Children's Hospital (Oakland, CA)
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Children's Hospital
Feb 2011
Re: Woman pediatrician who takes Medi-Cal
The primary care clinic associated with Children's Hospital Oakland
take Med-Cal. There are many female pediatricians there.
Myself, Dr. Mandel, others: Dr. Marbin, Dr. Shrestha, Dr. Noor,
Dr.Lewis, Dr. Meade, Dr. Simms-Mackey, Dr. Chase, Dr. Halberg, and
others. I think we do good work at the clinic and we would love to
see you there. I take my daughter there too! Amy
The Pulmo clinic at Children's Hospital is top notch.
I can't say
enough good things about them. They helped my kids come to terms with Asthma
and caring for themselves as they have grown. It took me many years to
locate a physician for myself whom I trusted and liked as much as the doctors
at Children's Pulmo. There are support groups available for parents and kids
too; even an asthma camp (though I don't have any experience with this.)
Good luck to anyone who is a parent of a child with respiratory illness! You
have every reason to be very optimistic, IMHO.
Dr Betts at Childrens Hospital
Feb 2008
Has anyone had any experience with Dr Betts at the childrens
hospital in Oakland? We have an appointment with him soon for
my son, and of course I am nervous about the whole prospect of
my toddler needing surgery. Any words of wisdom, or
reassurance??
Thanks for your help,
anxious mama
Dr. Betts really is the best pediatric surgeon in the Bay Area.
He hasn't got the best bedside manner in the world, but he will
take the best possible care of your child. When my son needed
surgery (at barely a month old!), Dr. Betts was amazing. Your
child is in good hands with him.
Kathleen
I work at Children's Hospital, and have worked with Dr. Betts
for many years. He is an excellent surgeon: experienced and
accomplished. You could not be in better hands, in my opinion.
Also,(equally important) the anesesiologists at Children's are
great!
Pediatric RN
Dr. Betts is one of the best pediatric surgeons in the area, if
not THE best! He is a leader in the field, and also happens to
have a lovely bedside manner. If my kid needed surgery, I'd go
to him.
-CHO colleague
Some input on Dr. Betts .... more than 10 years ago we were
referred to Dr. Betts for my one-year old baby's undescended
testes. Dr. Betts has a well-deserved reputation as a brilliant
surgeon -- but has no bedside manner whatsoever. He opened with
remarks that ''x'' million men in American are sterile, and
concluded with a comment that maybe my son would grow up to be
gay and not want children anyway. This literally is how I
learned the long-term implications of my baby's condition
(infertility). I left the appointment in tears.
We went to another surgeon at Cal Pacific who also had a fine
reputation but was better at communicating and supporting the
parents during a difficult time.
I still remember that appointment vividly. Both Dr. Betts'
skills and shortcomings were confirmed by other doctors I talked
with afterwards.
Just One Experience
My son has had two surgeries with Dr. Betts, and we can't say
enough good things about him and about our experience with
Children's Hospital in general. The nursing staff is excellent,
and they really know how to deal with kids. It can be hard to
get to know Dr. Betts because he is busy and doesn't often have
time for pleasantries, but he is a caring person and a very
well-regarded surgeon. He is also VERY meticulous (which is
great medicine but also means that you may end up having to
reschedule more than once (i.e., for my son's procedure, he had
to be free of all cold symptoms for two weeks, which is almost a
miracle in itself!)) The rescheduling was the most
nerve-wracking part of the process for us. Both the procedure
and the recovery were much easier than we thought they would be,
and even after 2 rounds of anesthesia and incisions, our son
actually LIKES going to Children's for his checkups. Feel free
to email me if you'd like any more information. You are in
good hands -- we are so lucky to have these world-class
resources right here in Oakland!
Erika
My first job as a plastic surgeon was at Childrens' Hospital
Oakland. I worked with Jim Betts alot and he is a wonderful,
talented and caring surgeon. You did not say what type of
surgery your child was having, but when my daughter needed a
procedure done as a 7 year old, I took her to Jim. You have
made a good choice.
Elizabeth
My son had surgery with Dr. Betts' partner, Dr. Baskin. We love
Dr. Baskin, he set our fears to rest with every word, gesture
and action. Don't know Dr. Betts, but know that he and Dr.
Baskin are considered the best of the best in pediatric urology.
The idea of surgery dominated much of my thinking from the time
my son was diagnosed with hydronephrosis at 20weeks in utero
until he had the surgery at 7 months. It is so much in the past
now (my son just turned 4) I can hardly remember how difficult
this whole time was for me emotionally. Everything was
wonderful, Dr. Baskin, his assistant, every staff person we
worked with at Children's, the overnights in the hospital...I'm
happy to speak with you more if you would like to contact me
directly.
E. Ilana
Dr. Betts operated on my closest friend's daughter several times.
She had a very rare medical condition and they met with him and he
explained everything to them. When they went looking for a second
opinion they discovered there was none because Dr. Betts was the
only person in the country to have done the surgery - 10 times
total!. He was amazing, he ended up having to do 3 surgeries on
her, one more than 16 hours!. One of the surgeries he actually
came out to talk to us and lay out several options that had not
been apparent prior to the surgery - it involved the possible loss
of fertility and he wanted to make sure the parents were totally
informed and given all the options available at that point. Most
surgeons would send someone else out, but he actually came out and
spoke with us. My friend said to tell you that he may seem a bit
detached and he doesn't do nearly as well with parents as he does
with the children. Her daughter was always at ease and
comfortable, he was wonderful managing her pain - she really didn't have any. He is
incredibly committed to his work and to his patients. I hope this
helps with your difficult decision.
anon
Dr Betts at Oakland Childrens is board certified in Urology Surgery. I
would recommend him if you need urology surgery.
FYI
Dr. Kim at Children's Hospital for hernia surgery?
Sept 2007
My son has been assigned Dr. Kim at Children's Hospital for his hernia surgery. I see a
few names on BPN with good recommendation, but he's not mentioned anywhere. Does anyone
have an experience with him? We could delay the surgery a few days, I think, to choose
a different doctor. Any information would be helpful.
Jenn
I work in the surgery department at Children's Hospital, and I think that Dr. Kim
is an excellent surgeon! He is very competent, and great with kids. Your child
will be in good hands.
Children's Hospital RN
Preparing for Surgery at Children's Hospital
May 2003
Re: Tonsilectomy & Other Surgeries at Children's Hospital:
Many parents are not aware that Children's Hospital (both the
outpatient surgery center and the regular hospital) has a
wonderful group of highly trained social workers called ''Child
Life'' counselors who will meet with you and your child to show
your child the masks and other potentially scary things they
will see when they come for surgery. This brief visit will help
prepare them and empower them, and take much of the fear out of
the surgery. Many doctor's offices do not understand the value
of this (free) service and do not mention it to parents. ASK
your doctor's office or call the hospital to schedule a Child
Life meeting a few days before the surgery (call to schedule as
soon as you know your date to be sure to get an appointment).
It's too stressful to do the same day as surgery, but you can
combine it with the pre-op appointment if that's on a different
day. (Also, we read a great book called ''Goodbye Tonsils'')
Suzanne
August 1998
My 8-year-old daughter has recently been diagnosed with tethered cord. She
will be entering Children's Hospital in Oakland in a week or two to have
surgery to correct this defect in her spinal cord. Her neurosurgeon is Dr.
Nagle. If anyone has any experience with this condition, or with surgery
at Children's, or any advice on how to make this as untraumatic as possible
for her, me, and her 3-year-old sister I would be most grateful. You may
email me directly. I am a single parent with no family in the area, and
have recently used up all my sick leave and most of my vacation leave
because I have been out with pneumonia, and I'm feeling a little
overwhelmed by it all ...
Melinda
Children's Hospital: Our daughter was in Children's (though not for
surgery) about 11 years ago, and I would rate the hospital pretty highly; the
nurses and residents were competent and caring. John
Our younger daughter also spent a night at Children's Hospital the winter
before last. She had pneumonia, and had to have an iv and oxygen - which
is nothing compared to surgery, but which seemed very awful at the time.
Anyway -- she actually had a wonderful time. The nurse who put the IV in
was absolutely wonderful. She really enjoyed all the gizmos in her room
(the tv in bed! the small oxygen canister to wheel around! the fuzzy
yellow slippers!). I think she also enjoyed having some time alone with
me, since I stayed with her the whole time. She also enjoyed having
complete control of the television. She was almost 5 at the time -- she
has a sister two years older.
Christina
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