Ravenswood Pediatrics

Dr Ochs is AMAZING and is a perfect Pediatrician who has a great cheerful personality and any kid would love him instantly. I would give 5 stars if I’ve to rate just Dr Ochs alone. The 3 stars is because of his nurse who doesn’t know ANYTHING and who needs to be fired ASAP if Dr Ochs doesn’t want his ratings to get affected. I was never given a health questionnaire to fill out despite asking for it. No information on allergies, social status etc was asked nor did I fill any. I was only asked for insurance information and was given insurance related papers. But at the end of the visit, I got a summary from the nurse that my son grows up in a healthy family with his parents, his dad very involved in his life, no social or financial issues, no previous medical or surgical problems in the past etc… This is all a printed out summary with my son’s name and personal info which was given to me… But the truth is, I’m a single mother and my parents helped me raise my son out of USA while I was in school here in U.S. He just recently came back to live with me and actually grew up elsewhere which made him require a TB skin test and wasn’t given to him until I asked for it, his father totally uninvolved in his upbringing, he has both medical and surgical history in the past and he needed some shots. She never checked his BP and just wrote a made up number on it. The entire summary was made up. I’m glad I’ve PPO and can go to any doctor. As much as I really liked Dr Ochs, I’ve second thoughts to go to a doctor whose staff makes up stuff…

Hands down the best choice for my three children. He was also my pediatrician growing up. If I ever worried about my kids well being, he has always put my concerns at ease. I love that he takes the time to discuss issues that my husband and I have had and does it with a great sense of humor. Hope he stays around for a very long time!

We loved Dr Ochs. I totally see how some people can misinterpret his humor to be creepy, but we always thought he was great. We especially loved him because he never made us feel like we needed to worry about anything, and always made sure I knew that I was doing a great job raising our little guy. He never pressured us to do shots we didn’t want to do, and was all around easy going.
I think this is important because medicine today is crazy fear-​mongering bullshit, especially when it comes to children. We were looking for a doctor that was ok with a little «do nothing and let the kid’s body work it out» approach, and we found him. If you want one of those paranoid doctors that will do every test, every shot, every concern, everything they can bill your insurance or charge you for, there are plenty of those around. Just go to any doctor at Northwestern, you can get the glitzy office and the paranoia advice. If you believe in being a little more relaxed and a little more crunchy, good old Dr. Ochs and his jokes about your baby’s willie is there for you :)
We moved out of town and wished we can take the doctor with us.

All around, I really disliked this practice. The place waiting area is crowded, dingy and always looks dirty. You will always wait about an hour to even get into the doctor’s office where you will wait about 30 minutes more. I chose Dr. Och’s because he was decently reviewed, he was in my HMO plans and the options were few, and the practice was not that far away. As for Dr. Och’s himself, I think to put it diplomatically, he’s a nice enough person with an affable demeanor, great interaction with kids (you can tell he really cares about kids), but I honestly can’t speak to how knowledgeable he may be. Let me explain, it seems like he’s used to dealing with many «low information,» low education parents because he does not really explain much. I felt this lack of info to be a bit condescending. He also never brought up current research which our current ped does all the time (Dr. Paul Martin with NW — AMAZING). On a final note, as to the way the office is run, when I changed peds once I switched to a PPO (thank you JESUS), after faxing this practice 3 signed releases, my current ped still had not received my son’s immunization records. I had to call and send my husband in to physically get them since he starts pre-​k on Tuesday. Thus, my review is honestly more directed at the crappy administration and staff rather than at Dr. Och’s.

Our family absolutely adores Dr. Ochs. We feel like we hit the jackpot when we ended up with such a caring and knowledgeable pediatrician. We have been with him for 10 years, as our children are now 10 and 4. He is funny, patient, kind, knows what he is doing, and also takes the time to learn about his families. It truly feels like a partnership with Dr. Ochs. We love that he is not an alarmist, which is very soothing to parents (especially first time parents!) I highly recommend.

Dr. Ochs is the best! He’s been my son’s pediatrician since he was a newborn. I liked the fact he was willing to work with me on an alternate vaccine schedule. I wasn’t comfortable with the number of vaccines given at one time, so he let me know which ones were a must and which ones we could space out a bit. He’s great with my son too, makes him feel at ease. He also makes the parents feel comfortable esp when their little ones are sick. If your child is sick, they will fit you in so they can be seen the same day which is great!

Our children have been patients of Dr. Ochs for 8 years now — he is such a great pediatrician and the kids actually look forward to going to the doctor’s office! He is a great diagnostician and we trust him implicitly.

My daughter has been a patient of Dr. Ochs for 8 years. We consulted with him before we adopted her from China.
Dr. Ochs is a great doctor who knows his stuff. However we have been very unhappy with his old practice. Too often we were forced to see other doctors because Dr. Ochs was so busy. I am thrilled that he has set up his own practice. Just made our first appointment with him at the new place.

I cannot begin to convey what a marvelous pediatrician and a fine man Dr. Ochs is. He has been our children’s pediatrician for many years. I have the utmost confidence in his medical judgement. He has established a respectful rapport with each of my kids. He is deeply committed to and experienced in serving adoptive families.

My oldest daughter was a patient of Dr. Ochs from when she was born until shortly after her first birthday. Like other reviewers said, I was often uncomfortable at the sexual nature of jokes he made regarding my newborn. (I can’t remember any specific examples, but they were there). I also had a difficult time getting in to see him, so it seemed that well visits needed to be scheduled months in advance and sick visits were with any of the doctors in the practice. I also never heard Dr. Ochs call my daughter by her name (or say her name to me). During all of her well baby visits over the first year, he never brought up where her milestones should be.
His medical assistant yelled at me one day when my daughter was getting her vaccinations because she asked me to sign a form for All-​Kids «so her vaccinations will be covered». Except, we had Blue Cross PPO and didn’t use All-​Kids. When I told her this, she told me that I had to sign it anyway.
The last straw for me was when my 14 month old daughter woke up with a runny nose and a fever one day so I called the office to make an appointment. They told me that since it was still walk-​in hours, I should just come in right away, rather than making an appointment. We were at the office within fifteen minutes of when I called. We then proceeded to spend over TWO HOURS waiting for our «walk-​in appointment». When I mentioned this to the receptionist after an hour of waiting, she told me that since we came in at the end of walk-​in hours we had to wait until the doctors could fit us in between other appointments. Which was the whole reason I called to make an appointment in the first place.
My daughter had a double ear infection and was miserable. On our way out the door that day, I filled out the form requesting a copy of her medical records and we haven’t been back since.

I was seeing Dr. Ochs for most of my life, up unitl I was 14 or 15. (I’m 20 now) I hit puberty when I was 8 yeas old, and although I had breasts, they weren’t fully grown. When I was 13 I gained about 40 pounds in 3 months after being on a certain type of antidepressants, and I went from nothing to a C cup. One day when I was in for a checkup, Dr Ochs said «oh you’ve got your mother’s breasts». I was uncomfortable and also confused (especially since my mother’s breasts are plastic) and I’m not sure if my mother even heard or didn’t think anything of it. He was always making comments to how I’m going to be tempted to be «very sexual» once I started highschool. When I was 15, and lost my virginity and once my mother found out she wanted to get me tested. Once I was in his office, (with my mother in the room) he gave me a lecture that I was being promiscuous, and once again was making me feel uncomfortable. I stopped seeing him after that and went to a female doctor. I don’t remember him being inappropriate when I was a baby, but it scares me that he could have made inappropriate comments like the ones I’ve read.

Dr. Ochs has been my family pediatrician for over 20 years and he is THE BEST with kids. He puts parents at ease when kids are sick and makes the kids at ease with his goofy talking fish and other props in the room. We’ve never had to wait too long for him and he has always been straightforward and kind.
He has a friendly and casual demeanor that is a great fit for me and my family. I recommend him 100%.

I’m not excited to write this review but I feel as though I owe it to other potential patients — especially young mothers who may be visiting Dr. Ochs without another adult in the room. Dr. Ochs has without fail said something inappropriate to me every single time I have visited him. His comments are either in regard to me (my body, breast size, sex life with my husband, my history of sex/​or him surmising about my promiscuity in adolescence) or my infant daugher (her potential for promiscuity in high school, how far she spreads her legs during a diaper check, whether or not she «contracted» her diaper rash from her infant boyfriend, or could enter a wet t-​shirt contest because of her excessive drooling due to teething.) He has gone as far as to prescribe rectal suppositories and then to comment «let’s hope she doesn’t like them too much and end up in the adult film industry.» During a recent visit, he discussed his own sexual history during his early 20’s, living in New Orleans and sleeping with young single mothers who were strippers, calling himself an «appendage on legs». For the past year I have struggled with feeling uncomfortable and trapped at every appt. and unsure of how I could leave his practice with my tricky insurance situation. I had been thinking, if the disgusting comments are directed at me, I can handle it, I’ve heard worse. But I’ve had it with comments about my baby and will be leaving his practice. He is most definitely sex-​obsessed and it is frightening to observe the ease and frequency to which he applies his «humor» regarding sexuality to babies. As a doctor, he never ONCE said my daughter’s name to her or me (I’m convinced he didn’t what it was) and not once asked me any questions about her milestones. He answered questions briefly but became easily side-​tracked due to his tangential thought process. This was my experience but consider yourself warned.

We went to Dr O on a recommendation and have been super pleased. Although he is quite a character, it something that is endearing, as his care and concern are clear. It is also clear that he is exceptional at what he does and his love for his job is ever present. He is an open person as well as a caring and competent Dr. I too felt a tad uncomfortable, my first visit, with his openness, but now that I know him a bit better, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It let’s me know that he hears my concerns– Unlike some other Dr’s we have seen with my son, Dr. Ochs addresses them, and let’s me know (maybe a little too often) that it’s okay to worry, that it’s a natural part of being a new mom.
He sugar coats nothing, but in the sweetest way, if that makes any sense.
He is a top shelf doc. end of.

Can’t get much better than this. My kids were premies, and he did a great job.

A few years ago, my Ob/​Gyn doctor recommended Dr. Ochs, so we went with him when our first son was born. Dr. Ochs was great — he was the only doctor who visited us frequently in the hospital before we were discharged, and the next evening he called me at home, to see if everything was okay with us, being new parents and all. He was a lifesaver.
In the office, he behaves as if he has all the time in the world for you, he is very thorough, great with the kids, and is overall, very good at what he does. Healthcare professionals in other facilities all seem to know him and speak highly of him, too.
The only problem, and it’s a significant one, is the clinic where he works. They have screwed up our billing so many times, the staff is rude and often condescending, the medical assistants sometimes seem dumb as rocks, and getting in for an appointment may take all the patience you and your children have. For that reason, I don’t recommend him to my friends. However, as an individual doctor, we adore him, and we will continue to put up with all the obstacles his clinic makes us face.

In this day and age it is vitally important to choose a pediatrician who loves what he does. Dr. Ochs agreed to see me even though my son was not a patient of his as a walk in on a busy day! It turns out that my son had a defect that needed to be surgically corrected! I am so thankful to this doctor for recognizing the issue and taking the necessary steps to route us to a specialist who then routed us to a surgeon who performed the operation on my son. I have since scheduled an appointment with him so that all four of my children can be seen by him.

Getting an appointment for your little one with Dr. Ochs might necessitate a bit of waiting, but it’s totally worth it. He’s one of the most well-​regarded pediatricians in Chicago, and there’s a reason for that.
I originally started bringing my son to Dr. Ochs when I was unhappy with my original choice of pediatrician. My son was having problems gaining weight, and the pediatrician was pushing me to stop nursing even though my milk supply was fine. Dr. Ochs observed my nursing and came to the conclusion that my baby’s appetite was poor and that my milk supply had nothing to do with the problem, and that switching to formula might have caused more problems than it solved. After testing for GERD and other GI problems, we ended up settling on an appetite stimulant drug that worked. Now my son is gaining weight very well (and at 16 months, he’s just weaning now, when it feels natural to him and me).
In an era when Doctors are encouraged to spend as little time with their patients as possible, Dr. Ochs makes the best effort to give every patient individual attention. I never have to worry that he won’t have read the chart or won’t know what my concerns are when I come in. He knows all about my son and has tracked his progress very closely all along. I feel comfortable and safe going to him, knowing that my son is in good hands. I can’t recommend him enough.