Updated May 22, 2020

During these unprecedented times, UCSF Dermatology remains committed to providing world-class care.  We are working hard to continue this commitment and still keep our patients and teams safe.  To this end, As part of UCSF’s recovery, all of our dermatology clinic sites are now open with reduced appointment volume to maximize social distancing.  Patients can choose to schedule either a Video Visit or an On-Site, In-Person Visit.

• Video visits work best for follow-up care of chronic skin conditions and for evaluation of mild new rashes.
• On-site, in-person visits are often needed for concerning or new skin growths, severe new rashes, full body skin checks in patients with prior cancers, or for any issues that may require a biopsy or procedure. 

Our current dermatology clinic sites include:

• Mt. Zion (adults, children, and surgical patients) at 1701 Divisadero Street, San Francisco
• China Basin (adults only) at 185 Berry Street, San Francisco
• Mission Bay (children only) at 1825 Fourth Street, San Francisco
• Spruce Street (adults and phototherapy) at 515 Spruce Street, San Francisco
• Berkeley Outpatient Center (adults and surgical patients) at 3100 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley
• Mt. Zion Cancer Center (melanoma patients only) at 1600 Divisadero Street, San Francisco
• Bakar Precision Cancer Center (melanoma patients only) at 1825 Fourth Street, San Francisco

Updated June 1, 2020

The UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is here for you, offering safe and rapid access to our services for both new and current patients. Our primary focus and interest in this challenging time is to continue to provide the same high quality of care that you have come to expect from us. In an effort to do this, we have been working closely with our experts in infectious disease at UCSF to modify our policies for care and creation of safe physical environments. Some of the things you will notice include the following:

• Social distancing markers on the floors, walls and furniture to help everyone maintain 6 feet of distance.
• Health screening for everyone who enters our buildings, including all staff, physicians, patients and contractors. 
• Masks and the use of hand sanitizer required by everyone entering our facilities.
• COVID-19 testing with a rapid turnaround time for all patients having surgery at UCSF and for patients undergoing certain procedures in the clinic. 
• Expert screening, testing, advice and care for any patients who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
• Frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces, including but not limited to elevator buttons, chairs, clinic rooms and restrooms.
• A “limited visitor” policy except in rare situations. In compliance with the most recent San Francisco Department of Public Health orders, we have a “limited visitor” policy. We understand the hardship and suffering this policy poses to many of our patients, families, staff and providers. Please know that we strongly believe in your right to have a support person with you at your visits. But due to the current health orders, we must find other ways to accommodate this. We have arranged alternative ways to have your loved ones connect with you and your provider during your visits. This may involve video or phone calls that will allow for remote connection. Please discuss your concerns with your provider, and let us know how we may be able to accommodate your needs and provide you with the highest level of care within the constraints of these orders. 

Appointments and Rapid Scheduling Available

As many states begin to reopen and patients return for care, prompt access to our providers is more important now than ever, to avoid any further delays in care. We are here for you, providing rapid access to cancer center providers via the following modalities:  

• In-person and remote video visits
• Clinical trial availability in all of our practices, and prompt scheduling of visits to provide you with expert opinions
• Scheduling appointments within 48 hours of referral for select practices:
  • Endocrine Medical and Surgical Oncology
  • Urologic Surgical Oncology
  • Malignant Hematology
  • Head and Neck Medical and Surgical Oncology
  • Thoracic Surgery and Oncology
• Self-scheduling for follow-up visits in select practices
• Concierge surgical care, including personalized support for you and your family

Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) Clinic Extended Hours 

We are pleased to announce extended hours for the FNA Clinic in the Bakar Precision Medicine Cancer Building (PCMB).  Starting June 1^st, the PCMB FNA clinic will welcome walk-in and scheduled patients from 8:30am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday, with last walk-in patient admission at 5:00pm. The extended hours help us clear the backlog, stagger start times to avoid lines of patients, improve operations, and achieve better staff and patient satisfaction.

Despite the uncertainties that the pandemic has caused, we continue to be committed to you and your well-being. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us to let us know how we can do better. UCSF cancer center experts are here for you.

Updated April 29, 2020

Essential Procedures

We remain open to seeing new patients who need essential procedures for any heart or vascular condition. Other nonessential procedures will be scheduled as soon as feasible in accordance with guidance from our government agency and professional associations.

Specifically, we will begin scheduling of needed echocardiography and stress-testing procedures starting the week of April 20, 2020. Similarly, we are gradually increasing the number of cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology procedures starting the same week.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. We have also developed dedicated care teams and units to take care of our COVID-19 patients at UCSF Medical Center and at other hospitals within San Francisco.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients, with full clinic schedules, and are offering video visits. During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the critical needs of each patient and plan an appropriate path forward for cardiac care. We are accommodating patients who need to be seen in person or who require further evaluation or testing, with limited staff and providers in our clinic. Patients, families and referring physicians can schedule video visits by calling our clinic at (415) 353-2873.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for community physicians for film review, peer-to-peer consults and referral. Please contact our clinic at (415) 353-2873, or the Physician Liaison Service at (800) 444-2559.

Clinical Trials

For our patients enrolled in clinical trials, access to investigational therapies will continue without change, with additional precautionary procedures to ensure the safety of both patients and staff. Because we know that access to clinical trials may be important to the health and well-being of some cardiology patients, many of our clinical trials continue to accept new patients. Our coordinators are working with participants to do as much as possible remotely using video visits and remote consent and data collection.

Resources

A newly launched COVID-19 Citizen Science research study lets any adult with a smartphone help fight coronavirus spread.  To join, visit covid19.eurekaplatform.org or text “COVID” to 41411.

To learn more about COVID-19 and cardiology, watch the UCSF lecture “Cardiology Grand Rounds: Cardiovascular Considerations in COVID-19 Infection.”

Updated April 29, 2020

Surgeries

While some procedures were delayed to ensure we could care for any and all COVID-19 patients, we have been fortunate that the serious surge in COVID-19 cases seen in other parts of the country or even our state has not occurred in the Bay Area. Therefore, we have been able to take care of all our cancer patients and urgent non-cancer patients without restriction. We anticipate that we will be able to continue seeing these patients and scheduling them for surgeries when indicated, without delay. We are in the process of rescheduling many of the less urgent procedures that had been deferred, and once the shelter-in-place order is lifted, we will schedule all other pending elective surgeries.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, we have been able to isolate COVID-19 cases within a special unit. We now have COVID-19 testing for all patients undergoing surgery, and in the next week or two we will be able to test all patients admitted to the hospital.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients, with daily office hours. The transition from in-person visits to telehealth has been accelerated by this crisis, and we are offering video visits for most conditions. During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the needs of each patient and develop an appropriate treatment plan.

We are especially mindful of creating plans that ensure each patient’s safety in the current situation, restricting travel for testing or care where possible. In some cases, we may also recommend modifications to the care plan in accordance with national guidelines, balancing the need for treatment with the risk of community exposure to COVID-19. Referring physicians, patients and families can schedule video visits by calling our clinic at (415) 885-3606. We are also still doing in-person visits at the UCSF Mission Bay campus for diagnostic evaluation and tests, urgent lab work and select provider evaluations that require a true physical exam.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for physicians for treatment plan review, peer-to-peer consults and referral. Please contact our clinic at (415) 885-3606 to arrange such a consult.

Resources

• Center for Colorectal Surgery
• Academic Colorectal Surgery

Updated April 29, 2020

Essential Surgeries

While some procedures are delayed in order to ensure we can care for COVID-19 patients, we are now in the process of rescheduling many of these procedures and are screening new patients, adults and children who need surgery for any thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal or inherited endocrine surgical condition.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, we have not seen a surge of COVID-19 inpatient cases, which has enabled us to isolate these cases within a special unit.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients, with full open clinic schedules, and are offering video visits for all patients, and in-person visits for those who need them. During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the critical needs of each patient and plan an appropriate path forward for diagnostic, medical or surgical care. Patients, families and referring physicians can schedule video visits by calling our clinic at (415) 353-7687.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for community physicians for peer-to-peer consults and referral. Please contact our clinic at (415) 353-7687 or (415) 885-7404; our fax number is (415) 353-7781, and our web address is https://endocrinesurgery.ucsf.edu/patient-center.aspx. For additional assistance, you may email our clinic manager, Shaterra Davis, at [email protected].

Updated June 5, 2020

Patient Appointments
Our providers continue to see new and existing patients, with full clinic schedules, and are offering the following appointment options:

• In-person visits are available for ultrasounds, MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging), perinatologist consults and all other pediatric specialty consults. Infection prevention practices and protocols are in place at both UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital locations, in San Francisco (Mission Bay) and Oakland, for patients who require an in-person evaluation.
• Video visits after receiving appropriate imaging are available through Zoom video technology, during which our providers are able to evaluate the critical needs of each patient and plan the best path forward. All referrals are screened by our clinical team to determine urgency and whether a video visit is appropriate.
• Fetal procedures are being offered at our Mission Bay location as deemed necessary. Patients who need a procedure will undergo COVID-19 testing approximately four days before their procedure or upon admission.

Patients, families and referring providers can schedule an appointment or inquire about our services by calling the Fetal Treatment Center at 1-800-RX-FETUS (793-3887).

Physician Consults
We continue to be a resource for physicians via telephone. To speak with our perinatologist, please call (415) 476-0445.

Labor and Delivery Admissions

For all admissions to receive care during labor and delivery:

• Patients may identify a single (1) support person, who must show no infectious symptoms, for their entire hospital stay.
• All patients and visitors will be screened for respiratory symptoms upon entry to the hospital.
• All visitors are required to wear a hospital-provided surgical mask.

Resources

• For patient video visit instructions, visit https://videovisit.ucsf.edu/.

Updated April 29, 2020

Essential Surgeries

While some procedures are delayed in order to ensure we can care for all COVID-19 patients, we are now in the process of rescheduling many of these procedures and are screening new patients who need essential surgery for conditions involving the gastrointestinal tract, liver, gallbladder and pancreas, plus complex abdominal wall hernias.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, the Bay Area’s efforts to “flatten the curve” appear to be paying dividends in that we have not seen the anticipated surge of COVID-19 inpatient cases. Consequently, our hospital has sufficient capacity to effectively manage the affected patients, including their isolation within a special unit.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients, with full clinic schedules, and are offering video visits. During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the critical needs of each patient and plan an appropriate path forward for surgical care.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for community physicians for peer-to-peer consults and direct patient referrals. Please contact our clinic at (415) 353-2161. For additional assistance, you may email our adult clinic manager, Inam Sesi, at [email protected].

Updated April 15, 2020

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients, with full clinic schedules, and are offering video visits. During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the critical needs of each patient and plan an appropriate path forward for surgical or neuro-oncological care. Patients, families and referring physicians can schedule video visits by calling our clinic at (415) 353-7500.

Essential Surgeries

While some procedures are delayed in order to ensure we can care for any and all COVID-19 patients, we are now in the process of rescheduling many of these procedures and are screening new patients who need essential surgery for any brain, spine or peripheral nerve condition.

The health, safety, and well-being of our patients remains our top priority. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, we have not seen a surge of COVID-19 inpatient cases, which has enabled us to isolate these cases within a special unit.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for community physicians for film review, peer-to-peer consults and referral. Please contact our clinic at (415) 353-7500. For additional assistance, you may email our adult clinic manager Madee Milanes at [email protected] and our pediatric clinic manager Karen Seth at [email protected].

Clinical Trials

For our patients enrolled in clinical trials, access to investigational therapies will continue without change, with additional precautionary procedures to ensure the safety of both patients and staff. Because we know that access to clinical trials may be important to the health and well-being of some neurosurgical patients, many of our clinical trials continue to accept new patients.

Further Resources

• Published last week in Neurosurgery, the UCSF Neurosurgery team provides a treatment algorithm for surgical care during COVID-19
• Special Congress of Neurological Surgeons webinar: "UCSF’s Experience with #COVID19 in the Midst of the California Shelter-in-place Order."

We appreciate your partnership throughout this unprecedented time and are screening all referrals for neurosurgical care for brain, spine and peripheral nerve and pain problems. We will assess every case in terms of whether it constitutes an essential surgery that should go forward in a timely fashion.

Updated May 6, 2020

Updated April 29, 2020

Essential Surgeries

While many procedures have been delayed in order to ensure we can care for any and all COVID-19 patients, we are now in the process of rescheduling many of these procedures and are screening new patients who need plastic and reconstructive surgery.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, we have not seen a surge of COVID-19 inpatient cases, which has enabled us to isolate these cases within a special unit. We have continued to do cancer reconstruction and emergency surgery throughout this crisis and are now moving forward with less urgent cases, progressing to elective surgery in the next several weeks, hopefully in concert with shelter-in-place orders.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are happy to see new and current patients. We are continuing regular clinic schedules and are offering video visits whenever possible. During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the needs of each patient and plan an appropriate path forward for surgical care.

Understandably, the timing of elective surgery is uncertain at this point, and there may be longer wait times than usual for surgical dates. Our nurses and physician assistants may contact patients to determine whether a video visit will be adequate as opposed to an in-person visit. Patients, families and referring physicians can schedule appointments by calling our clinic at (415) 353-4201.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for community physicians for peer-to-peer consults and referrals. Please contact our clinic at (415) 353-4201. For additional assistance, you may contact our clinic manager, Romeo Herrera, at [email protected] or (415) 353-8075.

Resources

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released this update regarding the latest guidance on reopening health care systems.

Updated April 29, 2020

Essential Surgeries

While some procedures are delayed in order to ensure we can care for any and all COVID-19 patients, we are now in the process of rescheduling many of these procedures and are screening new patients who need essential surgery for any lung cancer, esophageal cancer, mediastinal tumor, mesothelioma, sarcoma, cancer that has metastasized to the chest, or pleural disease such as effusions and pneumothorax.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, we have not seen a surge of COVID-19 inpatient cases, which has enabled us to isolate these cases within a special unit.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients, with full clinic schedules, and are offering both video visits (currently) as well as in-person visits (after May 1). During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the critical needs of each patient and plan an appropriate path forward for surgical or thoracic care. Patients, families and referring physicians can schedule video and in-person visits by calling our clinic at (415) 885-3882.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for community physicians for film review, peer-to-peer consults and referral. Please contact our clinic at (415) 885-3882. For additional assistance, you may email our adult clinic nurse manager, Shaterra Davis, RN, at [email protected] or our administrative director, Elizabeth Alapati, at [email protected].

Clinical Trials

For our patients enrolled in clinical trials, access to investigational therapies will continue without change, with additional precautionary procedures to ensure the safety of both patients and staff. Because we know that access to clinical trials may be important to the health and well-being of some cancer patients, many of our clinical trials continue to accept new patients.

Resources

For more practice information, please visit https://thoracicsurgery.ucsf.edu.

Updated May 22, 2020

Essential Surgeries

Transplantation is considered an essential surgery and at UCSF, we have continued to perform deceased donor as well as living donor transplant surgeries throughout the pandemic.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, we have not seen a surge of COVID-19 inpatient cases, which has enabled us to isolate these cases within a special unit.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients, with full open clinic schedules, and are offering video visits for all patients, and in-person visits for those who need them. Referrals can continue to be directed to our various organ transplant offices. Upon receipt a transplant practice coordinator will contact the patient to schedule a new patient evaluation.

Updated April 30, 2020

During these unprecedented times, UCSF Urology remains committed to providing world-class care.  We are working hard to continue this commitment and still keep our patients and teams safe.  To this end, we have implemented video visits for all patients referred to our practice and can see patients within 48 hours. Even during these unprecedented times, we are ready to see patients at all levels.

Patient Referral

We are scheduling patients within 48 hours of referral for either a video or in-person visit as needed. You can coordinate referrals with our practice’s primary referral contacts:

Oncology:

• Anne Hoskins (email: [email protected])
• Phone: (415) 353-7171
• Fax: (415) 514-6195
   

Urologic Subspecialties:

• Clay Del Rosario, RN, and Matt Chou (email: [email protected])
• Phone: (415) 353-2200, option 1
• Fax: (415) 353-2641
• Subspecialties include endourology, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), bladder and kidney stones, female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, male sexual and reproductive health, trauma and reconstruction, and transitional urology.

Urology Grand Rounds CME

Our Grand Rounds are now available by Zoom with CME available. Kirstie Cruz is coordinating these meetings and will send email invites with links. You can also find a listing of our Grand Rounds online. In addition, we have created a lecture series during this pandemic that provides free CME.

Updated April 29, 2020

Essential Surgeries

While some procedures are delayed in order to ensure we can care for any and all COVID-19 patients, we are now in the process of rescheduling many of these procedures and are screening new patients who need essential surgery for aortic pathologies (aneurysms, dissections), carotid stenosis, critical limb ischemia, diabetic foot ulcers, mesenteric ischemia and arteriovenous (AV) access for dialysis.

The health, safety and well-being of our patients remain our top priorities. Accordingly, UCSF has infection prevention practices and protocols in place at all of our facilities. To date, we have not seen a surge of COVID-19 inpatient cases, which has enabled us to isolate these cases within a special unit.

Patient Appointments

Our providers are continuing to see new and current patients with time-sensitive vascular surgery conditions in person, and are also offering telehealth visits. During these visits, our providers are able to evaluate the critical needs of each patient and plan an appropriate path forward for vascular surgery care. Patients and families can schedule in-person clinic or telehealth visits by calling our clinic at (415) 353-2357.

Physician Consults

We continue to be a resource for community physicians for consultations and referrals. Physicians can directly contact our clinical staff at (415) 353-2256. For additional assistance, you can email our clinical nurse manager, Joanna DeLong, RN, MS, NP, at [email protected]. For urgent inpatient referrals, please contact our Transfer Center at (415) 353-9166.

Clinical Trials

Because we know that access to clinical trials is important to the health and well-being of some vascular surgery patients, many of our clinical trials continue to accept new patients.