Surgical Associates of Monterey Bay

I saw Dr. Santillano for a biopsy. It took 7 weeks before I could get an appointment and be seen. She performed the biopsy and FORGOT to send the sample to the lab to be tested. It took me 2 weeks of calling and pestering the office before she realized that she had forgot to send my biopsy sample to the lab. Once she finally sent the sample it had expired. Dr. Santillano was so oblivious that she didn’t realize that the sample could expire. My overall experience here was horrendous. I was getting a biopsy to test for a possible tumor that was found. I would urge people to go anywhere else but The Surgical Associates of Monterey Bay for their medical needs.

Doctor Santillano performed my lumpectomy. She took ample time on every visit to explain my condition, answer my questions, address my fears honestly, used diagrams to help me understand my own cancer. My daughter was present and she took time to talk to her one on one at my daughters request. Her diagnosis was spot on when results came in as far as the extent of the cancer and area needed to be removed. She called with the results when they came in. She referred me for therapy for the lymphatic fluid to be broken down, post surgery. I feel she honestly cared for my well-​being. In my research for a doctor, my primary care physician said she had had extra training in breast cancer surgeries and recommended her.
She was confident on the procedure she would take and eased my mind with her competence. And she is just good people. Very caring!!!

Pros: Excellent Dr. Woddle! Getting scheduled to be seen excellent!
Cons: Staff after our initial consultation which ended at 4:50 the MD. wanted a surgery to be scheduled urgent. I was asked to wait and then a young lady came over and stated that Danielle their surgery scheduler was going to leave home and she was going to call me the next day, and if she didn’t call by 3:00 pm for us to contact her. What a big disappointment my daughter in severe pain and Thanksgiving in a couple of days! I’m shocked that something needing urgent attention is just brushed off by their staff!!!

Surgery and surgeon went and did well. Now trying to get pain medication is a fiasco due to the way prescription was written. I write this as a warning to anyone using this doctor or medical group.
While this maybe a CVS issue, these medical places need to start working together for customer service. All points of failure here are unacceptable. As a caregiver I am outraged.

I recently had a breast surgery with Dr Lewis Lee. I called for a pre-​op appointment and was scheduled for a date 3 weeks away. I asked the very professional receptionist if she would let me know of any cancellations. She called me back that day and was able to fit me in the next day! Dr Lee is as personable as can be, very pleasant and patient discussing options, and kind in his manner. He has a good sense of humor and dispelled any fears I had about the procedure. I was scheduled for surgery at the Surgery Center and he did a fantastic job. I was pleased with Olivia, the PA, who met with me the following week to give me results and a check up before my post op meeting the following week with Dr Lee.
I found all the staff to be exceptionally friendly and positive. I never waited beyond the time of my appointment, and received wonderful care.
I would recommend the practice and particularly Dr Lewis Lee to anyone! Thank you SAMB.

I was admitted to Dominican Hospital’s ER in March of 2012 in acute abdominal pain. Exploratory laparotomy revealed I had a perforated colon and Dr. Waddle, who happened to be on call on that Saturday night, performed a subtotal colectomy with end-​ileostomy and Hartmann’s pouch. I was moved to ICU for sepsis and post-​operative care for a week. I was then moved to the Surgical Unit and the Acute Rehab Unit and finally released to home nursing.
After a differential diagnostic workup with Dr. Shamita Shah at Stanford’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic, I was cleared for an ileostomy takedown. Dr. Waddle performed a couple of difficult surgeries in July and eventually I was discharged to home nursing and to begin my rehabilitation in August.
The beginning of 2013 I moved to the East Coast to be close to my family. I often think of Dr. Waddle and his physician’s assistant Olivia Tirado and the fantastic physicians and nurses who cared for me at Dominican Hospital: in particular Dr. Juan Rodriguez, radiology, Dr. Jay Johnson, cardiology, and Dr. Michael Ellison, pulmonology. Dr. Waddle saved my life. His professional skill, care, and concern are immeasurable.
Last month I had a capsule endoscopy that proved unremarkable, and last week I had a pouchoscopy/​flexible Sigmoidoscopy. My GI specialist who teaches at Columbia Medical School said, «I don’t know your surgeon personally, but he did a fine job; very, very clean pouch… a little different from what I’ve seen before… but it’s as good as you get!» Thank you, Dr. Waddle and Surgical Associates of Monterey Bay!

Thank you Surgical Associates of Monterey Bay.
I was admitted to Dominican Hospital ER and required surgery. I was visited by Dr. Santillano and she took the time to explain the procedure and answered all of my questions. I was so comfortable that she was to do my procedure. She instantly made me feel at ease, and she gave me tremendous confidence with her knowledge and experience. She had an amazing bedside manner and I was so pleased. Olivia Tirado, the PA was also very professional and visited me in the hospital room to answer my questions and to prepare me for the necessary surgery. It turned out that due to the hectic surgical schedule, another of the partners, Dr. Lee came to visit me, to offer to perform the surgery, since Dr. Santillano would be another few hours in a complex surgery. I agreed. Dr. Lee also put me at ease with his knowledge, and was very supportive; he did perform the actual surgery. The following day, I was visited by Dr. Waddle, another of the partners, who provided me with a detailed accounting of the procedure, and addressed all of my questions.
Since my procedure, I’ve had 2 follow up appointments and the office staff were so organized and helpful. I even commented to them that I was impressed about how well they run that very busy office. My follow up appointments with the PA Olivia Tirado were great; she is so professional, pleasant and sweet. During my visits, I was made so comfortable, and the staff checked on my while I waited and answered all of my questions; I wish I could list them all by name.
Ultimately, it was unfortunate that I had to go through the unplanned surgery, but I felt so comfortable and safe with the SAMB medical staff. I can say that the SAMB team is very busy, but I was always treated with respect, and felt compelled to write a positive review. In the future, if I have to have any surgical procedures, I will be sure to have my procedure done by any of the Doctors: Dr. Santillano, Dr. Waddle, or Dr. Lee.
I would also go as far as recommending them to any of my family or friends.

I am sure the docs are ok here but the disorganization of the office staff is reason to stay away. «Someone» in the office forgot to put in the request for my procedure so it took many phone calls to get that resolved (12 weeks). Then on the day of my procedure I got a call 2 hours before my appointment to cancel and they could fit me in a month away. Going over to Los Gatos to get this taken care of.

I have recently had occasion to see Dr. Lee and Dr. Waddle, for separate issues. I found both doctors to be professional and personable, and they answered all my questions without making me feel like I was wasting their time. The office staff was friendly and courteous, and wait times were negligible. I especially like their website. It is user-​friendly and helpful for pre-​appointment forms, paying bills, and sending messages to your doctor.
I would highly recommend both of these doctors to my loved ones.

Dr. Louis Lee is an excellent surgeon. I had to have 3 different surgeries related to my recent breast cancer diagnosis. I could go on here, but suffice it to say the Dr. Lee is extremely kind, professional, and thorough. He also has a good sense of humor, which helped me tremendously. I don’t need a physician to be my best friend — the important thing is that they are really good at what they do. He does happen to be a very nice person, though. The type of person that I always hope becomes a doctor.
I see these other ‘1 star’ reviews stemming from people’s dissatisfaction with waiting, the music in the reception area, etc. I can understand their frustration, for sure, but don’t agree with totally panning this surgical practice. If the other members of SAMB are as good as Dr. Lee, they are worth waiting for.

My first experience, several years ago was great, everything from my pre-​op appt. to my post-op.(The group of Dr’s was much smaller at the time). Last year I had the most unpleasant experience, the problem was not the Dr’s from this group, but the staff. Starting with my consultation appt., from what I could tell the level of professionalism is definitely missing. The amount of times I had to leave messages in order to get a response from my Dr., the receptionist grilling me on the phone as to why I was calling!!! There were so many problems, even after I wrote a letter to the manager of the office, I would not recommend this group to anyone! Very unpleasant experience, what an offensive situation to deal with when you are the patient & feeling vulnerable!!!

Go here at your own risk. The surgical assistant calls me the day before my scheduled surgery to say they made a mistake on booking the hospital since my medical group won’t cover it unless it’s medically necessary. I had this appointment scheduled for well over a month and don’t have family in the area. I and my family took time off and coordinated schedules around this appointment. This place is highly unprofessional and blamed someone who doesn’t work there anymore for the mix up. In my line of work, if anyone in your organization makes a mistake, it is the organizations job to fix it and not place the burden on the patient/​customer. Incredibly disappointing and I hope they get their act together. I won’t be returning.

I would give zero stars if I could. We showed up for a pre-​surgical appointment and were told we weren’t going to be meeting with the surgeon, but with one of his assistants. We should have left just then. We were assessing local surgeons to see who we wanted to go with for an operation and meeting the surgeon and asking questions is just part of the basic assessment process.
Instead we allowed ourselves to be led into one of the rooms where we waited. And waited, and waited. After an hour of waiting with no one to check in on us, we walked out the door. We will take our business elsewhere.
This place is great if you are looking for a surgeon who has no respect for you, for patients or for your time.

Without delving into the many details, the environment is bleak. I arrived early and was handed the standard forms to fill out for any medical office by the receptionist, who was quite unfriendly. I listened to the same classical piece a number of times waiting for my consultation and I did wait. My appointment was at 10:30 and I was not seen until past 11. There were only a couple other patients being seen so I do not understand the wait. After I finished my consultation I was told to wait in the lobby to schedule my surgery. I waited another twenty minutes just and was told the Doctor I saw only does surgeries on Thursdays. I will not be having my surgery with them.