I went to see Dr. Steele about a follow up to a Ct scan showing an update to my cystic pulmonary problem. He said he didn't know about my issue And proceeded to tell me I needed a sleep study and cpap machine. He is really a hard sell guy. Total conflict of interest for me. read more

The Dr & staff are professional & caring once you are there. However, it is impossible to get a hold of the front desk for a rescheduled appointment. My husband has been trying for weeks for a follow up appointment!. read more

So arrogant and rude. He talks so fast and made me feel like a idiot when I tryed to ask a question. I've never had a doctor like him . I felt like he had me diagnosed with sleep apnea the minute he walked in the office. He told me I was probably born with it. He's full of bs I don't have sleep apnea. As we were walking out of the office he walks away and said if you lose weight you wouldn't have sleep apnea. Im 20lbs over weight. read more

Best sleep Dr in our area, service is a little scetchy but the diagnosis from Dr Steele helped me tremendously!

I got the same impression as most other reviewers. I found his style to be brisk, alarmist, lacking bedside manner, and intense. I got the impression of an agenda, or sales pitch. read more

Doctor Steele was recommended to me by a co-worker. I made the appointment and went to see him. Dr. Steele set me up with a sleep study and ran it through my insurance company without any issues. Getting checked for sleep apnea is very important to your health and for longevity in life. I would recommend Dr. Steele to my friends. His office has an on-site sleep lab where you can be monitored while you sleep, or they can set you up with equipment and you can do your study in your own bed. It's a relatively easy process and way worth your while. Why wait any longer? read more

Dr. Steele was extremely rude and impatient when going over my new patient information. Totally not a people person or seemed to care about my care and was more concerned about my Blue Cross insurance. I would avoid him at all costs. I went to see him two more times and each time was very impatient, unfriendly and rude and walked out of my patient room upset about something. The sleeping room was very dusty, musty and does not seem that they vacuum or clean up after each sleep patient. I was sneezy and itchy after sleeping in the bed. The office staff is very not interested in the patient and does not return calls and has a attitude like the doctor without any empathy or patience, Please avoid seeing this doctor and office as they are hundreds of better doctors in the Santa Rosa area with better, newer equipment and much friendlier and kinder. It matters !!! read more

Sadly, I cannot recommend this practice. This is a long rant, but other people's long stories helped me, so this might help someone else. I was referred to Dr. Steele by my primary care physician because of concerns about sleep apnea. Yes, the basement office is dingy & unappealing, but Dr. Steele certainly seemed to be very knowledgeable about his field. I felt hopeful, even though he talked fast and seemed to be annoyed when I asked questions because it interrupted his prepared speech. He DID answer my questions, and the front office person was nice. I had to wait almost 3 months for a sleep study, & had to request it be done at the sleep center rather than get a take-home (less accurate) test. Sleep study experience was awful. After driving 30 minutes to get there, I found myself walking all around the building in the pouring rain to find the entrance; no one told me I would need to enter on the opposite side of the building from the doctor's office. I was hooked up to all the equipment and got myself settled with my meditation music. Just as I was drifting off, a loud thump hit the wall behind my head. This happened 3 times, making me jolt upright. Turned out they had scheduled a deaf woman & her nearly deaf husband for a study in the room next door but had no sign language interpreter for them. The sleep tech had to speak loudly to the husband so he could communicate with his wife. He kept banging his chair against the wall, not realizing he was hitting right behind my head. Disappointingly, I was not able to have enough continuous sleep before 1 am to qualify for the CPAP portion of the study. At 4 am, I was sent on my way, not well rested, to drive 30 minutes home feeling sleep deprived. (This last complaint may be part of all sleep studies; not sure.) I did not receive the results of the sleep study until I finally requested they be mailed to me 4 months later, but I was called & told I would need a CPAP for moderate sleep apnea. The CPAP company called to get my permission to charge my credit card, and I was scheduled to get the machine within the month. A man (not Dr. Steele; I wasn't told his title) quickly fitted me with a mask & briskly showed me how to work the main parts of the machine. I asked about choosing a mask based on the hours of research I had done about how important it is to get the right fit. He said I needed to take the mask the doctor recommended. I was given no written information about the process besides the instructions that came with the machine. For example: whom to contact if I needed to try a new mask, that I would have to replace parts monthly, that the machine sends data about my sleep not only to the doc but to the machine supplier. I remember being told I needed to ask for a new mask within 30 days to get it without paying, but no written info at all about what to expect in the coming months. I got all that info from YouTube research. I was asked to sign an agreement that I accepted the CPAP machine, but forgot to ask for a copy & when I called back, the office said they could not provide it. Apparently that document gave the "terms" of use, saying the machine could be taken away if I didn't use it enough. Apria, the equipment company, told me I would have to have 16 days of consecutive use of 4 hours or more within a 30-day period, but I wasn't able to use it as much as ideal due to getting COVID and then a carcinoma above my lip. So I was quite nervous about having the machine taken away from me when I went in for my "compliance" visit -- it's not even called a health checkup - just a chance for the insurance company to see if you are being "good" and using the equipment, but this is a problem with the system, not Dr. Steele. I was so stressed and feeling like a failure for not using it enough due to my other medical issues that I was already tearful as I related my experience to Dr. Steele. Fortunately, I HAD met the compliance requirements, which were different from what Apria told me. I told him what Apria had told me, and his response was, "They did NOT tell you that...And I told you (4 months earlier) how much you had to use it." I was in tears, feeling unsupported, trying to express what had made the experience difficult & he said he wasn't sure what I hoped to accomplish by "pointing fingers." He just kept reiterating that I could die of heart failure, stroke, or cancer if I didn't use the machine and that I just hadn't given it enough time. He said I should have come to see him if it was so bad (couldn't b/c COVID), and that leaving a message with the office staff (which I had done) was not enough. He was entirely unsympathetic and dismissive in a way I have never experienced with a medical professional. He DID adjust the pressure on my machine to help with my breathing, which I hoped he would do. But bedside manner was awful. I was clearly in distress, & I left not feeling cared for but with the impression he felt I was just a difficult patient. read more

Good Doctor, terrible office staff. I have been using this Dr. for many years and the office staff have been terrible about calling back and setting appointments. Finally had to change doctors, hopefully my new one will be better. read more

I'm surprised this doctor hasn't been shut down yet. It's a money making scam, the office and grounds are a dump, Dr. Steele's exprlanation of sleep apnea is a rehearsed speech, the office personnel are unprofessional. With the number of complaints on social media from patients alone, there are likely many more issues in reality. Usually Medicare and insurance companies don't allow practitioners with poor records to continue participating as providers. Go anywhere else, but here. read more

I have to write this in 2 ways - Dr. Steele himself gets 5***** STARS all the way. the guy is knowledgeable, cool, uses cpap himself - everything was more than Great with Dr. Steele. And even his overnight sleep staff was very cool. I think my guy was named Seth - and he was great. Patient, friendly, even laughed with me - and I like to laugh. read more

The office is a business park that looks run down and like it's been painted over with thick paint to cover up years of grime. The inside of the building is just as gross. The ceiling panels are stained with who knows what and the place just feels like it's not been deep cleaned ever. When I came in the office the front desk girls were listening to r&b and rap music and when they saw me they changed the station to cheesy lite rock. I guess they assumed white people prefer that. It was kinda of weird. I showed up on time but it took 45 minutes for the DR to see me and he immediately tried to say I needed equipment and medications even tho he didn't test me, ask questions or examine me. I felt like he was getting paid to rent O2 machines not actually help me figure out what is wrong. After a 5 minute sales pitch that sounded crazily over rehearsed he scheduled me for a overnight test. The night of the test the guy who was supposed to be doing the testing took 10 minutes to answer the door although I was on time. I saw there was just one small pillow on the bed (even tho I requested more pillows well ahead of time) I asked him if I could have more pillows and he said there were none and the bathroom was in the office next door. As you can imagine it's not a place that is conducive to sleep studies at all. He said he would be right back, then he left me for a hour while I could hear him chatting up a girl in the other room. It was painful to wait as ive had back surgeries and the dirty little room he asked me to wait in only had one dirty old bed and a tiny chair to sit in that is not compatible with someone like me. By then it was getting late, I was in a terrible amount of pain from standing a hour waiting so I wrote a note advising I was leaving and left it on the front desk and went home. The guy was so rude before he left me standing there it was best I left rather than blow up on him and cause a scene. It wasted a hour and half of driving, over a hour waiting and a few gallons of gas. The best part of the whole experience is that they billed my insurance and me for $379 and then sent me to collections for this service. Don't let your primary care provider send you here. Unless you want the same treatment. This office is all around lousy. read more

My family doctor suggested I be seen for my fatigue thinking it was sleep related. It took weeks to get someone to call me back and a few more to get an appointment. It was a really long wait and when I asked for an update after an hour the receptionists told me they didn't know, but didn't check. It's a small crammed office and the receptionists are really loud. A lady with short hair kept wandering around chatting but not doing anything and I could see there were open rooms. I wouldn't go back there unless I'd gotten the entire day off work since it seems to take so long. read more

The staff is amazing. Dr. Steele and the night crew are awesome. The part I was no happy with was the wait before my prescription was sent to Pulmonary Solutions. It took 2 1/2 months! I had to call weekly to find out the status. I don't know if that is the norm because this was my first sleep study but I felt it took way too long! read more

It pains me to have to give this office one star. Dr. Steele was great. Very knowledgeable and professional. The front office on the other was horrible. The front desk is very hard to understand. The broken English was pretty bad and unfortunately I don't speak Spanish. It's difficult when you don't know if you're being understood and definitely don't understand what's being said to you. That wasn't the worst part though. The manager was rude, uncaring and even yelled at me. I was literally just confused and wanted more information. I'm at the doctors and I obviously have some stuff going on. You would think a doctors office would be a place of support. Not here! They wanted me in and out, no questions. Seriously the manager made me feel like I wasn't even a person. Great doctor, horrible staff. read more

It took 2 1/2 months to get the prescription after the sleep study. Office staff is totally useless.

Straight to the point... My experience at Dr. Steeles office was nothing but pleasent. He was friendly and informative. Drew, at the front desk, was very helpful with all my questions and did her best to move things along in a timely manner. I recommend Dr. Steeles office highly. read more

Do not EVER use Doctor James Steele MD FOR any surgery or any treatments what so EVER. I was referred to him by family Doctor which was the biggest mistake of my LIFE. His front desk that answers your questions and books your appointments and surgery dates do not do anything for YOU. I had to file a COMPLAINT with an organization that assists patients with Doctor problems. The next day I was given a surgery date 12 hours from the time I was notified. I had a biopsy taken during the surgery and have waited two weeks to see if the biopsy is benign or possibly the BIG C. I HAVE CALLED several times and I continue to wait for my results. I give up with DR JAMES STEELE AND HIS STAFF. THEY ARE USELESS. Respectfully Don Bowers read more

Dr. Steel and his staff have been really good to me. Dr Steel is very knowledgeable and knows his shi* and the staff is careing and human. Drew, Behind the counter has been very caring personableI and professional to me tho she and staff are very busy. I have Partnership ins. And it seems like it is sooo difficult to receive good medical attention lately !! But at. Dr. Steels office i dont feel brushed aside and Discounted like i do other places. Thank you Dr. Steel and staff for your care and attention it means sooo much to me right now. read more

Office is awful. old and a mess. dr. is ok not great. waited hour and a half. The front staff were rude when I called about an appointment. I will never go again. Unprofessional. read more

Beware!! Very unprofessional.Took my son for a sleep study in August, (twice) in which he was diagnosed with sleep apnea,and am still waiting for the machine. They will not ever answer the phone or call anyone back. The receptionist, I think it's Jessica, is always very rude and condescending. I finally gave up, here we are in January, no machine, and my son still not sleeping. They pretty much just tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone or turn it around on themselves that they are busy. I do not recommend this place to anyone looking to get help for their sleep apnea as by the time you get your machine you might be dead. read more

After extensive pulmonary tests by some excellent technicians Dr. Steele was able to pin point what was going on with my labored breathing. Dr. Steele was very empathetic and a good listener and prescribed medication which took care of my medical issues immediately. read more

Doctor Steele him self was great I would give him and him alone 5 stars. The administration team is where i am running into trouble. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in February. I received my CPAP and started treatment. My co pay for the monthly machine rental is $9.18. Starting on July 2nd, I have since been getting charged $38.82 in addition to the $9.18 a month. I contacted Apria and they inform me the doctor's office has not faxed over the note saying I am using the machine. therefore United has denied the claim; I call Steele's office and I am informed that they will send the note over. I cannot remember who I spoke to at the office on that instance but I believe it was Jessica or Drew. I was informed they will fax the note over. I continue to get charged this $38.82 during this time. 07/02/2016- $38.82 08/13/2016-$38.82 09/03/2016-$38.82 10/1/2016-$38.82 10/15/2016-$50.37 Those amounts total $205.65, where my entire year of co pays for the rental should be $110.16 ($9.18 X 12 months). This $205.65 is in addition to the $9.18 I am and should be paying each month. I have already paid double what I should have paid. I call Apria back because I still think something is not right when I am still getting charged more than my co pay. Apria says Doctor Steele's office just keeps faxing the same note from the original consult, not the follow up. I call Steele's office with this information and this is when I am informed there was supposed to be follow up appointment within 90 days of my receiving my machine. I am not sure why that wasn't made clear when I called the first time when something was wrong. I spoke with Jessica last week, and she says in March, in my medical notes, that I was contacted when I received the machine in March. I have every voicemail saved from the office and the only voicemail I have in March, is March 23rd, and it is Jessica explaining we have an order to increase the pressure of my machine, not that I need a follow up. The only other message before that is February from Drew Confirming my Sleep study. I am unaware of any contact and specifically them saying I needed to make a follow up appointment. Why wouldn't the office schedule a follow up immediately after the sleep study? How am I supposed to understand this if it wasn't properly explained? I feel it is negligent to not set up and confirm appointments with new patients especially if their insurance depends on it. This whole process has been difficult and unfortunately these difficulties cost me money that united should be paying. I am frustrated because Apria ( medical equipment company) says they can't help and don't provide me with information on how to fix this situation. United Health Care says they certainly don't know how to help the situation. I am told by both parties to call the doctor's office. When I call the office they say they can't help. All 3 parties are saying to contact the other party and that they can't help. I called the office and this is where it has really disappointed me. When we discovered that I needed a follow up, I scheduled it and it was 2 weeks later. I go to my appointment. Doctor Steele sees I've been wearing my machine and says come back in two months. The office will issue the doctors note to Apria and Apria will send to United and all will be well, or so I am told. I come home to yet another bill from Apria. Frustrated and feeling somewhat helpless, because everyone involved says they can't help, I call the office. I speak with Jessica. She is well aware of my situation at this point and is most likely tired of hearing from me, as I am tired of calling, because I am not getting any solutions. I am met with apprehension and an attitude. With her, cutting me off, mid-sentence, to tell me there's nothing she can do. She informs me she has put in a rush for my note and that's all she can do. That is fine; I understand she put a rush on the note. That is not the problem. The problem is this has been festering for months and there was a mistake made. Either by the office, by me, or some combination thereof, I work very hard for my health insurance benefits and they are not being used, and I feel that it is not my fault in this instance. All I wanted was for someone to acknowledge that this situation was broken and someone would help me figure this out. I would like help from the office in trying to recover the unpaid insurance payments. I know you can't guarantee anything will get reversed. Your word on trying to at least help me would make me feel better. United and Apria are both more apt to hearing from you, the doctor, then me the patient. Go figure. While these bills accrued, Apria and his office both got paid, and United did not have to pay anything, while the patient got stuck with the bill, when he had good, valid insurance! Everyone prospered except the patient, the person all three of these companies are in business to serve! read more

Dr. Steele diagnosed my asthma, which had been giving me breathing issues for a year now. With the correct medication I am doing so much better. Dr. Steele is very thourough in his exams and I felt like I was really taken care of. read more

I have been a patient of Dr Steel's for 3 1/2 yrs. He is very knowledgeable about sleep apnea. He and his staff have been very helpful with using CPAP machine. read more

I saw Dr. Steele for what I though was a pulmonary medical issue. It seems like my usual exercise regimes were hampered by shortness of breathe, even when I climbed up a few stairs. After a comprehensive set of test, and a lengthy consultation by Dr. Steele it was noted that I had asthma. Dr. Steele answered all of my questions and was very patient and knowledgable. Now with an inhaler I am able to resume all the activities I enjoy in a normal fashion. read more

The doctor was decent but the staff was horrible. They used profanity and made me and my children feel very uncomfortable.

I would leave 0 stars if I could. Don't EVER go to this man for a sleep test. My insurance approved at "at home sleep" test and so I was told to show up at the office at 7:45 PM. "Brian" who was the person assigned to hooking me up to all the equipment would not only stop talking about personal stuff but took almost an hour trying to connect everything. I felt he didn't know at all what he was doing. Then I get my results and was told that the "Battery died on the equipment" they used on me so I had to go through all of this ALL over again which is a huge inconvenience. I told the doctors office that I would NOT allow "Brian" to hook up the wiring on me for the sleep test so they assigned some woman to me. I showed up on time and she was 30 minutes late! What kind of people are working here?!! So the sleep test results (now the 2nd time) come back inconclusive Dr. Steele tells me because their office screwed up with "setting the times" for my sleep test and now I was going to have to take a 3rd one! Dr. Steele was rude when I became upset about all of this and claimed "that these things happen" which is B.S. He said "well you could have insomnia for all I know." Isn't he the one that's supposed to know these things? The ONLY thing good about this office are the girls that work at the front desk and his Office Manager "Nicole". Other than that Dr. Steele has completely incompetent people working for him and he doesn't know WTF he is doing. read more

I really wish I could rate this bad experience as ZERO. Last night, I showed up, on time, for my sleep study which I had been waiting for several months. Dr Steele seems to be a good doctor. HOWEVER his staff really is AWFUL. I live 40 minutes away from Santa Rosa. Also, I'm 58, and don't like driving at night. I did to keep this appointment. I show up on time. The "Sleep Technician" said I could get ready for bed, which I did. They SHOULD know from my chart I take Ambien. (If they checked it at all, which I doubt) I get ready for bed and Heather says, "The camera isn't working, so we can't do the sleep study." I ask, why isn't the camera working? No, SORRY, we screwed up. I got this reply, "It's not MY fault," the b said very loudly. I said don't you check the cameras before patients come in? I explained I had been waiting for months, and I traveled about 35 miles to get here. When I was getting ready for bed, I took my dose of Ambien. I asked can I at least sleep here, I just took Ambien. She said, "I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO TAKE AMBIEN!" Very loud and angry. IT WAS IN MY CHART. I was told you can't sleep here. I said I cannot drive on Ambien. "Well you can't sleep here! Again, LOUD and ANGRY. I said, I come from Jenner, and it's a long trip and I can't drive on Ambien. The dummy says, "Well, I travel all the way from Stockton to be here." I said that's YOUR choice to do. And basically, I was thrown out at about ten o'clock. I was fortunate that my best friend drove from a few towns away to pick me up. When I spoke to another IDIOT in the office the next day, she at least apologized, but she was also kind of obtuse and dumb. They would have had me sleep in my car on a cold night. Dr Steele, HIRE BETTER STAFF. I worked in the Medical field for 20 years, and would have never treated anyone so callously. WAKE up yourself, Dr Steele. GET BETTER STAFF! read more

The lack of communication between this office and its patients is staggering at best. They frequently don't bother to notify my mom's sleep equipment carrier of changes; she was re-enrolled with this carrier who also frequently drops the ball with shipments (with out our knowledge or approval) ; and now, after inquiring why my mom hasn't had any equipment shipments since last September, I was told it was because she hadn't been seen by the Dr. We tried after her last appointment to make a future one and they told us not to bother. I phoned this week to get an appointment and was told a phone appointment would suffice. What time? I asked. We don't make actual appointments, was the reply. It will probably be some time in the afternoon. Since my mom can't hear, I have to be there to serve as interpreter...So I basically sat at her house all day, from 10am on, waiting for a phone call that never came. When I called the office...they had already gone home. If something had come up, I understand...but call me. read more