Jay Benard, D.P.M.

Dr. Bernard is awesome! I had an ingrown toe nail that needed to be removed. I told him I was really scared. He then kept joking with me and talked throughout the quick procedure in order to distract me. I wish he was my regular doctor. Also just don’t look at the tools that are the room while you are waiting. And I recommend closing your eyes during the procedure. Thanks Dr. Bernard!

Dr. Benard and receptionist assured me insurance (Blue Shield) covered the routine x-​rays, tests, etc. And then I wound up with a $ 600 bill a couple months later…

If you need a podiatrist in San Francisco this is your guy. He was friendly and very professional. I came in thinking I knew what my diagnosis was and in a very non-​condescending way he asked me a questions and very quickly gave me a correct diagnosis. He gave me effective treatment plan and fitted me for an orthodic. In three days the pain I had for months was gone. My only regret was thatI didn’t see Dr. Bernard earlier. He’s great!

Sweet guy, great podiatrist, no nonsense, lovely office staff. On time, funny, concerned and communicative. The best.

I made an appointment to Jay Bernard to have a relatively minor problem, reducing some caluses that were too dense for me to take care of myself, and limped out bleed with a ½″ abrasion that had to be cauterized. This wound was the result of the Dr. Bernard not being careful using an unsteriling sanding tool and resulted in an infection that took 3 weeks of daily wound care to clear up.
So, Dr. Bernard may be good at treating broken bones or fallen arches but don’t go to his office seeking simple foot care.

Was referred to Doc. Bernard by my gen. practitioner doc. for a sore arch. there was no wait. Doc., came in, I explained what was going on and he told me it was likley not a sprain, just strain from running around in shoes without an arch. He prescribed some insoles, good shoes and an amazing anti-​inflammatory, and voila!!! No more pain. In fact, my knee also stopped hurting and I am doing more walking and running again! To my amazement, he won’t re-​presrcibe the anti-​inflammatory until he sees me again. very professional. Like others say, his bedside manner isn’t warm and fuzzy, but who cares, I can walk again!

With out writing too many clichés, I have to say that my experience with Dr. Benard was above exceptional. I am a professional sports official and I had some pre-​surgery anxiety for a foot procedure that was completely put at ease by my experience at this office. It started with the front receptionist all the way to the doctor himself. It was a great experience to say the least. All my appointments were on time !!!
But…most importantly, my procedure was done very well and I’ve completely healed and I“m back on the field at 100%. His obvious skills with a scalpel was impecable added with the combination of above normal bed-​side-​manners makes me have Dr. Benard as my podiatrist for life. You should too!

While Dr. Benard was a nice person pre-​operation, — but I would NOT trust him with my feet again because I did not receive adequate care once the surgery was over. I had what should have been straightforward bunion surgery on my foot about 4 years ago, and he over-​corrected the problem, causing the toe to face outward instead of in *and* for another joint to misalign in the upper part of the toe, resulting in another problem that was as bad as the original one. Moreover, he used a technique that has left a large and still visible scar on top of my foot. The night after the foot surgery, I called him in agony to tell him that the Percocet that he prescribed wasn’t working. He answered back, «Well, take more» and got off the phone. I took more, still felt unbearable pain and then was extremely nauseous from taking too many of the pills… He never called to check on me again — I/​the nurse called to schedule a post-​op. Few weeks later, he tried to fix the problem by just taping my toes together with surgical tape and telling me that it might stretch back. Later, other foot doctors said that was ridiculous and that any correction would require surgery. Years later, I am finally drumming up the courage to get the foot fixed with another surgeon. Why am I posting now? Because Unilocal wasn’t so prevalent back then, and because I think y’all should know.

Terrible experience at this place! Shady and not trustworthy.
I went to see this doctor due to a running injury to my right foot. At the first appointment, things seemed fine, standard procedure x-​rays, etc. However, when I returned the next week, with no preamble and without examining my foot, the doctor abruptly said ‘the orthotics have been approved’. I had no idea what he was talking about… but after some probing into the comment, found that’s what he recommended to prevent future injury. He claimed he’d contacted my insurance and everything was covered so he went ahead and took casts of my feet. Not horrible at this point, but still very odd bedside manner.
I was pretty certain that orthotics were not covered by my plan so I called my insurance to double check later that day and sure enough they were excluded from coverage. I spent the next two weeks going back and forth with this doctor who claimed they had a recording of the insurance company saying this and could fight the company, then moving on to say they would cut me an ‘all cash’ deal if I just paid for them out of pocket, and finally telling me they would waive fees for this due to the misunderstanding.
When I asked their billing person to send me something in writing to this effect, the office staff called and told me they would NEVER put something in writing! He then said that only the lab fees would be waived but there might be many other out of pocket expenses I would be bound to cover! Very shady behavior overall and I finally decided I need to cut my losses and go through the process again with a new doctor who I can trust and gives me straight answers.
SO. I’m out two $ 30 co-​pays, have no orthotics… and ended up wasting a lot of time dealing with them.

So– in my initial review I forgot to enter information about the office and the service itself. To be fair– the service was great. The doctor saw me quickly and performed great work.
However– the issue with the bills has put me off from using this office again. I received bills from two different sets of offices and neither office did a very good job of explaining why I was receiving bills. I will explain them below
The first bill I received was for some blood work that was ordered. This bill came pretty quickly– I called Dr. Benard’s office to inquire why my insurance didn’t cover it and they where no help at all. I was unable to speak to anyone in regards to this so i simply paid it.
The second bill– I received treatment on March 8^th– I did not receive a bill until late June. At least this bill they where able to talk to me about. Not that the explanation was good, but that the bill was correct and that I owed them money. before that, I started getting calls from a collection agency. Dr. Benard’s office say that they did not send me to collections and I suppose i have to accept that because I have no proof to substantiate my claims.
In summation– The care I received at Dr. Benard’s office was good– but I can’t see how or why I would have received a bill 4 months after care. It is this reason that I will not use this office. When I get care, I want to know how and why I am being billed. I think it’s bad business to bill someone 4 months later. Plus– I was sent a really nasty email asking me to take down this posting.

Same-​day appointment for painful ingrown toe nail. Paperwork was easy, saw me within a few minutes of appointment time. Took care of the nail in about 30 seconds. Easy and feels much better!

Dr. Bernard is very knowledgable and overall a good podiatrist. He may need more customer service type attitude, but I guess you’re not really there for that reason. He took off my bunion which didn’t heal too well. He’s takes conservative actions (which I guess is beneficial for me). He’s also lax about signing your handicap DMV application.
But his assistant is a B%@^! She’s rude, unfriendly and insulting. At least the receptionist is nice!

I’ve been to see Dr Bernard twice now. My foot is knackered and there’s really nothing that can be done about it without surgery (and a three month recovery period) which I can’t be doing with… better the devil you know! He told me honestly what was wrong and what I can expect, he didn’t give me any unnecessary procedures or medication. He was suitably sympathetic and laughed at my jokes, all in all I got what I needed and was convinced that he has expertise in his field… what more can you ask?

Really nice guy. He did a minor surgery on my ankle and I’ve seen him for years for custom orthotics etc. Office staff is all first rate as well.

I trust Dr. Benard implicitly with taking care of my feet. I’ve been a patient of his for about 3 – 4 years, and I’ve always had positive results from his care.
His office staff aren’t great, but they’re fairly harmless and haven’t done anything to negatively effect the care I get from Dr. Benard.

Dr. Benard is very friendly and made me feel comfortable almost immediately. I saw him for repeated ankle-​sprains and he was very upfront with me. After taking X-​rays to determine that I had no fractures, he explained that I’m basically SOL due to my excessively-​high arches that mean my ankles have a tendency to roll. Ugh. Annoying, but by no means his fault.
Dr. Benard gave me an exercise to strengthen my ankle and info on a hot-​cold water treatment for the pain and sent me on my way. He didn’t waste any of my time, and I really appreciated that. If I still have pain in a couple of months and have to go see him for an MRI, at least I know that I’ll have a pleasant experience waiting for me (as far as doctors go).

I am three months post-​surgery after having bunions removed on both feet and am able to hike, run, and do most everything I thought was impossible after this surgery thanks to Dr. Benard. Scarring is minimal as well… thanks to his plastic-​surgery like technique (and a little help from Mederma!). I am very pleased with the results of his work. I read these reviews prior to choosing him as my surgeon, and could care less how the office staff treats me– they’re not operating on my feet! (Incidently, they were fine. They all worked very hard to accommodate my schedule too…) I would recommend doing your homework and being prepared w/​a list of questions and concerns before you go if you’re thinking about this type of surgery. Also? If you ever find yourself in the position of not being able to put weight on both of your feet– I highly suggest using furniture moving pads to scoot around on. They were a lifesaver!

I agree with the other reviews … the desk staff and the doctor are horrible. My husband had a painful ingrown toenail which Dr. Benard botched terribly. Dr. Benard is clearly detached and totally uninterested in any aspect of patient care. I will never go back to this place. To top everything off I had such a hard time with his bill collector. I forgot the woman’s name … she refused to accept the EOB provided by my insurance so I could pay the bill. It seemed very odd that someone could be so negligent and keep her job. I later found out why … the woman handling the appointments and bills is Dr. Benard’s wife. It took over 5 months to get this lady to process the bill. The story changed every time I spoke to her first it was that the regular insurance processor was on vacation so she was getting caught up with the paperwork. A few passed so and her story changed again … she told me my insurance have the paperwork from my insurance company. So I offered to fax over my EOB from the insurance company, but she said it had to come directly from the insurance co. What ??? I refused to accept that and faxed it over. It took yet another two week for her to process my payment AFTER I provided the office with my credit card. At that point I was fed up so I told her I wanted to speak with Dr. Benard and inform him of the situation. She told me never to call back and informed that she was his wife. Go to this doctor if you want to be treated like a piece of crap!!!

I just saw Dr. Benard after I suspected that I had broken a toe. I was able to get an appointment the next day. Check-​in at the office was quick and uneventful. The appointment started on time and Dr. Benard examined my foot, took an X-​ray, and explained my options (yes, the toe was broken but perfectly aligned so there wasn’t anything that needed to be done other than tape it and give it some rest).
I will definitely go back to Dr. Benard and recommend him to others.

I couldn’t disagree with Kelly, the previous reviewer, more. Dr. Bernard has been my podiatrist for over 5 years and I have always found him to be professional, caring and competent. Believe me, as a runner, I have lots of foot problems and have made numerous visits to his office. Dr. Benard has successfully performed a double bunion-​ectomy (not sure if that’s the «official» name for removing my bunions!) as well as the removal of two neuromas. Additionally, he is a volunteer with Operation Rainbow which is essentially a Doctor’s Without Borders and has generously donated his time and energy to helping disadvantaged, third world patients. I give him an A+ as a doctor, and as a human being.