Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center — Attraction in Los Angeles

I have NEVER in my life received such poor quality of care than I did in the Emergency Department at Kaiser Permanente West. I am not a Kaiser member which adds a mile of frustration to managing my care. Do not come here.

1st time, just last week, I was met by staff and paramedics laughing about my condition, saying they don't believe me while drs later thought I had sepsis. I had a bacterial infection in my stomach. It was treated with 3 days of cipro which if you're not aware, can cause nerve pain

Last night I felt something burst in my neck and that area filled with fluid. I have history of swollen glands, nerve pain, joint pain, and various other autoimmune symptoms. I told them this. I was upset when I was moved to triage because I did not know what was happening, but I recognized the symptoms. I did briefly have trouble catching my breath. A woman assisting the man doing my triage had reprimanded me for this. I, shocked, immediately focused on my breathing and calmed way down. I remained this calm for the rest of the night.

I was moved to a room w a blue recliner and I was being monitored. a guy comes in, I didn''t catch his name but I'm pretty sure he had dark hair and for some reason I'm remembering yellow shoes? This guy tells me he's gonna insert my IV and I politely tell him that I have bruising on both arms due to IVs from last week, and they had some trouble finding a vein when I got bloodwork done earlier in the week. I don't remember what he said then but he proceeded to look for a vein and I looked away. At this time I was still in pain, and feeling quite queasy and thought if I didn't look it wouldn't hurt. Ok....

soon after I felt EXCRUCIATING pain coming from where he was poking at earlier and I had trouble getting sound out with my sobs. He very rudely and smugly said "what? I'm not even doing anything yet" but I still felt pain radiating from that area. I tried to ask why did it hurt so badly then?

I was crying and he's still at my arm, when a woman walks in with some kind of shocked look on her face and she just says something about my room being ready and I couldn't make out the rest. However, I heard the man's response. He backed away from me and I felt relief and he bandaged me up, took his gloves off and said to just do my IV in the room because he blew my vein. He left the room.

When I got to the room, I was greeted by Susan. The rudest nurse I've EVER had. No bedside manner WHAT SO EVER. I'll keep it frank here. If Susan hates her job so bad, she should find another job. FedEx distro center is GREAT for people who have no clue how to talk to people in service/care based roles. She dismissed every concern I had, told me I did not make sense when I explained to her that I was not anxious, my heart was just beating really fast and I didn't know why. When she asked if I could use the bathroom to provide urine, I told her I didn't feel like I had to go right then but I could definitely try. She kept repeating "yes or no" very rudely. She administered my IV after the man who blew my vein as well... had to use my hand and my hands hurt so i thought she'd make my experience more comfortable but she didn't. No countdown. No "ok deep breath!" Just shoved it right in. OUCH.

THEN I had my blood drawn and for whatever reason they couldn't get the blood to come out so they tugged my arm down and yanked on the IV line a whole bunch until it started to go...??? Is this standard care here?!??!?!?!?

there was no exam done on the area of my body where I had fluid and felt a burst. No labs done that actually mattered to my health history, nor what I was experiencing. Gave me ativan and said it was anxiety.

Here's the kicker. I was directed to view test results online, but because I'm not a member of their plan. I CANNOT VIEW MY RECORDS ONLINE. I get error after error day after day. I want to know what those test results said

Don't worry, I called the grievance line and I expect to be followed up with. This level of care is absolutely completely unacceptable.

Y'all should be...

My husband who has Parkinson’s and I, his wife and caretaker had a terrible experience at the West LA Kaiser. He came in to Urgent Care for bloody stool issues, and, instead of doing a simple stool test to see if there was bacteria in the stool, they put him through hell! Dr. Espejo ordered for him to be hospitalized and a colonoscopy to be done. He is very fragile and had to undergo a grueling prep for a colonoscopy. I was with him and experienced the torture he went through and totally unnecessary. They finally did a stool test only when he was hospitalized. He spent the entire night drinking the liquid required for this colonoscopy. The night time nursing staff was terrible - could not give him medication because the nurse could not scan the medication he required. They did not even have a simple provision for a caretaker to stay with the patient and were horrible rude and clueless about when to give medications to the patient. All this could have been avoided by doing a simple stool test when he came into urgent care. To make matters even worse they waited until morning to tell my husband that he did not need a colonoscopy - Dr. Flores came in at 9 am to tell us that the colonoscopy was not necessary!!! Then, he gave my husband a prescription for a specialized medication which cost 4,000.00. We almost fainted when we heard this!!! And guess what??? There was a medication he could have prescribed which cost us five dollars (co-pay). Why would this doctor prescribe a medication for 4,000 to an elderly patient when there is the same medication for a 5.00 co pay??? A truly shocking and horrific experience! Worse than a horror film.

FOLLOW UP DATED OCTOBER 31, 2025 - the low level of medical care at Kaiser West LA is APPALLING - after this horrific near death experience I AM SURPRISED THAT I AM STILL ALIVE - I WAS GIVEN THE PRECIOUS GIFT of a serious C-Diff bacterial infection in the West LA Urology dept., after a kidney stone removal, I went to urgent care after having serious diarrhea for a prolonged period of time. I was misdiagnosed and given practically a colon cancer death sentence, all this occurred because a simple fecal test was not done in urgent care, which would have determined the serious bacterial infection. This was followed by being given wrong medical treatment in the hospital and having to go through a grueling prep for a not needed colonoscopy, the fecal test was only done after I was done with the colonoscopy prep. Shortly after the nightmare in the hospital, I ended up in the ER, as I was getting weaker and weaker and the medication to stop the infection was not working. In the ER, I was not given an IV or any fluids or food from about 11 am to 7-8 pm. I was supposed to be hospitalized, however, instead, I was unceremoniously thrown out of the ER by Dr. Applebaum, I was put in an ambulance in a totally dehydrated state, unable to even walk or function, and given ineffective meds by this same doctor. My wife practically begged the doctor to have me hospitalized, as I truly needed professional help. Dr. Applebaum declined and sent me home against my and my wife’s wishes in an ambulance totally dehydrated and unable to function. Dr. Applebaum said that I would get in home services! Well, guess what??? Absolutely NO HOME NURSING CARE OR SERVICES WERE PROVIDED. I was horribly sick until I went to an outside of Kaiser doctor. This wonderful doctor was shocked by the Kaiser treatment and took it upon himself to save my life. He said I needed a different medication, that I was totally dehydrated (at a dangerous point of possible organ failure) he put me on several infusions, gave me the correct medication and monitored me and wrote Kaiser regarding the medication I needed. It took an outside professional to help put me back to restore my health. ALWAYS HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH YOU, BE CAUTIOUS AND KNOW THAT THIS PLACE JUST WANTS TO GET YOU IN SND OUT QUICKLY AND TO PROVIDE THE LEAST...

This review is not specific to Kaiser West Los Angeles but as an institution. I’m sure this facility is absolutely fine however, administratively, Kaiser is a nightmare. I had two failed operations by the same surgeon within a one-year period at Kaiser facilities. They attempted to charge me over $14,000 for both. The first one was to correct a hernia and ironically, Dr Janice Verham gave me one in a different area. The second corrective surgery (which you should’ve been complimentary IMO due to negligence) did not take even after I asked the surgeon if they were going to do a specific method (put in a mesh) which she assured me, they didn’t need to do. After many grievances and phone calls I finally got them to lower the price, but to my surprise, it was never applied to my account and now this has gone to collections. Please see the letter attached that no one has even bothered to ask to see in the grievances department (also know if you file a grievance no one will reach out to you and the case will be determine based on… I’m not actually sure what? Information they didn’t reach out to you for? The weather? Legitimately have no clue cause they’re definitely not reaching out to the doctors.) Also, I know Kaiser staff is reading this and they refuse to respond, this is their tactic, to suppress their patients and weigh them down with attrition over time. Unfortunately, this won’t work on me and I will keep leaving reviews until they’re forced to contact me, that is unless I figure out who their Ombudsperson is first. Honestly, whoever is on staff reading this, please just send me the direct contact! It would make everyone’s lives a lot easier. I’m not asking for anything that wasn’t already promised to me, but they’re so corrupt, unorganized and morally bankrupt, that they can’t admit they made an error in my billing and just address that. It’s also a joke that Kaiser Permanente is considered a 501(c)3. This is like saying Scientology is a religion; Maybe it’s no coincidence that both of their main headquarters are next to each other! This could be so simple, but Kaiser apparently only knows how to do things bureaucratically and with red tape. Do not get this insurance by any means necessary. I made the idiotic decision of doing this because proximity and that I thought it would be all inclusive. You will not have a primary care physician, mine was often three months out to book appointments. Clearly the surgeons have no idea what they’re doing and forget about it when it comes to the billing department, grievances or any other personalized customer care. They operate as a machine, and make you feel insignificant, everything is impersonal unless you’re lucky enough to see the same specialist. I should also mention I was lied to twice when I was seeking out the price for the preliminary hernia surgery. Both the billing department and the surgeon miscalculated the price by five times the amount that it was billed at. Imagine going literally anywhere else in your life, asking for a quote and then it being five times that amount when you go to pay for it. Places like this don’t exist and neither should Kaiser Permanente. Congratulations on making my life 10% more stressful for the past year.

Edit: This is to Mary, Who responded to my prior review. I have emailed the address you suggested over a week ago and have not gotten a response back. Do you have any other...