Looking for recommendations for pediatricians in St. Paul

caroljgs · July 2011

Hi All - Any recommendations for pediatricians in the St. Paul area?

Thanks!

schmood · July 2011

I used to work at Children's Hospitals & Clinics, St. Paul and the pedis there were all very highly recommended:

Gigi Chawla, Bill Zimny, Jim McCord, Kent Wegmann, Kristin Peterson

It has been a few years since I've worked there, so not sure if they are all still there, but I know for sure Chawla & McCord are still there.

We also got a ton of referrals from the physicians at the clinic next door to the hospital: Pediatric & Young Adult Medicine

MrsGo4Hockeychick · July 2011

what part of St Paul. "St Paul Area" is a very large section of the twin cities.

BeccaMarie · July 2011

I have another vote for Pediatric and Young Adult Medicine!

My favorite doctor there is Dr. Baron. He is older (and looks even older than he is - as one of my friend's DH's put it - "was he Jesus' pediatrician?") but he takes a genuine interest/concern in his patients.

I can't say enough good things about Dr. Baron - he is efficient and isn't a talker by nature, but don't mistake that for a lack of thoroughness. I have noticed that he doesn't hesitate to act when necessary (ie, "she needs to go get x-rays") but he doesn't over-react (ie, "let's just watch it for now") - I really trust his judgment.

He saw DD last week, just because she wanted to go see him (DH is sick, and goes to the doctor multiple times a week, and I think DD just needed to 'process' what is going on) - he was so kind about it and took the time to talk to her and me about what is going on with DH. He even gave me a list of things to ask about and look into in relation to what is going on with DH. I feel like he gave us more info than DH's docs did! (and he knew about some cutting-edge treatment that hadn't been mentioned to us yet)

I like many of the other docs at PYAM too, but Dr. Baron is just amazing! (and I think some other new moms might get turned off by his age or personality, because I can always get an appointment with him when I want/need one)

One of my favorite things about the clinic, is that if you call with a question, you get to talk to your doctor immediately. (if your preferred doctor isn't there for some reason, they'll connect you with someone else) This means that your appts are occasionally interrupted with a phone call - but I don't care! I love knowing that if I need to call, I can talk to someone right away.

Veittobe · July 2011

Dr. Clark saw our daughter at her birth in the hospital. I believe his first name is Kirby? He works near lake Phalen in St. Paul. If we lived closer to St. Paul, I would definitely go see him as her Doctor. I loved how well he took care of our daughter and answered my questions patiently and intelligently in the hospital. He was absolutely wonderful. I just wish he worked closer to the west metro.

big_noise · July 2011

I highly recommend Mendakota Pediatrics in West St. Paul (not too far out of St. Paul). Dr. Gobel owns the practice there and it is the most friendly, helpful clinic I've ever gone to. They are wonderful and take the time to get to know you and your family.

https://www.mendakotapeds.com/

FWIW I went to Pediatric and Young Adult when I was a kid and wouldn't even consider it for DD after the awful experience I had as a teenager with one pedi there. Just on the off-chance I'd ever have to deal with that pedi, I didn't consider it.

That being said, Dr. Baron was the pedi for some close family friends and he is an amazing Dr. I know people LOVE him.

lnelson20 · July 2011

We use Health Partners Como Park clinic and love them. We have seen a lot of the doctors and nurses and haven't had a bad experience. They are also really good at getting us in last minute when one of our kids are sick. We used to see Dr. Sekhon,as our primary but she just retired. She was fantastic. We now see Dr. Kavathekar and we really like her too. She has a little kid herself and another on the way so she comes both from the medical perspective and from the in the trenches mom perspective. We really like her demeanor with our kids.

mindyf28 · July 2011

I highly recommend Pediatric and Young Adult Medicine. They've got locations throughout the metro - one in St. Paul, right next to Children's, one in Eagan, Maplewood and a few others but those are the 3 that we've gone to.

We see Dr. Siefferman and he is wonderful! He has 4 young kids of his own so he has a lot of examples and experiences that he shares. He's also very accepting of different parenting approaches and takes my concerns seriously and doesn't talkl down to me or make me feel like I'm failing, even when I think I might be! Dr. Siefferman is great with our daughter too. She's 10 months old and he talks directly to her, always gets her to smile and he is very quick and efficient with the shots, which I appreciate! We've also seen other doctors there when we've had to go in last minute and I've been very happy with all of them.

Other things I LOVE about the clinic in general: You can call and talk directly to your doctor. Each doctor has a phone on them during the day so you call their ext. directly and you don't have to go through a nurse or anything like that. You can leave a voicemail for them if they don't answer but 9 times out of 10 I've gotten the doctor on the first try.

You can also call day or night at ANY time and the doctor on call will call you back within the hour. This was especially helpful in the first few months when I was nervous about everything. And they never made me feel stupid or silly for calling. And their immediate answer isn't to just come in, like some nurse lines I've experienced in the past. When we have had to go in on short notice they can always get us in the same day.

At our first appointment they gave us a binder with a lot of great information in it that has been a good reference tool and each of the well-child visits they give you a handout with information for that specific stage that you can add to the binder.

Also, they see children all the way up to age 18 so you don't have to switch providers when they are adolesents.

My daughter had trouble with diaper rash, reflux issues, and her ambilical cord didn't heal fully at first, so we've had lots of first-hand experience and interactions with our pediatrician and the clinic and I couldn't be happier with them. As you can tell I just can't say enough about them. They are WONDERFUL!!!

BeccaMarie · July 2011

mindyf28:

I highly recommend Pediatric and Young Adult Medicine. They've got locations throughout the metro - one in St. Paul, right next to Children's, one in Eagan, Maplewood and a few others but those are the 3 that we've gone to.

... Also, they see children all the way up to age 18 so you don't have to switch providers when they are adolesents.

... They are WONDERFUL!!!

Actually, they see people up to 21

I love to see several recs for the clinic - they really are great!

ETA: I saw Dr. Siefferman once when I was 16. I broke my wrist, and drove myself there because my parents weren't available. He was great and talked to me like an adult. It made me continue going to the clinic for as long as I was able, since I knew they wouldn't treat me like a little kid. (even though they are great with kids too)

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