Palo Alto Community Health Resource Center - Palo Alto, CA

Stacy C.

Terrible experience. Truly, I couldn't be more discouraged and frustrated by my care at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. In terms of practice, I spent a significant time waiting for the hand specialist who then literally spent < 2 minutes with me and didn't even do a complete assessment of my hand. I asked that my imaging results and rec's be phoned into me because I was paying out of pocket for the entire service, and yet they still called to schedule a full appointment to review my results after I'd already reviewed them in my patient portal and saw they were negative and no f/u was recommended. When I did finally speak to the specialist after 3 requests for a phone call, she didn't even try to refer me to any other providers for alternative treatment options. To add insult to injury, I then had a significant medical bill for the imaging tests (again, private pay) and called in to be placed on a payment plan. I made payments faithfully every month but had difficulty making the minimum balance payment. I called again to request the payment plan be adjusted to a monthly payment I could manage and they would not work with me. Regardless, over time I was able to pay off 75% of the balance and then discovered they sent the remainder to a collections agency! When I called again to resolve the issue, they then informed me that even if I paid the balance off directly with them I would likely still owe an interest fee to the collections company. I can't believe they would even use a collections company that charges additional interest to people who are struggling to pay their medical bills in the first place! I myself am a healthcare worker and have a solid understanding of insurance and billing. Their billing practices and policies are truly unethical. Subpar care, subpar customer service, and unethical billing practices. I will NEVER return here and would advice others to seek care elsewhere. So disappointed.

M R.

This is our number place to go for most our Healthcare matters. Very nice staff. Organized and clean facilities. Some specialities super hard to get an appointment with. Overall, happy with this location and PAMF in general. I recommend Palo Alto Medical Foundation to all my fellow Silicon Valley neighbors.

Parya G. G.

If I could give them a zero, I’d happily give them a zero! All of their locations! I stopped by San Jose to remove Stiches, they wouldn’t because they would not believe me that it has been 5 days since I got them. Then I had an appointment at Los Gatos for ultra sound, they have very limited parking so by the time I got in i was 15 mins late, well the cut off is 10 mins so they wouldn’t see me and they are booked for the next two months. My dr whom I’ve seen at their Mountain View location isn’t able to order me an ultrasound anywhere that is not affiliated with Palo Alto medical foundation! I explained to the receptionist that I’m in pain and I can not wait for two months! She suggested I can go to the emergency room!! How helpful of her! Please don’t make the mistake I made, don’t waste your time with this horrible place, they don’t care about your health!

A G.

Over $700 of unnecessary tests ordered during a single annual checkup. Avoid Palo Alto Med and go to or enroll in Kaiser.

Update - In response to the reply from the staff requesting me to send someone an email to express my concerns, I all ready tried to reason with your organization before I wrote this review. I explained that I felt there was a tremendous misunderstanding with your organization when I received the bill and saw so many unexpected charges. Seeing that your organization was very unwilling to negotiate on that matter, I then asked for a discount. (Other hospitals offered me a small discount for full payment upfront.) When your staff sarcastically replied by offering a structured payment plan, that left an even worse taste in my mouth.

Wandi W.

As a new mother in a foreign country, I endure pain, racism, confused advice, and get so little support at PAMF.

In March I had a C-section performed for the delivery of my baby with Dr. Cary Hill from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.

One day after the c-section, a huge tissue came out of me. A few hours later, another huge tissue came out of me and dropped into the toilet.

PAMF told me it was "normal."

I felt Dr. Hill was impatient and rude to me and my husband after the procedure. I'm also concerned that the staff there also ordered the wrong tests twice in one day when I was still very weak. This involved two journeys in a wheelchair from one building to another for the wrong reason -- very painful for a C-section patient.

Then they billed all the follow-up tests to me and gave my information to a collection agency when their validity was still under review. It is causing me and my baby irreparable harm physically and mentally.

Until today (01/26/2019) the problem is still not resolved. They contacted me in January and asked about my experience. I requested the following and they disappeared again.

1. The two bills that were caused by the left membrane have a total of $50. Now I have only received $25 refund.

2. Because Palo Alto Medical Foundation gave the two above mentioned bills to a collection company when their validity was still under review, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation created a situation that affected my credit score. So I need a formal letter from PAMF stating that you gave my case to a collections agency by mistake.

3. I have another ultrasound bill (see attachment) about a test I received on March 10th in El Camino Hospital before I was discharged. It was also supposedly a check for the placental membrane. The PAMF obstetrician on-duty (Dr. Karen White) ordered the wrong test (abdominal test). It was not refunded to me yet.

4. As I have clearly stated today, I require a formal letter (in a written form with signature) stating that PAMF confirms the fact that remaining membrane inside my uterus after a c-section is normal and Dr. Hill's treatment is proper.

Nicole V.

My bill for only $50 almost went to collection because the PA foundation had an incorrect address for me; an address I had never given them but was my mail forwarding address for only one month over three years ago before I had even moved to California. And, I specifically remember a conversation with the administration at PA medical foundation about my drivers license address being my billing address. They claimed to have called me with an automated caller twice about the bill, but because I screen for automated spam calls with google call screen I never got them and assumed they were spam. This organization has no problem ruining your credit without legitimately trying to get in contact with you, even if the mistake is entirely theirs in the case of a wrong billing address. I am a more unhealthy person because my stress level is higher from this experience and I do not want to return to the Palo Alto medical foundation.

Danny R.

Went here for a physical.

Got blood pressure checked. 20-minute consultation with a doctor.

Tetanus shot (which is around $20-$40).

No equipment used aside from blood pressure monitor and weighing scale.

My jaw dropped when I got the bill.

It was $379.

I called them and asked for a detailed breakdown of the charges. They refused to give them. They said it's just for Preventative Maintenance. I'm disputing the charge.

Joy Z.

Today we saw the Dr Chekeni,
1)I did not write my son's school provider name, He came to me that , I could see your son's school name from uniform, why you did not write it down, it is not Privacy! He was very rude. Dr Chekeni runs us in 5 minutes check , and we will receive a bunch of bill. He acts like king, rude but sharp compared to southern california.
2) Dr Chekeni told me , We missed so many vaccines seems like previous pediatrician did wrong, thus he suggested us 5 more today. I refused to take and called our previous pediatrician to see what was going on. Our Dr told us these Vaccines are due for school year on October this year. How can a doctor act like this?We will never come back:(