SF Bay Pediatrics

Where can I start? How about the office just plain forgetting about you as you wait in the room? (more on that later)
So I guess we got duped pretty good upon initially meeting with Dr. Crosby. I admit we bought her sales speech.
Over the past year (since baby was born) it has been one thing after another.
The most recent incident finally got me to change practices. First of all, over the past year (and all the numerous baby check-​ups) I have seen my primary Dr. ONCE! After asking other moms, they said that this was unacceptable. (Even my friend who recommended me said she always sees primary Dr for well-​baby check, and only sees other in emergencies).
Upon arriving I check in and 5 minutes later was asked for my insurance card, mind you I have been there for 1 year now. Then I was asked for a co-​payment. I then had to explain to the front desk staff that my insurance doesn’t require a co-​pay for well baby check-​ups and I’ve never had to pay. Truthfully, I am not sure the staff member could spell her own name.
This past appointment was her one year, and I though it would be nice to see the primary dr (for a second time)…unfortunately we never did. Upon seeing the nurse for measurements we waited in the room for 40 minutes. Mind you the room is super TEENY. The baby was waiting in diapers for the Dr. the entire time and while the space heater is nice, it was still chilly. At 30 minutes I had to go out and FIND someone to ask what was going on. Now I realize that Dr offices run behind, but at the very least someone could have told us. The nurse was very apologetic, but still doesn’t excuse not updating me. At 40 minutes I decided to just pack up and leave. As I was leaving I told another nurse passing me in the hallway, I was leaving after waiting 40 minutes. The nurse, who seemed to not really care, then just said to go re-​schedule at the front desk, no apology, no explanation. And this is the kicker… the nurse then was going to place a mom and baby into the room that I just left. I had to tell the nurse that I was JUST in there waiting 40 minutes for the Dr and the room hadn’t even been cleaned. It not like we destroyed the room, but I would like to think that the staff at least sanitizes the room for each new patient, especially newborns. At that point, I KNEW that they JUST PLAIN FORGOT ABOUT US. Matter of fact, I think my primary Dr had left for the day, she was nowhere to be seen (entire office is small). I called later that day to explain why I had left and requested a phone call, and haven’t heard anything. I would think that the office manager would have called me back. I have no doubt they are good Drs., but I’m willing to bet there are just as good as Drs in SF with a better from desk staff. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Other reasons including NEVER EVER EVER being able to speak with an actual person until you have navigated this god awful phone tree message system, which is totally a waste of time because phone calls are never returned. You have to just call, call, call and hope that one of the times you push the correct button to get an actual human. Like another reviewer said, you may need to pretend you are a Dr to get a live person to speak to you. (I’ve called three other offices regarding changing ped, and all had an actual person answer the phone).
Another reason was the bedside manner of one of the Dr. My baby was due for an oral vaccine and the experience was awful. There is zero doubt that the Dr was rushing (which makes me wonder why I had to wait 40 minutes, if they rush) and basically shoved the vaccine down the baby’s throat. This caused my baby to choke, cough and cry so badly that the Dr stated she couldn’t wait for the baby to calm down and told me I had to come back. Sorry, that my baby’s appointment got in the way of your day.
Their text messaging system is crap. I signed up and had to call less than 24 hours before my appointment to confirm, and of course, I left a message and then called until I was able to speak to someone. I finally got the text later that night… never a phone call though.
While some people sound like they have good experiences, I just decided it wasn’t worth the headache. Even requesting the medical records be transferred has been a pain.
I would under no circumstances NEVER EVER recommend this practice to anyone.

Love our doctors at SF Bay Pediatrics who have been looking after my 5 yo twins and 1 yo baby since birth. Dr. Kathryn Meier is a lovely person, smart, and willing to take on hard projects to solve issues with kids. Dr. Alan Johnson has been our primary for five years, and has given great and practical advice. Dr. Pepitone looked after my baby when she had a UTI let me call her cell phone anytime over the weekend to make sure she was looked after. I have been so happy with this practice.

New in town. I was referred to this practice by my new neighbor (mother of 3). I found scheduling the appt to be the easiest I’ve ever experience with a new doctor. I’ve been reading reviews from others that rate the office on its parking and front desk staff friendliness… really??? It is San Francisco — learn to find parking, take Über or public transportation — 1^st world issues. Also, rating should be on doctors/​nurses. Call the doctors and voice complaint about staff.

What a surprise to get a follow-​up call on a weekend (Thanks Dr. Chow)
The doctors are all very qualified but yes, like any popular practice in an affluent neighborhood, you are competing with a lot of well informed/​non-​compromising parents, so you may not be able to always get your designated physician (But because of that we’ve been happy to get to know Dr. Gin and Dr. Crosby) Some doctors seem more friendly than others. And yes, you’ll probably need to wait for that «call back» because they’re a private practice and don’t run it like an HMO.
So you’ll have to decide whether you want to find a practice that isn’t as «popular» or deal with less personalized service because you wanted the comfort of a practice relied upon by everyone in Pac Heights (which means parking is going to be difficult regardless.) And… choosing the best quality care for your kids doesn’t mean you will get attention that will be kind to your new parent neurosis.
Also it’s nice to see they upgraded their system to utilizing texting.

After almost 2 years of nothing but frustration with this practice, I’m looking forward to taking my business — and most importantly my child — elsewhere.
Everything about this practice is a nuisance, from the tiny, one way parking lot, to the even tinier exam rooms, the late appointments, and most unfortunately, the total lack of ability to deliver on their promise of access to care providers.
Even simply calling the office is an exercise in frustration. In order to talk to a real person, you have to pretend you are a doctor, otherwise you will get funneled to voice mail and they WONT call back. The office opens at 9am — try calling at 9:01 and still no one will answer. 9:05…nothing. 9:15…nothing. Just voicemail.
Most concerning is that when you need them most, communication is awful. The advice nurse and after hours exchange are both completely pointless. You are better off just going to urgent care. After several incidents with a sick baby, the soonest I have ever received a call back was 2 hours. Usually I have to keep calling and pretend to be a doctor to get through the automated system.
It’s unfortunate that what appear to be good doctors are severely handicapped by the administrative shortcomings of this practice. What good are good doctors if you don’t have access to them?
I’m relieved to be moving on from this practice if only to save myself a mountain of frustration for even the most benign well visit.
Advice to the docs — fire your entire staff, get a new office space, find a competent manager who can run a practice efficiently and on time, and get with the times. Going to your practice is not unlike the post office — a mostly agonizing necessary evil. Take a lesson from some of the more modern offices in the city and rise to the expectations of the families that keep you in business. Whether you know it or not, you have plenty of competition in this city and people, myself included, will choose to go where their needs are met.

I feel the need to defend this practice. We have been with them since our daughter was 5 months old, after we moved from out-​of-​state. We have always received prompt, caring, and solid advice. I ask a LOT of questions and they are always answered in an unrushed way. Follow up is excellent. For example, following a culture, I got calls from two different doctors: one with the culture results and the other (from our regular pediatrician) to discuss our daughter’s problem (which was not at all severe) further.
I have never had a problem getting an appointment, whether for a scheduled visit or day-​of (to check for possible strep, possible hand-​foot-​and-​mouth, etc.). They always seem to find a way to fit us in at the end of the day; I think they actually reserve those spots for day-​of appointments.
The advice nurse has always called back the same day, usually within an hour or two. If there is any difficulty in communication, it is always resolved.
The front office staff is warm and welcoming. They know our names and always have a smile for us.
I am thrilled that they have dedicated parking. I’m always running late and it’s so nice not to have to build in extra time (or not) to find parking. In SF in general and especially in Laurel Heights, a dedicated parking lot is extremely rare. This is the only doctor’s office we know that has such a lot and the huge bonus is that it’s free! The one time I couldn’t find a spot, the staff was nice enough to let me park in a doctor’s spot – for which they got reamed by a mean doctor at the adjacent practice. You just need to get used to backing out of the lot.
I highly recommend this practice and, like Jen A., also don’t understand the negative reviews.

I am very disappointed that such a terrific physician like Dr. M. Miller has left the SF Bay Pediatrics. She was totally the best and the only reason I would drive to San Francisco vs. going to Stanford. She is world of knowledge and a great doctor in its true meaning! Being in health care business at the executive level a can testify that she is absolutely phenomenal physician and we will go where ever she goes even if we have to pay privately!

We have had nothing but wonderful experiences at this practice. We have been taking our son there since he was born. Our primary pediatrician is Dr Heidi Moore and I cannot imagine a more helpful doctor. She has been wonderful to our son and always goes above and beyond in helping us navigate through all sorts of issues from feeding to diapering to sleeping. All the assistants and other doctors are great as well. During the couple of times when he has gotten sick it hasn’t been a problem to get same day appointments. The on call nurse is also very helpful and always calls us back promptly. My son is in such great hands here!

We have had nothing but problems with this doctors office. It seems the doctors here and the assistants are incompetent. The following is a list of the issues we have had…
A) When my twins were born we were referred to Dr. Heidi Moore who also has twins and we thought we would be in good hands. However, when they were only a few weeks old and we were having trouble breastfeeding because they wouldn’t latch she referred us to a lactation consultant The consultant then said she couldn’t help us because they were tongue tied. She also said she was surprised that Dr. Moore did not catch this. So Dr. Moore cost us a full day in visits and over 150 dollar at an apt that wasn’t useful bc she missed a simple thing like a tongue-​tie.
B) After that apt we had to see Dr. Moore again to get referred to a specialist who cut the tie on their tongues. After that happened we were told too much time had passed to correct their latch so I was directed to pump.
C) On our third appt with Dr. Moore she bragged about how long she was able to breastfeed and acted like she pittied me for not being able to breast feed my boys.
D) Dr. Crosby told us not to brush the boys teeth and offered other strange advice.
E) After my son hit his head I wanted to get him looked at to make sure he was ok they told me he didn’t need to be seen until 18 months and they wouldn’t get us an apt until then. They are currently 17 months.
Overall, I would never sign up for this facility again and I can’t wait until we change over to Kaiser in the next few months because we will be done with this terrible place. They constantly make it difficult for us to get appts and be seen because there are two boys and it’s just ridiculous that they have missed so many important things about my kids.

I don’t get the negative reviews. I love this practice. We have a primary doctor, but often see another doctor if we have to get in same day due to the random rash, fever, or kid thing that needs to be taken care of immediately. When we leave a message on the advice line, we always get an answer back within an hour or so from a very caring and qualified nurse, who also gets us in to see the doctor if things sound like our child needs to be evaluated by a physician. After the random ER visit, we always get a follow up call from the practice. They take unusual care with the children and the parents. If all of medicine could be like this, we’d all be in better shape.

We’ve been taking our two daughters here for over four years. We’ve primarily seen Dr. Miller and have been really pleased with the care we’ve received. The front desk staff are also great. They’re all patient and kind with my daughters (one of whom can be pretty fussy when it comes to shots, etc). The parking situation is not ideal, but that’s not a surprise in SF.

I just wanted to chime in that I’ve been very pleased with SF Bay Pediatrics — they get us in for same-​day appointments when needed, the advice nurse calls back, the doctors nine times out of 10 have been interested and kind (I only had one doctor who was a rather cold fish, maybe she was just having a bad day) and I haven’t had any problems with the staff myself.
True the parking leave something to be desired — who designed the parking lot that you only can back out of thru a narrow corridor? — but honestly most pediatricians offices in San Francisco don’t have any parking lot at all so really it’s more of a benefit than it is a negative, if you don’t like it you can find other parking. I’ve had appointments where we had to wait but this is been my experience at prior pediatricians offices as well — they get delayed when they have to take on same-​day sick patients and deal with concerned parents, its just the way it is. I’d rather have to wait and be able to ask as many questions as I want then be rushed for them adhere to a strict schedule.
After what I’ve been through with one pediatrician who was literally never available with a chaotic office and another who handled vaccines in a way that was dangerous (didn’t conform to standards for storage or handling; also even forgot one) these doctors are great.

We have been with SF Bay Pediatrics for two years now. Our regular doctor is Dr. Goldstein. She is absolutely wonderful, can’t say enough great things about her. Very attentive, knowledgeable and helpful. My daughter has also been seen Drs. Dab and Johnson and they were both great as well.
The reason I am taking one star off is because of Dr. Miller. Our experience with her was so unpleasant that we’re going to make sure to avoid her in the future. Our toddler daughter had a bad landing while jumping on the bed and hurt her neck. She cried unconsolably and refused to walk. We made an appointment immediately and saw Dr. Miller, who spent the entire appointment time acting as if she was awfully annoyed by us, our child and our concern.

I can’t say enough good things about SF Bay Pediatrics and Dr. Johnson specifically. We moved out of the area and just returned in time for him to care for our newborn and now 4 year old. The staff and nurses are incredibly accessible and a nurse just got on the phone immediately when I called to discuss a small bump on my newborn’s head. I also had the check up for my 4 year old earlier this week and am so appreciative of the time Dr Johnson took with him. He was conversational (with him) and made it a comfortable and non rushed experience in his office. He was honest about the shot and didn’t try to trick him or sneak up on him. My kiddo is very cute I have to say and the whole experience absolutely warmed my heart. I didn’t expect that from a visit to the doctor. Overall, just want to say a huge thank you to Dr Johnson, the nurses and staff at SF Bay Peds. So happy to be back with the practice!

My Wife and I were referred to SF bay Pediatrics and have had a terrible experience so far. 1) The Dr. We were referred to has been unavailable each time we have scheduled an appointment 2) The billing office/​staff has been incompetent and seems to be unable to comprehend that the baby was born under my wife’s insurance at Kaiser but will be under my insurance (Anthem) moving forward. As of now, the charge for the 1^st appointment is on my credit card still eventhough I have a letter of proof of insurance for her. The answering machine at 10 AM on a Monday says they will get back to us in 2 business days. 3) Our 1 week old baby needed a new diaper during her vist and it took 5 – 10 minutes before the staff could locate a diaper and wipe, at one point it was suggested to us ot put the soiled diaper back on for the rest of the appointment. 4) The Dr’s office was the size of an office cubicle with no chairs.
We have heard good things about the Dr’s, unfortunately we will never know because of the experience so far. Baby books say to find a Pediatrician that is able, affable and available. so far this office has failed on all three counts
Update as of ⁸⁄₁₅ — 10 days later, I still have received no call back from the billing office to switch the charge to my insurance and am only able to get to an answering machine.

This is a very sad, sad story!
I love the doctors at SF Bay, our doctor Katherine Crosby is great and responsive, we had our daughter with SF Bay pediatrics since birth and the Care was always great.
Service from the staff is horrible however, it’s a shame but bringing my daughter there for 2 years straight must earn me some trust points? Could I ask for a little understanding? I forgot the new insurance card at home and couldn’t provide them with the new insurance information until the next day but they decided to deny me with a regular appointment that I have carved out of my working schedule months in advance.
I live across the bridge and their answer was no — I must note that they did go a and discuss this matter with «the biller» that apparently suggested that I either reschedule or go and get my daughter’s insurance card at home. I asked if they could just call the new insurance company on the phone and verify the account using the name but apparently they don’t do phone verifications.
In any case I have a wasted day and I had to reschedule which adds to my already busy schedule. I am a business owner myself and I give all my returning customers a little breathing room — SF Bay Pediatrics didn’t give me a break today and I will be looking for a new, more friendly place for my little princess — after all there are plenty of good and knowledgeable doctors that can put a smile on a kid’s face and that know better not to employ mean staff.
Stay away from this business and take your kid elsewhere — plus the parking is bad and tight so you get dents from people opening their doors in a hurry and hitting your car’s body. Frustrated with service many just want to get out ASAP.

A sad sad day that I have to leave this office. We have moved out of the city and the commute was just too much for a sick mama and two sick kiddos. Today we made the drive for one last visit and I am sad.
I’ve seen anyone and everyone when I needed them. I make my appointments when I leave and never have a problem. I was lucky enough to have my first and have Dr. Miller come and see me at the hospital. I had a horrible reaction after my c-​section and wanted to see my little girl, but I was the itchiest a person could be while they were doing more tests. I didn’t want to take the Benedryll for the sake of missing the essential skin to skin time. Anyways, I was a crazy new mom and she didn’t make me feel ridiculous. I had other moments of glamour and she would continue to be matter of fact, laughing with me as I would say «this is B.S. with the 4 months of teething». Now, with two little ones and tons of talking about how to get through it with dignity and no chicken (parts) tenders, iPads, and indoor play spaces… I’m a better mom.
Lastly, all of the office staff is wonderful. They don’t strike up a conversation and act fake. You are nice, they are nicer. They always have greeted me or were busy and then got to me, but never once did I feel slighted. We bring in treats for holidays and have always made the whole office part of the event so the shots they are getting aren’t so bad. My little girl has no issues with going to the doctor, so overall I couldn’t be happier with this office.
Hence, being sad again. Best of luck with finding someone here at this office. There is a doctor with a personality you’ll connect with as well as having a walgreens around the corner and a Starbucks to park near since the tiny lot is always full.

This medical office is shame. I would not even take my dog there!
Let me just say one positive thing in this review: the docs are competent and knowledgeable. what a sadness that they be surrounded by useless reception/​admin staff…
The reception staff is pathetic. Incompetent, rude, slow, lazy. The admin staff is even worse. They held on many months to a $ 1000+ payment that i made and that was also paid by my insurance. I’d call them crooks at the best, doubled by incompetence and laziness.
the rooms are ridiculously small (30 square feet!!), and i have serious doubts about the salubrity of the place. our child went for a well visit and caught a stomach flu…
Honestly, unless one has a very good reason to see one of the Drs (and i’d strongly suggest going to their other office in Marin in that case), I do not see who would take his child there.
STAY AWAY !!!

I also left this review under SF Bay Pediatrics’ Dr. Tatiana Goldstein’s Unilocal entry. I think it may be helpful here:
I’m sure Dr. Goldstein is very good for people she sees regularly, but I had the feeling of a bit of «bait and switch» after reading the wonderful reviews here on Unilocal,calling to have Dr. Goldstein as my baby’s pediatrician, being accepted as a «new patient,» and then basically never being able to get an appointment with her. She never came to see my baby at the hospital (others from the practice did, who ranged from nice to horrifying) and in the 5 or so appointments we’ve had in the SFBP office, we’ve only been able to see Dr. Goldstein once. We’ve seen a number of different doctors at the practice and the overall feeling is one of competence but also a sense of it being impersonal. For example, they call me «Mom» because they don’t know or seem to care my name. There is definitely no one there who knows or remembers my baby or me.
Last time I went, the doctor didn’t take my baby’s being born early or her exact age before saying she «should» be doing certain things developmentally in a kind of alarming way. A few weeks later, my baby is doing everything the doctor mentioned and more. But I was worried when I left the visit.
I am leaving the practice for another that has a reputation for being more individualized and personal. However, the other practice doesn’t take insurance, so it will cost me more and take more time to send in the statements myself. Also, I’m not a complainer. I think all of my other reviews are 5 stars! Hope this is helpful.

I’ve been extremely happy with this practice. We’ve seen several of the docs, including Goldstein, Pepitone and Gin and were really impressed with their knowledge and patience. They also went above and beyond when it came to some special circumstances surrounding our little girl.
The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is because of Dr. Miller. All our interactions with her were extremely negative. She was cold, condescending and impatient. We have heard the same complaints about her from friends. It’s a shame she tarnishes such a gem of a practice.
Oh and one nit-​picky thing, they really need to update their interior. Other than that, I highly recommend them!