I actually heard great things about Dr. Hackley, being the "shoulder guy" but honestly I had a terrible experience with him and his awful assistant Darlene.

I went into his office on a Tuesday, day 4 after a shoulder injury and he took my X-Rays and failed to immediately identify a large fracture in my humerus bone. He saw it, because he pointed it out to me during that visit saying there was this piece of bone "he couldn't identify" and had me schedule an MRI.

I checked out with his assistant DARLENE who I asked "when will my MRI be?" and she SAID she would call me back on Thursday but Thursday came and I didn't get a call so I called her instead and left a voicemail. No call back all the next day. No returning my VM. End of day Friday I call the office and apparently Darlene is gone for the day.

Another doctor's assistant was nice enough to look up my records for me. She said my MRI was approved and helped me schedule it for the following week! So I did...but again no thanks to Darlene.

The next week I go in for my MRI and I have to schedule a follow-up with Darlene again. She completely ignores the fact she didn't call me back, and she didn't return my voicemail. No apologies.

The MRI technician said my results would be ready the following day. I had been experiencing pain in my arm and I told Darlene that, but she said even though the results will be in tomorrow, "the doctor won't even review your results until NEXT Tuesday" and he didn't even have any available appointments until the following Tuesday after that. That would be 4 weeks after my injury even though I went to see them on Day 4!! Are you kidding me?! But she was adamant about this and gave me this "know it all" attitude. She completely dismissed the fact my condition could potentially be more serious -- and she treated me like it was definitely not going to be serious. So arrogant!!

The next morning, knowing Darlene's not good at follow-up, I just went to medical records and was able to pick up my own MRI results. It confirmed I had a Large fracture to my humerus bone and also a full tear to my subscapularis. I needed to get surgery ASAP - I was already past two weeks when a bone injury SHOULD be treated immediately, within two weeks. I scheduled an appointment with a different doctor in Encinitas who got me in right away.

After I arranged everything with the new doctor, Guess what? I get a call from both Dr. Hackley AND Darlene who said "hey! Doctor saw my results and needs me to get surgery ASAP!" Well thanks for finally calling me back but I am already taken care of, no thanks to either of you!

Awful experience. The office is also really old and outdated but that wouldn't bother me had the doctors assistant attempted to act more helpful instead of being some b*tchy "know it all" and dismissing my medical condition. Also the well-known doctor should have KNOWN my arm was broken, before he let me run around for another two weeks to get an MRI because his assistant can't follow through on her word.

Do not go to this hack and his flaky unprofessional assistant!!

Submitted Sept. 2, 2016

Dr Hackley is truly excellent. I am in the medical profession myself and when I injured my knee, he was consistently recommended to me as one of the best Orthopedists in San Diego by other physicians and OR staff. He saw me quickly and was very attentive. He has an exceptional bedside manner and was able to diagnose the degree of my ACL tear clinically before the MRI confirmed it. He spent a lot of time talking to me about my nonsurgical and surgical options. I appreciated that he was completely honest about the risks and benefits of both approaches. On my visit he spent almost an hour talking to me about the different options and I can tell you that is very rare for an orthopedic surgeon. I have chosen a nonoperative course for the present time due to my work committments. However, Dr Hackley has an excellent reputation amongst other medical professionals for his surgical skills and ACL repairs. I would highly recommend him with a sports medicine injury.

Submitted Jan. 25, 2012

I saw Dr. Hackley for a ruptured ganglion in my wrist. I sat in the exam room for one hour waiting for him. When he finally arrived he said that he was tired and upset that his receptionists made an appointment with me. He said just got out of surgery and hadn’t been able to have lunch and that he was really hungry. Our five minute session was interrupted twice by the staff coming into the room to ask him questions. He wouldn’t even look at my wrist and he did not order any tests. He told me to ignore all the nerve sensations in my hand and to not take any medication. He told me to come back when the ganglion fills back up with fluid.

Submitted Sept. 23, 2011

Dr. Hackley has done two knee surgeries for me. For my ACL reconstruction I had to paid cash since I had no insurance, I did call around to other doctors and his price was better than the ones I found. I had insurance for my meniscus repair. For my ACL reconstruction he used titanium screws instead of surgical steel since I practice martial arts. He always described completely what he was going to do in the surgery and why this or that method would work better. He was always up to date on his research. I also went to him for a shoulder injury. When I went in for the last check-up he had thought he was going to have to suggest surgery or I quit playing, but after he did his tests I was able to return to sports. As for the poster below, there would be in a malpractice lawsuit if a piece of a tool was left. Do your physical therapy, that's how you get better! I recommend Dr. Hackley to numerous people and everyone who goes to him has always had the best experience.

Submitted Dec. 30, 2010

He did two acl reconstructions on my left knee and they both failed. He also left the tip of a drill bit in my tibia. I had to have two more surgeries just to fix what he had done. Dr. Afra at ucsd did the repair work and my 3rd acl reconstruction. My knee feels better now than it ever did while Hackley was working on it.

Submitted Aug. 19, 2009

Dr Hackley is a very motivational doctor

Submitted March 8, 2009