Chris S Pallia MD - Orthopedic Surgeon - Ortho1 - Coronado, California

Caitlyn L.

Dr. Pallia performed my ACL reconstruction surgery in Dec 2023. He is a good surgeon, but not the best communicator. So my advice is go in with a list of questions. He will answer everything you ask, but doesn't give much more information than that. His office staff is super kind but not the best at returning calls so you'll have to be adamant with them. As most places, they're overworked and understaffed. Overall, he's a great surgeon, but make sure you are your biggest advocate when it comes to medical care.

Murat V.

Dr Pallia is a good surgeon but his team is not good, which is the cause of bringing him down. His crew could not call me back yet after 2 weeks about if a simple injection is covered or not with my insurance. I made it clear that i am leaving the country soon and that i need it done before i leave. I left 2 voice messages and still no call back. In conclusion good luck getting updates from his team. I will find another doctor to do the job...It's a shame that a good doctor can lose its reputation because of lazy team members....

Zachary R.

Dr. Pallia performed arthroscopic surgery on my knee with torn femoral cartilage and meniscus damage in May of 2019. I have now been back to 100% pain free activity since the start of 2020.
We had a discussion about progress I was making prior to the surgery. He said, if you are progressing let’s hold off on surgery and you can come back in 5 weeks for a follow-up.
He was clear and honest. The surgical repairs have allowed me to get back to surfing with 100% confidence. I am extremely satisfied with Dr. Pallia. I highly recommend Dr. Pallia, so much so that my father subsequently had an extremely successful shoulder surgery with Dr.Pallia.

Thank you Dr. Pallia

Lori B.

My husband had an appt today at 1p for his very painful shoulder. My husband was in and out in one hour and 15min. Very convenient location. Free parking. Thorough first time appt. / evaluation. Dr. Pallia listened to my husband’s symptoms and concerns. My husband requested a steroid / pain injection & Dr. Pallia agreed with this treatment plan. We read Dr. Pallia’s bio online and watched a YouTube video about him so we felt comfortable prior to the appt. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Pallia. We are just as grateful to his wonderful, kind, & helpful receptionist, Natalia, who worked my husband in and made his appt. (Fortunately, the same day!) We just arrived in Coronado on vacation & these two health professionals saved our vacation💛. Thank you!🙏👏
~ Lori, RN, MAS

jen S.

Front office staff were nice, but their system must be a mess because someone called and scheduled me, a different person called and left me a message asking me to reschedule, i called and talked to someone who rescheduled me, and then another person called me asking if i got the message to reschedule.

Beyond that issue, I don't want to see the Dr again.

I come from a medical family - surgeons, nurses, drs, and used to be a corrective injury specialist and trainer.

Because my insurance couldn't get me in with the Dr until almost a month after it happened, I'd been paying out of pocket for physical therapy in order to improve until I could see the insurance-covered dr and PTs.

I walked in with a full report of my week to week assessments, rehab protocol, improvements, etc. from the out of pocket ortho and pt. I asked the Dr if he wanted to see them and he REFUSED.

Then he asked what hurt. I used some medical phrases I know to describe when my injury still bothered me. He essentially rolled his eyes at me and said "oh we are using big medical words huh"...

who is that condescending to a patient? What dr refuses to see what preventative care and rehab the patient has been doing already before making recommendations?

Not a good experience. Will not go back.

Ryan M.

Extremely grateful that I found Dr. Palia! He is not your average surgeon. He has high expectations. He is critical of others in the care pipeline.

He repaired a complete tear of my patellar tendon and rotator cuff/labrum tear. He did such a good job I swear my "bad" knee is stronger than the good one. My rotator cuff tear was in a rare place. He said he might not be able to repair it with conventional methods. When I came out of surgery he said it was a good repair. Now I'm doing push-ups and running/hiking/boulder hopping. No pain!

On other sites I've read complaints about his lack of bedside manners. Do you want a social butterfly or a good surgeon? Dr. Palia is legit!! I can't thank him enough for putting me back together.

Cory T.

Maybe I caught Dr. Pallia on a bad day, but on my visit he seemed short and unfriendly. He did give good advice on the injury, but that came after a rather unpleasant introductory analysis . He then gave me heel cups which he said would be covered by my insurance; these in fact were not covered and I'm stuck with the bill. Off-day or not, I would not recommend Dr. Pallia or see him again.

mark49er

Started out with left shoulder rotator cuff tear and minimal bicep tear, and the 2 partial knee repairs and finally right shoulder rotator cuff and ruptured bicep repair!! Phew!! He’s done all of them and did a great job! I would recommend him to anybody thinking of having work done!
Thanks doctor Pallia!
Mark