Emmanual Convalescent Hospital

Pros

• The midwives were amazing and highly recommended.
• The hospital experience was excellent, with reasonable ER wait times and wonderful nurses.
• Nurse Keen was super attentive, respectful, and very patient.
• Hitome was incredibly attentive and thoughtful; Shari was warm-hearted and kind; Dave provided great support during the pushing stage.
• Arlene from the Mother-Baby Unit offered organized, thorough, and compassionate care that made a big difference.
• Suzane, the lactation consultant, provided professional guidance and practical advice on breastfeeding.
• The nurses who assisted with labor and discharge were amazing and highly competent.
• Dr. Sandra Lee, the pediatrician, was very thorough and eased concerns.
• The ER staff were incredible from check-in to discharge.

Cons

• The billing department charged exorbitant amounts (e.g., $11K for 5 minutes in the ER and $12K for the L&D room) with no clear justification.
• The billing team refused to explain charges and closed the chat, making them feel the system is criminal.
• An ER visit at Los Gatos resulted in a $3,000 bill for about 3 minutes of contact plus a COVID test, which they view as indefensible.
• Dr. Monaco was disrespectful to the reviewer's 85-year-old mother, causing additional distress.
• The patient-experience team failed to follow up and offered no accountability, described as a joke.
• The ER and bathroom facilities were dirty and cramped, indicating poor maintenance.
• The Mother-Baby Unit did not match the high level of care seen in the L&D unit, with inconsistent communication.
• They strongly advise others to avoid this hospital.

Review

The collection of experiences from El Camino Hospital Los Gatos paints a picture of a facility with real strengths in its maternity care and nursing staff, alongside persistent and troubling concerns about emergency access, billing practices, and how patient concerns are handled by the hospital's experience teams. Across the reviews, many new mothers sing high praises for the midwives, lactation consultants, and delivery room nurses, while simultaneously recounting frustrations with the way some departments operate, communicate, and bill for care.

Several accounts highlight exceptionally positive maternity care. In labor and delivery, the nurses are repeatedly described as attentive, skilled, and patient-centered. Families alike credit midwives and delivery nurses for guiding them through the birthing process with competence and warmth. Hitome is singled out for attentiveness and thoughtfulness, Shari for warmth and kindness, and Dave for giving strong support during pushing. The lactation team - especially Cherie, who is noted for professional guidance - receives explicit gratitude for helping new mothers start breastfeeding. In one review, the pediatrician Dr. Sandra Lee is described as thorough and reassuring, contributing to a generally positive impression of the clinical team during and after birth. Even when some constraints are noted, such as a small postpartum room or calls for improved room comfort, the overall sentiment about the maternity care team remains favorable, with the staff repeatedly described as competent, caring, and supportive.

Yet the same body of reviews juxtaposes those positive maternity experiences with serious concerns that spill over into other parts of the hospital experience. One story describes a delivery that occurred under unusual and stressful circumstances: during specific hours, doors to the L&D entrance were supposedly locked, forcing an arrival through the emergency room. The patient was in labor, delivered in an ER-adjacent space with the L&D nurses stepping in to assist shortly after arrival, and then transitioned to a dedicated L&D room for the remainder of care. The billing that followed this birth was steep and contentious - $11,000 for merely five minutes in the ER and $12,000 for the L&D suite, plus a separate $6,000 nursery charge for a newborn who reportedly did not require nursery services. The patient contends that there was no IV and the birth was unmedicated, and that the billing department refused to explain these charges and blocked further dialogue. This experience fosters a sense of outrage about billing and about the hospital's transparency and responsiveness to questions.

There is also critique about communication and consistency among clinicians. A mother recounts that doctors did not communicate with each other, leaving her to hear different instructions from new doctors each day, and describes an interaction with Dr. Monaco as disrespectful to her elderly mother. This account underscores a broader concern in the reviews: while individual clinicians can be capable and compassionate, the system-wide flow of information between physicians, residents, and the patient's family can be inconsistent or disjointed, leading to confusion and anxiety during what is already a stressful time.

Another thread in the reviews centers on postpartum care and the perceived gap between the care in labor and delivery versus the Mother-Baby Unit. While praised for the nurses and lactation support, several reviewers note that the Mother-Baby experience did not always live up to the standard set by the L&D team. Some reviewers describe the overnight and postpartum environment as cramped, with beds and space that could be more comfortable for both mothers and partners, and they mention efficient nursing care but with fewer instances of the same level of warmth or attentiveness found in the labor and delivery unit.

The patient experience and billing processes emerge as a recurring source of frustration. One reviewer describes a two-month lag before the patient experience team responded, only to have Andrew, the patient experience representative, tell them that the role is not to care for the patient directly but to relay feedback to clinicians. The sentiment conveyed is one of disappointment and accountability gaps, with references to unreturned calls and debt-collection actions following a large ER bill after a brief encounter. A separate account quotes a simple, costly ER visit - three minutes of conversation and a COVID test - that resulted in a $3,000 bill, with little to no follow-up from the patient experience team. Taken together, these anecdotes illustrate a broader dissatisfaction with the hospital's willingness or ability to provide clear explanations, timely responses, and meaningful resolution when patients seek help or dispute charges.

Amid these themes, several reviewers share sharply negative experiences that focus on the ER and on specific interactions with staff. Some patients describe long wait times in the ER, a front-desk triage process that felt inappropriate or inefficient, and a care environment that could feel cramped or chaotic. One person calls the ER experience slow and the patient experience team ineffective, while another describes a situation in which a nurse and a doctor provided what they regarded as substandard care and violated patient rights by leaving conditions untreated and discharging against the patient's will. These accounts underscore a real tension: the hospital can deliver high-quality, compassionate maternity care and supportive lactation services, yet simultaneously fall short in other areas that affect overall patient satisfaction, trust, and perceived safety.

Despite the negative notes, there are also reviews that reflect strong satisfaction with the ER and emergency care at times. Some patients report timely admissions, courteous intake, and a general sense of relief when the ER staff were attentive and capable. There are expressions of gratitude for specific ER professionals who went above and beyond, and a few accounts that describe positive, efficient care in urgent situations. This range of experiences illustrates that El Camino Hospital Los Gatos is capable of delivering excellent, patient-centered care - particularly in maternity services - while also contending with variability in emergency department operations, patient communication, and the administrative aspects of care.

In sum, the hospital emerges as a place of dual realities. On one hand, it is praised for the compassion, skill, and dedication of its maternity care team, lactation consultants, and pediatric specialists, with many patients feeling genuinely cared for during labor, delivery, and postnatal recovery. On the other hand, the same reviews reveal significant concerns about the ER's logistical flow, the consistency and clarity of doctor communication, and the handling of billing and patient experience matters. The recurring call is for improved transparency, more cohesive interdepartmental communication, more responsive patient experience support, and a hospital-wide commitment to aligning the high-caliber maternity care with equally reliable care and communication across all hospital services. If these improvements can be realized, the hospital's strong points - its midwives, nurses, lactation specialists, and pediatric team - could be complemented by a more seamless, transparent, and accountable overall patient experience.

This area of Los Gatos, California offers a variety of amenities and services that cater to senior living needs. With multiple pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens in close proximity, convenient access to medication is assured. Places of worship like the Presbyterian Church and Santa Teresa Catholic Church provide spiritual fulfillment for residents. The abundance of parks like Los Gatos Creek Trail at Vasona Park and Houge Park offer opportunities for outdoor activities and leisurely strolls. In terms of dining options, restaurants ranging from Teleferic Barcelona to Chick-Fil-A are available, catering to various palates. Additionally, medical facilities including the Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Valley Health Center Bascom are nearby for healthcare needs. Overall, this area provides a pleasant and well-rounded environment for seniors looking to settle in Los Gatos.

Pharmacies

• CVS Pharmacy (0.6 miles)
• Walgreens (0.7 miles)
• Safeway Pharmacy (2.3 miles)
• Walgreens (3 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (3.1 miles)
• CVS Pharmacy (3.6 miles)
• Walgreens (3.8 miles)

Places of Worship

• Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos (0.6 miles)
• Santa Teresa Catholic Church (6.7 miles)

Parks

• Los Gatos Creek Trail At Vasona Park (0.7 miles)
• Houge Park (2.5 miles)
• Belgatos Park (2.7 miles)
• Lone Hill Park (3.4 miles)
• Jeffrey Fontana Park (4.9 miles)
• Guadalupe Oak Grove Park (5.2 miles)
• Almaden Lake Park (5.3 miles)

Cafes

• Manresa Bread (0.7 miles)
• Starbucks (3.2 miles)
• Starbucks (3.8 miles)
• Boba Pub (4.1 miles)
• Starbucks (4.2 miles)
• Starbucks (4.6 miles)
• Philz Coffee (4.6 miles)

Restaurants

• Teleferic Barcelona (0.8 miles)
• Netflix (2.3 miles)
• Orchard City Kitchen (4.6 miles)
• Pacific Catch (4.7 miles)
• Chick-Fil-A (5.2 miles)
• Red Lobster (5.4 miles)
• Mountain Winery (5.8 miles)

Physicians

• Palo Alto Medical Foundation (1.4 miles)
• Imig, Mary Dr - Mary L Imig, MD - Los Olivos Women's Medical Group (1.7 miles)
• Ramblc Pediatric Group (1.9 miles)
• California Skin Institute (2.1 miles)
• Comprehensive Pain Management Center (2.8 miles)
• Obstetrix Medical Group (5 miles)
• Ear Associates & Rehabilitation Services (5.3 miles)

Theaters

• Pruneyard Cinemas (4.6 miles)

Hospitals

• Valley Health Center Bascom (6.4 miles)
• O'Connor Hospital (7.1 miles)