Kaiser Permanente Kensington Medical Center

I’ve been with Kaiser since I was a child. I have been to probably every facility in the area, with the exception of a few. This location is not the most convenient, but it is the cleanest, friendliest, and best location in my opinion. I have had quite a few hiccups with Kaiser services, but none with this particular facility.
My only complaint is that there is an EXTREMELY rude pharmacist in the pharmacy, but I do my best to avoid him at all costs.

Here’s what I just posted on Facebook:
I have been with KP in Kensington for a number of years, and I am very satisfied with the center’s efficiency and good care. I have an excellent PCP. My only complaint – which I tweeted to great effect – was a one-​time terrible difficulty in accessing an advice nurse. Kaiser took this complaint very seriously: I have received email, phone, and written apologies and assurances that the incident will be/​has been checked out and will not happen again. All I can say is CONGRATULATIONS to KP for this kind of exceptional customer response.
I do think they should replace the little café with items that encourage healthy eating. Selling high-​calorie, high-​sugar pastries does not convey the best message.

Love this Kiaser! Even tho I don’t know my genera dr name I know my ob/​gyn and my mom’s dr. Dr Monica dale is awesome. She is great at what she does and makes you comfortable and at ease in your appts. My mom recently had surgery at Holy Cross and Dr Dale was extremely helpful in the process. Super easy to get in contact with her through emails. And at the hospital she would stopped by in the mornings we stayed there. My mother and I had appts yesterday ⁸⁄₂₇ (mom at 10:10am; and mine at 3:20pm) and I asked if it was possible to be seen earlier since I was there with my mother and to avoid returning in the afternoon. The front desk lady was so nice and said she would ask if it was possible. They saved me the trip. The nurse with my general dr is so funny and so easy to talk to. Oh and my eye dr she’s is awesome! I forgot her name but she’s Asian. She made me realize if I didn’t give my eyes a break with contacts I would probably go blind. And now she helped me find dailies that work wonders on my eyes and helps with my dryness. It’s so convenient that mostly everything you need related with your health is in one place. Hope they offered dental services. But this Kiaser center is awesome.

Love this place! I just switched our family to Kaiser after being robbed by Aetna for so many years. All of your appointments in one location?! Awesome.

If you are looking for an exceptional ob gyn Dr. Dale is the best I’ve gone to. Her bedside manner in the office, phone calls and before and after surgery deserve much applause.
I’ve had mixed reviews with the primary care physicians and may go to Capital Hill as I’ve heard good things about someone.
The staff at the pharmacy are helpful and respond to your questions in a professional manner.

Kaiser is fantastic! The staff are always courteous and, for the most part, they are punctual. It is so nice to have everything located in one place; admin (limited), lab, x-​ray and many specialists. Locally they use Holy Cross Hospital, but you can choose others. Oh, yes and you can change your primary care doctor as many times as you like until find the perfect fit.

I’ve been a Kaiser patient since I was a child, and I love the Kaiser system — I can see a record of all my vaccinations, tests, and issues since I was 8 years old by logging into my account online, I can book an appt with another click (and they usually have lots of availability), and if I need to talk to my doctor they are just a quick message away. I think they’re doing a great job executing the HMO model. Of course, with an HMO comes some inflexibility/​lack of choice — they aren’t for everyone — so if the idea of having to meet your GP before getting a referral to a specialist drives you crazy, this is probably not the system for you.
BUT this particular Kaiser location is my favorite. I like (most of) the doctors, but there’s also a lot of choice so you can switch easily if you want. The pharmacists are friendly and they do a good job managing the lines so that I never have to wait longer than 15 minutes for a prescription. I also like that there’s an urgent care center on-​site. It has saved me a couple trips to ER for stitches, etc. This center was looking a little run down, but they just re-​did the interior (in the last year), so now it looks lovely. If you are trying to decide which Center to go to, I’d recommend this one!

Rule 1 with your health, you must be your own advocate or have someone you trust be there. Kaiser isn’t the worse place but not the best but they are up to date with technology and getting you connected.
Even the best places have problems and if you can learn the trick of KP then you can get just as good if not better care with them also. The Kensington location is getting old and has been around there a little bit longer than I have, parking can be a pain as they built the garage to normal expectations they had then without thinking of a population boom.
Like the other reviewer said for the Kensington location you can have your appointment get lab work done and then hit the pharmacy. I have been going here for many years and the convience is very nice and I have had good care as I advocated for myself. The pricing will vary but they can help people that qualify for financial aid.

I’m just not a fan of Kaiser Permanente as a whole. The only good things I can think of are that you can usually make an appointment for the same week. However, to get a representative on the phone to make the appointment takes ages! Even for urgent care! While it’s convenient how everything is located in the same center – I can go from Urgent care or Primary Care Physician to the labs/​radiology depts downstairs or pharmacy– it’s a pain and you’re dealing with a lot of inflexible service. The care that you receive isn’t great. Yes, it’s quite affordable, but you’re really limited in your selection of doctors. And in being limited, you don’t have the options/​flexibility of choosing a doctor you really want. My physician didn’t spend too much time with me and just passed me off to Physical Therapy. I felt like there wasn’t much communication between my primary care physician, the podiatrist and the physical therapist. Overall the medical attention I sought was lacking also.