UCLA Health MPTF Toluca Lake Primary Care

I usually take the time to leave positive reviews; for me to take the time to leave a negative review, it has to be pretty bad...

I've been going to the Toluca Lake Health Center for many years, and I unfortunately have to agree with other reviewers that it's been downhill since UCLA has taken over. Worst with every visit, it seems.

I had my annual physical a couple of days ago and it made me want to never go back. The doctor came in, introduced herself (was seeing her for the first time). She listened to my heart & lungs, looked at my ears & eyes. Then she sat down and proceeded to ask me a series of generic questions and scribble a few answers on a stack of scrap papers. She then got up and without a beat sent me off to the lab for blood tests. The whole visit with her was about 5 minutes.

I'm pretty sure she hadn't looked at my file, or if she had, she didn't care that I had recently gone in for a couple of different issues.
She never asked me how I was feeling. Never asked me if I had any health concerns. There wasn't even a long enough pause for me to bring anything up. I was stunned. In order to ask some questions or bring up concerns (both of which I had), I would've had to grab her by the sleeve as she was rushing out and ask her to wait. But since I felt like she didn't care anyway, I just went along and made my way to the lab.
Same experience at the lab.

I try a new doctor every year, hoping to find one who is warm & caring, and every time it's a very similar experience. This one was particularly shocking. How can you go in for your physical and not even get asked how you're feeling or if you have any health concerns? What's the point of even showing up?

The whole experience made me feel like a number, like cattle, not like a patient. Health care without the care. Very sad. Very, very sad.

I hope they figure this out soon and turn things around.

At least the receptionist and the nurse were both lovely.

I called in for a visit and was able to schedule one right away. However, they asked me a series of questions on the phone to see if I was available and then of course didn't keep my information in the system so when I got there I had to repeat a lot of it. Although they keep it restricted to people in the "entertainment industry", it was still $65 for a visit for an uninsured patient. I would have been fine with that if the doctor had seen me for more than 2 minutes. The nurse took my vitals and then the doctor came in and saw me. I had a lump in my armpit and she prescribed me antibiotics for 7 days, telling me to call her after 3 days and report back. If it didn't improve, we would have to do an ultrasound to rule out cancer.

I took the antibiotics and called her after 3 days, but naturally had to leave a message with the receptionist, who then called me back and told me to keep taking the pills and to report back in 2 days. I tried calling after the 2 days and was put on hold for so long I got tired of waiting and hung up. I decided to wait the full 7 days and see what happened. I still had the lump after 7 days so I tried calling again. No luck. Nobody from the clinic called me asking me how I was doing.

I started getting a rash all over my body the next day. After a bit of research on my own, I was able to easily self diagnose my condition. The symptoms all pointed to mononucleosis. Not only are you not supposed to treat this viral infection with antibiotics, they can actually cause the skin rash.

Now I'm just angry with the clinic and Dr. Yishar. I mean she never asked me questions to try to find out what it could be before prescribing antibiotics. As expected, she took the easy way out because she wasn't interested in doing any work but just wanted to get me out the door.

If you want reliable service and to be seen by a doctor who is concerned in helping with your condition as opposed to treating you as a number, don't go here.

It is quite unfortunate that the quality of medical care has declined so precipitously since UCLA took over this clinic.
Get it together MPTF. We pay into this system to get timely and decent care and this is not cutting it.

I have had good experiences here in the past but went to see Dr. Doris So today and it was a very negative experience. She was very short and seemed rushed and had zero bedside manner. I told her I didn't understand why I couldn't go directly to my gynecologist rather than have to see a general practitioner first and then be referred as it was hard to get away from work twice and she said "Do you have any idea how hard it is for a doctor to go to the doctor? Most doctors go to the doctor once a year." Also, since UCLA took over Motion Picture Health I have been overbilled and charged out of network even when the doctors I see are in network and these issues are impossible to get resolved so I just end up paying whatever it is to avoid a bad credit score. It's highly unprofessional and suspect as a business practice.

The facilities are very clean and efficiently run. The wait time was less than average during my visit and Dr. Lee was extremely helpful. He used the examining room's computer to pull up relevant information for my diagnosis and went over them with me in detail. He was very patient and does a great job explaining complicated items clearly.

I've had amazing service in person and over the phone. The only thing that needs updating is the MYUCLA health portal online. Every doctor I've seen here has been super helpful and professional. It's not hard to get appointments and you can even get same day service, like urgent care, if you're very sick. No complaints from me. I especially like that you can do everything in one place here and don't have to go somewhere else for your blood work, etc.

The worst!!
It used to be a great place but after obamacare started it turned into a low cost clinic quality care kind of a place .
I would avoid going there at all cost rather pay more to go see your own private MD and paying the extra money that going here.
The physicians don't care they only listen to you for a couple of minutes and tell you"- if it continues to bother you make an another appointment" -
They never solve any health problems and you have a very good chance to get the wrong advice and even get the wrong prescription with their low quality care.

Toluca lake medical is often just a waste of time. All they do there is send you to a specialist after a quick look and then you have to wait sometimes two weeks or months to get your appointment with the specialist. It's a horrible system and has been life threatening to me in one instance , when I was mis diagnosed there but sought help elsewhere luckily. If you actually need help right away you need to go to an urgent care.

I've been coming to this health center since 2014. With the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan, this is the easiest facility to go to, even after UCLA took it over. Plus the copay is only $5 for me, which is pretty nice. One time I went to the eye doctor, not realizing I needed a referral to get the $5 copay price, so I just called this office and without even being seen, they sent over my referral. The receptionists who answer the phone are super friendly and helpful, but the best part about this location is Dr. Laura Conley. I've literally never had a doctor like her. She always remembers me, is super friendly, and each time I see her it's like seeing an old friend. I've seen her for everything from routine check-ups to physical injuries to a minor health scare. She makes me feel comfortable and I've never met another doctor with bedside manner that is comparable. You know how in movies and tv when there's a small-town doctor that seems to know all their patients and talks to them like they're peers? Well that's basically Dr. Conley.

As long as I have the MPIPHP I'll keep coming here!

Used to like this place.
Girlfriend called to get an appointment set up for shoulder pain (operator didn't tell her they wouldn't take her insurance, didn't tell her it'd be a $65 out of pocket expense)
Was seen by doctor with no physical exam (doctor didn't even come into the room)
Was ordered an x-ray (again, with no knowledge of expense, copay, deductibles or even a REASON)
Called to ask questions and dealt with a rude operator that insulted my girlfriend by asking her if her military insurance was her spouse or father's (not hers... so what, Marines can't be women?)
Now there's a complaint on the doctor and the operator that took the appointment in the first place: we wouldnt have even come here if we had received the insurance info up front. (Btw the doctor was Nooshin Yashir... avoid at all costs)
This place really has gone down hill.