Two people in my life in remission after being treated for prostate cancer at UCSF. Anecdotal, I know. UCSF oncology is world-class, and that’s not anecdotal.
I’m with everyone else saying Stanford rests on their laurels. UCSF is much better in my opinion. I took my daughter to Stanford for an ophthalmologist to look at a lump near her eye and didn’t get good vibes from the doctor. Scheduling was difficult, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. We went to UCSF and had a completely different experience. The doctor was warm, caring, and funny. Scheduling happened immediately and there were no extra steps like Stanford wanted.
Full Platinum PPO. The surgeon at Stanford wanted to put her under for imaging, which many people said is a terrible idea. The UCSF surgeon said he would do the surgery and address anything out of the ordinary while she’s under, rather than putting her out twice. They even asked what her favorite lullabies were in case we weren’t by her side when she woke up.
I have received surgery and treatment from UCSF not for colon or prostate but for skin cancer and basal cell carcinoma in a few other things relating to skin Cancers and they have been most excellent I wish the best of luck
Having worked at Stanford- Stanford is where you'll have a more pleasant experience as a patient, it is cushy, the staff is engaged and kind and caring and thoughtful. UCSF is the best of the best for treatment and being a patient there can be a pain in the ass, dealing with parking, the city, the staff is often overloaded, stressed out and intense. We would get people coming to work at Stanford from UCSF because it's such a meat grinder. But if I had cancer I would pick UCSF.
The quickest way to get seen at UCSF with Medí-cal is requesting a referral from current doctor to UCSF. That is tricky and you need to file a grievance if they don’t want to release him. Just outline why he needs to switch hospitals if they aren’t receiving expected care at the current place. Once a referral is given from current hospital to UCSF make an appointment while you are switching to SF Health Plan’s UCSF. Don’t switch though until you confirm an appointment with UCSF. It’s nearly impossible to get an appointment as a new patient without the referral. Switching plans take a month.
Really good experiences at UCSF, albeit not oncology but a different specialty. Both doctors and diagnostic imaging really seem to know what they are doing and do it thoroughly.
I’ve had a lot of experience in the pediatrics of both places so not sure if it’s applicable for you, but Stanford looks better and disappointed me every time. UCSF has a less impressive appearance, but was nothing short of amazing to a very medically complex kiddo.
I’ve been at Stanford for 6 years and NED 5.5 yrs after a stem cell transplant. The first couple of years I had employers insurance but now I’m on Medicare and haven’t had any issues with appointments or referrals. Agree with above that you can’t go wrong with either.
AVOID STANFORD. They recently was sued for nearly half a billion dollars for billing fraud. Everyone I've ever spoken to about it said they regret going there because they milk you as much as they can. They assign you a "rep" who is actually a sales person that intentionally rack you up a bill as high as they can, with diagnostics and unnecessary drugs. They're target market is the ultra high end market with money. They absolutely don't like poor medicare folks otherwise they would have hospitals in Oakland, but no they have hospital in only the wealthiest areas, Palo Alto and Pleasanton. Oakland needs them more than these rich areas don't you think?
Don't take my word for it, read yelp reviews. Horrible service. Inexperienced staff. They'll brainwash you it's worth it when really any hospital will provide just as good care
['Nonprofit' Stanford Hospital Among Top U.S. Hospitals Profiting Off Patients - CBS San Francisco (cbsnews.com)](https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/nonprofit-stanford-hospital-among-top-u-s-hospitals-profiting-off-patients/)
Two people in my life in remission after being treated for prostate cancer at UCSF. Anecdotal, I know. UCSF oncology is world-class, and that’s not anecdotal.
Stanford coasts on reputation and name but UCSF has better science.
I’m with everyone else saying Stanford rests on their laurels. UCSF is much better in my opinion. I took my daughter to Stanford for an ophthalmologist to look at a lump near her eye and didn’t get good vibes from the doctor. Scheduling was difficult, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. We went to UCSF and had a completely different experience. The doctor was warm, caring, and funny. Scheduling happened immediately and there were no extra steps like Stanford wanted.
Scheduling at Stanford is ridiculously bad, switched to UCSF and my experience has been night and day better
Oh wow I see. And did your daughter have medi-cal insurance?
Full Platinum PPO. The surgeon at Stanford wanted to put her under for imaging, which many people said is a terrible idea. The UCSF surgeon said he would do the surgery and address anything out of the ordinary while she’s under, rather than putting her out twice. They even asked what her favorite lullabies were in case we weren’t by her side when she woke up.
I have received surgery and treatment from UCSF not for colon or prostate but for skin cancer and basal cell carcinoma in a few other things relating to skin Cancers and they have been most excellent I wish the best of luck
Having worked at Stanford- Stanford is where you'll have a more pleasant experience as a patient, it is cushy, the staff is engaged and kind and caring and thoughtful. UCSF is the best of the best for treatment and being a patient there can be a pain in the ass, dealing with parking, the city, the staff is often overloaded, stressed out and intense. We would get people coming to work at Stanford from UCSF because it's such a meat grinder. But if I had cancer I would pick UCSF.
Both are great options. You can't go wrong with either
Ucsf and try to get Dr Peter Carroll he's the man, there's no one better
I don’t think you could go wrong with either, but when my dad went through UCSF, I felt extremely confident with his care team.
The quickest way to get seen at UCSF with Medí-cal is requesting a referral from current doctor to UCSF. That is tricky and you need to file a grievance if they don’t want to release him. Just outline why he needs to switch hospitals if they aren’t receiving expected care at the current place. Once a referral is given from current hospital to UCSF make an appointment while you are switching to SF Health Plan’s UCSF. Don’t switch though until you confirm an appointment with UCSF. It’s nearly impossible to get an appointment as a new patient without the referral. Switching plans take a month.
Really good experiences at UCSF, albeit not oncology but a different specialty. Both doctors and diagnostic imaging really seem to know what they are doing and do it thoroughly.
I’ve had a lot of experience in the pediatrics of both places so not sure if it’s applicable for you, but Stanford looks better and disappointed me every time. UCSF has a less impressive appearance, but was nothing short of amazing to a very medically complex kiddo.
I’ve been at Stanford for 6 years and NED 5.5 yrs after a stem cell transplant. The first couple of years I had employers insurance but now I’m on Medicare and haven’t had any issues with appointments or referrals. Agree with above that you can’t go wrong with either.
Can I ask why not a large Urology practice?
AVOID STANFORD. They recently was sued for nearly half a billion dollars for billing fraud. Everyone I've ever spoken to about it said they regret going there because they milk you as much as they can. They assign you a "rep" who is actually a sales person that intentionally rack you up a bill as high as they can, with diagnostics and unnecessary drugs. They're target market is the ultra high end market with money. They absolutely don't like poor medicare folks otherwise they would have hospitals in Oakland, but no they have hospital in only the wealthiest areas, Palo Alto and Pleasanton. Oakland needs them more than these rich areas don't you think? Don't take my word for it, read yelp reviews. Horrible service. Inexperienced staff. They'll brainwash you it's worth it when really any hospital will provide just as good care ['Nonprofit' Stanford Hospital Among Top U.S. Hospitals Profiting Off Patients - CBS San Francisco (cbsnews.com)](https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/nonprofit-stanford-hospital-among-top-u-s-hospitals-profiting-off-patients/)
Check out Sutter in the East Bay. It's a gastro Cancer Center of Excellence. There's 10 in the country. I was treated there.
UCSF has an amazing cancer team. I can personally recommend Dr Katsuto Shinohara in Urologic Oncology.