Dr. Rahel Teferi Ruiz

Dr. Rahel T. Ruiz and Hill health are both unprofessional and her lack of understanding of whole health is mind baffling to me. She is absolutely the worst in patient care. At Hill health Dr Careen Whitley, over sees all the doctors and she suggest that we go to another office vs fixing the problems and also said a few times that there are understaff and can't do what needs to be done. She didn't want to correct Ruiz and this make me worry that the whole office corrupt and billing medicare for unnecessary office visit.

Dr Ruiz makes rounds at several nursing facilities in the Bay Area. She is inadequately trained to be caring for seniors as she appears to 'go through the motions' in order to file a claim with Medicare. Nursing home staffs hate her, she doesn't get along with ancillary companies (home health providers, hospice care, dme providers). I can't, for the life of me, figure out why nursing facilities continue to use her. Her bedside manner is abhorrent, and she flies off the handle and has a temper tantrum whenever a question (no matter how benign) is asked to her. She would be better suited working as a collections bureau agent than as a physician.

Dr. Ruiz had charge of my 88-year-old father who is in hospice care at Piedmont Gardens Skilled Nursing Center. My father has severe chronic pain and age-related dementia. He needs to be sufficiently medicated to control these symptoms, so that he does not injure himself. He also wears a urostomy pouch that needs to be changed in the proper way, or his skin will break down. Dr. Ruiz did not take enough time to communicate with me. She did not address my concerns about making sure his pouch was changed in the proper way. She did not notify me when she was making changes to my father's medication. Finally I told her I would prefer that the hospice doctor take charge of controlling my father's symptoms. She responded, "Well then you'll have to find yourself another doctor because I don't work that way." She asked why I wanted to make that change, and I told her I thought she was rigid and impersonal. I was about to give examples, but she interrupted me and said, "You know what? … I AM rigid and impersonal, and you need to find yourself another doctor." And she hung up on me. She did this at 5:30 on a Friday night when it is not possible to find another doctor. To talk this way to the daughter and only caretaker of a man in hospice care is unconsciounable. She did not tell me to call Piedmont Gardens and that they would assign another physician; she said "You will have to find another doctor." For her to put this responsibility on me, with no offer of a referral, is patient abandonment, which is against the law. Fortunately I was able to find the admissions director at Piedmont Gardens (luckly she was still there after 5:30 that Friday) and she did assign another doctor, but this was done through no help from Dr. Ruiz. Her response was incredibly unprofessional.

Dr. Ruiz has no staff and submits claims her self BUT lacks knowledge and understanding of the claims process. While I cannot complain about Dr. Ruiz's medical care it is her lack of professionalism and defensive manner that I took offense to.