My husband and I have had numerous problems with this clinic’s operations and level of care/attention.
We did have a phone call with the manager and she was kind and assured me they are working to change things (including staff), so maybe they will improve with time, but as of right now we were just left disappointed and frustrated so many times.
The biggest concern I have is that there was no effort to find the cause of infertility. They just immediately jump to a new attempt at IUI each month and when it fails, they simply ask if you want to try again. They don’t look into why it might be failing, because “unexplained infertility is common”.
Well after one iui ending in a chemical (early miscarriage), two additional failed IUI attempts, and one cycle that was cancelled because my follicles weren’t growing fast enough (by the way you still pay a flat rate of $500 if your cycle gets cancelled…. Silly in my opinion because all that happened that month was a couple of ultrasounds), I took it upon myself to research more and discovered that not a single doctor along my fertility journey tested my blood at the right time of my cycle. I did a day 21 blood test and found I am very low on estrogen and progesterone. Had this been discovered sooner, say, from a specialist, I could have gotten pregnant from one of the IUIs I paid a lot of money for. That’s a huge red flag.
Other concerns we’ve had-
Billing:
You pay upfront for an IUI cycle. When my cycle was cancelled due to my follicles not responding to meds, they wanted to charge me in full for the next cycle. I told them that I’m not paying in full because the last cycle I bought never reached IUI, we only did a couple of ultrasounds. There was “no record” of me not having completed the iui that cycle. I was irate that there would be so little care or documentation in my progress. They did resolve this issue for me, but it took me having to advocate for myself and I still walked away feeling as though I’m just another paycheck to them. They aren’t keeping good records of my health care.
Another HUGE oversight was a clerical error on my IUI instructions. They tell you the exact time to take a trigger shot before an IUI, and the time they wrote on my paper was wrong. The manager was apologetic but that could have cost me that cycle. There is simply no excuse when I’m paying so much money and only get one short window a month to try. That mistake was pure negligence.
When I had my chemical pregnancy, I was told to call the next time I get a period. I started spotting about 5 weeks later and called to request a blood test to see if that was my period or not (my hormones were still wonky). They told me no and that I’ll know when my period comes.
Well…. We later found out from blood tests that that WAS my period, and therefore we missed another cycle of monitoring.
I requested a higher dosage of meds and they told me no, that we will stick to what I was on because that’s what got me to my chemical pregnancy. But that month is when my body didn’t respond to the meds. So if I had had a higher dosage, would I have had a shot? Who knows.
At the end of the day, it’s not my intent to drag this clinic through the mud. But I know how exhausting and heartbreaking it is to go through infertility and if you’re struggling with that, I hope you can find a clinic that provides better thought/care for you than what you will receive here.
Also- some of the front desk staff was kind and smiley. One or two of the gals is perpetually grouchy and I’ve seen this mentioned in several reviews from the past so it seems they don’t care?
Lastly- I requested my medical records to be sent electronically. There is a flat rate fee of $25, and when I asked them (twice) to explain the fee (California and federal law state it cannot exceed $6.50), I was brushed off and they did not answer except to say “it’s the fee for gathering your records”.
All they want is your money. They don’t disclose their hidden fees. Don’t include your spouse to your first appointment or they’ll secretly charge him for YOUR appointment. And don’t forget that you can’t obtain YOUR medical records without a $25 charge. Online portal has a “documents” tab with no documents available free to YOUR health information. And even if you consider paying for your record, “anticipate processing time of 14 business days.” Go anywhere but here.
I worked in the medical field for many years & have never had this type of encounter. The only kind person here is Dr. Shelly, but Dr. Morales is MONEY HUNGRY & lacks empathy; I believe it will come back to bite her eventually because she doesn't allow people to contact her directly nor does she make an effort to get back to a single patient without payment. I paid for a consult where I was misinformed, so I contacted the front desk to ask her a couple of questions correlated to the appointment we had, which she said I would need to set up another consult & pay for... (if there are any medical negligence lawyers, can you please look into this place?). This is the WORST clinic I have ever been to -- however because they reel you in with treatments & your time, you are stuck with the provider who constantly takes without giving. You can see by the reviews here, that they are trash.
Irene, the receptionist is probably the worst of them here & purposely says things to infuriate you, an example-
Me: So one of the consults got cut short due to a disconnection, can you please assist me in rescheduling & waiving that payment?
Irene: No, you would have to pay again.
This second time calling about something else-
Me: I had my follicle count last year & your practice never got back to me, can someone please assist me, as I don't want to have to pay twice for your company's negligence?Irene: You would have to start all over because it has been a year.
-- She mentioned she could transfer me to the financial department for more info, but excuse me, they have nothing to do with what I was bringing up.
I got cut off during my appointment with Dr. Morales because of bad a connection & rescheduled the appointment, to which they billed over $100 to my insurance twice & asked me to pay the deposit twice.
Not only that, but they were going through some changes so they forgot to inform me of my results, & I went to a different fertility clinic that was so much better but informed me it would be best to stick with one since they already performed so many procedures, so I reluctantly came back here & they told me since it has been almost a year I would need to restart ALL the procedures again (& pay the same original amount) from their lack of structure. I honestly may gather all the ladies here to get their experience & potentially see what we can do because this place should not be allowed to treat customers this way.
On top of that, I was speaking with Keila who sent me all the information & was emailing back & forth with her, to which she stopped responding abruptly without even an automated email saying she would be away. I contacted the fertility clinic after a month of no response & this was what IRENE told me:
"You should just directly email our public email because when employees are not in the office you won't get a response"
-- I don't think that's the proper way to respond to a customer, but also, they should have an automated email set up so I know to reach out to their public email since Keila WAS originally responding to me & handling my case.
If I could give 0 stars I would. *Do NOT go here!!* As a provider myself, I was very disturbed by the way they run this clinic. You don't actually meet your provider in person until your "treatment." Your consultation and follow-up appointments to discuss labs are all virtual, which doesn't cultivate a personal connection. When you show up for your treatments or ultrasounds, you will be rushed in and out, being completely dismissed if you have any questions. You pay for your treatment before you meet with the doctor and when you get the call that your treatment was unsuccessful, basically in the same breath they ask you to pay for another round before you even get the opportunity to grieve for that month.
I additionally had a suspicion of what was happening throughout my cycle, but Dr. Morales said that everything was normal, even though she didn't truly take the time to sit down and listen to my concerns. She diagnosed us with "unexplained infertility" and our chosen treatment was IUI. After 2 unsuccessful IUI cycles I found another provider who listened to my concerns and my suspicions were correct. The other provider was able to manipulate my cycle with only medications and we are now pregnant.
While my husband was waiting on me for one of my ultrasounds, he also heard one of the front desk women making fun of a patient that she had just gotten off of the phone with. Which brings me to my final point, the front desk staff were so rude with every in person or virtual interaction.
Do not go to fertility specialists medical group. You will leave incredibly disappointed.
My wife and I did some fertility testing and blood work. Never heard back from a doctor to review the results. I called and requested feedback, all we were sent was half of our test results. No follow up call or appointment from the doctor to review the results. Called the second time and haven’t heard back yet. In my opinion, this is very unprofessional. I’m just glad that we’re not at the point where we’ve spent a ton of money like some people and can go elsewhere.