I miss Jellinek Pediatrics! My family recently moved from Pennsylvania to Connecticut which meant I had to find a new pediatrician for my five year old, three year old and four month old. Prior to moving, I spent a lot of time researching pediatricians while getting recommendations from family and friends in the area. I knew that I wasn't going to get exactly the same service that I had grown accustom to with Jellinek Pediatrics but I had hoped it would be somewhat similar. Unfortunately, we just had our first appointment with the new pediatrician for my son's four month check up and I am so disappointed. The Dr saw my son, did the routine check up and stated that the nurse would be in with the immunizations. I thought ok but when the nurse came in for the immunizations everything went down hill. The nurse came in with a tray and without a word asked me to get my son to open his mouth to give the first vaccination. There was no conversation about what vaccines were being administered. I wasn't asked to sign anything or provided an information sheet on what was being administered. I was taken back because I always knew what vaccines my children were given each and every time at Dr. Js. In this instance, I actually stopped the nurse from administering the one vaccine because it was oral and I knew my children never received an oral vaccination at Dr Js. Needless to say, I left the new pediatrician's office feeling very unsettled and I immediately called Dr Js office and spoke to Diana about my experience. It was so comforting to have Diana talk me through what had happened while providing insight and advice that I can trust.
The old saying you don't know what you've got till its gone could hold true here except for the fact that I knew and appreciated how good we had it with Jellinek Pediatrics. When I was pregnant with my first child I searched for a pediatrician practice like Dr Js because I wanted my child to be known by the Dr and I wanted to be able to speak to the Dr or nurse when I called not a service or an on call Dr, who had never met my child. I will be honest though my husband didn't think these things were that important and said we simply needed to find an in network practice and call it a day. Thankfully Dr Js practice satisfied both of our requirements at the time; however, my husband, after experiencing the care at Jellinek Pediatrics, was the first to say, if we weren't moving we would be paying the annual fee to stay with Dr. J. Oh how one's perspective can change. After having three children, my husband has experienced first hand how invaluable and rare the one on one direct relationship with your pediatrician is. When our now three year old son was premature and in the Doylestown NICU for two weeks, my husband was on the phone with Dr J on her cell several times a day. My husband was also the one who was on the phone with Dr J en route to CVS at 9:45pm as she is calling them to ask that they stay open so he could get the steroid for our daughter, who woke up with croup. These are just two examples out of several where direct access to Dr. J day or night, made us, as inexperienced parents, feel less afraid and more comfortable that our children were getting what they needed to feel better while avoiding the emergency room. Unfortunately, where we live now, I will be calling a Dr's office and leaving messages for a response rather than getting Diana right away during the day or Dr J on her cell in the middle of the night. This is my new reality for which I have no choice so I write this post simply to say don't take for granted the wonderful personal service that you get at Jellinek Pediatrics. Having experienced what is out there I value what we had more than ever with Jellinek Pediatrics so much so that in my meetings with prospective new pediatricians (yes I am changing pediatricians as a result of my experience) I start out explaining the type of practice I am accustom to so they understand my frame of reference and can be honest about how their practice compares. Fingers crossed that I find something similar! read more
