Pediatrics

Pediatric care includes health and illnesses of infants, teens and young adults. CommuniCare’s clinicians provide preventive health care for children in good health and medical care for children who are acutely or chronically ill. They also provide parents with support and advice with issues such as growth and development, safety and prevention, nutrition, and emotional wellness to foster a lifetime of good health.

Yes, in fact we strongly encourage parents-to-be to meet our pediatric providers during pregnancy. During this visit, we will answer any questions that you have about our practice or your new child.  Ask your prenatal provider about scheduling such a visit if you are interested.  Some of our pediatric providers are also able to care for all members of the family (including parents and adults).  If you would like to have the same postpartum primary care provider as your baby, please be sure to let us know.

Your child should not only seek care for an illness. It is also important to schedule well-child-care exams regularly, beginning in infancy. Also called well-care visits or checkups, these routine examinations provide the best opportunity for the doctor to observe the progress of your child’s physical and mental growth and development; to counsel and teach parents; to detect problems through screening tests; to provide immunizations, and to get to know one another. Well-care visits are strongly recommended as part of preventive pediatric care.

Well-child visits are also a good time for parents to raise questions and concerns about a child’s development, behavior, nutrition, safety and overall well-being.

CommuniCare recommends this schedule for routine well-care visits:

• 3 to 5 days
• 2 weeks
• 1 month
• 2 months
• 4 months
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 12 months
• 15 months
• 18 months
• 2 years
• 2 1/2 years
• 3 years
• 4 years
• 5 years

And every year thereafter for an annual health supervision visit that includes a physical exam as well as a developmental, behavioral, and learning assessment.

Well-child visits are also a good time for parents to raise questions and concerns about a child’s development, behavior, nutrition, safety and overall well-being.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends this schedule for routine well-care visits:

• 3 to 5 days
• 1 month
• 2 months
• 4 months
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 12 months
• 15 months
• 18 months
• 24 months
• 30 months
• 3 years
• 4 years
•  

And once every year thereafter for an annual health supervision visit that includes a physical exam as well as a developmental, behavioral, and learning assessment.

Immunizations are a series of shots given to children at different ages to help ward off serious, and potentially fatal, childhood diseases. Making sure your child receives immunizations when scheduled is the best way to help protect your child from potentially fatal diseases. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, vaccinations have reduced the number of infections from vaccine-preventable diseases by more than 90%. If you’re apprehensive about vaccinations, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

If you’re preparing for your child’s first visit, there are a few things you’ll need. Please provide the following information when you arrive for your visit:

• Insurance cards
• Complete immunization records
• Medical records from your child’s previous medical provider (if applicable)

For most office visits we encourage you to make an appointment. However, we always strive to see our patients the same day for sick visits. We have an on-call service and there is always a medical provider available to assist you. Simply call our office number and you will be connected to the nurse triage service that will be happy to assist you.

***Remember if you have a life threatening emergency, call 911 immediately.***