Harbor-UCLA Medical Center — Attraction in West Carson

I came to UCLA-Harbor for emergency medication needs because of my indigent status as an ininsured college graduate fresh out of school and because it was open on weekends. I was told that I was to go to the Exodus Clinic there. I walked in about 50 minutes after they opened and seated myself in their waiting room in front of their television. The one nurse that they had in the front was very nice and welcoming. They took my vitals, something I have done on an unfortunately frequent basis since I entered the healthcare system as someone with a permanent medical condition, and watched the television on the wall. There, I waited in their rather comfortable chairs for about 3 hours before anyone saw me. I was told the wait was so long because the doctors had to attend to the needs of the patients in the hospital, which I could respect. When the doctor saw me, I have to admit I was getting very antsy and impatient. But I kept my calm and remained respectful. The doctor was an older gentleman who seemed to be in his early thirties. He asked me the standard questions: what medications I took, how long, any allergies, how many hospital visits I have had, if I had insurance, what my primary medical conditions were. Then I was asked when my last blood test was. My medication requires me to take blood tests regularly because of the impacts to my liver and kidney function. I told him the last time I took a blood test was about a month ago and everything seemed to be fine regarding my lithium level. He then asked me to go outside and wait for him to come with my prescriptions. After another wait of about 30 minutes, he came out again. He sat next to me and declared that he had both "good news and bad news". The good news was that he could provide me with one of the medications, the one I had still a lot of and wasn't urgent to my medical condition. Then he told me that he wasn't able to provide me with the other medications because he would need to take a blood test. I answered that I would agree to a blood test. Then he told me that they would be unable to provide me with a blood test without really explaining why. I was completely stunned at his answer. In frustration, I asked him rather rudely why he was unable, as a medical professional, give me a blood test. He didn't answer. Instead, he said that I should go to the emergency room to get my blood drawn. I knew that since I do not have insurance, that I would be billed a huge amount for an ER visit. I told him as much and he just shrugged as if saying 'Not my problem.' He then proffered a limp "I understand your frustration", then left me speechless. I waited four hours (one hour in the car and three in the waiting room) for a medical professional at this hospital to tell me that he couldn't help me. I have had many bad experiences in the mental health system in Los Angeles. And I am a responsible person. I work 40 hours a week and commute by bus because my illness incapacitates me. Unlike some others that I know, I work hard to stay stable and have access to my meds. But it almost seems like no matter what I do, nobody gives one iota of empathy to my situation in the mental health profession and the community at large. I could pay huge sums out of pocket for my medication to stay stable and responsible and they find some way to screw me is how this experience made me feel. And, when I was distraught and asking the same nurse in the waiting room who I could talk to about this, he told me rather brusquely with accusing eyes that the doctor I had spoken to was the only one in attendance. So I left helplessly. I apologize for the rather lengthy review of this hospital. But if you live in Los Angeles and want to get some emergency medical care and you have a mental health condition, DO NOT come to this clinic. It is a sad excuse of a clinic and the doctor is a fascist who probably cares more for his rich patients in Palos Verdes or Beverly Hills than the poor, working class patients in the community that...

I almost never write reviews about places, but I feel like others need to know how terribly horrific this experience was. Two weeks ago I had a negative reaction to the meds from Urgent Care and was encouraged to go to the ER. Harbor was apparently one of the only hospitals within local distance in my “network” through my insurance. The meds I had taken woke me up from a nap & felt like someone was ripping my insides apart over and over again. I was hunched over, screaming and crying and was inconsolable. Upon arrival to this ER at 5:30pm I was still in dire pain and could hardly speak to the receptionist. They told me they had checked me in and to have a seat. No eta of when I’d be seen and I’m left there with the worst pain ever. About an hour and a half later, I was called in to do general screening and examination. The DOCTORS there were all very kind. I was seen for a while, put into a room, no one coming to see me for 15-20 min and then hearing my name being called from another room and I replied “Yes, I’m in the room you put me in” I would just hear “come here!” like…are we at home? Why are you calling me like I need to do my chores? A nurse gave me a shot for inflammation and said to return to the larger waiting room. Where I met people who had been there since 10AM!!!! It was nearly 8:30 at this point and I was growing weary of how long until I actually got care. There was a poor older gentleman who was trying to get information about his medicine that was suddenly out that he had been taking for 25 years, and a woman in a wheelchair that claimed to had been struck by a bus door, and the receptionists and nurses were making a mockery out of and were publicly telling them to go away. I went up to ask if there was an eta and they said no. I asked what time range could it be, minutes, could it be hours? And they replied “yup, hours!” and I’m freaking out because what if this internal pain ruptured something and could have been incredibly serious? There was a lack of care, not saying that I was their top priority, but some clarity would have been really helpful. Another nurse looked at me and with the most condescending and sarcastic tone said “We’re a really busy ER, so it can be hours yes!” At that point I was so over it I would have rather just left. Luckily I was called back in around 9/9:15. To where I had to sit in a HALLWAY as my room, with small partitions separating me and the other patients who were also placed there. All of us sitting there, in the stark cold hallway, as other people passed by us, nurses, doctors, patients, and no one checked in on us or said anything. Finally about half an hour later the sweetest and most understanding doctor came to speak to me and notified me that he wanted to get some more blood work and I should get my results within the hour and be out of there not too long after. It took 30 min for them to find me to draw my blood, then it took two more hours for me to get my results. My phone was dead, and when it wasn’t there was no service in there so I couldn’t contact my mom, so I was left in the cold cold cold hallway and as the nurses and doctors that were taking care of me kept passing by me, no one said a word or gave an update. I finally pulled up an additional chair and tried to lay down as I figured I was going to be there for a while. The doctor finally came two hours later and told me my results and gave me my info about my prescription and said that the nurse would be with me in 5 min to discharge me and I could go home. Well…30 min pass by and no one comes around. At this point people who had come in before and after me already had left. I finally got my stuff and went to the front desk and asked to be discharged and they apologized and said I was supposed to be released AN HOUR AGO. I cannot believe the way this hospital works. I know our healthcare system is troubled, but this was like out of a psycho horror movie. NEVER AGAIN will I go there. Save yourself the trip and don’t...

The people you see walking around who work there are not nurses. They’re employees in uniform. No different from an employee who works at ANY retail store. Just miserable, careless individuals collecting a check. When questions are asked by patients about the status of their doctor. It always seems to be met with improvisation or cluelessness. It’s embarrassing to watch these “nurses” stumble over their words constantly trying to improvise information. To be honest you won’t see a Doctor here. And if you get lucky enough like I did. They will delegate the work to the brainless unmotivated ‘nurses’. Everything about this building is miserable. You go inside and it becomes a maze. You look to your right and there are boarded up windows. Look left there are huge construction bags covering areas of the building. All of this is so embarrassing. And it’s such a shame I will be going back the next couple of weeks. But after my recovery is done here. I will NEVER bring myself to come back. It is full of incompetence and so many disorganized employees who honestly are just trying to get through a work day. As they would in retail.

2025 UPDATE

The American HealthCare System is a joke. And places like the UCLA Harbor Medical Center is a shining example of that statement. Nothing has changed from my last visit years ago. At this point. I’d rather go lifeless at home, than go out at a miserable faculty full of amateur “health professionals”. All these young students at this faculty are experimenting on you through trial and error. It’s genuinely pathetic to see so many “nurses” have fun amongst themselves, while clients are in the waiting lobby in pain and discomfort. (And then I hear overhear conversations among “nurses” and I hear them say things like “Why would I want to sign a celebration card for Doctors on Doctors Day when they don’t even care about us?”. Then I hear a nurse answer a disgruntled patient waiting and her response “It’s only two people here working today. That’s why I’m doing so many things at once.”). I mean what kind of sorry excuse for a medical center is this??? Everyone is treated the same for the same symptoms. Like it’s a procedure to follow. These nurses are just accountants in blue uniform. The only difference is they can also draw blood from you. I see them contribute little to no assistance of any kind that will expedite wait times. I’d rather go into the grave than ever come back here again. I just won’t do it. The dark cloud that surrounds this place as I’m currently writing this, is just beyond grim. And it’s fueled by the students which are supposedly nurses, lack of effort for patient care. Just clueless inadequate sheep in blue uniform. A negative review will affect none of these people’s paycheck. Not the doctor. Not the nurses. Nobody. I’d rather die at home. And maybe that’s...