Noah Simons, MD

Dr. Simons is not only friendly (and funny), but he is (most importantly) accessible. He’s gotten back to me regarding any question or emergency for either of my two sons within ~two hours and has made time in his schedule to see us the same day every time. I wish I had this experience with my own doctors (don’t you?!). I highly recommend him.

Dr. Simons has been our son’s pediatrician for a few months and he’s ok for the most part but I wouldn’t enthusiastically recommend him to others.
His office is awesome — thoughtfully decorated, adorable, and family friendly. Dr. Simons is very knowledgeable, and we don’t doubt his competence. However, like some of the other parents here, we found him rather aloof towards us. His demeanor is odd at times… making very little eye-​contact, slumping in chairs, and doesn’t interact with our son other than when he’s examining him. It almost seems like he doesn’t like kids or his job very much. Visits are also very rushed, allowing us very little time to ask additional questions. Once, he just left the exam room in mid-​conversation. As he walked away mumbling something, I thought, «wait, is the visit over??»
We noticed that Dr. Simons is more friendly and talkative with other parents, so maybe he doesn’t like us? We don’t fit the preppy Laurel Village mold, but we’re nice people. :) In any case, we’ll probably stick with Dr. Simons for now until we can find a better pediatrician.

Kids are now 3 and 1 year olds. Our daughter (3 year old), when playing with her doctor set, says she is «Dr. Simons». I don’t think I need to add more :)

When we were on a search for a Dr for our brand spanking new human I came across Dr. Simons profile. I asked around and read up on him. We are very happy with our decision. Dr. Simons is thorough and knowledgable. He is great with our babe. Since her birth I have emailed him a couple of times over new mommy issues and he has emailed me back in a timely manner with a thorough response that put my mind at ease!
Love that the office has separate entrances for healthy and sick children. Making catching something in the office less likely! Love the idea.
We drive all the way from San Bruno and it is well worth it!

Dr. Simons is awesome.
He responds to emails right away so if you have a question or concern you don’t always have to go in (this is INCREDIBLE for new parents who are seeing rashes, etc for the first time). He also saves room for same day sick appointments and has separate sick/​well entrances and exam rooms.
SUCH a nice guy with great bedside manner. I like that he’s laid back and calm with both parents and children. We rarely wait long for him and my son loves his waiting room (fish tank, train and Noah’s Ark animals/​boat to play with).
It’s also great he’s a 1 doctor practice — unless he is out of the office (in which case Dr. Tiffany Klein covers, who is also wonderful) — patients always see Dr. Simons. You don’t find that in the bigger practices where you get a rotation. Here, my son always sees Dr. Simons which is great.

Dr. Noah was a fantastic pediatrician to both of our children while we lived in the city. We are sad we had to find another local Dr. near our new home in the East Bay.

We took our little boy here for his 1^st three years. We always liked Dr. Simons and thought he did an excellent job. The only reason that we changed is that we moved 25 miles away and didn’t want to commute into SF for all the Dr. visits. We considered it but we decided to keep a Dr. down here in the burbs. Miss you Dr.

I have been taking my son, now 21-​months, to Dr. Simons’ practice since he was born. I can’t say enough good things about him and the practice. We never have trouble making an appointment, and we never have to wait for more than 5 – 10 minutes when we arrive. His whole office is thoughtfully designed. Separate well and sick patient waiting rooms (filled with baby/​kid-​friendly amusements) as well as separate well and sick patient exam rooms. Dr. Simons administers all of infant vaccines himself, and he always answers our questions. At first I wasn’t sure to make of his casual attitude and his somewhat short responses to my concerns /​questions. Having now known him for two years, I can confidently say that he is always listening and will express concern when he feels it is warranted. Aside from that, he isn’t phased by many things that may concern new parents. There have been two occasions on which I have been beyond impressed by Dr. Simons. The first is when my son had croup — it was the first time I saw a look of concern in Dr. Simons’ eyes, and he was so accommodative to my child and me. We followed up the next day for another visit to get additional steroids to help my son sleep. He couldn’t have been more concerned /​responsive. The second time was more recently — I emailed Dr. Simons describing a few symptoms my son was having, and he offered to stay late (past 6pm) so that we can come right in. When I showed up, it was just Dr. Simons and the cleaning crew, and he didn’t even charge me for the visit! He is truly dedicated to his patients and practice.
In short, Dr. Simons is a dedicated, accessible (always responds to emails, gives you his personal cell, etc), and professional pediatrician. We are so fortunate to have found him and are looking forward to using him for our soon-​to-​be born new addition as well!

Hooray– My baby is one– time to update!
We survived one year of being parents and in no small part thanks to Dr Simons and his awesome staff. My baby was pretty healthy so we didn’t need to visit too much aside from the standard checkups but when we needed advice, care for illness or just to move an appointment Dr Simons was reachable, responsive, direct, flexible and empathetic.
The office is so fun to visit with a giant fish tank, trains, balloons and toys. We are busy working City parents and this practice really fits in to our lifestyle– we can email with questions or appointments and they always accommodate our crazy schedule.
I really appreciate that we always get immediate follow up from Dr Simons personally if our baby is sick and our calls and emails are always answered right away by his on-​the-​ball staff.
When I was pregnant my OB gave me a list of pediatricians’ names to call with no direction or advice on what to look for– After calling a few I realized that this list had not been updated prob since the 80s… So if you are looking for a super smart, young Dr. with modern approach (who is a dad too), small practice where you and your kid will actually look forward to visiting, and a great support staff– throw out that list and call Dr Simons.

I don’t know how on earth people are saying that low star ratings are being given by folks who are insecure and want to create drama because of the doctor being young, successful, good looks, et al. When people go to this practice with their precious little babies or kids they do so keeping their childrens’ health and concern in mind and no one has the time to think about how cool, young, hip this so-​called doctor is and how they should get his attention.
I just called this practice in the morning and received a call back by afternoon from a cold, standoffish, rude, hostile and extremely impolite receptionist which I am being told is his wife. So if you are his wife, you can treat a prospective patient any which way you want??? What a joke. I had a hard time interacting with this receptionist. She was extremely impolite, kept cutting me off and was desperate to hang up the phone while I was trying to know the process of setting everything up prior to my baby being born (this is our first child). She told me Dr. Noah doesn’t do prenatal interviews (which is fine; its mentioned on their website already) but I didn’t check the website prior as I was first wanting to know if the doctor is even accepting new patients.
I had to keep asking the receptionist about the next steps since we were not concerned about a prenatal interview anyways. She did not even bother to tell me the process, instead I had to ask her thrice. And finally she tells me «Go to Dr. Simons website and click join, fill out the form and send it» I said“Ok cool. And after that what are the next steps from your side? Will your office contact me back and set things up?” She says nothing and goes completely quiet. I ask her again saying «Sorry, the reason I ask is because this is our first child and I don’t really know what the process is like». She says (that’s her exact tone and exact line) «Just deliver baby at CPMC and then come see Dr. Simons». I already felt it was very rude and impolite of her to speak this way. In spite, I continued talking with her politely as I was more interested in finding a good pediatrician for our baby. She didn’t even ask me what hospital the delivery is at. I told her «CPMC is not the hospital actually…» She cut me off and says «Any hospital, any hospital okay. Send the form, go to any hospital and deliver and come here». What an unsympathetic and aloof way to talk. No manners at all.
Mr. Simons, either you fire this receptionist or send her for a training program where they teach some manners and phone etiquette. My phone experience with this practice was so traumatic, who would want to go in with their baby and even meet rude and impolite folks? I don’t want to. Save yourself the trouble and find a pediatrician where not just the doctor but the staff is nice, happy and cheerful too. No one wants their little ones to be around such negative people.

There are a lot of fantastic things about Dr. Simon’s office — it’s a very efficient office and has nice perks. Easy to make appointments, no waiting once you get there, easy to contact the doc directly via email, a sick entrance to separate the healthy from sick kids, a lactation room. I liked that Dr. Simons does the whole exam (versus a more traditional practice where a nurse comes in to do something, then leaves — wait wait wait — the doctor comes in) & he is a master at giving quick vaccinations.
HOWEVER — despite all these awesome pros, we felt the need to leave his practice. Quick and efficient is good when making appointments and administering needles, but the rest of the exam is over so quick that he seemed to miss things — things that I would then point out and ask specifically about. And I usually received unsatisfying broad answers.
I can see how this could be perceived as a low-​key doc, which would be fine, but I felt he was pretty blasé with us. After a few visits, I observed him interacting with other families and kids, all chatty and cool. But for some reason, he was always very standoffish to us, slumped in his office chair, no eye contact when I was asking questions. In all honesty, I just don’t think Dr. Simons liked me – or my child. This sounds strange, I know — but I’ll tell you, it felt pretty strange. I wasn’t offended by his attitude — more like, I was confused why he’d be so friendly to some patients and then not to us.
Ultimately we had to leave the practice because it just wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Dr. Simons has been our pediatrician for over two years now. He has always been wonderful with our two year old daughter, who is never afraid to go to the doctor, and has been our savior when it came to our four month old son. Dr. Simons recognized our son’s craniosynostosis at his two month well baby. He referred us to an amazing surgeon at Oakland Children’s the same day and within two weeks of that visit our son had surgery to correct the problem. Had Dr. Simons not caught this issue early, which many pediatricians do not, our son would have had to undergo a much more invasive procedure with a much longer and harder recovery. Dr. Simons is a top notch doctor who knows what he is doing and does not overlook or dismiss anything that could be a real issue. We are forever grateful to Dr. Simons and will not be looking for a new doctor anytime soon, even though we no longer live in SF.

I dont write many reviews but when I do– it means I really have issues. I am a man of few words. Dr. Simons does not love his profession. He does his job and sends you away. Our son is a healthy boy, so we dont need to see him alot only on well routine visits– even then, I dont have a good vibe from him that he cares about our little one– he doesnt ask about his development– he just asks my wife and I «do you have any questions or are there any places on our baby’s body he wants us to look at? and whenever we have a question, he makes us feel stupid

Dr. Simons is the most concerned and helpful doctor we could ask for. My husband and I love the way he has not only taken care of our two boys, but also checks in with us as parents to make sure our questions are answered and we feel comfortable and confident in the situation. He’s very approachable, straightforward, and has a great sense of humor too.
Dr. Simons was extremely patient and helpful as our older son worked through his fear of the doctor, and was thorough and engaged despite our little guy’s screams and wiggles.
Whenever we call with questions or concerns, we get a call back very quickly, which means peace of mind for us.
We think Dr. Simons is the greatest.

My same-​sex partner and I went to see Dr Simons with our newborn, and he seemed to us to be insincere in the way he communicates and has a somewhat insensitive bedside manner. When referring to our surrogate (GC), he called her the «Mom», which is the worst term to use to describe her. He also made a passing joke that he assumed, then, that we were bottle feeding and not breast feeding (chuckle). We realized right then that he wasn’t in tune with our family situation whatsoever.
When asked to explain a medical term he used in layman’s terms, he decided not to respond and just said, well, it’s nothing to worry about. I also had a question about how to identify diaper rash that he completely did not respond to. It seems like his approach is to placate new mothers who are worried about the health of their babies, which is nice (and people seem to love that about him here on Unilocal), but he then doesn’t spend time expressing himself beyond the «oh, everything will be okay» line.
We are looking for a Pediatrician who can explain our baby’s medical situation clearly and respect our family situation. Unfortunately Dr Simons did not demonstrate those qualities.
The best part of the experience with Dr Simons was the office space. It is very functional and creatively designed.

Dr. Simons is what Mr. Rogers would have been like if he’d been a doctor.
Dr. Simons has an amazing way of relating to kids. He radiates calm and talks to kids right on their own level. My ten month old daughter is a squirmy little bundle who hates having her ears checked and hates getting her shots or sitting still, but he somehow manages to get her to remain still and calm while all of these things are getting done.
Nervous new parents might be concerned that he feels a little disconnected — I know that I did. But the longer he is my little one’s doctor, the more I understand he’s simply a no-​drama kind of guy, a rare and welcome trait in a doctor. He’s always very thorough with his explanations and very open to any questions. I can’t recommend him enough to new parents!

We were patients of Dr. Simons for about a year in 2008 – 2009. He just started his own practice at the time. There were some good things about his practice: very nice office, he was able to fit us in the same day if we had an emergency.
However, when he saw us, he really rushed us through the appointment. He first gave shots to our baby and then asked «do you have any questions». After the shots! :)) we just wanted to leave the office and calm our baby down at that point. He was cold with us and our daughter. Actually, I wrote a review on Unilocal about him once I knew we were moving and had to look for a different doctor. I didn’t use my real name. He made sure to find out who wrote that review and started emailing us directly about my review. That was VERY CREEPY! I was so disappointed with the whole experience that I deleted my account and all reviews from Unilocal.
Since then, we have found a different doctor for our daughter and I couldn’t be happier with her.
And it amuses me to see Dr. Simons’ staff (used to be just his wife) to call all not-​so-​positive reviews as «slanderous» (e.g., false accusations). Frankly, I’m very surprised there are so many 5-​star reviews for him and almost all 1 – 3 star reviews are either completely removed from his profile or are filtered out (including mine).

Dr. Simons has been our pediatrician for only a month now, but he’s been great. We’re super nervous new parents and we’ve already called him twice (in addition to the 3 appointments we’ve had), and he responds with a quickness and is not dismissive of our sometimes silly questions.
He answers all our questions patiently and is great with our daughter. So glad we found him!

Dr. Simons is a KNOWLEDGEABLE Doctor ! Patient, Reserved, Great with Kids and WE ARE EXTREMELY HAPPY — He took us in after the absolute WORST Experience at Dr. Fukuda’s office — now that is the office with nasty rude staff if there is one !
EVERYONE AT Dr. SIMONS’ office is very pleasant and helpful — I am amazed at the bad reviews here …
THANK YOU DR. SIMONS FOR TAKING CARE OF OUR DAUGHTER!

My husband and I really love having Dr. Simons as our Pediatrician. It is very easy to get appointments (same-​day!), and we almost never have to wait more than 5 minutes once we arrive. He has a great office with several treatment rooms. Each has a huge computer monitor where he can show you your baby’s growth/​progress. He keeps his records online (how tech-​forward!), which is very convenient and cuts down on paper-​shuffling time when you have a question. His office also has a regular waiting room and a separate sick waiting room to keep sick & healthy kids apart. And finally, a lactation lounge (a room with a sofa and a changing table where you can feed your baby or meet with a lactation consultant).
I love the fact that I can email Dr. Simons with questions and he responds either same-​day or first thing in the morning (if I email late). Of course this isn’t for the diagnosis of anything serious, but sometimes you just need a reality/​sanity check without a visit. Questions like «what’s the best way to get this pill into my baby’s body» or «should I be concerned about slight mottling of his skin after a brisk walk outside», advice on baby products /​formula /​over-​the-​counter medicines. I love that he will often tell us that something does NOT warrant a visit (which shows us that he’s not just out to fill his books with appointments).
All of the staff members are also extremely friendly, prompt & professional.