Colonoscopy at Kaiser Oakland
I had a colonoscopy 5 years ago with a private doctor and now have to have another one. Except now I have Kaiser for the first time and I'm kind of terrified of having to use whatever doctor they choose to do the procedure. I can live with randomly assigned doctors for most of my health care, but this is almost like surgery. I wish I had some way of interviewing doctors but there but they make that really hard. Almost impossible.
Any of you BPN folks have a recommendation for someone at the Oakland Kaiser gastro department who you loved?
Thanks!
Dec 12, 2016
Parent Replies
I don't have a name to recommend. But, for what it's worth, I had my first colonoscopy at Kaiser about a year ago and felt very well taken care of, even though I did not even know the doctor's name.
Dear Jean,
I've had 3 colonoscopies at Kaiser Oakland with three different doctors, and they have all been fine. My most recent one was a few weeks ago. The experience as a patient undergoing this procedure at Kaiser is quite impersonal but I still felt very safe and I had no concerns about my medical care. You are escorted to a curtained off "cubicle" in a row of other patients in similar cubicles. This is where they have you dress in a gown, they ask you some questions, get your consent and take your vitals. You are then moved via gurney to the private procedure room where you meet the doctor, and after you are given light sedation you will be comfortable and not really aware of what's going on. After the procedure, you are wheeled back to another curtained cubicle row of people to recover. The entire process takes a couple of hours. Good luck to you.
Kate
Hi. Dr. Stephanie Santos is great. She's on the younger side (to a 50 yr old), but most of my doctors are at this point. Super responsive, smart, and I've had 2 (maybe 3?) lower and upper procedures with her already and have no reservations about her.
I had a colonoscopy done at Kaiser San Rafael. Like you, I didn't know who ahead of time, but the colonoscopy was performed by a specialist from the Gastroenterology department who has done thousands of these, so very very experienced. That reassured me.
I don't know if Oakland has the same procedure, but since this has you worried, your primary care provider should take your concerns seriously enough to point you to someone who can give you more information (probably an Advice Nurse or the Gastroenterology Department).
I had colonoscopy at Kaiser Oakland last year. the facility and staff are top notch. I recommend it highly. You can look on line and see their information a picture etc.