Kaiser Oakland vs. Kaiser Pinole and Doctor recommendations
Hi BPNers,
My employer just switched to Kaiser and I am new to the system so thought I would reach out to this great community for advise. We live in Albany- would you recommend the Pinole Kaiser or Oakland Kaiser? If you have any recommendations for a General Practitioner for me (Mom) and our two boys (8 and 10), I would appreciate any advice you can share.
Thanks!
Newbie to Kaiser
Jan 4, 2018
Parent Replies
I've been fairly happy with Kaiser through the years (with some caveats related to mental health services). When we moved to El Cerrito (and had a second child) we switched our pediatrician to one at Pinole, Dr. Mahar, and like how much easier it is to GET to Pinole & park, compared to the Mosswood building! However, ironically enough, I am about to head to Mosswood today with one child for a specialist appointment. Oakland is the "mothership" and you will still be there for various things, including urgent care & specialty care. I guess if you have a choice for your regular care, pharmacy, labwork, etc., try for Pinole (and I believe there are some docs there who are "family" meaning they will serve you and the kids), but don't expect to get everything done there all the time.
I would strongly recommend the Pinole Kaiser over the Oakland Kaiser. I've used both, and Pinole is just so much less stress and hassle. Kaiser Oakland is big and spread out, parking is tough, and it is much more of an undertaking. Kaiser Pinole is small with easy parking and is very mellow because it is so small. I can recommend my doctor, Dr. Shaw. She's in Family Medicine so can see you and both kids. If she's not available I would recommend choosing another family practice doctor, I've found them to be much better than the general practitioners I've used at Kaiser.
I love Kaiser Pinole! I moved from Berkeley to Richmond last year, and use Pinole for my pediatrician. I love how easy it is to park – free large suburban parking lot. Plus, if you have an early morning appointment you are going against traffic. You can always see somebody in Oakland if there’s a more serious problem that can’t be addressed in the clinic setting. My baby sees Dr. Leo and we love him!
My son's pediatrician is Dr. Leo at Kaiser Pinole and we couldn't be happier! Dr. Leo is wonderfully attentive and responsive to questions. In every visit with him we are just so impressed with his kindness and caring manner.
If you don't mind paying for parking, traffic, Oakland has it all. But if you want a small, facility, free parking and no traffic, unless it's rush hour, I'd go Pinole.
We are in El Cerrito.