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September 2023 by Mitchell Fink
The doctors and staff at Descanso are great. We have had a wonderful experience, but the changes that have taken place in the last year or so have been absolutely horrible from a patient / parent perspective.Ever since they have become affiliated with Cedars, it has gotten virtually impossible to reach anyone to ask anything with a massive wait time or having to leave a message.Not long ago, we had an emergency and were trying to reach a doctor and after telling someone it was an emergecny, they put us on hold for 15 minutes!!! forcing us to call 911.The service, communication and scheduling is unbearable and has forced us to leave for another doctor.What once was a charming and patient centric office is now nothing but cold and corporate. This is a shame.
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September 2023 by Farihah Salman
This place has gone rapidly down hill. We came here for dr Gardner and was able to only see her twice in the 4 years we have been with them. Also, dr Gardner is leaving the practice - don’t go here
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July 2023 by Kathleen Breitman
I booked an appointment here for my 1 month old. I was late by around half an hour (traffic!) and turned away without so much as an inquiry as to why I wanted to see the doctor. I wound up at an urgent care within Cedars Sinai later in the day, where I learned some basic facts were wrong on my son's chart (my London address is in England, not Ukraine -- his name was mangled, a point I had told the office before). The secretarial staff tends to be the weak link in most doctor's offices. Here they are basically negligent.
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June 2023 by Jenny P.
I've been coming to this office for my two boys for 18 years now. All the doctors are wonderful but the past few years the phone answering system is horrible. Wait times are extremely long. I understand the office gets busy but 30+ minutes to make an appointment? This office has also transitioned over to a new billing system called CSlink and if you have a question about your bill, the phone number listed might as well be non-existent. It takes you through numerous prompts, keeps you on hold only to have the line disconected after a 10 minute ordeal. Please do something, billing and appointment phone times should be addressed quickly. I tried calling the office to speak with someone regarding billing and I was transferred over the the same phone line. No progress here.
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June 2023 by Jessica Mendez Siqueiros
Posting here after an initially positive experience with this office. I don’t know what can be done after the buyout, but their entire new system is awful. I just called to adjust my daughters appointment, the automated system said the wait time was over 60 mins and then hung up on me. I don’t know how to go about communicating with them, and that’s in no way how it should be when it comes to your child’s health. It’s also such a shame they are losing Dr. Castro. Hopefully things will turn around, as I’ve heard all their doctors are great. For now, we’ll be switching to someplace we can hopefully be at for years and years to come!
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May 2023 by Lauren Le Ber
Descanso Pediatrics is wonderful. Unfortunately, they went through a considerable change in structure and system changes (tech) during peak winter madness, but doctors and nursing staff are not to be blamed for that. Dr. Castro has been a fantastic primary doctor, but my children have seen all of the doctors in the practice over the years, and I can assure you all of them are knowledgeable, professional, and kind. Not a bad one in the bunch. I disagree with the negative comments on here, but I have a feeling they are being posted out of frustration and anger (which are understandable because it is frustrating when you want your child to be seen and they are busy), but let's not disparage a group of people doing there best to help children during the busy winter.
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May 2023 by Jas D
Totally agree with a previous post. Too bad - I used to like this clinic. There are a few doctors I really like. Both my kids have been coming here for years. However I have not been able to make any appointment for at least a year, except for annual physicals, which you book weeks ahead of time. If your kid want to be seen for a cold or fever, you get an appointment a week later and by that time the kids are already recovered. And for the business owner who said this is a temporary staff shortage - you must have a misunderstanding about what “temporary “ means. This issue has been going on for at least a year. No, this is not called “temporary”. I don’t see any sign or any intention for this issue to be fixed. The call time wait is also insanely long. We are still keeping this clinic as our primary physician only for annual physical purpose because we live so close by. However, unfortunately it is never helpful when you really need to see a doctor.
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May 2023 by Dave Anthony
Referrals seem to be a problem to get.
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April 2023 by Reeve R.
This review is not a knock against the pediatricians at Descanso - we have been seeing them for 4 years, and they are wonderful. The issues with the practice are the scheduling/phone system and the policies of the practice. To make an appointment, be prepared to wait on hold for an hour. That is not an exaggeration. For any short-term needs, you may as well skip them. In fact on the website, they tell patients to go to Urgent Care. Since when did Urgent Care become a replacement for a pediatric practice, where the children's medical records are kept? For prescription needs, even a refill, they require in-person appointments - but the earliest appointment will be at least a week out. Incredibly frustrating to navigate their bureaucratic policies and under-staffed call center (which is where your call is routed - not to the office itself). Time to find a new doc.
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March 2023 by Gayaneh A.
Since being bought by Cedars, call wait times have bumped up to 45 - 65 minutes minimum. I understand they want us to use the portal but sometimes a parent wants to call. In addition, the message says if you want to leave a message press "1" only for it to say we don't take messages so your wait time only increases when you have to call back. I have noticed multiple vaccinations not being input in the health records as well which makes me wonder about other things. Wait times for visits have exponentially increased and the response is that we have two staff for five doctors. We have been at with Descanso Pedeatrics for over a decade so I am so upset at what has happened to it.
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February 2023 by Sebastian K.
Dr Hindoian is a Gem. My daughter is in good hands. We are currently on our 6th visits and my wife and I are so pleased with the way this team of doctors cared for our family.
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February 2023 by Anna P
My kids have been visiting Descanso Pediatrics for years. Doctor Castro is amazing.
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January 2023 by Janet K.
We really like our doctor, but our experience with the office has been going downhill. We luckily haven't had to call too often, but when we do, it's an insanely long wait time. I just waited for 26 minutes to get through to try to schedule my babies' last covid vaccine shot (which I wasn't able to because they didn't receive shipments recently). And my husband had even tried incase he would be able to get through earlier, but he got a message that the estimated wait time was 42 minutes when he tried after me... I got curious and asked why the wait was so long, and I was told that it's because they are understaffed and have a high volume of calls. But when I go into the office I usually see 3-4 people in the front and 1-2 usually look like they're shadowing and aren't on the phones or checking in patients.I came onto yelp to see what others were saying, and it looks like there definitely is an issue with patients getting through. The office is close to us and we like our doctor a lot, but the inconvenience of not being able to speak with someone in a timely manner is making us think we may have to look into other options...
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January 2023 by Karina C.
I wish I can take my 5 stars back. For the past 2 weeks, I've tried multiple times to reach the office to schedule an appointment and have left more than enough messages. No return call! The appointment it's for an annual exam. I understand doctor offices are impacted with call volume as I myself work for a pediatric office, but this office has more than enough staff members to answer calls. Just today I called to confirm vaccines from a patient that transferred to our office and even pressing the hospital/doctor option, I was on hold for more than 6 minutes when I decided to hang up. It's ridiculous! It's ashame how this corporation has changed in so little time. Dr. Faddoul and Dr. Castro have been phenomenal with both my children and I am sad to say, it's time we move on. I will text them both directly with the sad news..This is to corporate: No need for the lame apologies.
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December 2022 by Shiraz Simonian
AVOID DESCANSO PEDIATRICS AT ALL COSTS! Your kids deserve better. This office is a joke and should no longer be in business. We've been taking our first son here since he was a baby. They were recently acquired by or merged with Cedars Sinai and their office is no longer functional. None of the staff know what they're doing. Their call wait times are over an hour. The doctor's are never available. It's borderline malpractice for them to stay in business at this point.
