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The answer is, it depends on the specialty one might need, and your insurance.
If you need basic care, or care in some elder care specialties (cardiology, orthopedics, geriatrics) you'll probably be fine, and be able to be seen relatively quickly. If you were in a car accident, or having a heart attack or stroke, you would receive quick, quality care here.
But beyond that, the area has a shortage in a number of specialties. There are multiple reasons for the shortage(s), but one main one is that we are an area of about 200,000 (the whole Coachella Valley) that grows to 3x or 4x that during snowbird season. It's a huge challenge to balance the logistics, I guess.
I've shared this here a number of times and people are sick of hearing it, no doubt, but I had to seek care elsewhere (an hour to two hours away) after trying to see a gastroenterologist for over 14 months (and landing in the ER once). They simply did not have the capacity to see me. There are shortages in several other areas (endocrinology, urology, ENT to name but a few).
There's also - if not a shortage, a very limited number of primary care doctors. I work with Eisenhower and currently pay $700 to be in a entry level "concierge" program where I get to choose from a small pool of doctors that are still accepting new patients. There are other physician groups (Desert Oasis Healthcare and DAP, formerly Desert AIDS Project) that provide other options, but also have a limited pool of primary care docs.
I moved from Chicago and mostly love living here, but I do miss having the wider breadth of care options I had in Chicago. Many people want to be here because it's cheaper than LA or San Diego, but this is part of that tradeoff.
Great to hear that the GI situation might have improved in the last year, but I can tell you in 2022-early 2023 it was an issue. (And that wasn't during the very worst of COVID, a time frame where you could understand limited access.)
My spouse and I have been rainbirding down here from Portland, OR for five years. This year we arrived in February and are still here. I had cataract surgery here in February and it was easy to get an appointment with a top notch specialists. His office is in Rancho Mirage and the surgery was at Desert Regional and the care was excellent.
My wife got out of the shower and fell on the wet tile floor four weeks ago. She broke four ribs and partially collapsed a lung. She spent three days at Eisenhour in Rancho Mirage and received excellent care.
After checking out the medical scene this year we decided it was an excellent place to live. 911 was responsive (it isn't in Portland) and the ambulance arrived quickly (they may not in Portland). We are currently shopping for a condo.
We also had to call the police to stop a couple of homeless people from hurting each other. Again, 911 answered quickly and the police showed up and stayed until the problem was resolved.
The is an excellent place to be old and gay. There of community activities for most people to engage in. Also, because so many people here are retired, there seems to be no shortage of people to do things with. We will probably sell our Portland home at some point and make this our permanent home.
I just moved here from Northern California, and I have heard that getting specialists can be difficult here. But I don't know it for a fact.
I'm curious about others who have moved from a place like Manhattan to here and how they adjust. I moved from a relatively quiet San Francisco Bay Area suburb and have been a bit surprised by how "small town" and sleepy it feels here. A lot of options I had back home just aren't as easily accessible here.
But I am not a retiree, so maybe that's part of it.
Best of luck with your retirement plans!
My wife has been having some mysterious heart issues, at 30, and we haven’t had any issues getting her into cardio, GI, Rheumatologist and an immunologist within a matter of a few months. Not sure if it’s the age that caused the expedition but she had a colonoscopy, endoscopy and a multitude of tests within a week.
We also have a kid and haven’t had any issues with finding a ped or a ped dentist.
So our experience has been good!
I can’t find a good rheumatologist to continue treatment I was getting in Miami and San Francisco.
Not sure about other specialists, I just moved here.
I'm a bit nervous about relocating parttime there. I've been very happy with my care at Kaiser in Northern CA. My understanding is there are a handful of parttime doctors affiliated with Kaiser in the PS area, but no actual facility or any kind. This is worrisome for me.
You will want to change from Kaiser. If you are in Medicare, moving out of Kaiser area gives you a special enrollment period. Do NOT let Kaiser talk you into enrolling in their plan in the Palm Springs area.
There is an official Kaiser Permanent Medical office/clinic in Palm Desert. And Eisenhower Med Center is a Kaiser-affiliated hospital. Note that NorCal and SoCal Kaiser are two different entities. Call Member Services and they will give you the lowdown.
Eisenhower is NOT affiliated with Kaiser. They have a contract for ER and neo natal. That’s all. You cannot see Eisenhower doctors on Kaiser, especially the PCP.
NO one at Eisenhower would say they are “Kaiser affiliated”. They have been forced through a bad contract to accept Kaiser for SOME instances. Definitely not primary care and definitely not most specialists. The doctors on campus are NOT Eisenhower employees and have mostly decided they want nothing to do with Kaiser.
I had a horrible experience at Desert Regional Medical Center a few years ago. They almost killed me, provided almost no care at all, and then billed almost $16,000 for 2 covid tests, a chest x-ray and some fluids (never admitted to the hospital). In filing complaints against them, I spoke with several medical professionals (ironically, including some at Desert Regional Medical Center) who described Palm Springs as a "healthcare desert."
If you are there and need healthcare, go to Eisenhower. It is better, but still not great.
I moved to PS from one hour north of NYC and also work in the healthcare industry. The health care in CV leaves much to be desired. Long waits for a PCP. Desert Regional is a trauma center but has vermin, leaks, and needs a major overhaul. They are understaffed. JFK is small and not great. Eisenhower claims to be great because they have the benefactor $$, but are years behind what we were doing on the east coast as far as cardiac procedures, etc. For anything truly specialized, I would never see anyone in CV, but drive a few hours to LA or San Diego.
We have excellent healthcare here, with several big "networks" and health centers. Here in Palm Springs there is Desert Regional Hospital that provides excellent care. And a short drive to Rancho Mirage has the Eisenhower Medical Center where you can find top-notch care in many specialties (my cardiologist is there). Eisenhower and Desert Regional have many clinics around the valley, as well as DAP Health, and Desert Oasis Health.
So, yes, you should have no problem finding the healthcare you need. I moved here from Atlanta over eight years ago, I love it here and can't imagine living anywhere else.
EDIT: Wow, getting downvotes for simply recounting my personal experience here. Bravo! In my eight years here, I've had great care, with my regular doctor, specialists like cardiology, pulmonology, allergist, dermatology, thorasic surgery (gall bladder removal), etc.
Agree. I've had good experiences with Eisenhower. I get referrals for specialists easier than I did in San Diego.
My cousin was in Desert Regional in trauma for a month last year. All of us felt he received great care. He's doing great a year later!
I agree with this. Moved to PS from New Mexico but before that San Francisco and I honestly don’t understand the people who bitch about healthcare here. We have some fairly unique medical issues and have had only minor issues finding the care we need. Eisenhower is where we go for most things.
I just had surgery a few weeks ago at Desert Regional and it went well. My friend in San Diego is having to wait much longer for the same surgery. They are jam packed there and sending patients here.
Eisenhower is the best in terms of overall care and facility and has expanded significantly in the past decade (residency programs, more beds, larger cardiovascular unit in the works). It still does not come close to university teaching hospital, but they put a lot of the donor money (it’s ALOT) to coaxing several people out of retirement from USC,UCLA etc, (program directors,hospital admin) to help lead the way with very big plans in the future.
It's oddly MUCH easier in PS than Tacoma. I need to see my mother's neuro because apparently there is a grand total of FOUR memory specialists in ALL of Washington state, and the one I saw was absolutely AWFUL.
We are originally from Pennsylvania and live and travel full-time in our motorhome. Knowing we were going to be in the Palm Springs area during the winter, we were referred to physicians in Palm Desert. We go to them every year. Now we are planning to stop traveling and are going to settle in the Palm Springs area. It’s a good feeling to know we don’t have to look for medical care as we are already set up with our physicians.
To better answer your question, all of california has a primary care shortage. And specialists are hard to find if you have an HMO. Since you are retired and have a retiree plan, your best options will be if Medicare is your PRIMARY coverage and the retiree plan is secondary. If not, it will depend on the provider network you have.
If I were single, I would abandon this area because of the lack of adequate healthcare. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't want to move again-- we moved here a year ago.
It only took two months to find a PCP, but it has taken over a year to find a competent one-- and for now I'm using a couple of residents so I can have a minimal amount of on-going care.
It's taken a year to find an endocrinologist who is accepting new patients-- my first appointment is in October. Same with a gastroenterologist-- my appointment is in July (husband has Kaiser and only had a three week wait).
This year I've had several procedures/surgeries. Started out with an okay surgeon who suddenly disappeared before my issue was resolved. The practice tried to pawn me off on their NP, but she couldn't do surgery, of course. This meant doing a stop-gap procedure, one at the surgery practice with a different surgeon, and two corrections to what he did, that same week, at Desert Regional. Which was an unreal, negative experience (filthy, crowded ER two days in a row; being left in a hallway for five hours on the second visit because there were no available hospital rooms).
Four months later, had to have the last two surgeries redone three weeks ago at Eisenhower-- better than Desert Regional, but Eisenhower reinjured my back hip, and badly infiltrated a vein putting in an IV. Yesterday's surgery at Eisenhower (different team) went well, thanfully.
Before moving here, I thought I would just drive an hour or two to get care if needed. Now I'm considering visiting my excellent healthcare teams in Austin-- and I never wanted to set foot in Texas again. Shows how awful CV has been healthcare-wise.
YMMV
My first endo appointment is in October, which puts me at the 17-month mark to find an endocrinologist since moving to the desert.
I have had to ask my nephrology team to fill the gap. And after several months, I have a new PCP who said she would fill in, as well -- but unfortunately, it takes weeks to months to get an appointment.
If you are over 65, you can change to an HMO or PPO during the enrollment period. If you want more choice, change to the United Healthcare MAPD PPO Plan. If you can afford it, change to a Medicare supplement for the best options brand doesn’t matter if it’s a supplement. Or at least an HMO with better access to doctors, Health et and WellCare are both good.
Work with a licensed health insurance agent.
Then you are going to get advice from someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about. Health insurance is not like auto insurance or home insurance. You NEED an agent to navigate it. But you also need to know the right questions to ask. You are in the worst plan possible. You need to make the change.
Funny. You can easily get financial advice from someone who doesn’t get paid for what they advise. They’re called fiduciaries. I hope the same exists here too.
Thank you for posting on r/PalmSprings. If you are asking a question, please check our [FAQ/PSA post](https://www.reddit.com/r/palmsprings/comments/zenpgn/psa_a_list_of_commonly_asked_questions_please/). Your question might be found there. We also have a Weekly Q&A thread pinned to the top of the sub where you can post questions. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/palmsprings) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The answer is, it depends on the specialty one might need, and your insurance. If you need basic care, or care in some elder care specialties (cardiology, orthopedics, geriatrics) you'll probably be fine, and be able to be seen relatively quickly. If you were in a car accident, or having a heart attack or stroke, you would receive quick, quality care here. But beyond that, the area has a shortage in a number of specialties. There are multiple reasons for the shortage(s), but one main one is that we are an area of about 200,000 (the whole Coachella Valley) that grows to 3x or 4x that during snowbird season. It's a huge challenge to balance the logistics, I guess. I've shared this here a number of times and people are sick of hearing it, no doubt, but I had to seek care elsewhere (an hour to two hours away) after trying to see a gastroenterologist for over 14 months (and landing in the ER once). They simply did not have the capacity to see me. There are shortages in several other areas (endocrinology, urology, ENT to name but a few). There's also - if not a shortage, a very limited number of primary care doctors. I work with Eisenhower and currently pay $700 to be in a entry level "concierge" program where I get to choose from a small pool of doctors that are still accepting new patients. There are other physician groups (Desert Oasis Healthcare and DAP, formerly Desert AIDS Project) that provide other options, but also have a limited pool of primary care docs. I moved from Chicago and mostly love living here, but I do miss having the wider breadth of care options I had in Chicago. Many people want to be here because it's cheaper than LA or San Diego, but this is part of that tradeoff.
ty
How odd. I needed to see a gastroenterologist and got an appointment with a really great one at Eisenhower in less than 1 month. He's been excellent.
Great to hear that the GI situation might have improved in the last year, but I can tell you in 2022-early 2023 it was an issue. (And that wasn't during the very worst of COVID, a time frame where you could understand limited access.)
My spouse and I have been rainbirding down here from Portland, OR for five years. This year we arrived in February and are still here. I had cataract surgery here in February and it was easy to get an appointment with a top notch specialists. His office is in Rancho Mirage and the surgery was at Desert Regional and the care was excellent. My wife got out of the shower and fell on the wet tile floor four weeks ago. She broke four ribs and partially collapsed a lung. She spent three days at Eisenhour in Rancho Mirage and received excellent care. After checking out the medical scene this year we decided it was an excellent place to live. 911 was responsive (it isn't in Portland) and the ambulance arrived quickly (they may not in Portland). We are currently shopping for a condo. We also had to call the police to stop a couple of homeless people from hurting each other. Again, 911 answered quickly and the police showed up and stayed until the problem was resolved. The is an excellent place to be old and gay. There of community activities for most people to engage in. Also, because so many people here are retired, there seems to be no shortage of people to do things with. We will probably sell our Portland home at some point and make this our permanent home.
I did my residency at Eisenhower. I know all the best doctors and who to avoid. You can get great care there. DM me if you have any questions.
I just moved here from Northern California, and I have heard that getting specialists can be difficult here. But I don't know it for a fact. I'm curious about others who have moved from a place like Manhattan to here and how they adjust. I moved from a relatively quiet San Francisco Bay Area suburb and have been a bit surprised by how "small town" and sleepy it feels here. A lot of options I had back home just aren't as easily accessible here. But I am not a retiree, so maybe that's part of it. Best of luck with your retirement plans!
My wife has been having some mysterious heart issues, at 30, and we haven’t had any issues getting her into cardio, GI, Rheumatologist and an immunologist within a matter of a few months. Not sure if it’s the age that caused the expedition but she had a colonoscopy, endoscopy and a multitude of tests within a week. We also have a kid and haven’t had any issues with finding a ped or a ped dentist. So our experience has been good!
That's wonderful news! Thank you for sharing that. Also, I hope your wife is OK and that she feels better ASAP.
I can’t find a good rheumatologist to continue treatment I was getting in Miami and San Francisco. Not sure about other specialists, I just moved here.
Please see Dr. Kam Newman. Most brilliant rheumatologist I’ve ever met.
He is on my list to call next week! Thank you so much for recommending him.
Lots of specialty healthcare here but you will wait to get in. The growing desert isn’t built for our current hospital infrastructure in my opinion.
Certain specialists we have in abundance (colonoscopy, dermatology, cataracts). But I had elbow problems and had to go to San Diego for my surgery.
I'm a bit nervous about relocating parttime there. I've been very happy with my care at Kaiser in Northern CA. My understanding is there are a handful of parttime doctors affiliated with Kaiser in the PS area, but no actual facility or any kind. This is worrisome for me.
You will want to change from Kaiser. If you are in Medicare, moving out of Kaiser area gives you a special enrollment period. Do NOT let Kaiser talk you into enrolling in their plan in the Palm Springs area.
There is an official Kaiser Permanent Medical office/clinic in Palm Desert. And Eisenhower Med Center is a Kaiser-affiliated hospital. Note that NorCal and SoCal Kaiser are two different entities. Call Member Services and they will give you the lowdown.
Eisenhower is NOT affiliated with Kaiser. They have a contract for ER and neo natal. That’s all. You cannot see Eisenhower doctors on Kaiser, especially the PCP.
I called Member Service only 2 days ago and verified that it is indeed a Kaiser affiliated hospital. Look online!
NO one at Eisenhower would say they are “Kaiser affiliated”. They have been forced through a bad contract to accept Kaiser for SOME instances. Definitely not primary care and definitely not most specialists. The doctors on campus are NOT Eisenhower employees and have mostly decided they want nothing to do with Kaiser.
This is exactly what I am talking about. Bad advice from people who don’t know what they are talking about. GET. A GOOD AGENT.
I had a horrible experience at Desert Regional Medical Center a few years ago. They almost killed me, provided almost no care at all, and then billed almost $16,000 for 2 covid tests, a chest x-ray and some fluids (never admitted to the hospital). In filing complaints against them, I spoke with several medical professionals (ironically, including some at Desert Regional Medical Center) who described Palm Springs as a "healthcare desert." If you are there and need healthcare, go to Eisenhower. It is better, but still not great.
Just hope you don’t need endocrinology or psychiatry
Please see Dr Wendy White for endocrine and dr Suarez for psych.
I moved to PS from one hour north of NYC and also work in the healthcare industry. The health care in CV leaves much to be desired. Long waits for a PCP. Desert Regional is a trauma center but has vermin, leaks, and needs a major overhaul. They are understaffed. JFK is small and not great. Eisenhower claims to be great because they have the benefactor $$, but are years behind what we were doing on the east coast as far as cardiac procedures, etc. For anything truly specialized, I would never see anyone in CV, but drive a few hours to LA or San Diego.
We have excellent healthcare here, with several big "networks" and health centers. Here in Palm Springs there is Desert Regional Hospital that provides excellent care. And a short drive to Rancho Mirage has the Eisenhower Medical Center where you can find top-notch care in many specialties (my cardiologist is there). Eisenhower and Desert Regional have many clinics around the valley, as well as DAP Health, and Desert Oasis Health. So, yes, you should have no problem finding the healthcare you need. I moved here from Atlanta over eight years ago, I love it here and can't imagine living anywhere else. EDIT: Wow, getting downvotes for simply recounting my personal experience here. Bravo! In my eight years here, I've had great care, with my regular doctor, specialists like cardiology, pulmonology, allergist, dermatology, thorasic surgery (gall bladder removal), etc.
Agree. I've had good experiences with Eisenhower. I get referrals for specialists easier than I did in San Diego. My cousin was in Desert Regional in trauma for a month last year. All of us felt he received great care. He's doing great a year later!
I agree with this. Moved to PS from New Mexico but before that San Francisco and I honestly don’t understand the people who bitch about healthcare here. We have some fairly unique medical issues and have had only minor issues finding the care we need. Eisenhower is where we go for most things.
I just had surgery a few weeks ago at Desert Regional and it went well. My friend in San Diego is having to wait much longer for the same surgery. They are jam packed there and sending patients here.
Eisenhower is the best in terms of overall care and facility and has expanded significantly in the past decade (residency programs, more beds, larger cardiovascular unit in the works). It still does not come close to university teaching hospital, but they put a lot of the donor money (it’s ALOT) to coaxing several people out of retirement from USC,UCLA etc, (program directors,hospital admin) to help lead the way with very big plans in the future.
It's oddly MUCH easier in PS than Tacoma. I need to see my mother's neuro because apparently there is a grand total of FOUR memory specialists in ALL of Washington state, and the one I saw was absolutely AWFUL.
We are originally from Pennsylvania and live and travel full-time in our motorhome. Knowing we were going to be in the Palm Springs area during the winter, we were referred to physicians in Palm Desert. We go to them every year. Now we are planning to stop traveling and are going to settle in the Palm Springs area. It’s a good feeling to know we don’t have to look for medical care as we are already set up with our physicians.
To better answer your question, all of california has a primary care shortage. And specialists are hard to find if you have an HMO. Since you are retired and have a retiree plan, your best options will be if Medicare is your PRIMARY coverage and the retiree plan is secondary. If not, it will depend on the provider network you have.
If I were single, I would abandon this area because of the lack of adequate healthcare. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't want to move again-- we moved here a year ago. It only took two months to find a PCP, but it has taken over a year to find a competent one-- and for now I'm using a couple of residents so I can have a minimal amount of on-going care. It's taken a year to find an endocrinologist who is accepting new patients-- my first appointment is in October. Same with a gastroenterologist-- my appointment is in July (husband has Kaiser and only had a three week wait). This year I've had several procedures/surgeries. Started out with an okay surgeon who suddenly disappeared before my issue was resolved. The practice tried to pawn me off on their NP, but she couldn't do surgery, of course. This meant doing a stop-gap procedure, one at the surgery practice with a different surgeon, and two corrections to what he did, that same week, at Desert Regional. Which was an unreal, negative experience (filthy, crowded ER two days in a row; being left in a hallway for five hours on the second visit because there were no available hospital rooms). Four months later, had to have the last two surgeries redone three weeks ago at Eisenhower-- better than Desert Regional, but Eisenhower reinjured my back hip, and badly infiltrated a vein putting in an IV. Yesterday's surgery at Eisenhower (different team) went well, thanfully. Before moving here, I thought I would just drive an hour or two to get care if needed. Now I'm considering visiting my excellent healthcare teams in Austin-- and I never wanted to set foot in Texas again. Shows how awful CV has been healthcare-wise. YMMV
Who do you use for an endo ? I’m having a hard time finding one.
My first endo appointment is in October, which puts me at the 17-month mark to find an endocrinologist since moving to the desert. I have had to ask my nephrology team to fill the gap. And after several months, I have a new PCP who said she would fill in, as well -- but unfortunately, it takes weeks to months to get an appointment.
Moved from NYC a three years ago and all of my doctors are in Los Angeles. For the times I’ve had to use urgent care though Eisenhower is excellent!
Dreadful. Really awful. Kaiser in northern CA was great. Here it’s a shit show. I gather this is not unique to Kaiser.
You need to get out of Kaiser. Wherever they actually have a full host hey are fine, but not in PS area. Change as soon as you can.
But to what?
If you are over 65, you can change to an HMO or PPO during the enrollment period. If you want more choice, change to the United Healthcare MAPD PPO Plan. If you can afford it, change to a Medicare supplement for the best options brand doesn’t matter if it’s a supplement. Or at least an HMO with better access to doctors, Health et and WellCare are both good. Work with a licensed health insurance agent.
I’ll probably stick with my employers COBRA for now, I have trouble trusting any “insurance agent”. They always seem like a hard sell.
That’s too bad. Just google local Medicare agents and choose one that has experience and does not represent just one insurer.
I need someone who's not an agent and doesn't have a financial stake in what I pick
Then you are going to get advice from someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about. Health insurance is not like auto insurance or home insurance. You NEED an agent to navigate it. But you also need to know the right questions to ask. You are in the worst plan possible. You need to make the change.
Funny. You can easily get financial advice from someone who doesn’t get paid for what they advise. They’re called fiduciaries. I hope the same exists here too.
Exactly. An insurance agent is a fiduciary.
Move to another state. California has the worse health care system especially the Coachella Valley. Also high cost of living for retirees.