays there. When I have needed a specialist I was able to see one in a reasonable amount of time and I never felt they were in a rush to move me along in order to see another patient.
Yeah, though one bummer about Kaiser is that their geographical range is pretty limited. Nothing up close to Redding I don't think. But there are 3 locations in the south bay - south SJ, Santa Clara, and Skyport (north SJ), so very convenient for us.
Only Kiser certification school is up here, I'd have to travel back to the Bay Area to get treatment from Kiser. (Trust I have thought about it).
Just FYI - it's not much better at UW health. I had to wait almost six months to see a competent neurologist/neuro-muscular specialist after the neurology resident who first saw me proved he didn't know WTF he was talking about and gave me some advice that would have had me intubated in ICU had I followed it...
My next-door neighbor is a Kaiser urologist, and when my son had kidney stones, he was over every day to check on him. Can't beat that. But that doesn't negate the fact that a lot of the big box docs, at least on the mid-peninsula, are treated badly and it shows. Unless they're in a private or concierge practice, which most are not. I don't know who ends up in Kaitlyn's area, but sounds as though they are massively incompetent or else don't gaf.
So looks like I finally have a conclusion. The specialist today I saw was very angry at the hospital and the urgent care doctor I went to see for misdiagnosis. I was taking amoxicillin for Pneumonia when I never had Pneumonia to begin with and it was counter acting my body making me very sick. He ran a bunch of tests and stuck a tube down my throat that felt like it was so far down it would come out my ass. I have early stages of chronic bronchitis aka COPD. He was very helpful today, I have a steroid inhaler and a CPAP machine. I return in 7 days to see if the treatments are working, then I start doing a bunch of breathing exercises. He told me I could develop a light asthma as well.
The benefits just from quitting start to take affect relatively quickly. The medication and time will help even more. Edit to add: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/tobacco/benefits-of-quitting-smoking-over-time.html#:~:text=2 weeks to 3 months,10 years after quitting My wife who is a hellava lot smarter than me says the worst thing besides doing drugs is smoking as that negatively affects some many other systems in your body.