Experience with Clinics in Los Angeles?

[Albie]

My mom has a new patient clinic scheduled at UCLA next week. I notice they aren't on the ALSA certified list, although they are on the MDA list. From a few people (ALSA Regional Care Manager + an OT) she's heard that the Clinic at Cedars is quite good. Cedars is ALSA Certified.

Any experience with either?
Does it matter about ALSA Certified or not?
If she's going to one next week, is it worth also going in the near future to the other to compare? Or would we want to wait ~3 months for that?

Thanks!

 

[lgelb]

Hi Albie,

Sorry to hear about your mom. Pop in any time.
I'd imagine some Angelenos will chime in, but to answer some of your questions:

ALSA vs. MDA-certified does not matter.
There are other good clinics that are neither.
What is important is how your mom perceives her care.

Since it takes a while to get an appointment, she could certainly schedule now for Cedars to get more of an apples vs. apples view. It never hurts to hear other perspectives, either.

Best,
Laurie

 

[shieldsee]

I was diagnosed at UCLA and have attended clinic there. I would rate the staff and care that I received average at best. I too am considering a switch to Cedars.

 

[diagnosed2016]

We are unhappy with UCLA. Feel free to message me privately but you can also look up reviews for the main Dr. Our experience has been the same as online reviews. The clinic is in the basement.

 

[mml2018]

I go to the Charcot Marie Tooth clinic at Cedars. The same coordinator runs both clinics and they share some neurologists. They have been great. UCLA neurology I've found to be more of a research dept, less focused on patients.

mods: delete if inappropriate since i have CMT not ALS

 

[Albie]

Thanks for the replies. I also raised this Q at an ALSA Support Group meeting we were at a few days before the clinic. Going into the clinic, I was prepared to hate it and not want to go back.

So, an update on our experience (@ Nov 2017).
- we saw a total of 8 people including: PT, OT, Speech, main doctor, respiratory therapist, social worker, MDA Rep, and an equipment guy.
- we were reasonably satisfied with all of them, including Dr. Wiedau.
- yes, it is hard to get someone on the phone there, and we had three different sources give us three different views of what was going to happen once we arrived, so the coordination aspect is clearly lacking
- but the actual care & visits we thought were fine.

For now, we'll stick with UCLA as it is much closer to home and easier to get to than Cedars for my mom.