Experience with Sutter Health OBGYNS?
I am almost 13 weeks and have been doing my prenatal care with Sutter Health and was enjoying my experience. However, they have been sitting on my NIPT Results for almost 1 week and my daily calls asking for an OBGYN to review the results and release to me have gone unanswered. I am less than thrilled, not only stressed about the results of my test but also not trusting now that I will receive urgent response when/if I have questions as a first time parent. I am wondering if others have had similar experiences with Sutter Health OBGYNS or whether my experience is a one off? Are there any other Doctors that anyone loved and can recommend?
Aug 20, 2021
Parent Replies
I’ve had two babies at SEBMF on Milvia, both times got my NIPT results right away. However, that means nothing. I would be very frustrated. I’d say keep calling twice a day and messaging in the portal. Escalate to the Clinic Administrator as well. There is no reason they should be delayed.
I am 27 weeks and have had a good experience with prenatal care from Dr. Zhang. Her and her team have been very responsive when I’ve had questions. However, I am not planning to do pediatric care through Sutter. My older child and I use One Medical for primary and pediatric care.
So sorry you're dealing with this--that's and added stress you definitely don't need right now!
For what it's worth, I've had both my babies at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley (a Sutter Health hospital) and love my OBGYN there, Dr. Nguyen. I've also met a bunch of other OBGYNs there and they are all amazing. In my experience, they've been really responsive to messages and phone calls and would usually get back to me within a day.
With my last baby (who was born this January), we also didn't receive the results of our genetic screening when we thought we would (we did the CA screening program). I messaged my doctor, they followed up with the CA program and had the results within a week. For whatever reason, the results didn't make it into the online system until about 2 months ago (so AFTER the baby was born...), but we were informed of the results over phone as soon as our doc had them.
Hope you receive your results soon and find a doctor who supports you and makes you feel well cared for!
I agree with what others have said - one week is too long. I am in my third trimester and have been seeing Dr. Madhavan at Sutter Health's Milvia location my whole pregnancy. I am very happy with my care, if you are looking to switch doctors. She emails me her interpretation of my test results within a few hours of getting them, and has been very helpful in answering my questions. It does seem like all of the doctors are very busy at Sutter Health. It sometimes is hard to get an appointment with the doctor I want if I don't schedule several weeks out.
I highly recommend Golden Gate OBGYN. I’ve seen Dr. Ulrich since I was pregnant with my first, and I’m about to have my second. I have liked every practitioner I’ve seen at that practice (occasionally you might have appointments with other OBs at the practice if your primary OB is unavailable). They all deliver at CPMC, which is probably where you’d deliver with your current OB, too.
I am part of the Sutter practice at Milvia and have been very happy with their care, specifically Dr. Nseyo. Your message isn't quite clear as in it appears you believe they have your NIPT results but haven't released them to you. There was a new law enacted in CA this year that all medical records are released to patient at the same time as the doctor (https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/doctors-now-must-provide-…). FWIW I received my NIPT via the Natera site - they were never released to me on my Sutter Portal.
I had a wonderful experience at Sutter Health Medical Foundation with my OBGYN there. A friend is pregnant now and mentioned the lab was delayed because of COVID, but it does sound like them sitting on the results for a week is odd. Only other thing to mention is an RN can review the results for a NIPS test, too. I would additionally send messages through MyHealthOnline as I've had really good results hearing back quickly.
On the question about an urgent response, 2 thoughts on that: if you need help after hours, the phone number you use to make appointments turns into a nurse line after hours. You'll need to be routed to the right department, but if you ever need something urgent, the nurse advice line is great and I've gotten call backs reasonable fast. If after your child comes you choose a pediatrician in Sutter was well, the nurse line is for the pediatrics as well. This has also been super helpful and has given me a lot of reassurances. They'll escalate to an on call doctor after you speak to a nurse. It can take some time, but they will respond to you based on the urgency of your issue.
Overall, I feel super well cared for in the Sutter system. If you are at Sutter Medical Foundation, I can say I was under the care of quite a few of the OBs due to some unfortunate complications and they all gave stellar care and kept me and my son safe. My OB is Dr Kadri and she is awesome, but have also been super happy with Dr Venkat. I really hope your situation resolves quickly as the NIPS results wait is truly agony. Good luck!