Updates

August 28, 2023

Update: Thank you for your patience.  Everything is working again. 

Our phone lines and internet are down this morning.  The office is still open.


June 8, 2023

Due to the gas leak repair on Castro and Duboce, both streets are closed around the Castro office today.  You can enter the parking garage from the 14th street side.  Please allow extra time for alternate routes and parking.   We apologize for the inconvenience. 


July 19, 2022

Our phone lines are working normally again this morning.

July 18, 2022

When we opened the office this morning, we found that our phone lines were all down. This has happened occasionally in the past,, but always been resolved within an hour or two.

However, our phone company has not yet been able to identify the problem and hasn't been able to give us an expected time for restoration of service and other offices in the building are experiencing similar interruptions of service.

If you need medical advice, or wish to reach the office, while our phones are down you can call our answering service, 415 753 4805 then press 3 to speak with the operator. If she's unsure whom to give your call to, ask her to contact the on call doctor at Pacific Pediatrics account 4772.

She will call me, or one of the other doctors with your message.

MyChart messaging is still working.

After hours you may still reach our advice nurse at 415 387 9293

We are very sorry for the inconvenience and hope to have this resolved quickly

December 1 st 2021

New Physicians Coming in 2022

Drs. Diana Tang-Duffy and Sonja Huie, who have operated a well-loved San Francisco pediatric practice for more than twenty years, will join Pacific Pediatrics in January 2022.

Both trained at Children’s Hospital Oakland with Dr. Fukuda. We have similar practice styles, including making rounds at the CPMC Nursery and Hospital as well as having access to the After-hours Advice Line and Clinic.

Welcoming Drs. Tang-Duffy and Huie to our team will improve our ability to serve your children, at both our Castro and Webster Street offices, as well as reduce waiting times for both Acute Care visits and scheduled Check-ups. As is our practice, they will be available to see any child and may be chosen as your child’s primary pediatrician, if you desire.

The 2 new doctors will join Dr. Allison Goodyear as “Preferred Providers” for Brown and Toland (BTMG), which adds a great deal of needed flexibility for those who have these insurance plans.

They are extraordinarily gifted physicians, and we are excited to work closely with them, on behalf of all children.

Thank you for your continued support, as we make this transition.

11/29/21

HOLIDAYS, TRAVEL and COVID

We hope that your Thanksgiving was safe and enjoyable, and that the approaching, year-end Holidays will be a time of renewal and joy for all.

Please help us keep everyone safe and well when you come in:

  1. Morning appointments at Castro St and all appointments at Webster St are set aside for well children. Please reschedule if your child is ill.
  2. Masks are required for everyone over two years old.
  3. All eligible children, parents and caregivers are encouraged to be vaccinated.
  4. Please do not schedule a well visit within the 2 weeks after travel, especially international.
  5. Please reschedule well visits if there has been a COVID exposure within two weeks.
  6. Consider telephone or video visits and consultations when an in-person visit isn’t needed.
  7. Use the “Symptom Checker” link on our website for advice on managing many common pediatric problems.
  8. Check for the most up to date COVID-19 advice at CDC.gov.

Please have a safe and healthy Holiday Season; we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

11/18/21

Have your school age children (ages 5-11) gotten their first COVID-19 vaccination yet?

If not, you can still schedule an appointment at our Castro Street office tomorrow, Friday Nov 19 th , or Saturday November 20 th . We will confirm the second dose appointment, after the first dose is given, but before you leave the office.

If your child has already received their first dose either with us, or elsewhere, we can arrange the second dose, 3-4 weeks later: simply send a request through MyChart.

We apologize, if you’ve had difficulty scheduling an appointment for one of our vaccine clinics. The MyChart administrator initially failed to list Pacific Pediatrics as an available site and then listed us with a confusing name (Covid Vaccine Peds).

But we are finally listed, for self-scheduling, as Pacific Pediatrics. We have clinics available into December, but self-scheduling may only be available for dose #1.

Please send us a MyChart message, if you’d like to arrange a second dose for your children.

Besides our COVID-19 immunization-only clinics, we also give this vaccine during regular office hours. You may call, or send a MyChart message to arrange a shots-only visit, or it may be given during a Check-up visit with other scheduled vaccines.

Children receive a much lower dose than adults and develop stronger immunity, but do not experience discomfort as frequently as older people do.

So far, we have encountered very few children with fever, fatigue, or other side effects.

Children with mild illnesses, such as colds, do not have to delay the dose.

Some of our patients, as young as 7 months have participated in the vaccine trials and we expect those results to be announced in December or January.

If the vaccine is recommended for pre-schoolers, toddlers, and infants, we will offer it in our office as well.

Though we have made progress, the pandemic is far from over and our children are still vulnerable.

Please immunize your whole family, as soon as possible

11/7/21

The enthusiastic response to the arrival of COVID vaccine for children ages 5-11, has been encouraging and exciting, but also overwhelming.   Our phones have not stopped ringing since 11/3/21.

COVID-19 vaccines are planned to be given at dedicated shot clinics, similar to our annual Flu shots each Fall.  These COVID-19 shot-only clinics will be held several days each week, M-F, with addition of weekend clinics.    The dates will be posted as they are scheduled.  In addition, if your child is coming for a previously scheduled well visit, we will offer the vaccine.

All of the above is contingent on available supply as determined by the local public health department anticipated in the next 1-2 weeks.

After 11/14/2021, appointments for COVID-19 shot clinics can only be made through MyChart self-scheduling.  Until then, please send your request through MyChart, and our staff will make appointments as quickly as we can. Please do not call us.

UCSF, who manages our EPIC electronic medical record, informed us that self scheduling of appointments will be in place by 11/14 – we hope the process will be efficient and ease some of the frustration that we are all experiencing.

The pandemic has been long and required many sacrifices; there have been too many hardships and unnecessary tragedies. Despite this, we are grateful for the patience and resilience that our families have shown and for your consistent willingness to do the right thing in meeting these burdens.

We can get through this together!  Thanks for your patience.

Drs. Kelly, Rostek, Fukuda, Goodyear, Lee and staff

11/5/21

We are excited to report that we have started receiving COVID Vaccine for our patients who are between 5 and 11 years old and are looking forward to helping you get this protection for your child.

1) Age-eligible children may receive this vaccine during any office visit, including ones with other vaccines, as long as they are not ill.

2) We will set up “COVID-Shot-Only Clinics”, similar to our “Flu-Shot Clinics”.

3) Our first shipment of vaccine was smaller than requested, so were only able to schedule the initial clinic. It will be held at our Webster Street Office on Tuesday, November 9 th .

4) Vaccine shipments are expected weekly; additional clinics will be set up as soon as the vaccine supply stabilizes and will be posted on MyChart.

5) Self-scheduling for our clinics has not yet been activated by the MyChart administrator. Until it is, please send a MyChart request and we will do our best to give you an appointment.

6) As soon as self-scheduling is available, we will notify you through MyChart.

7) To relieve crowding, please bring only one adult, per family, to the appointment.

8) Everyone in the office must wear a mask and pass the standard screening.

9) Patients must wait 15 minutes after their immunization for observation.

10) A second vaccine dose should be taken 21 – 28 days after the first.

11) All administered vaccines will be entered into the State Vaccine Registry.

Please accept our apologies for not being able to make this service available sooner. The vaccine supply chain and DPH have understandably prioritized the bigger institutions first. We are happy that some of our children have already received the vaccine at UCSF or at a local pharmacy and others are making appointments as well.

But we’re up and running now and we hope to be giving hundreds of doses a day very soon.

Drs. Kelly, Rostek, Fukuda, Goodyear, Lee and staff

11/4/21

COVID vaccines for ages 5-11 years old

Thank you for your patience!

We are currently working on setting up our system so we can start scheduling for COVID vaccines, hopefully within the week.  We are expecting to get a shipment of the COVID19 vaccine for 5-11 year olds shortly.

We will send a message through MyChart when the ability to schedule these appointments online is available.


Regards,
Pacific Pediatrics