Planned Parenthood - Westside Health Center - Santa Cruz, California

Aria A.

Been going here for a decade now. Have always had good experiences at this clinic, both for myself and for my partner. While staff at the center is generally very considerate and cooperative, our experiences with the phone operators have not necessarily been ideal. As much as I can understand certain procedures are necessary and certain rules must be followed, I feel maybe a bit of consideration should be had for people's personal struggles. Such as in instances where a patient who struggles with communication is denied any accommodation, despite asking for assistance and having it made clear that they consent to such accommodations, like another party assisting them with communication.

To my knowledge there isn't a legal basis for denying that assistance with communicating and making appointments, when consent is explicitly given by the patient themselves. If that's just a rule for the organization itself, then maybe it would be beneficial to try to provide better accommodations in that specific regard.

That all being said, it's still a good clinic. The people there are very kind and in my opinion service has only improved over the years. We appreciate the amount of information, and clarity provided by the clinic during appointments. As well as the many accommodations they have made when in person specifically. We will continue to go here regardless, but just wanted to express some thoughts

Liz J.

The front desk staff is notoriously bad, like any PP I’ve ever been to. They don’t acknowledge people standing in line. You’ll stand there for a while. No hello or how can I help you. Very short, very rude having loud conversations amongst themselves. Or making phone calls on speaker phone for the entire lobby to hear.

My appointment was at 11:30, it’s now 12:10. Still waiting in the lobby. I watched a girl come in for her 12pm appointment stand in line for 10 minutes before being acknowledged or checked in. She wasn’t late for her appointment, but the front desk staff certainly made her late. They’re busy doing a zoom meeting on speaker phone. I can hear every word.

Two stars only for the care providers and some of the assistants. I wish they’d train their front desk staff to have more compassion and empathy and just people skills in general.

Akko C.

I was very anxious and scared at first and thought it would take long and would be a stressful process because it looked really busy with the amount of people waiting but I was proven wrong, in fact the front desk lady I met there was very kind, sweet and accomodating, I didnt have to wait long at the line, it went very quick and I was able to get an appointment right at the spot 2 hours before they were gonna close, I really really love the staff, they are absolutely amazing, despite the pressure of patients getting impatient, the staff I met managed to keep kind smiles and a calm energy that made me feel safe, the nurses that were in charge of my tests went out of their way to help me and reassure me and made sure to answer all my questions, thank you planned parenthood 🤍

Halle K.

Extremely disappointed in this clinic. I arrived extremely optimistic because of all the positive things I’ve heard about this organization. I scheduled an appointment ahead of time but was left in the waiting room for a 1.5hrs, after being told the visit would be max 1hr. Poor communication with the front desk when I would be seen, and even people arriving later than me were seen before. Unfortunately, I will not be returning.

Aubree B.

The hispanic woman with glasses at the front was rude, no customer service skills. How in this day do people not know how to interact. I dont talk to people in a rude way and I expect to be spoken to with the same level of respect. I arrived for my appt and was asked to wait they were doing computer work? Checking someone else in? Although there was no else in line I waited close to 10 mins for the woman to call me- mind you I needed to check in or I would miss my appt time. I spoke up so I wouldnt miss my appt after driving an hour to get to this location. I managed to get the names of the women working in front; Phoebe Pilar and Kristy my best guess would be Pilar if I based my guess on ethnicity. We need to do better.

Elizabeth V.

They accepted my insurance fully, the women were so kind and understanding, they went out of their way to give me the services I needed because I came 3.5 hours to be seen. The wait time or the timing in general is a little long but it's worth it! My care providers were amazing!

K

I had a terrible experience receiving abortion services at this planned parenthood. When I initially made the appointment and gave my insurance info I was told my insurance would be accepted no problem. I arrived to my first appointment with claims from the receptionists that they would not take my insurance at all, and wanted $600 out of pocket. After showing the receptionists that my insurance is listed as being accepted on the website for this clinic, the story changed to they would accept it with a referral. After having to reschedule the appointment and getting direct authorization through my insurance it still cost me $250, with my only income being unemployment. All the exchanges with the receptionists were very cold and they seemed annoyed to be dealing with me. I arrived on time for my follow up appointment only to wait for over an hour as other people came after me and were immediately seen. I inquired at the front desk as it was now an hour past my appointment time and got taken back only to wait another 45 minutes in the room before deciding to leave. I checked in about the obscene wait time at the front desk only to be met with no response and a blank face. I do not recommend this clinic for abortion services, and would recommend the Watsonville or San Jose clinic over this one. What should've been a routine doctor's appointment was instead incredibly stressful and has left me in tears. I have also heard many horror stories from friends about the abysmal treatment they've received trying to get gender care services at this location.

Cynthia H.

The woman at the front desk is terrible. We had to wait well over an hour. I brought my daughter because she was scared to death, we made the appointment and she thought I could go in with her. Under 18 allows parent or guardian in. Exceptions can be made. My husband and I spent an hour just keeping her mind off things. Someone needs to teach kindness to the front desk employees and fire the ones there.