Joseph Garofalo, DPM

AVOID THIS PLACE. The only reason I got stuck here was because my stupid HMO was so limited and other doctors weren’t accepting new patients. Hopefully you’re not as unlucky as me. The doctors who work here need to retire. They are not up to date with how they run things, which makes everything less efficient than offices that use actual TECHNOLOGY. I can’t see them ever wanting to change things, as they are already so old. Joanne is old, doesn’t remember anything about you when you come back, and gives THE WORST annual pap smears I’ve ever had. I am used to going to an actual gynecologist for pap smears, and she alone made me switch back to a PPO so I can choose my gynecologist. It was traumatic… I have never felt so uncomfortable. I don’t think she used lube on the tool and just stuck it up there. I bled for hours. I have never bled from a regular pap smear after my very first one, until I came here. She also left the room with the tool inside me, legs spread eagle, and LEFT THE DOOR OPEN! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Aside from the pap from HELL, the office and exam rooms are very old, outdated, and don’t feel clean. Something about the exam room makes me want a shower when I leave… not good. The waiting room is very cramped if there are more than 2 waiting. I can vouch for other Unilocal reviewers here that the front desk staff are extremely rude. I have also been lied to about them receiving faxed or emailed paperwork. I don’t know if that laziness or incompetence. The main receptionist, unlike everyone else, is young. But she is rude to everyone I’ve seen her interact with, in person and especially over the phone. It’s hard to get what you need in a timely manner, such as prescriptions, or communication with the doctor. The patients here also seem to be very old. I feel out of place and uncomfortable every time I’ve been here. I’m 31 and all I expect is a friendly staff, an efficient system, and some upkeep on the office and exam rooms. They seem to not care about those things, so I’ll never be back… thank god January came around and I was able to switch to a PPO!!! See ya NEVER!

The worst doctors office I’ve ever experienced!!! Stay away! The staff are RUDE, don’t care, actually lie to you about whether they have received faxes or if the doctors in. I have never seen worst patient care in my life! Find another doctor, don’t go here. The doctor isn’t up to speed with electronic files, she shuffles through papers and is ready to retire. I am my mothers medical advocate and the staff is so rude and snotty. The never greet you or say hello. They don’t treat their patients with any compassion. They act like you are bothering them when trying to get simple care and instructions. Both office ladies have lied directly to me on the phone whether or not they have received faxes. My mother has been waiting for a complete order for a wheelchair (she can no longer walk) for over two months because that office lied about receiving the proper faxed paperwork. I faxed it over myself to MAKE SURE they got it. I’ve had to call them two times a day to make sure they process this. It’s HORRIBLE there! Save your loved one or yourself the stress, don’t go to this doctor!!!

If I could give less than one star I would. You’re better off with any other doctor in the area. The reception staff is rude and unhelpful in every possible way, perhaps even to the point where they manage to leave you even less informed. The doctor herself makes offensive small talk during gyno exams, which is probably the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever experienced. They don’t post prescriptions until 5:00pm, too late for most pharmacies to get them out for the day, so if you have a UTI or need birth control at a certain point, you’re out of luck.
EDIT: I’ve had two visits in the last month that were so drastically different that I’m not even sure it was the same office! The nurses were friendly, the doctor was friendly and helpful, and everyone was prompt.

This dinosaur needs to retire. Rude and unfriendly. Doesn’t seem like she gives a f**k about her patients. Good bye, never coming back here again!

Just called to schedule a new patient appt., as my ins. assigned me to her. Was told by the receptionist to call back after July 1^st, and could expect another two weeks for the actual appt., and for any specific visit, a 3 wk wait, or more. What’s the point? Calling my ins. now to get a change for a new Primary Care Doctor.

Dr Joseph is a very nice gentleman. However, rubber gloves were not used. implements used in cutting were taken out a crowded draw with no wrapper
An electric grinder was lying on the table that was used to grind down my nail.
There appeared to be no protection for HIV or any other blood transmitted disease.
Other podiatrists use gloves and individually wrapped instruments
Is there some kind of health law

Dr. Joe Garofalo, Goleta, is excellent! What a great guy! I have not only gone to him for plantar faciitis years ago,(which he took are of with cortisone shot, great kindness and friendliness, and knowledge), but also needed to go in today for a swollen right foot, on top of foot, and with ultrasound he did in the office, and cortisone, my sprained foot is now feeling great!
He really is a pro, and deserves top reviews! Very personable and professional!

In my experience with this doctor, he treated my symptoms… but did not look at the whole picture. I appreciate a doctor who can create a plan for recovery. So while he did his job, he did not take the time necessary to even pick up my shoes to better evaluate them and how they may have contributed to my problem. Read below for my experience:
I saw Dr. Joseph (aka Joe) Garofalo 2 weeks ago for some numbness and tingling in one of my toes. He quickly diagnosed me with neuroses, and suggested that we do an X-​ray, ultrasound, and injection. The X-​ray found nothing wrong, however the ultrasound confirmed what he suspected (neuroses). So he continued along with the injection, which took a few minutes but went fine.
I asked him for a long-​term solution, and if there was anything I could do to prevent this from happening again. He said, ‘No’, and quickly glanced at my beat-​up, ripped Puma’s. He said my shoes ‘seemed reasonable.‘
I was unsatisfied with his response, so I got a second opinion from my chiropractor, Dr. English. He said that my shoes were worn in, had very little support, and I definitely needed to get new shoes to help with my problem. Soon after this conversation, I received the Explanation of Benefits from my insurance. My appointment with Dr. Garofalo cost over $ 1,000! He charged for the following:
Exam
X-​Ray
Ultrasound
Ultrasound again
Injection
Injection (it was a two parter)
I don’t understand why he had to charge twice for the ultrasound. Sure, he first used it to locate the neuroses, then later to guide the needle in, but is that really worth over $ 500? That was over half my bill. I feel that Dr. Garofalo charged too much. I will pay my bill of course, but I would not recommend him to my friends or family. Now I need to find another podiatrist who can actually take the time to pick up my shoes and make a treatment plan for me.

This Happened a couple of year’s ago but it is by far the worst Doctor experience I have ever had. I went in for a physical exam and 2 referral’s. After a hour wait I was finally showed into to examination room where I waited another 15 minutes. Even though I was in their for a physical exam, the doctor did not examine me, She listen to my lungs and wrote 2 referrals. My total time with the doctor was 10 minutes and one of my referrals her office never bothered to process. To make matters worse I ended up seeing another Doctor the next week and apparently I had a case of bronchitis, that she missed, even though that was one of the reasons why I was in her office. I would not recommend this Doctor to anyone.

I agree with Collen… can one give Negative stars? If you can avoid having Dr. Joanne Garofalo as your doctor, I would defintely do so. There are much better doctors out there and there are ones that run their offices a lot better.
I chose Dr. Garogalo after reading these two reviews and went in with an open mind. I thought, since there are only two reviews on here, perhaps these are just flukes in her service.
Just like the other reviews — I called and was put on hold. The length of time was for well over 10 minutes. Then when I let them know I was a new patient, I was put back on hold for another five before an appointment was made.
The first time I went, I had my appointment at 10:00am and I was not seen until 12:30pm. When I was taken to the room, I waited an additional hour and then when I was finally seen, the doctor saw me for 10 minutes and then moved me along.
I called this week to let them know that something was really wrong and I needed to see Dr. Garofalo immediately. The receptionist was incredibly rude and said the doctor couldn’t see me at all. I went to urgent care and they found that I had a kidney infection. I called to get a follow-​up appointment and let them know what was going on and that the doctor at urgent care wanted me to get an appointment with my primary care asap. The receptionist again was really rude, then put me on hold, and said, we don’t have any appointments available. We can see you toward the end of next month. I explained the urgency and only got a «Sorry». And then she hung up. Looks like it’s back to me going to Urgent Care.
It’s a real shame that doctor’s take in way too many patients than they can handle. Thank goodness for urgent care or I would be in some real serious trouble.

Can you give negative stars? Every experience I had with Dr. Garofalo and her office staff was beyond horrid. The fact that a patient calling gets put on hold five (count ‘em, five!) times should be off-​putting enough to make you look for another doctor, unless you like waiting, have extra reserves of patience and don’t have any health problems, ever.
The first time, I was just looking for a dermatologist referral, which you would think is relatively straightforward. Think again. I was able to get an appointment after about half an hour on the phone — this wait was just a taste of what was to come. Once I went to the office, I waited approximately 30 minutes in the waiting room, followed by 20 more in the examination room. I was seen by the doctor for about 3 minutes and shooed away.
When I went for my annual, I booked I think 6 weeks ahead for an appointment so I could be the first of the day. However, Dr. Garofalo didn’t feel the need to get to work on time (despite the fact that my getting to work on time was contingent on her showing up) so I got to wait in the paper dress for 45 minutes for her to show up. Once she showed up, she had to get settled in, so even though I could hear her voice I still had to sit there for another 5 or so minutes.
The one time I was actually sick, the office girl told me that I could come in right away. After sitting in the waiting room for over an hour and a half, I asked if I would ever get to see her. The response I got was something along the lines of why should I expect to be seen when there are other people with appointments? I said that I needed to go to class and they told me that I was SOL. Wonderful. And not even a doctor’s note for missing my earlier class.
The last time I went to this office, I was looking to a renewal for my dermatologist referral. This literally requires the doctor to look at my face and sign a piece of paper. I waited 45 minutes in the waiting room and decided to ask how many people were ahead of me since again, I had class. It had been a rough week and I had a lot of other things I could have been doing, so my emotional reaction was probably disproportionate to the situation, but when I was told it would be at least another hour, I had my charts be sent to another doctor and never turned back.
Do not. DO NOT. go to Dr. Garofalo’s office if you want to see a doctor. If you want to read magazines for a few hours though, her waiting room is the place.

I went here once because I needed a general practioner covered by my HMO and she was the first doctor they recommended. I regret going here.
Two days before my appointment I got really sick and went to Urgent Care on campus. The doctor there was so nice and really took care of me. When I told him I had this appointment he said to go to it and he would consult with the doctor so I could have the best treatment.
Dr. Garofalo was so rude and she didn’t listen to me at all. I had to repeat myself often, and tell her which tests I needed. If the other doctor hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known them to tell her. I don’t feel she cared at all, I feel all I did was waste my money and time here.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
(I didn’t want to write this as an update, because I don’t want to hide the experience from my first visit.)
I decided I should write an update of what happened a few months after my one and only visit. I cut my foot at the beach and needed stitches at the emergency room. They sent my x-​ray to Garofalo, since she was the only GP I’d visited in Santa Barbara. The emergency-​room doctor said the x-​ray showed something embedded in my skin that looked like it could be glass, but was actually sand.
Fast-​forward over a week later, and I get a call from the Garofalo office. «Hi, we got your x-​ray, you have glass in your foot.» I mention what the emergency-​room doctor had said. «Yeah, whatever, so you have glass in your foot.» Ok, thanks. If I had actually had glass in my foot, it would’ve been nice to get that info when I’d actually needed it and not so far in the future it was useless. Further, beyond telling me this info, she had nothing else to offer: no suggested visit, treatment, or anything. Beyond useless!