Berkeley Parents Network: Albany Family Practice

Berkeley Parents Network

Albany Family Practice

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Health & Medical > Albany Family Practice

Albany Family Practice
500 San Pablo Ave
Albany, CA 94706
524-1580

Notes: There is another practice with a similar name: Albany Medical Group at 1181 Solano.

Questions about the practice

Doctors reviewed: Nina Birnbaum, Kenneth Gjeltema, Mamiko Kawai

Questions about the practice

Pregnant, and looking for a new practice (April 2004)

I am 30 weeks pregnant with my first baby (a boy) and am starting to look for a doctor. I was most interested in the Albany Family Practice at 500 San Pablo Ave. because I live very close and walking there for routine visits very much appeals to me.I also need a doctor for myself, as mine moved her office. I wanted to know if anyone can give tell me about the doctors at that office, most specifically for babies. I have not read anything about Dr. Andrew Wallach, Susan Eagle, RN, NP, or Vicki Steele-Woodall, RN, NP. Any info would be helpful! Thanks, Crissy

Recommended: Nina Birnbaum and Kenneth Gjeltema

Nina Birnbaum

Re: Pregnant, and looking for a new practice (April 2004)
Nina Birnbaum is a wonderful doctor who just moved to the Albany Family Practice. She is smart, reasonable, funny, and a great doctor. She is also well respected in the medical community. She has three kids of her own, so definitely has a good perspective on being a parent. My kids do not see her, as they had already developed a relationship with their pediatrician before she moved here, but I have many friends whose chilren see her and all seem very happy and at ease with her. doctor ref

Re: Lesbian-friendly MDs (March 2004)
I really like my doc, Nina Birnbaum. She moved in January from right near Alta Bates to an office way out San Pablo in Albany, and I almost switched because it was so much less convenient for me. But then she told me that she moved to that office because the morale was great among the staff, and because this practice made her schedule fewer patients per hour, so she could spend more quality time with them! So obviously her heart's in the right place, and also she's young and funny and smart. heidi

Re: Hill Physicians Primary Care Doctors (March 2004)
I've been very pleased with Nina Birnbaum; she's part of James Eichel's practice (843-4544). radha

August 2002

re: MD for teen daughter
I recently just switched to Nina Birmbaum because I had to change medical groups. Although I've only seen her once so far I feel I can provide a good recommendation. She is very personable, thorough, and seemed to be quite knowledgeable. You were mentioning that you were hoping for someone young, which she is as well. I would imagine that a 19 year old would feel very comfortable with her. Hannah

Kenneth Gjeltema

Re: Health Net Primary Care Physician (Oct 2004)
Dr. Kenneth Gjeltema is wonderful. He's a family practitioner who is very gentle, caring, and respectful. I know this because he was my mentor when I was in medical school, supervising me as we both volunteered at a homeless clinic in Berkeley. He was definitely a role model for me on how to be a good physician, not just in terms of medical knowledge, but also bedside manner. local pediatrician

Re: Health Net Primary Care Physician (Oct 2004)
Dr. Gjeltema is my primary care physician. He is very friendly and calm...great 'bedside' manner. Once in his care, you can also see his partner doctors or nurse practitioners, all of whom I've liked. happy with doc

Re: Pregnant, and looking for a new practice (April 2004)
Dr. Kenneth Gjeltema at Albany family practice is very nice, and a good doctor. He is a family practitioner, so he sees adults and children. I highly recommend him. a happy patient

Sept 2002

I like both our doctors at Albany Family Practice (524-1580) (ABMG) very much. My husband is a patient of Dr. Kawai, and I have Dr. Gjeltema.

That said I haven't actually seen either doctor for two years, because of referrals by them to an Allergist/Pulmonologist for asthma (Dr. Jim Nicholson, who is WONDERFUL) and an obstetrician (Huibonhua -- also wonderful, but he won't need to see her!). I urge your husband to consider seeing someone at Albany Family Practice -- Kawai has twice now diagnosed tricky things that no one we knew had heard of... this improved quality of life for my husband, and therefore for me. Dr. Gjeltema knows his stuff, and is thorough if not out and out gregarious. I like him too much to change to Dr. Kawai, even though she's a female dr., which had been my preference till now.

One of the nice things about this office is that you can get in to see a nurse practitioner within about 24 hours if necessary. They take you seriously. Heather

Mamiko Kawai

June 2007

I'm a parent and grandparent and I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear that the best Doctor I ever had died tragically on Monday June 17,2007. This Dr. saved my life with her medical advise to me and she was the best doctor at the Albany Family Practise. She never rushed you. She will be greatly missed. from: Her friend. Cheryl

I heard about Dr. Kawai from Berkeley Parents Network and she was my primary care physician. She died tragically on Monday. Ben

April 2004

Re: Alta Bates Med Group - Primary Care Doctor
In response to your posting needing a new PCP, I highly recommend Dr. Mamiko Kawai at 500 San Pablo Ave in Albany. She is AMAZING! Super smart, kind, caring, thoughtful, scientific. Sometimes she does run a little late, but that is because she is a very thorough doctor. The office staff is wonderful, as well. If you can not get in to see her, she has a partner named Dr. Birnbaum who is just as awesome! Hope this helps!! Stephanie

April 2004

Hi, I am searching for a new family practice, now that my current doctor has retired. I looked on the website for info on Dr. Kawai and got a sense of her personality. Can her patients let me know: Is the office staff good? Is she generally on-time (around 15-25 min wait)? Is she a good clinician? (accurate diagnoses? good treatment?) Any other point that you consider important? I don't need a lot of warmth and touchy-feely hand-holding. I am looking for a doctor who is smart, capable, and who I can get in to see w/o waiting 30 minutes before even getting to an exam room. I would be driving from Redwood Heights, so I want to make sure that the switch is worth the extra drive time this would entail. I appreciate your information as I make this important choice. denise.

Dr. Kawai has been my doctor for the last 3 or 4 years and I am very happy with her. The office staff is great and her main support person has been the same. She is not only very nice, attentive and helpful, whenever I call now, she instantly recognizes me and I feel I am getting much personal attention, for example with getting the right appointment times or getting questions answered or even reaching Dr. Kawai (several times she went to Dr. Kawai while I was on the phone to get an answer to me)

When Dr. Kawai does need to call me back she always does on the same day, sometimes twice if she does not reach me. I went through first a pregnancy and then through a painful on/off/on/off/on miscarriage last year and Dr. Kawai was very available and supportive to me. Not the touchy feely type but still warm, very attentive, taking as much time as I needed and getting me into labs and to specialists very quickly. She also checked up on me by herself and that means a lot. She is not intrusive which means that when I see her now, she does not bring up the miscarriage unless I talk about it. She lives in the El Cerrito Area and sometimes we run into her and her children which is really nice. She comes up to us when I don't see her which is so nice. (I always think the last thing doctors want to do is talk to their patients when they run into them in a restaurant, but she truly seems to like having a few minutes of conversation) Her daughter goes to my daughter's school (Harding) so I see her at parent events and she just always seems like a well rounded, caring and thoughful person and mother. I see her through my HMO and I always expect things to be difficult (getting appointments, having enough time with her, getting the medical care I need and I ask for) but I truly have never had any trouble seeing her when I needed to - even the same day, she has emergency slots in her calendar - her staff is great, access and parking is easy and most importantly there is never a sense of rush when I am in the examination room with her. She takes all the time we need. I hope to stay with her for as long as I can.

I have had her for 5years and I like it. She is not touchy-feely type at all but very precise, pretty much on time (10-15 minutes), good at phone consultation, and good staff at the office.

I've been a patient of Dr. Kawai's office for about 4 years now and have only met her once (not that I go in often anyway). When I saw her, it was for a cosmetic reason (skin tags on my neck) rather than for a medical reason. I get the impression that much of her focus is on cosmetic treatments (please see this attached link on her ''other'' business) - http://www.epicurelmc.com/ So I can't comment on her medically, but I can say that I adore her nurse practioners (particularly Mary Liz) and her staff - all very friendly and professional. I usually have a 5 - 15 minute wait before I'm seen. The parking lot is very convenient and if you need any blood work, the lab is right there, too. anon

I just signed Dr. Kawai on as my new doctor. The wait was only 5 minutes for me and Dr. Kawai seemed personable and knowledgeable. My only complaints I would have is that her visit ended rather abruptly - she seemed to have a very full schedule & not as much time as I would have liked. I got a referal to a physical therapist pretty easily from her but the office staff never called me back to let me know whether my insurance covered it (and they said that they would call me in 7 working days). It's been hard to find a doctor who has enough time nowadays! new Dr. Kawai patient

In response to your posting needing a new PCP, I highly recommend Dr. Mamiko Kawai at 500 San Pablo Ave in Albany. She is AMAZING! Super smart, kind, caring, thoughtful, scientific. Sometimes she does run a little late, but that is because she is a very thorough doctor. The office staff is wonderful, as well. She will squeeze you in if its an emergency any time. She has two children of her own and also sees children as part of her practice. Hope this helps! Stephanie

I have seen Dr Kawaii a couple of times (she became my primary doc last year). I have found the office staff fine. I liked Dr Kawaii because she was thorough in my routine physical and, as a result, ordered two specific tests based on abnormalities she noted. Both tests came out fine, but I like that she was cautious and ordered them in the first place. Tracy

Aug 2002

I see Dr. Kawachi (Female/ABMG/Albany)... Really like her, the office and especially the nurse practioner who is just great! The office is on San Pablo and has its own parking lot (a big plus!). Dr. Kawachi is great! candace

I highly recommend Michigo Kawachi. Both my wife and I switched to her after we asked our girls' pediatrician who *her* personal physician was. She is probably in her late 40s, perhaps not as young as you might be looking for, but she's very energetic and extremely personable. I think your daughter would relate to her fine. More to the point, she's a good doctor. I experienced a series of medical problems last year, and Dr. Kawachi was right on top of things. As I interacted with various specialists, I could see that Dr. Kawachi is highly respected in the medical community.

One other point about her that you should know, that can be both a negative and a positive. She always runs late, often very late. The good news is that she spends a lot of time with her patients, rather than trying to hurry them out the door. But it can be frustrating waiting your turn, if you're not expecting it. I go to my appointments armed with plenty of reading material! Other than that, she's great. Good luck with your decision.

Dec 2001

I had my first baby 4 months ago and decided to go with Dr. Mamiko Kawai for my son, since my husband and I were already part of her practice. We've been seeing her for about 3 years. Dr. Kawai herself has a baby (8 months old now?) and a toddler, and I really like her staff, especially Mary Liz her RN, and Shirley "the shot lady." The staff are friendly, professional, caring, and they love babies. In fact, the practice sees quite a few babies and young children. You have to make appointments about 1 month in advance for Dr. Kawai, unless its an emergency and she generally can fit you in the same day. I have gotten excellent care from Mary Liz as well. Best of all, Drs. Kawai and Gjeltema (sp?!) share a pager off-hours. Most pediatricians I researched direct you to Childrens Hospital Oakland outside of business hours. We've had to change health insurance plans several times over the last year, and Dr. Kawai's practice seems to accept all of them. I know most parents prefer a pediatrician for their children, but this family practice seems to work well for us. I really appreciate the fact that Dr. Kawai knows my whole family by name, came to Alta Bates when I delivered, knows my and my husband's medical histories, etc. My son doesn't have any unusual health needs (yet, knock on wood) but if the time comes, I'll get referred to the specialist pediatric care then. molly

Dr. Kawai in Albany is my personal DR. and I really like her.

I highly recommend Dr Kawai. I switched to her after having had a humorless older male doctor, and it makes a big difference. Dr. Kawai is matter-of-fact yet seems truly concerned about her patients, her office is busy yet always reacts quickly if you're ill, it's easy to get referrals from her, the office is new and clean and has an on-site lab, even my husband switched to her after they met! Plus, she does basic GYN exams, paps, etc. so I haven't needed to go elsewhere. NANCY

My parents and I belong to the same practice as Mamiko Kawai (Dr. Gjeltema is our primary care physician), and we have seen Dr. Kawai on several occasions. She is very conscientious and thorough, and has recently had a child, so certainly can relate to children. I like her and find her easy to talk to, although she's not incredibly warm (more the reserved type). I don't know how many children the practice sees, and how easy it is to get same day appointments, so you may want to inquire closely about their sick child procedures. Helen

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