APLA Health Center, Long Beach

I love coming to my doctor appointments to see my doctor Jayne . She is absolutely amazing! Very helpful and caring. She is always wanting to help me with whatever is needed so I can have a healthy life. Everyone there is so nice , especially Logan at the front desk is always welcoming and very helpful. I highly recommend APLA Long Beach! Absolutely amazing!

Let me just say, I've had my ups and downs with this office. Everyone seems to try their best and is very nice. It's really good for us members of the alphabet Mafia, the LGBT community that is. But as a gay man I can tell you that they have never once asked me to do a pap smear or other tests, I often times have to request things. Are the providers knowledgeable? I would say the doctors here are a 3 out of 5 stars it seems like a lot of them come to this office as some sort of a stepping stone for them to complete their residency and then they leave. I once had to argue with a female provider who was declining testing my testosterone levels because it was after 10:00 a.m. and I literally had to question her motivation. I told her that I have been poking myself once a week with testosterone for over 7 years so exactly what does the location of the Moon and the Sun in the sky have to do with the level of hormones that I'm giving myself? It was annoying that I had to explain to her the way hormones work when you don't make your own the only source is from the injection and the day I came in was the day I needed to give myself my injection which means my hormones were at their lowest level, the time of day is irrelevant. She then proceeded to say that they would go ahead and test them 'this time'. So I had to correct her again and let her know that, no, if I want you to test my testosterone you'll do it anytime I ask you to because I am in charge of my healthcare, not you! I told her that she is simply a source of knowledge and education so I can make my own best decision for my body and my health care. I'm very Hands-On with my own health care an advocate for patients to take charge of their lives and not just do whatever the doctor says and nothing more or less. Mind you, the situation happened about 4 years ago. More recently, I was having some symptoms in my stomach of a particular bacteria and I was tested for it and it came back positive. The doctor told me what medications to take. After about 10 days on the meds, I expressed concern that I was either having side effects of the medication or signs of an opportunistic infection, the best thing he could do was refer me to an ear nose and throat doctor. Didn't seem to be interested in doing a differential diagnosis on a medication that he gave me as the prescriber. That tells me that he did not have enough education or information to be able to treat me and instead pushed me off on an ENT that I would have to wait a month to see. It really made me lose confidence in the medical staff here. As part of the treatment, it is standard procedure to add in an additional medication to help clear the bacteria but I was not suggested to do that at all, and I ended up going to another doctor's office to start primary care there. I explained to them all of the issues I was experiencing and it turns out my symptoms were likely ulceration in my mouth due to clarithromycin side effects. I have great insurance, it's $1,000 a month in fact for my PPO. The only reason I was ever coming here was because I wanted to be in a healthcare setting that understood issues to care for the health of members of the lgbtq community.

I had a great first experience with APLA, and I'm thankful we have an inclusive healthcare center in the center of Long Beach! The pre-arrival forms were the most comprehensive and all electronic that I've ever experienced, which is a HUGE benefit to quality of care. Check-in was flawless and quick because I'd completed all the forms online, beforehand. I also got lots of helpful reminders. Dr Mata was great! She's all business, efficient, listened to my needs, and nothing about my "adventurous" health history gave her any pause. It's great to have an LGBTQ-informed provider! And, she was able to pick up on a care-plan that was transferred from my doctor in TX. I'm already booked for follow-ups and it's nice to restart my care plan here with APLA!

AVOID. Terrible excuse for medical staff, doctor Alma (maybe her name) tried to convince me that a torn bicep tendon WASNT torn… my surgeon called her an idiot. That’s putting it lightly. The staff here failed to process an urgent referral - taking over a week to get me a qualified surgeon - and only then did I get one because I took over the process. I now have permanent partial loss of function in my left arm because the medical staff here are only concerned with pushing PREP and not actually helping with medically necessary procedures.

Absolutely fantastic! APLA has a great team, they were very friendly and knowledgeable. Kudos to Belinda and Dr. Santos for their service, I appreciated their kindness and care. Also, their PreP navigators are great! Unfortunately, I had to move away so I'll definitely miss them. I highly recommend APLA!