Pain Institute of Central California

Great people and staff. Every dr/nurse/tech I have seen are great people. The drs don't only want to push meds or surgery and do listen instead of nod and kick you out to make as much money as they can. Only hiccup I have ever had was a Urinalysis. I had to pinch it off mid flow but The girl at the desk apologized more than once for not noticing before. Shit happens I forget a lot and am nowhere near perfect. Great place. I would recommend to my family/friends and anyone with spine, shoulder, neck injuries.

Can't get an appointment until you jump through many hoops-the have a "requirements" list that must be met before they will even try to schedule you-if you are in pain better try elsewhere

**This review is mainly for the (heavyset) receptionist at the front desk**My mother was referred to this office through her insurance, so this was our first visit. We received a text message stating to arrive 30 minutes prior to our appointment to fill out paperwork. As we are from out of town, it is often difficult to anticipate traffic in the Bakersfield area (I would also like to note that they had not given me the address, I had to look it up on my own). It was in an area where there are multiple clinics and offices, and I didn't realize they were located behind the building.Upon arrival the receptionist seemed annoyed and immediately stated that we were late and that the paperwork would take 30 minutes to fill out (we were AT LEAST 5 minutes late). I'm not sure if she meant anything behind her tone, but I was hoping she would not cancel our appointment at that moment, especially driving from out of town. I usually give everyone the benefit of the doubt, so she probably had a bad morning. She gave us the paperwork and reiterated how much we had to fill it out before her appointment.I noticed while filling out the paperwork, the same receptionist had a totally different attitude towards other patients that came in, much nicer more welcoming.Filling out the paperwork was fine, as I have done this plenty of times before, rearing the end all it needed was my mother's signatures. The receptionist then called us over again only to ask if we were finished filling out the paperwork and stated how much time we had left (again we had at least 5 minutes left before her appointment, minutes wasted calling us over). We finished just in time with minutes to spare, and they even called her 5 minutes after her appointment. I understand how important keeping an appointment is, it definitely goes both ways. However the way we didn't feel welcomed and somewhat chastised by the receptionist was very discomforting. I will make sure in future appointments to ask for someone else.

My doctor wants me to get an injection for the pain in my lower back. I get a call from Pain Institute of Central California. The person I was talking with told my insurance carrier that my injury is, covered under a Workers Comp claim. I tried telling this person that it was not a Workers Comp claim that it was a new injury. This person kept saying that I was wrong or calling me a liar. This person insisted that it was a Workers Comp claim. I had to call my insurance carrier and explain to that this injury was not a Workers Comp claim, it was a new injury. After 15 minutes on the phone, I finally got things clear up with my insurance carrier. Today I get a call from the Pain Institute of Central California and this person claims that they finally got it straighten out. No, you did not get it straighten out I did. Why would anyone deal with a company that tries and tell me that I am wrong?

My son had very good care at Pain Institute. Dr Palencia diagnosed my son at the first appointment. He had suffered for 6 months, without pain meds, and Dr Palencia diagnosed him and gave him pain med the very first appointment. Hector PA is very nice, caring & compassionate which is who my son usually saw. The staff is very polite and the office is very nice and clean. Dr. Palencia however, did ask not to see my son anymore after a urine test. He is very strict which now We understand why and it was a hard lesson learned, but we sure learned and in the long run his strictness was very helpful to us. It will help My son in the long runBeautiful, large, clean office which is a rarity.

Dr. Fisher made my son and I VERY UNCOMFORTABLE and provided NO HELP. We felt stereotyped and dismissed by this doctor. She did not provide any clarity and acted as if she did not want to help. No clear explanation and NO EFFORT. My son is dealing with depression due to his pain issues and she made it worse. We would not recommend going there for serious pain issues.

this practice has no flexibility to handle even their own errors .normal is 3 months out for treatment. no call backs if u need help.they want u to beg for prescription refills and then they dont call them into pharmacy. jus t choose another doctors office dont worry be happy

Some of the office staff is obnoxious! They are always threatening to stop medication if an appointment is missed. I told the appt woman that I have a heart problem and canno go in for an afternoon appointment, she said they would have to stop my medication because there are no morning appointment. so I guess it's ok for me to die in the heat!! 108 degrees!!!!!!!

I went to this office for many years and was seeing Hector for alot of years, until suddenly I left their office for good, in October 2022. I actually trusted their care for about 8 years. I had no problems with Hector, he seemed like he was compassionate towards his patients and was always nice to me. I have had a lot of pain in my neck and entire back for most of my life, because I've had MS since high school days. I had a issue with my medication, so I saw Hector like usual but then Dr. Palencia rushed in. He was rude, uncaring, full of rage,unprofessional and frankly, I left after the noise from this pain office. I don't need to go to this medical office, especially since Dr Palencia was the rudest doctor ever in my life.

Dr. Fisher is the rudest Doctor I have ever had the misfortune of having to deal with. Today (1/17/2022) I had an appointment with her for the first time, she was very dismissive, didn't give me my pain medicine, didn't discus in detail a plan to deal with my pain, only wanted to do an epidural after she gets a report from my last physical therapy, she also acted as if I didn't have physical therapy all because I said it was About 6 or 7 months ago that , she asked me how I knew it was that long ago if I didn't know the exact month. I feel that I nor my Pain was taken serious. I felt like I was stereotyped based on my skin color and long braided hair. A very uncomfortable doctor visit.