This makes me think about all the reporting on the severe shortages of medical personnel around the country.

Definitely get hold of your ins. co., they may be able to pull strings for you, or at least recommend somewhere else.

I just contacted my insurance company, but all they are going to do is leave a message at the unresponsive voice mail.

It is one thing to have a shortage of personnel and another thing to have zero personnel, which is what it seems like at the UCLA Sleep Center.

I suppose I will have to go there in person at some point. My sleep doctor is in Santa Monica, and so his office is not close to the sleep center. I've called that office, and all they do is give me the phone number that is unresponsive.

According to the Yelp reviews, this has been going on since Sept 2021 or earlier.

" this has been going on since Sept 2021 or earlier. "

That is not entirely surprising as that is right in the middle of the pandemic crisis and many non-essential or non-emergency medical services were curtailed. And staffing back up now that the crisis has diminished is a slow process, as many medical workers have opted to do other things. It is almost impossible to make an office appointment with a medical professional in my area in what would previously be considered a "normal" time frame - appointments are 3 and 4 months (or more) out. And trying to find a PCP if you don't already have one is also next to impossible as most have more patients than they can serve and are not taking on any new. And voicemail messages seem to be SOP, with a lack of clerical staff as well.

The same situation exists with emergency or urgent care visits.......very long waiting times due to lack of staff and folks using these facilities for non-critical or non-urgent visits.

Our medical system is in serious disarray as a direct result of the Covid pandemic and it's going to take time to correct itself.

I wonder if anyone will respond to the letter that I wrote or if it will be filed away and forgotten.

If the Sleep Center is understaffed, then I think my sleep doctor's office would know about it and tell me. I will call them again and ask about that.

Last week I made an appointment with my ophthalmologist, and the first date he was available was in July, but I'm okay with that. I'm going to see a new dermatologist at noon today, and I had no trouble getting an appointment with him, but I could not see my previous doctor because now he is only doing plastic surgery, and there is a big demand for that here.

My sleep doctor just called me and told me that I should go to a different sleep clinic, and he gave me a new number to call, which I will do after I get back from the dermatologist.

He also told me that they are having staff problems, and that is the reason no one answers the phone, I think. However, the other sleep lab does not have this problem, and they are also much closer to me. He said they will take my insurance as well, which is important because the sleep studies can cost $6,000.

Lars - it wouldn't hurt to double check with your insurance company too. The last thing you want is a bill.

Good point, maire_cate. NPR has been reporting on surprise medical bills for some time now. I think Kaiser may be one of those tracking that.

Lars, it sounds like somebody is...asleep on the job. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

There's a large demand for plastic surgeons everywhere. They repair people's faces after car accidents, arms after getting shot by some idiot, wrists after somebody gets skin cancer removed...

I honestly don't understand what people think the insurance company is going to do? I worked for an insurance company, and I work at a medical center and I don't know that there's anything you can do. I like that your doctor referred you to somebody else. There really is a great shortage of medical personnel across the nation. COVID made a lot of people retire early, and regular nurses turn into travel nurses because they can make more money. And lots of medical systems are suffering the financial consequences currently. It's a mess.

Best of luck getting your issue diagnosed and proper treatment prescribed 😉

sephia_wa, yes you can schedule an appointment at a UCLA Sleep Center online, but that is not the same as scheduling a Sleep Test. My doctor called me from the UCLA Sleep Center in Santa Monica (where his office is), and he told me not to try to schedule a sleep test at UCLA at this time because no one has been able to do so, and he has been hearing about it a lot.

I don't know how you were able to get someone to pick up the phone at 310 267-5337. I have called this number dozens of times with absolutely no luck, and if you read the Yelp reviews, that's what other people report.

My sleep doctor told me that the receptionist who is supposed to answer the phone has been on maternity leave for four months now, and they have no one to answer the phone or to return calls. None of the other offices that I contacted at UCLA could get through either.

Here's a review from another patient:

< 6 months ago (one star out of five)

Like everyone else on here, this office never answers the phone. I've called for 3 weeks in a row trying to get an appt. I have PPO insurance and a referral from my primary physician. I work for UCLA, and have never had an experience like this!>

This review is from six months ago, and the receptionist has been on maternity leave for only four months.

I have to think that you dialed the number wrong, as this is such an extreme anomaly. Thanks for trying!! I really wish I could have had your experience, but I still cannot get through.

I'm trying to check out Sunset Sleep Labs, but the reviews for the location in Culver City near me are pretty bad. The one in Tarzana got great reviews, but that's 50 minutes away when traffic is light. The one in Culver City is 12 minutes away. BTW, when I pulled up the Google map for this one, it showed a photo of an ice skating rink - I did not know that was still open.

Going to Tarzana requires one to go through the dreaded Sepulveda Pass on I-405:

I avoid this freeway as much as possible, but it does go within a few blocks of my house. I took city streets today to go to my doctor's office in Santa Monica, but that it not an option when going to Tarzana. I read on Youtube that this is the worst freeway for traffic in the country. Now that it is wider, it is not as bad as it used to be, but still bad enough.

What a frustrating experience! There is a shortage of healthcare providers in my area as well and wait times are long. I think the pandemic exacerbated a shortage of medical providers. My PCP was MIA at a critical point for me in 2020 and I was quite panicked that I could not get an appointment for a presurgical clearance for cancer surgery. She had been communicating with me through the portal and then all of a sudden I could not get an answer from her office on scheduling a presurgical visit. The only answer I could get was ”I don’t know” from the receptionist. Ultimately I was able to see another provider in her office. Due to the lack of communication, I decided to move on and found a NP as my primary care. I really liked him, but he is now moving out of state so I need to find another PCP.

I would keep after your Sleep Doctor to help you get the appointment.

Well, I tried to call Sunset Sleep Labs (310) 202-0999 (I believe this is a Culver City number, as I recognized the 202 exchange from when I lived there), and there was no answer at all. I let it ring 20 times (I always count), and that seemed like enough.

I do not want to make an appointment with a facility that does not answer the phone. This place does not even have a voice mail - at least my call never went to voice mail.

I'm not sure what to do next.

It appears that there must be a rather severe shortage of workers at sleep centers, and I believe that the demand for sleep tests is much greater than it was when I had mine 10 years ago. I think more people are aware of sleep apnea and sleep problems than they were a few years ago. It is also possible that the pandemic has helped create a shortage of health care workers.

I dunno Lars, I called that number twice and the first time it was busy so I hung up and called back. Weird that a business line was even busy. When I called back, a guy answered with something like "UCLA Sleep..." and I didnt catch the rest because I was surprised someone actually answered. I should've told him you were trying to reach him, lol. That's when I just apologized and said I'd misdialed.

What a mess.

Thanks again!

I sent you a message with my phone number. If you could happen to call them again and get through, perhaps you could tell them I am trying to reach them.

There may be some mysterious reason why you can get through, and it might be because you are in a different state.

I really do not like the idea of having to go to Sunset Sleep Labs, partly because of the reviews and partly because of the insurance. Also, my referral is for the UCLA facility, and I would have to get another referral for SSL. Actually, I find the name "Sunset Sleep" to be a bit creepy -- it reminds me of death to me FSR.

Sorry, but it's bit surprising that anyone wouldn't be aware of this severe lack of personnel in the healthcare field - it's the same with some other fields too, like education.

In case anyone did not realize, amongst the millions dead from COVID were a lot of Dr.s and nurses, etc., and many others were permanently disabled by COVID, and couldn't go back to work even if they wanted to. The shortage of medical workers in this country is huge and growing.

Up until now, I have not noticed any shortages in healthcare personnel for the offices that I visit. Also, I have been able to get timely appointments for whatever I have needed - until just now, and the sleep center is the only place where I have been made aware of a shortage.

I've heard about shortages in other parts of the country but have not experienced any of it until last week. I consider sleep care to be a special case.

There is no reason to be surprised that anyone is not aware of the lack of healthcare personnel, since many people do not seek healthcare all that often. My brother has not been affected by any shortages so far, and he has to see doctors fairly often, generally at Cedars-Sinai.

How frustrating. My doctor's office was bought out by a much bigger company so it's harder to make an appointment with them over the phone or on- line. They do make specialty appointments for you, though, unless you want to do it yourself. Recently had to see a General surgeon and they made the appointment while I waited in the exam room.

I don't know if it's the same as other sleep offices, but at the VA they don't even open until later in the afternoon, because all their staff is working during the night. You can make a sleep study appointment during the day time hours but if you want to call and speak to them directly you have to call later in the evening. The appointments were made by other staff not the actual clinic personnel. I googled, UCLA appointments and this number came up: 310-794-5750. It is a general number for appointments. I don't know if that will work or not.

The number you posted is for the dental school, and I used to go there also, but now I have a dentist only a few blocks from where I live.

The office for the Sleep Center closes at 3:30, and so I do not think calling in the evening would help, although I can try.

I'm reluctant to go to the office in person because I have no way of knowing that anyone would be there. If someone were there, it seems that they would answer a phone. If I were in the neighborhood, I would drop it. Most of my appointments are in Santa Monica, which is also not that close to Westwood. If they were open on weekends, I would go there on a Saturday, as the traffic would not be as bad.

Do they not have an answering service? Try this evening, and see if you do not get an answer tomorrow. It's a suggestion for a back door way. Probably won't work, but it's novel!

I had a similar problem with our sleep clinic and was lucky to have some random person answer the phone.

The worst was when DH was to have some surgery and the person in the surgeon's office whose job it was to contact insurance for the ok for coverage and just about everything else never answered the phone nor did she return calls ever. I had to contact our insurance the morning of the surgery to make sure it was covered. Nightmare time as we had an hour drive to the hospital. I taked to the surgeon about it afterwards and he was useless. He told us she was having problems of some unspecified sort. Nothing to the problems I was having sorting the whole mess out. He shared office space and I was having to contract the other people to get any information at all. They did answer their phones.

FWIW, I was talking about this issue with my BIL tonight and he told me they make all their Dr. apt.s through apps now, because they've had similar experiences trying to get hold of anyone by phone. They live in the Bronx.

Someone finally did contact me regarding the sleep test, but it took them 10 days from when I started leaving voice messages. By this time, I already had a referral from my sleep doctor for Sunset Sleep Labs (not UCLA affiliated), and I had not bothered to try to get my insurance approved for this, since I was unable to make an appointment with them either.

The person who finally responded to my request noted that I have two sleep test referrals and mentioned that my UCLA referral expires on May 24. However, she offered me dates from May 9-14, and I requested that I get the May 13 appointment. Since today is Saturday, I probably won't hear back from her until Monday.

I much prefer to arrange my appointments through the portal (which is identical to MyChart), since I don't have to worry about what time of day or day of the week it is, but the UCLA portal gave me no option to make this appointment, and I tried.

I have a feeling that they might be responding to the letter that I mailed to them, since I included a copy of my referral.

Anyway, I am now awaiting the confirmation for the May 13 appointment.

Incidentally, they perform sleep tests seven days a week, which is nice, but their office is only open M-F.

That's good to know, Lars.

I'm curious - do you have to go to a lab for the sleep test, or is it in-home?

I have to go to the lab for the sleep test. The one I requested an appointment for will start at 8PM, and I will be in a small room with a small single bed and get hooked up with a lot of wires, similar to an EKG test. Oddly enough, I had no trouble getting to sleep with my last test. The test will end at 6AM, at which time I will be able to go home.

Since this will be my second test, I do not know whether I will be hooked up to my CPAP machine or not.

Lars - L had my sleep study done in the hospital also. The room looked like a hotel room and my pulmonologist suggested that I take my own pillow since I'd be more comfortable. I didn't have any trouble falling asleep either.

What happens if one is all hooked up with a bunch of wires and wakes up at 2AM needing to go use the restroom?

I believe you have to call an attendant.

I seem to remember that the test only lasted a few hours because in my case, they got all the information they needed in a couple of hours. However, now that I already have a CPAP machine, they might want to keep track of my sleep for seven or eight hours.

I don't remember being hooked up for an entire night last time, but that was ten years ago, and so I don't remember it that clearly.

I did a sleep study a few years back. All of the wires hook into something that connects to the machine. They disconnect that from the machine and send you to the restroom.

I fell asleep easily. In fact, I feel asleep faster than I normally do because I was at peace with getting something to help me rest better. They didn't find anything wrong. My sleep was normal.

They use some gooey stuff in your hair to stick the wires there. I was offered the option of taking a shower before I left, but I declined. I can't remember if I was expected to bring my own soap and shampoo or they had some there. You might inquire about that or go home like I did and shower at home.

I called the attendant when I needed to use the bathroom. It was simple to disconnect - but the wires were still attached and when I went to use the sink got a big surprise when I looked in the mirror. All the wires and little adhesive pads reminded me of the creature in Predator.

Finally got my confirmation for my May appointment. I really need a new CPAP machine, and this is the only way I can get it through my insurance.

The confirmation gave me the same phone number that no one answered, but it gave me different options for leaving messages, I think. I am hoping I will not have to call anyone.