Questions on Ashburn Pediatrics across from Giant.

Since they refuse to see me to give me any information because they are "short staffed", I figured with the high recommendations I've gotten for them, I'd at least try and gather information on them to see if I still want to consider them. Issue is, I'm due in September and need to choose a pediatrician quick!

Do they have sick visit walk in hour in the AMs? Are they open on Saturdays for sick visits as well?

How can you reach a doctor after hours, do they have one staffed at Loudoun that can be reached via answering svc?

Do the docs relate well to the kids and are they patient in answering new parent questions?

Is there a nursing staff that can take calls and answer questions?

What is the average wait time, for sick/well visits?

Are there sep. sick/well waiting rooms?

Do they visit the baby in the hospital after birth?

Thanks for any info you can provide!

 

We go to Ashburn Peds and have since our son was born almost 3.5 years ago. I'll fill you in on what our experience has been. He hasn't been that sick in the past 1.5 years or so, so some things may be different, but here goes:

They have walk in sick hours between 7:30am and 8:00am M-F. They will see people on Saturdays, but I think you need to call that morning and they'll give you a time to come in.

They do have an on-call doctor-don't know where they're physically located, but they've always been quick to respond. You call the answering service and the message gets passed along. On that point, we had called one Saturday night with a concern and a doctor arranged to meet us on Sunday (yes, Sunday) in the office. I'm sure that's unusual, but we were pleased.

Our experience is that the doctors on the whole are WONDERFUL. There is 1 doctor there that we just plain don't like. Mis-diagnosed strep throat and in my opinion just plain has a bad bedside manner ("it's nothing, sore throat should go away on its own..."-ended up back there the following day and the other doctor provided a correct diagnosis). Whenever we go for a sick visit we ask for any doctor but him-they have always been very accomodating with that request. For well visits you can request a specific doctor outright.

Our experience is that the nursing staff has always been very helpful and do tend to know their limitations-they will consult with a doctor if they do not know the answer.

Wait time does not seem to be too bad for either sick or well. The morning sick time is 1st come 1st serve. Sometimes there is a line waiting for them to open at 7:30am, but they do seem to get people seen relatively quickly. We've never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes on a well visit.

There are separate waiting rooms for sick and well. When our son was a newborn he got sick (within the 1st week), and they let us wait in the hallway and took us in through the well area when it was our turn so that our newborn didn't have to get exposed to all the germs in the sick waiting area. I appreciated that.

I delivered in Reston so I don't know if they visit the baby in the hospital... Can't answer that question.

These are just my experiences, also some of the info may be outdated because we've only been for 1 sick visit in the last year. Good luck with whatever choice you make.

 

Do they have sick visit walk in hour in the AMs? Are they open on Saturdays for sick visits as well?
Yes - They have walk-ins from 7:30 - 8:30am. We're usually inline waiting when the doors open. Lines can be bad when the doors open-depends on the season, but they the patients through pretty quickly.
Yes - Saturday's are appointments only. I usually start calling as soon as they open, to get an early appt.

How can you reach a doctor after hours, do they have one staffed at Loudoun that can be reached via answering svc?
They have an answering service that will patch messages to doctor. We have used the service before, but on-call doctor was the one I don't like. I was able to get info though.

Do the docs relate well to the kids and are they patient in answering new parent questions?
Most of the docs are great and relate well to the kids. We only dislike one doctor (mis-diagnosis as well). During the well-visits, most of the doctors ask for your questions, because they know you come in with them.

Is there a nursing staff that can take calls and answer questions?
Yes - I just call the main number and ask to leave a message for a nurse to call me back. The receptionist takes name, number, and brief info on why you want the call back.

What is the average wait time, for sick/well visits?
Well Visits - very short, no more than a few minutes. They schedule those very well.
Sick Visits - we tend to do walk-ins mostly, and our waits there are minimal. For the few scheduled appts we've had, the mornings seem to be better 10-15 min, afternoons are worse, waited over 20 min for that one.

Are there sep. sick/well waiting rooms?
Yes!!

Do they visit the baby in the hospital after birth?
For Reston - No
Not sure about Loudoun, I think so.

 

Echo everything the other posters said. We have yet to have a "bad" visit.

Yes, they visited us at Loudoun.

 

We have gone there since my doctor at another practice moved and she suggested Ashburn Ped's. Dr. Crowley was actually the attending dr. when I had my first child 15 years ago and he was premature. (She was at a different practice then) She was wonderful. The nurse practioner Susan is great! I have been happy with all the doctors there.. of course my son's would rather not see female docs.. unless it is an emergency we try to schedule with Dr. Gold. My daughter of course want's only females.. we request Dr. Crowley or Dr. Riley or Susan. The staff is friendly. I would highly recommend them!