I was wondering if anyone has some recommendations for a pediatrician in the Central Mass area...I'm willing to travel. We're in Worcester County, and I really need to find someone who is friendly to not-vaxing/alternative scheduling, espeically. My expereince so far is not a lot of doctor's are friendly/receptive to that.
I'm in Worcester and my kids see Dr. V. Nishino at Fallon Clinic. As of now my ds#2 (18mos) has not recieved any vax's and my older two (dd 7 and ds#1 5) were vaxed according to "schedule" up to the age of 5. Ds#1 however didn't recieve any of the boosters for enterance into kindegarten and we didn't have any problems with the school nurse for that either (he goes to Worc public schools) We haven't as of yet decided if ds #2 will recieve any vaxes on a delayed schedule or not. Dr. Nishino was very understanding when dh and I talked to him about our wishes not to vax the baby (our first ds is PDD/NOS) At ds#2 well baby checkups he'll just ask if we've decided to start any yet and I say "No" and he's cool with that. He's never "talked down" to me about our decision and I feel he respects me and my decisions as their parent. Ds #2 had his 18m checkup yesterday and we had a different nurse so I told her ds#2 isn't getting vaxes (the nurses there typically prepare them so after the Dr. sees the child the nurse comes back in to do the shots so I didn't want her to get them ready -the nurse who we usually have knows that) and she told me she isn't vaxing her son either. Anyways... didn't mean to write a book
The office is "mainstream"... you will see the typical vax posters and such... although they do have a breast feeding support group poster
. Good luck... I hope you find something that works for your family.
Hi. I would like to resurrect this thread!
Any "AP-friendly" pediatricians in the Central Massachusetts area?
I've heard recommendations for Dr. Paul Hart in Sterling and Dr. Tatiana Hamawi - both are family practice doctors, which is fine, but I really liked the atmosphere of the pediatrician's office. I used to see Dr. Lisa Gussak who is so, so great, but I hated her office so I switched to Dr. Christine Freemer in Shrewsbury. Dr. Freemer supports my decisions to delay vax, but I always feel rushed and don't feel like I have much say.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - or, if you have experience with Drs. Hart or Hamawi I'd love to hear it. Thanks!
We see Dr. Ingrid Cruse at Medical Associates in Leominster. She has been wonderful - very supportive of breastfeeding, clothdiapering, and has no issues with no-vax, although we vaxed on schedule for a few years. To be honest, I don't discuss non-medical issues with her very much, such as cosleeping, but when our son had RSV as an infant and was very sick, she was incredibly supportive of us and took excellent care of DS. I really want a ped who is there for us when the kids are sick, KWIM?
I'll second Dr.Cruise and throw in a vote for Dr. Catalina also of Medical Assoicates. We had picked Dr. Cruise prior to my sons birth but due him coming early we were asked by the NICU to make the switch to Dr. Cat only because he was able to come to the NICU and get more involved with my son prior to his discharge and Cr. Cruise was on vacation. They both were spoken very highly of at UMass.
Dr. Cat has always been very supportive of our choices regarding Jacob if he agreed or not. He only asks that we be informed and that we have always been. He never gave me a second look when I told him that my son was still nursing at almost 4. He will throw in the regular "Its recommended that blah blah" but doesn't push it. I get the impression that as long as he sees that your child is being taken care of loved and your educated on the choices that you make who is he to tell you must do something else.
Wow -- you are the first I've heard to say you like Dr. Cruise. I personally think she has the bedside manner of a .... bedpost and zero personality. She diagnosed my daughter with thrush when she didn't have it, and after weeks of dealing with the drops etc. a nurse said: "that's not thrush that's milk tongue..." Dr. Cruise never apologized or even acknowledged that she'd made a mistake. ALso don't care for Dr. Callahan.
I like Dr. Daga from the same practice. I so far have vaxed on schedule but have spoken with her about my concerns and she said that she does have patients who do not vax and she's okay with their decision.
The best there was Dr. Feldman -- but unfortunately he's has leukemia (sp?) and no longer is working. He was a sweetie.
There is a great pediatric nurse I use that does house calls! Very convenient with a newborn! It is Monson Pediatrics and family practice, and she travels as far as worcester. Her name is Melissa Blackburn the number is 413-237-3232. She has come to my house a few times for checkups and is very good. She is open to alternative choices and only recommended the pertussis vax when I said I didn't want to vax right now.
I guess I forgot to mention I was located in Boylston - I'd prefer a pedi. who would have privedledges at either of the two Worcester hospitals, ideally, or perhaps the Marlborough Hospital.
Thanks again.
Originally Posted by Heather423
There is a great pediatric nurse I use that does house calls! Very convenient with a newborn! It is Monson Pediatrics and family practice, and she travels as far as worcester. Her name is Melissa Blackburn the number is 413-237-3232. She has come to my house a few times for checkups and is very good. She is open to alternative choices and only recommended the pertussis vax when I said I didn't want to vax right now.
I think it's great when they can understand why you don't want to vax, however, suggest which ones are the most important. Just curious - was she able to give you just the pertussis vax?
Unfortunately, she's not covered by our insurance.
We use Dr. Deborah Francis in Sterling. She's been great. no issues with delayed vaxing, she's very supportive breastfeeding wise, etc etc. She's with Nashaway Pediatrics. She even met us there on a Saturday morning to go over information from a neurologist for our son.
Toast Queen, I will be switching insurances on April 30th and she said she signs up for whatever insurances that her client have, so if you ask her about your insurance co, she could register as a provider. And someone mentioned about hospital priviledges, I think the pediatrician she is affiliated with has priviledges at a hospital in the Monson vicinity can't remember which one at the moment.
We've been very happy with Paul Hart in Sterling. Totally supportive and respectful of anything I've ever wanted to do, and is a fan of homebirth besides. His NPs are good also. I've also heard good things about a Westborough Family Practice doctor whose last name is Lieberman. I know he has some nursing three year olds in his practice.
Originally Posted by RachelGS
We've been very happy with Paul Hart in Sterling. Totally supportive and respectful of anything I've ever wanted to do, and is a fan of homebirth besides. His NPs are good also. I've also heard good things about a Westborough Family Practice doctor whose last name is Lieberman. I know he has some nursing three year olds in his practice.
Hi!
I'm going to call Dr. Hart tomorrow. I tried a bunch of numbers on Friday and kept getting the wrong one, but once I finally got it right the message said it was not office hours.
Do you have to wait a long time in his office? An old post I read said he had tons of patients.
Thanks so much for the advice - I'm excited to meet him.
I started going to Dr. Hart in Sterling before my son was born 12/30/07 on the recommendation of my childbirth class teacher. I met with him because I was looking for a pedi who be supportive of me breastfeeding (extenuating circumstances I won't get into). He was fantastic. He was a great listener, told me he could not answer my question (love the ability to say IDK!) and called me back repeatedly until he was able to get me on the phone to give me the answer. I was away from home quite a bit at the time he was trying to reach me and he must have left 10 mssgs. I've never had a Dr. that was that reachable.
When my newborn had bad diaper rash his third week, Dr. Hart let us meet him at his office when it was closed on the weekend so that baby wouldn't have to suffer.
Dr. Hart gives his personal phone # out to his patients and tells us, "call anytime, even if it's 3 in the morning"
For my little guy's well baby visits I have been seen immediately, by one of his nurse practitioners (he has 4) and she is excellent.
Hey Kalmia (and anyone else who uses Dr. Hart)
I'd heard that he has over 4,000 (or maybe 7,000...can't remember which) patients, which really concerns me about being able to get to see him.
So, I guess I'm still looking.
Anyone new here have any suggestions in the Worcester area? THANKS!
We have our first appt. with Dr. Hart sometime soon (I need to check!), but his number of patients doesn't concern me too much. We go so rarely I can't think of why that would be an issue for us. Besides, we were going to Dr. Wedda in Wellesley and would sometimes have to wait an hour and a half. Not pleasant with a toddler. And even though she was no-vax tolerant, she wanted to see DS back in a few months because he wasn't gaining. He'd just started walking, was zooming everywhere, and was ahead on 75% of the milestones.
I had my first visit with "Dr. Hart" last week. I put it in parenthesis, because I actually had an appointment with one of his nurse practitioners. He works with 6 NPs, who also all see patients, can write scripts, etc... I knew when I made the appointment I would be meeting with one instead....
I absolutely LOVED the NP I met with. She was absolutely fantastic. Her name is Angela Giza. I was not rushed, desite the fact that the office was jumping (and Dr. Hart was on vacation! LOL). She listened to me, and treated me like a partner in my health care. She was personable and had a great bedside manner. And she gave me great care all around!
She did write me a script for a med that can be used at different doses. She wrote it for me for the highest dosage and told me that she did that so I would have the greatest flexibility to decide how much I needed and that she "trusts me" to find the right dosage. I was shocked and thrilled! It was actually what I had asked for, but never thought I would get it.
I also told her that I was working on my Doctorate in Naturopathy, and she asked me where. I told her and her response was "Oh, I have been looking at that program and really want to do it."
This was only my first appointment, but I can't remember leaving a Doc's office so happy in a long while. I was beginning to think I was going to have to start driving in to Wellesley to follow Dr. Wedda (who was my doc before she moved).
We're still very happy with Dr. Hart's practice. I've never had any problem at all getting in. As often as not, a sick child visit winds up being with Dr. Hart (as opposed to a nurse practitioner), but I like the NPs very much, too. And anytime I've felt like I need to have Dr. Hart weigh in, I just call and leave him a message, and he calls right back and invariably says to come right over. He has met me there on a closed-office day for a very sick child, too. I feel very respected as a knowledgeable parent. He said that he takes it extremely seriously if a mother reports that something just isn't right, that mothers know their kids and are invariably right when they have that instinct.
My daughter just turned five, and her recent visit (for a sore throat) also involved him asking a lot of questions about our school plan for her. He was very interested in hearing what we have in mind for her and gave us several suggestions in case we needed other options. He also really encouraged homeschooling if the school we've chosen doesn't keep up with her needs (she's a pretty bright kid).
We had our 15 month pedi appointment with Dr. Hart today - OMG, what a great doctor!!!!!!! He looks like Santa Claus, took the time to talk with us, and I didn't feel rushed at all! Sure, I was spoiled with a short drive to Shrewsbury (from Boylston) and now have to drive to Sterling, but he is worth it! Thank you MDC Mommas for recommending him!
We have our first appointment with him next week. We just moved to area, and I picked him by what you all have said here. I can't wait to meet him? Will he laugh when I told him how I found him on MDC?? Did you all tell him about MDC???
I didn't tell him I found him through MDC.
I didn't want to tip him off :"hey, you're one of the few docs who let us get away with no vax'ing, encourage extended b'feeding, yadda, yadda, yadda - word gets around, buddy!"
Originally Posted by toastqueen
I didn't tell him I found him through MDC.
I didn't want to tip him off :"hey, you're one of the few docs who let us get away with no vax'ing, encourage extended b'feeding, yadda, yadda, yadda - word gets around, buddy!"
As of today I've made the decision to look for a new pediatrician for my 4 year old. I'd love to get the contact information for both Dr. Hart and Dr. Deborah Francis in Sterling. Anymore feedback on your experiences with them would also be great. Am I correct that both are family PCP's?
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