Best Cardiologist in Santa Maria, CA. And his associate are excellent in treating my brother.read more

Get Them Out Of The Dungeon…read more.. Pros: Well equipped. Reasonable scheduling. Reports ready in a day. Cons: Waiting room (currently in the basement) Ratings: - Overall: 4 - Front Desk: 5 - Waiting Area: 3 - Scheduling: 4 - Medical Assistants: 5 - Technicians: 5 - Scheduling: 4 - Doctors: 4 - Billing: 5 - Parking: 4 I've had periodic problems which might be related to heart issues...so my doctor referred me to Coastal Cardiology for diagnostic tests during the past 3 years - 2 echocardiograms and 1 nuclear stress test. Pros: - Location: Very good. On the outskirts of downtown SLO on the first floor of French Hospital. The lab where tests are conducted is in the basement, but they're scheduled to move to the 3rd floor in the spring of 2026. - Front Desk People: Busy but friendly. - Scheduling: Convenient. A popular place, but they do their best. I get online reminders a week in advance and haven't had the communication problems mentioned by others. - Medical Assistants: Fine. I've waited less than 15 minutes to be taken inside. - Technicians: No problems. They all seemed to be knowledgeable and able to answer most questions. - Doctors: Fine. I saw a different doctor during each appointment...Bandari (he's since moved into his own practice), Niku and Dennish. Dr. Dennish gave the most complete answers to questions. They won't say much unless you ask, but reports are ready in a day. - Billing: No problem so far. Medicare and my supplemental Medicare insurance (Blue Cross) has taken care of everything. - Parking: Sufficient. The lot around French Hospital is big, but there are lots of patients and visitors. Con: - Waiting Area: Okay. It's clean and uncluttered, but kind of dark since they're in the basement with no windows. From what I've gathered, Coastal Cardiology seems to be the best equipped cardiology diagnostic center in the area. Their upcoming move to the 3rd floor of French Hospital will get them out of the dungeon.

I wonder if the name change has anything to do with their previous poor reviews. It didn't help. I…read morehave the same experiences as I did a year ago. No one actually answers the phone, ever. If you get a call back it's a week after you left a message, if at all. The latest is that they call you and expect you to change your appointment at the drop of a hat. The doctor I have is pompous and arrogant. I'm not impressed with his work either. As soon as I get what I want from him, which is clearance for an elective surgery, I'm going cardiologist shopping.

Everyone is super nice all the time but I left around 3 voicemails and called a few times more…read moreduring the last week to get some questions answered. Never heard anything back.

Highly Recommend Coastal Cardiology! My mother was diagnosed with Congestive heart failure and we…read morewere afraid that we would loose her and my dad in the same year. We took her to Dr Bandari for a second opinion and switched to him on the spot. Dr Bandari and his staff are very caring and professional. Under his care for one year my mother is thriving! She has energy and we are grateful to him for all the blessings we can share with her.

My husband and I were shocked late last year when, without symptoms, we learned he had a birth…read moredefect and would need aortic valve replacement, requiring open-heart surgery. We feel extremely fortunate that he came to be in Dr. Bandari's care. Dr. Bandari is not only extremely talented and skilled, but his bedside manner is unsurpassed. He has a sense of humor when appropriate, and an amazing demeanor of care and concern. My husband has been seen by him probably ten times now, both before and after the surgery, and we have never felt rushed or that any question was stupid, and we have had a LOT of questions! His photo doesn't portray it, but he has such sincerity to him; a love and dedication for his profession. We had referrals for several top-notch cardiologists in our area, and chose Dr. Bandari because he is young. My husband is in his mid-fifties, and we wanted a doctor who would not be retiring too soon. We are so pleased with our decision.

From the owner: Dr. Armin Bandariread more

Efficiently run office with a comforting attention to customer service. Staff are kind, attentive,…read moreand focused. Dr. Canola, the cardiologist was also efficient like his support staff. Best of all, I could see how completely prepared he was. He clearly shows that he is a seasoned expert in his field.

Wow, the negative comments re; Dr. Ahmed and the Cottage Cardiology clinic - I can't believe they…read moreare the same place where I've been treated, with wonderful care. By Dr. Ahmed, and the whole staff.

Dr Holve is the best by far of all the cardiologists I have been too, and that is quite a few. He…read morelistened and carefully and thoughtfully answered all of my questions, including some lingering questions that were not answered by previous cardiologists. He is up to date on the latest research and is quite knowledgeable on nutrition. My consultation with him was about the best I have had with any doctor.

June 22: Update: Kudos to the Quality Care Advocate at Cottage, Karen, who, when made aware of our…read morecase, helped us get the process unstuck and is working with the radiology team at Cottage to ensure this doesn't happen to others. Snaps also go to Sutter Health Patient Advocate, Aaron, who responded to my yelp posting and offered to help even though Sutter Health has no administrative connection to Cottage. Doesn't change my 1-star rating for Holve though as the damage is done.

Dr. Gidney has helped my spouse with ablation for A-Fib in September 2014 and just yesterday for…read morePVC events, which are a different issue. I would really recommend Dr. Gidney. He is one of the top specialists in quite a large area. As far as that "1-star" review. They should know better to call 911 when they are having chest pains that radiate down their arm.

When I look at a review, I start with 1 stars, weed out the ridiculous stuff and see if there is a…read moreconsistent pattern for the 1 star review. I'm writing this review because I can see someone else had issues that appear to be valid. I had a dual chamber pacemaker implanted last fall. I met with Dr. Gidney who answered some questions and seemed personable to me. I also have hiked with a retired cardiologist who spoke positively of him, but wasn't aware that he was doing pacemakers. Dr. Gidney did tell me that the implant would be hardly noticeable which has definitely not been the case for me because I am not overweight and in good shape. In fact, and this is going to sound crazy, but I was awake when he did the procedure, being fed sedatives intravenously, no gas, and listening to the talk from the technicians who all really seemed competent to me and knew what they were doing. I believe they were Cottage hospital employees. At one point during the procedure I heard Dr. Gidney say somethig, not the exact words perhaps, like "This isn't going well" and getting really frustrated. I am guessing it had to do with getting the pacemaker implanted and getting the skin surrounding it to stitch up properly. And this is really the main issue, the skin hasn't healed properly and when I went into their office and told the NP she said it was all fine. Another review mentioned how cold these people are, this NP was no exception. She struck me as really inexperienced as well. I showed her stitches that weren't dissolving and she said they were a scab. At 71, I have had a few stitiches and my life and can certainly tell the difference. This woman in my opinion was imcompetent. There are 3 doctors in my family so I don't say this without that support. Recently the PA at the dermatologist office also noted the spot where the skin wasn't healing and still scabbed during a skin check and thought there wa something going on underneath and susggested I contact them, I would have but they fired me for calling out the NP inability to assist me and suggesting that she wasn't competent. I can't speak to the other procedures this Dr. performs, but I would definitely not get a pacemaker implanted by him or deal with anyone in his office. They truly are coldhearted and not competent at what they do.

I was sent to see the lizard about 2 years ago by my primary care physician. I was not happy with…read morethe pill pushing little shrimp. his bedside manner stinks he's arrogant condescending rude doesn't listen to your concerns and walks out of the room when you're explaining your concerns. he ran a few tests on me told me my heart was strong and fine but my cholesterol was high and tried to push a statin on me I refused to take statins he became very annoyed. I left his office and went to see Dr wischman in Templeton. after several tests they discovered I had a 99% blocked artery and had a stent put in. then they discovered i needed open heart surgery to repair a wide open mitravalve. Dr Perry in Pismo performed the surgery at French hospital.. Dr Perry Dr wischman Dr Doria saved my life. the lizard only wanted me to take pills in 3 years I would have died.stay away from the lizard he's not a good cardiologist. I heard pill pushing doctors make a bundle from big pharma by loading patients up on pills.

Joel Lardizabal is a mediocre cardiologist. I showed up on time, waited in the lobby for 30…read moreminutes, had a medical assistant take my vitals, waited another 20 minutes (literally!) then spoke to Lardizabal for maybe 5 minutes-- an hour after my scheduled appointment (that I was on time for! My health was taken for what it was worth to Joel Lardizabal as an insurance payment on to write off from his calendar list. He didn't answer any of my questions, and when he did it was minimizing and vague in a way that would most quickly get me out of the office. He refused to even tell me what symptoms I should watch out for, looking at me like a petty infant and even refusing to answer as he pushed me out the door back into the lobby. He wouldn't tell me one thing that was practical, and even ventures into telling me that monitoring my own heart rate at any point was a waste of time and "those number don't mean a thing. Don't even look at them. " Lardizabal spoke in vague generalities purposed to keep me quiet and get me out of the office so I could schedule another appointment to grant him another payment from my insurance. I have a serious medical history with heart issues that runs deep in my family, and have had serious cardiac events myself within the last 5 years. I highly highly recommend going elsewhere if you have the option. Even if it means traveling. Joel Lardizabal provides despicable medical treatment, and it makes me sick to my stomach that there is no other cardiologists around to see me and my beloved family members for our serious issues.

While on a trip to Nevada the last part of November, 2015, I made the mistake of drinking from a…read morebottle of water that had been stored in our travel trailer. Two days later I started having severe diarrhea which didn't let up. Upon returning home I contacted my primary doctor and they checked out my blood and stool sample. They didn't find anything and recommended I see a specialist. I made an appointment with Dr. Nastaskin but, unfortunately, had to wait several weeks to get in to see him. Last week, I had such a bad day that I called his office and left a message that I was in pretty bad shape. He called me back and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic which worked a miracle! I kept my appointment (today) and couldn't thank Dr. Nastaskin enough for giving me back my life. I would have understood if he had not prescribed medication before seeing me, but he listened to what I was saying on the phone and knew exactly what I needed. Because of his kindness/professionalism I am 100% better and can't say enough good things about this doctor. If you ever have issues like I had, he's the guy to see!!

Not good!! Assembly line doctors office, they don't care and they don't work your insurance!!read more