A MUST READ -- BEWARE…read more
I will absolutely be sharing this experience publicly and warning other parents.
I am disgusted by the treatment we received from this office. In my opinion, the practice seems far more focused on enforcing its policies than actually listening to parents or addressing individual concerns.
My experience started last year with now-retired Dr. Taoka. Before we moved away (we are now back in Colorado), she was also pushing a vaccine schedule for my baby daughter. As any caring and responsible parent would, I had questions. Instead of helping me feel informed or even attempting to answer concerns, I felt dismissed and was essentially told we would need to go elsewhere if we did not follow their exact vaccine schedule.
The ironic part? We DO vaccinate our children, and always have. However, we have always chosen to space vaccines out. We do not do 4-5 vaccines in one visit. That has never been an issue for us anywhere else until now.
Fast forward to today.
We received two text confirmations for today's appointment and multiple calls from the office confirming the visit. During those conversations, I explained all of my concerns ahead of time, updated paperwork, completed the ASQ, and made it very clear that I primarily wanted my daughter evaluated by a doctor first because, with Dr. Taoka gone for the past several months and now retired, my daughter has not actually been seen by a physician at this practice.
Then this morning, the office called saying my daughter could not come in because she was "too early" for vaccines and would need to wait until next week. I called back and explained we were not even planning to vaccinate today because we first needed a doctor to evaluate her and answer questions we had. I was then told that was completely fine, and that we could schedule any vaccines later as a nurse visit after vacation.
That was communicated multiple times.
Then around 1 PM, we received ANOTHER call -- this time from Zoe, who identified herself as the office manager -- and the conversation completely changed. She told me that Dr. Lindsey Oliver, D.O., wanted my daughter to receive five vaccines at once and that if we came in, we needed to agree to follow that vaccine schedule.
Again, this was before the doctor had ever met or evaluated my daughter.
I explained that our children have never received that many vaccines at once and that we have always chosen to separate them. For example, if MMRV is needed, we do that individually and continue from there.
The entire reason we wanted this appointment was so a doctor could FIRST meet my child, hear our concerns, and discuss options with us.
Instead, I felt pressured, dismissed, and spoken to with a surprisingly hostile tone. I was basically told that if we did not agree with their approach, we should find another practice.
So yes -- we absolutely will.
Parents deserve to ask questions without feeling threatened or pushed out of a practice. Whether someone fully vaccinates, spaces vaccines out, delays them, or follows a different schedule entirely, parents should be able to have respectful conversations with their child's doctor without being made to feel bullied or unwelcome.
To be clear: I am not anti-vaccine. My children ARE vaccinated. But medical decisions for my children will always involve informed consent, discussion, and parental choice.
My personal experience with Lone Tree Pediatrics left me feeling unheard, pressured, and extremely disappointed in how this situation was handled -- especially by management and communication staff.
I'm sure the office will have its own version of events, but this was my family's direct experience. I even deleted a previous negative review last year because I wanted to give the practice another chance after moving back.
Unfortunately, today confirmed for me that returning was a mistake.
Parents: do your own research, read reviews carefully for this practice (you will see similar patterns) , ask questions, and trust your instincts when it comes to your children. ALWAYS.
