Southland Family & Urgent Care

I was afraid my throat was going to close up and make breathing difficult. I was convinced I had some untreatable virus. The staff welcomed me quickly and efficiently at 6:30PM. They had told me on the phone there is no difference in charge whether you come early or late. Dr. K. Melahoures saw me, ran a strep test himself, diagnosed it was a sinus infection, and treated me all in less than 1/2 hour. I feel MUCH better the next day. There is no BS or cutting edge technology here. Just good old fashioned medical care by a very competent physician - like House. more

When I moved back to The OC from Honolulu; I tried this Urgent Care as my Primary Care and gave them my records from my Urgent Care Dr. in Hawaii.( My doctor in Hawaii was associated with the best hospital in Honolulu and had a practice in Tokyo, his office visits were $18, because they took my insurance and his staff was the best, SFUC represents the other end of the spectrum.) The first thing they said was that insurance doesn't pay, so it would be best for me to pay in cash and they said they would give me a discount if I did pay in cash. And the few times I went there, things were good. That was 2 years ago. Recently, I had a long running illness that involved an Ear Infection, High Blood Pressure Issues, and Vertigo. I would get jumps in BP, and balance issues. I went to Dr. Mel because I was having with these issues that had not been discovered by the ER docs and my regular doctor yet. The first doctor I saw at SFUC said that I still had some redness in my ears might be an infection and gave me a prescription for that, after trying to sell me some antibiotics for $20.00. I had the prescription filled across the street at Walgreens for $.97 under my insurance. Also, my regular Dr. told me a week earlier that I had no more infection. Dr. Mel told me to double up on my blood pressure meds; didn't solve the problem; my regular doctor just changed my blood pressure meds. Also only the ER doc figured out that I had vertigo when SFUC said it was an infection. Also the doc and my regular doc asked. ""What Urgent Care did you go to""? ""Don't go there anymore"". The reasons I went to this urgent care: I had these serious symptoms at times when my regular doctor was not available or her office was close. As an alternative to the ER. Not a good alternative. \r A previous post suggests that people choose Foothill Urgent Care. Maybe I will choose that next time I need urgent care and can't get to the ER. more

I took my daughter to this urgent care for culture of a ruptured abscess on her foot. I wanted to make sure that she did not have a staff infection since she was scheduled for back surgery in a month.\r \r Dr. Mel looked at the foot and since it had already ruptured and drained he took a culture. He took a long swab and took a culture of the area, ordered an x ray to make sure the infection hadn't spread to the bone, gave her a tetanus and antibiotic shot and prescribed oral antibiotics.\r \r When I received the bill from his office I was in shock. He billed my insurance company for incision and drainage of abscess of the foot, in other words he charged us for a surgery. I called his office and spoke with Dr. Mel who seemed forgetful. He asked ""are you sure I didn't cut open her foot?'. I told him no and that I was present as was my 26 year old daughter who was the patient. We should know if he cut her foot open! I told him that I would not pay for a surgery that wasn't performed. He told us that it didn't matter whether he charged us for a surgery or an office visit, that it was the same amount. I have Anthem Blue Cross as my insurance provider and if it was billed as an office visit my co payment should have been $45, which I paid at the time of the visit. I could see that I was getting no where with this so I filed a grievance with Anthem and they told me that while they were investigating I should disregard the bills.\r \r Today I received another bill. I called Southland Family Urgent care and asked to speak to someone in the billing department. I spoke with George and told him that I was told by my insurance company to disregard the bill as I had filed a grievance through my insurance company. He told me that my insurance company was wrong and to not bother him anymore with this ""crap"" and hung up on me.\r \r After calling my insurance company again, I was told that they had spoken to George who confirmed through my medical records that a surgery was performed and under California law they have to go by the medical records and were ruling in the favor of the urgent care center. I was told by my insurance company that I would need to file a complaint with the Attorney Generals Office.\r \r I called Southland Urgent care one more time to try and resolve this issue before I took this step. Dr. Mel got on the phone and told me that he would file a harassment complaint against me if I called his office again.\r \r You be the judge.......I would not allow this office to remove a splinter from my finger if I had the choice. Bad doctor and even worse office staff.\r Shame on you Southland Family Urgent Care!!!! more

I have no idea why there are bad reviews. I have been going to this place for years and have ALWAYS found them to be cheerful and helpful. more

Never experienced such an awful customer service. This place is dirty and the people work there should go and work at McDonald as they compare themselves to McDonald Drive Through. They charge different prices for the same thing. Even if I am dying I will never step in this place again more

The evening staff are rude, ignorant and full of B** attitude. When you complain about their services, they compare themselves with McDonald's drive through (i guess that is where they go all the time)! I was waiting for 20 min just to get a vaccination while there were no other patient but me at the office. Also, if you have to go there make sure you go in the morning, because the price that you get in the afternoon is higher than what you will get in the morning. My vaccination cost $165 and the same one costs my sister $185. Even the doctor there doesn't care about the complains more

One of the worst clinics I have been too. I went there to get an urgent shot for my upcoming trip. First they told me the insurance will cover it, then after waiting 25 min in the room I had to walk out and remind them I was sitting there. After they gave me the shot they told me that insurance won't cover it. I didn't say anything. My sister was there earlier same day for the same treatment and they charged her $20 less than what they charged me. Extremely RUDE people. No Customer Service. They compare themselves with McDonald Drive Through... get the idea. Don't go there They do not have any manner and respect for their customers and patients more

Ive been here twice and both times for emergent issues and found it to be less than acceptable. The office is dirty and over run by 1980s house plants and cheap photos. The staff is dressed unprofessionally in scrubs that are about 12 sizes too small with tattoos showing. They are unprofessional and rude when they speak to clients. The doctors have no bedside manner and treat you as if your a moron with a 1st grade education. Perhaps its because their front office staff is at about that level...!!??\r Anyway, they are over priced and horrible at patient care! If you want good care during emergent times when you are unable to make it to your regular doctor, I suggest going down the road to Foothill Ranch Urgent Care. The facility is clean and well kept, the office staff is polite and professional, and the doctors take their time with you and treat you like a human! more

I'm going to make the doctor at this Urgent Care my Primary Care Physician. He is so thorough and very caring. I had a choice of going to an urgent care or the ER and I'm so glad I chose this Urgent Care in particular. In my initial visit, after a few X-rays they found I had pneumonia, gave me two shots, a breathing treatment and lots of medication to go. The price was WAY less than the ER would have been and I was in and out way quicker than I would have been in the ER. I had to go back last night because the pneumonia came back. I got there right before they closed but they took me in, fixed me up again and sent me home feeling so much better, again. This Dr is by far the BEST doctor I've ever been to and I highly recommend him! more

Unlike other reviews, I haven't encountered these billing issues. I've been both a cash & insured patient there and have no complaints on either. They told me right away my insurance was out of network, no lies at all. They gave me huge cash discounts on xrays for my son, too. I really have a hard time believing these negative reviews because I've seen nothing of the like. The only reason I did not give 5 stars is because I don't feel my sons pain was taken seriously after he injured his foot. My son never cries, ever. He's much like myself in that we aren't ""dramatic"" when in pain. I think because of this, they had no desire to give him any pain management options despite my telling them that OTC meds were not helping him. Granted, there aren't many medicinal options for teenagers, but they could have tried. There must be some type of medicine that's stronger than Tylenol but weaker than the medicines that may make him feel funny. I do think they price their medicines highly, but I consider it a convenience fee of sorts. I've had a rough year with bad luck when it comes to getting sick or injured, and I'm happy the doctors at Southland were here to help. I like Dr. Cohen, she's very helpful if you need referrals! more

It seems that they have a major problem with billing in this place. I know that if I had problems in my company, over and over and over, that person would be out looking for another job. Well thats not the case here as Dr Mel just can't fire his billing guy ""George"" because it's his son, he knows of the problem and neglects to do anything about it. This place needs the doors shut and billing practices investigated. STAY AWAY STAY AWAY STAY AWAY! more

I received a bill 3months after seeing the doctor for my illness. When speaking to George, the ""Manager/Biller"" he indicated that he had done all he would to get my claim paid and that I had to take care of the claim myself. When asked he indicated that HE billed the insurance and the insurance processed the claim under the incorrect subscriber number. He also stated he resubmitted and got a denial due to duplicate. \r \r This is where his job stopped. He refused to call the insurance to check on why this happened and he refused to send me a full statement as requested, or copies of denials so I could dig in further. \r \r George is rude and not at all helpful!! \r \r I will not be returning to this facility because of George. He clearly does not enjoy his job as a biller, nor does he like to be helpful! more

We have had excellent experiences with this office and the staff here. They go above and beyond to determine your problem. My family and I have felt that they are more aggressive in helping to determine what is happening and have fewer rules than some ""managed"" doctors. This is a philosophy of course. Everyone must decide for themselves what type of doctor they want. Some might choose to spend the least amount possible and that is a valid choice for them. This office may do unnecessary tests (in retrospect) to rule out certain things but I have never felt like they ran a ridiculous test to charge me more. I just think they care enough to do more to make sure they have covered their bases. In fact, we had friends visiting from out of town who needed to get on a plane the next morning. Their young daughter had a serious problem and we called right before closing! He was willing to stay late to ensure she was cared for before they had to get on a long plane flight the next day. You can say it was to make an extra dime but he did not have to spend his time late at night helping us. We also had a close, long time friend Who had insurance and care with a popular HMO) who almost died while fighting to GET them to give her the tests she needed to determine what the cause of her LIFE THREATENING malady was. (She later won a lawsuit against them for how blatant the problem was!) I have also had a life threatening problem where I was with the wrong doctor and my MOM ultimately helped the doctor find the diagnosis. As a result of all of this, my family and I are fortunate to be able to choose PPO coverage where we have the right to choose who we see and when we see them. We choose Dr. Mel and Dr. Craddock because they consistently go above and beyond and care enough to give us the best possible medical care. This is one of the few areas in my life where I do NOT shop for the best price around. I look for the best care. Hopefully we will never need our PPO to cover anything crazy serious but, if we do, I want to know my family and I are WELL taken care of. more

Be careful with Dr. Melahoures when it comes to financial issues. One apt., he gave me a bunch of heart tests in another room felt was an overkill and showed nothing. When I took them to my cardiologist, he agreed these tests were unnecessary from the symptoms and that my problem was something entirely different and it was.\r \r Beware also, they sell medications there. He said was giving me a deal on the prices and later checked with pharmacy - Mel.was three times higher then had I taken perscriptions to drugstore. Believe he owns the practice!! more

Southland Urgent Care is not to be trusted. They accept your insurance cards, bill incorrectly, are denied insurance payment, then send you an over priced bill. They order medically unecessary tests to increase what they can bill your insurance. When your insurance company denies payment, Southland will bill you and send the bill to a collections agency. They do not respond to requests for billing documentation or even test results. There are many much better, ethical urgent care provider in the area. more

My husband, son and myself have been patients of Dr. Melhoures and Dr. Kraddock for over eight years. We owe a great bit of thanks to both doctors who have seen us and treated us with care and expertise. I truly believe we would have developed pneumonia and possilby been hospitalized had we not received the superb medical attention we received at Southland Family and Urgent Care Center. We have been treated for broken bones, viruses, chest congestion and sinus infections. They are a full service family style practice who take their time with patients and provide outstanding service. Pros: Best Doctors Around more

Dr Mel will tell people on the phone that they take ALL insurance!! No problem. However, they don't. Lies when you come in and then deny they ever said anything when you show then the insurance denial letter.\r \r DO NOT TRUST THIS OFFICE or the doctor himself!!! Cons: Lie about insurance coverage more

Dr. Mel is a wonderful, great and caring doctor is Orange County. His services are awesome and he's always right on the money for any answers you may have. I highly recommend his services! Pros: Best Doctor their can possibly be more