Alternative Care Clinics

Please, do not bother here whether you are first time, or renewal.
Recently, I was planning on getting my first recommendation ever. I went on a different website that recommended this office. Thankfully after I made an appointment I did a little more research and found a much better place. (Greensight in Rancho Mirage)

Why you can do better:

-The evaluation is $100, which is almost double other clinics. (mine was $60)

-Being a first time patient I was nervous about calling. The person who answered, Rich, sounded like he could not be anymore bored or uninterested. At Greensight the staff was friendly, welcoming, and very informative.

-The doctor for recommendations is only there 2 times a week. Thursdays and Sundays. They also require you to take a pre-qualifying test, and make an appointment to go in. It is an unnecessary hassle to go through! Especially when many other doctor's are available all week long, and offer walk-ins.

This will be my third year coming to this office. I have to drive 3Hrs. to get here, but its well worth the trip. The front office staff is great & helps you with all your needs & paper work, love the I.D card. The doctor is very professional & on time. I would recommend this office to everyone.

Thank You
Oscottdrew1

I have been a patiend with ACC for three years now I even make a two hour drive to be seen by their wonderful, caring doctors who have valid licences without any shady history in their past. Some may think the price is rather high but IMO you get what you pay for a quallity doctor with a quallity I.D card if you want it and a profession looking Rx, I have seen those $45 ones with a Rx that are just copys and I.D cards that are pieces of paper that have been laminated. So do yourself a favor and if you are living with pain and are tired or taking pills with extreme side effects give the friendly staff and doctors over at ACC a call!

I'm a caregiver for a roommate with schizoaffective disorder who has three previous medical marijuana recommendations for his condition over the years, from three different doctors. He feels cannabis eases the anxiety, agitation, and other symptoms he experiences as part of his illness. I can see that he's much calmer, more logical and focused when he has it. I've noticed that the only times he's needed hospitalization were times in which he didn't have access to medical marijuana for extended periods of time. We have up-to-date copies of his medical records verifying his condition and treatment history. So when I made an appointment for him with ACC in Palm Springs and they assured me that they provide recommendations to patients with this illness, I wasn't expecting any problems.

However, when we saw the physician, he said that he would need a written message from my roommate's current psychiatrist stating that he was "okay" with his use of medical marijuana before he could write the recommendation. I didn't quite grasp the logic of this: if my roommate's psychiatrist were willing to write a letter approving of (or "okaying") his use of medical mj, why would we need to go to a medical marijuana clinic to begin with? I tried to explain that no county mental health employee will okay a patient's use of medical mj, but the doctor wouldn't budge, even after I offered to provide him with three previous doctor recommendations we had with us. He claimed my observations as his caregiver for six and a half years were merely "anecdotal" and only a professional's opinion held any value. I gathered that this doctor felt that he was unqualified to evaluate my friend on his own.

If it's not their policy to write recommendations for patients with schizoaffective disorder, then so be it, but they shouldn't tell us ahead of time that they do those recommendations! The only bright spot in the visit was that the receptionist was pleasant and they refunded the $100 we'd paid at the front desk.