Maurice Garcia, MD – UCSF Medical Center

This review is to warn anyone thinking about going to this doctor, and I’m using that term very loosely. This was my experience.
I was referred for surgery by my primary care physician. After spending weeks leaving voicemail after voicemail after voicemail after voicemail several weeks later I received a call back and got my appointment. The front office staff is EXTREMELY unprofessional. They chew gum text on their cell phones and are actually rude to the patients waiting, I witnessed this three times. At my first appointment I waited roughly an hour to be seen in a crowded room full of patients I was asked to urinate in a tube after which was given an ultrasound to check my bladder’s ability to empty although I was not there for anything bladder related. The entire process was for nothing. I knew right away they didn’t even bother to see why I was there. About a half hour later and several people apologizing for the wait I was finally seen. We discussed surgery options and came up with a plan. I thought the the doctor was extremely arrogant and had the personality of a pencil but that’s just my opinion. He brushed off questions I had and seemed to want to rush me through. He stated that he required two letters from mental health professionals saying that I was ready for surgery. Not having any mental health issues I told him I did not know any mental health professionals and he told me that everyone that has this surgery manages so that I need to «figure it out» (by the way requiring mental health health letters is an outdated requirement and when I told him this he got defense and borderline rude) I guess if he wants to follow outdated requirements that’s his choice it is a bit surprising however considering its UCSF. I spent the next several weeks trying to find mental health professionals that wrote the letters that I needed and finally found two. Neither one took my insurance so I had to (as a recent nursing grad in debt) pay $ 150 an hour to get these two letters. I had my second appointment with Dr. Garcia and it was obvious he didn’t remember me or know why I was there I had to pretty much have the entire conversation with him again and the whole appointment was exactly the same as the one I had before. a complete waste of time The next day I faxed my letters and called to see if they had gotten them. They told me they didn’t «see them» but would try and «figure it out» even though I received confirmation when I sent the letters. a week later I had still not heard back so again after spending several more weeks calling and leaving voicemail after voicemail after voicemail I finally reached someone and she said she had my letters and would send them to dr Garcia. I waited several weeks and had not heard back so again I spent several more weeks calling and calling and calling and received no call back. I emailed dr Garcia and he emailed me back and asked if I had ever sent my letters. This is now TWO MONTHS after faxing them. I emailed him back and said yes I did and And he apologized and said this will not happen again. There has still been nothing submitted to my insurance and now his office won’t return my calls and Dr Garcia no longer returns my emails. I have sent him three emails and he has not bothered responding to any of them. I called the office and they told me that they dr Garcia didn’t put the type of surgery on the letter to my insurance so they never sent it to my insurance. This has been a complete nightmare him and his office completely dropped the ball. So three months later I still am no where closer to having surgery and now have to find another surgeon and possibly pay to get new letters. I am so upset about this! I did everything on my end that he asked and he won’t even respond to me! Unprofessional would be an understatement. I no longer feel comfortable even allowing him to operate on me honestly I wouldn’t trust him to pluck my unibrow. This is a warning to anyone that is thinking of going to this «Doctor» if you have a serious issue like bladder cancer or anything like that you might possibly die waiting to be seen. I hope you think twice and ask your doctor for a different referral.