Sagebrush Medical Plaza in Bakersfield, California: Review
I visited the Sagebrush Medical Plaza, Medicine Clinic for the first time in September of 2006. At first I was a little confused since it is a very large place, taking up a huge lot just east of River Blvd. on Columbus, so I entered the wrong door. I entered the first building that says Family Practice and Pediatrics. But the ladies working there were very nice and directed me to the second door down that led into the Medicine Clinic; Pharmacy; and Lab.
When you first enter at the double doors, they open up to a huge hallway that leads for what seems miles and miles back to the very last door no the left next to x-ray where there is a small Reception window where you must check-in and get your name/medical info. bracelet that shows you are checked-in. They give you your paperwork that you must then take to the double class doors in the middle of that long long hallway which is the Medicine Clinic, and you must turn in that paperwork so that they know that you are there and ready to see the doctor.
After turning in your paperwork, you find a place to sit either in the long long hallway where they have put chairs lining one side or in the small waiting room directly across from the glass doors. The waiting room does have a TV with a VCR and there was usually a movie playing when I was there, once it was Jingle All the Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger [NOT one of his best!] and once it was The Incredible Journey done by Disney many many many years ago [it was NOT the later version with the talking dogs]. Once the movie was done playing, it was up to someone in the waiting room to rewind it and re-play it, the nurses and medical assistants never came in to do it.
After a short wait, my name was called and I was taken in to the Medicine Clinic for the usual blood pressure, weight, temperature, and question time [why was I there, was I in pain or ….?]. After that I was sent back out to the waiting room where I waited a LONG LONG time. My first visit, I waited five hours to see the physicians assistant [the doctor was too busy to see me], my second visit it was only three hours and since then it seems that two to three hours is the usual wait time per visit.
The people were all very nice at the Medicine Clinic, from the receptionist, medical assistants, physicians, and doctors. Every person I met has been very kind, very helpful, and very competent at their jobs.
There is also a pharmacy and lab and x-ray lab in the building with the medicine clinic. I can get almost everything done in the one building at Sagebrush Medical Plaza. Some of my appointments, I do have to go over to Kern Medical Center, but most basic things can be done right there at Sagebrush.
I liked almost everything about my experiences at Sagebrush Medical Plaza, Medicine Clinic and I would recommend it to anyone who needs medical care. The only two problems that I personally had with my Sagebrush experience were 1] the long long hallway back to reception to check-in. I don’t walk as well as most people, feeling dizzy and what-not and I hate my cane and walker so the long walk seemed like a hundred miles long. [So this is a personal problem that most people would not have]. 2] the long long wait to get in to see the doctor. There are a lot of sick people who need medical care so I understand the wait but it is very difficult physically to sit there and wait hours and hours to see the doctor. And since I am diabetic, the wait is worse because I will probably need to eat at some point. If my mother had not given me a ride to the clinic and then left to pick up something to eat for me, I don’t know what I would have done. It was my first time there and it never entered my mind that it would be such a long wait and that I might need to pack along some food and drinks. [So again, this is a personal problem that most people would not have].
