Valeria I. Kozak, MD

Love Dr. Kozak and so does my 4 year old daughter! I guess I’ve been fortunate enough to not wait long periods of time. When my daughter was a new born Dr. Kozak was readily available and called me back after hours when it was urgent. She’s been so helpful for a new mom like me. She’s very nurturing and genuine. Her staff is GREAT! They are very sweet with my daughter and she’s yet to cry when they are giving her her shots! Great team and I love her office. Wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Dr. Kozak and her staff are wonderful. I was referred to Dr. Kozak by a friend after telling him I didn’t like our child’s pediatrician. Her office is cozy and clean. I like how there’s two separate entry for sick and well children. Dr. Kozak practice both homeopathic/​organic and western medicine. She takes her time in examining our baby and always recommend how to take care of our baby.

Dr. Kozak is amazing. We have a special needs 4 year old that she has been caring for since birth. She has been through the highest of highs and lowest of lows with our family. She is always available no matter the time of day. We are so blessed to have her.

Dr Kozak has been my daughters pediatrician since she was born in 2011, I was very impressed with her and she was always welcoming and seemed to be knowledgable. I had my son in 2013 and kept her as our dr even though we moved to Aliso Viejo. Things have gone completely downhill since she’s expanded her office. She’s taking on way too many patients, if you have an appointment you aren’t seen until an hour later, then she’s only in the exam room for a few minutes and leaves. The office staff SUCKS! I’ve had numerous issues with them, from appointment mix ups (scheduling when dr is on vacation) to having me fill out the same paperwork every visit and more! They don’t know what the hell they’re doing and today was just the last straw. I called to have my daughter seen because she hurt her arm, they answer not with the expected «hello doctor kozak’s office» but «date of birth» Who the hell answers a Doctors office like that? They took out all the toys from the waiting room and said they were being cleaned, that was a year ago, must be a very thorough cleaning lol. They’ve replaced the toys with potted fake plants, sounds like a great idea for a kids doctors office. I would never in a million years recommend this place to anyone.

We started seeing Dr. Kozak based off of all the praises on Unilocal.Perhaps you will have a better experience, as you can see all the love notes around my one wonky review.
Anyway, my son has seen her TWICE since he was born. The first time, my husband and I felt as if we’d been shot out of a canyon. We were exhausted new parents, and this woman was loud, abrupt and unhelpful. She was happy that we did not circumsize our child (they do not circumsize in my husband’s native England). I will leave out what she said about Americans keeping up the practice, but let’s just say that she’s against it. She also praised me for breastfeeding our child. I told her that we had to supplement with formula because I wasn’t producing enough (due to surgery in ’09), but she insisted that we stop with the formula at a certain point.
The second time, we brought a formula bottle and lied that it was breast milk. Yes you can laugh, that shit’s hilarious. After praising us again and telling us that she would see us at Month 4, promising that our child would sleep more at that point, she left and our little peanut got his first shots, and I’m very sorry that I don’t remember the nurse who administered them, but she was FANTASTIC. The two stars are for her. Baby boy never knew what hit him.
Well, «See you at Month 4» turned into Month 6, which turned into where we are now, Month 7. No one has called us for an appointment. Great follow-​through. They called us at Month 2, but we haven’t heard from anyone at Dr. Kozak’s office. Crickets.
So hubby and I are calling time. I signed the medical release today and booked with another pediatrician. We’d like our child to see someone and have his immunizations updated before he leaves home.

Kozak continues to be the most outstanding pediatrician around.
Brilliant, caring and up front and honest. She could go to Newport and make way more, but she loves helping those who would normally find low quality health care.
Her staff, including Veronica are the best. Veronica is the shot whisperer, if you have kids who need their vacs…(don’t tell me you are one of those south county morons) she will have it done before they knew what hit them!

Amazing. Wonderful communication. Dr. Kozak is regularly available, gives practical advice, and prompt care. I’ve never had trouble getting my baby in to be seen. The staff is fantastic and incredibly warm. All around excellent practice!

We started going to Dr. Kozak after our pediatrician moved out of state. We loved our old pediatrician and could not imagine being happy with anyone else. So, it is with great pleasure that I can say that we like Dr. Kozak even better. She is very accessible and returns evening and weekend pages when your child is sick. The front office has always worked us in when our child was sick. In each interaction, it really shows through how much she cares about her patients. I think she has a photographic memory as she remembers every detail about our son from one visit to the next. This comes in handy in treating him. There is often a wait in the waiting room, but we feel that it is worth it to see a very competent and caring doctor who is there for us in an emergency.

We started going to Dr Kozak when our pediatrician moved out of state and he recommended her.
Like most offices there is a little bit of a wait but I never waited more than an hour which I have before with other offices.
For sick visit they saw us same day or the next if it wasn’t too serious.
She is a kind soul and really loves children. I have 2 sons one who is autistic and she is an advocate for him. She always made my sons feel comfortable and was quick to listen but never hurried us.
She is up to date with information which is important with special needs kids and their siblings.
She has a lot of passion and I loved that about her. Her staff was a mix from our old pediatrician and new and they were always so helpful especially when insurance companies gave us the run around.
They even check their emails.
She went over adoption documents with us as we were in the middle of an adoption. She shared my excitement and was a great support to me.
We have recently moved to Northern California and I don’t know what we are going to do with out her. I am sad my daughter to come won’t meet her and that my growing son won’t have her to continue until he graduates to adulthood and my special son won’t have her kind familiar care.
We will miss you!

Dr. Kozak is simply the best! We switched to her a couple years ago based on a recommendation from a friend and we could not be happier. I am writing this review today because it’s Christmas Day and our daughter woke up with pink eye. We have a long flight tomorrow and need to get antibiotics before we leave. On Christmas Day she evaluated our little girl and filled her prescription. Amazing person and practice! The office is clean and the staff are friendly and helpful! The only downside is the wait times and the distance from our house. The waits aren’t always bad though. It is normally only bad when there are a lot of walk-​ins during flu season. The upside of that is that she will do all that she can to make the time to see you. She genuinely cares and goes above and beyond what most pediatricians will do. Christmas Day… who does that!!!

This woman is AMAZING bottom line. When my daughter was born she went above and beyond any expectations we had. During our first visit she not only helped my daughter but also got me on track with several things. I was able to get a hold of her on a weekend and she could not have been more compassionate and supportive during a difficult time with my newborn. Then again was able to get a prescription called in while she was in a conference! Being a first time mom I can get worried about little things and have called the office frequently in the first few months which I’m sure was irritating for the staff but we were ALWAYS treated with the upmost respect and kindness from the staff.
My stepson adores her and now my daughter too. She is an incredible woman and dr and cannot imagine seeing anyone else.
Yes there will be times when you won’t be able to see the dr when it is a one person practice but that is what urgent care or the er is for if you need to see someone.

I’m a busy working mom and shouldn’t care enough to write this post, but for the benefit of moms looking for a caring pediatric office for their children, I need to write as I hope the moms who left this practice had left their notes. I wanted to find a close to home office for convenient of pickup/​drop off during work hour, and found this practice through Unilocal… Dr. Kazak might be smart but her business is a failure through a Mom’s eyes.
A few of mine:
1. Both of my kids’ annual check up wait time was 45min-​1hr, why do you need to triple or quadruple book patient for the same time slot.
2. They will charge you $ 10 to fill out school physician form which takes the staff a few mins and Dr. to sign. This happens once in a child’s lifetime when entering 1^st grade, is this worth it considering the long relationship you plan to have with the kid, or maybe you didn’t think that way to start with. We didn’t ask you to pay us for the time we sit there for an hour waiting our turn, how could you have to nerve to charge us for the form. Learn to respect our time first then we don’t feel so bad paying you for your time.
3. I would advice moms out there to find a medical group: more than one pediatrician, for your children. In case the ONE Dr. is out of the office for vacation or visiting patients in the hospital, there is another one to take care of your kid (s) when he/​she is sick and can’t wait until that ONE Dr. returns. If your kids are always well and healthy then you don’t have to worry about it, but that’s wishful thinking.
4. Yesterday my kid was in pain, we came to see the Dr. The appointment is 3:30pm, we were there at 3:29pm. The front desk person said there were two persons in front of us. Thank God, we only have to wait 40 mins to see her :(. She was in and out in 1 min, 25 seconds. She assured us that she’ll send the prescription to the Pharmacy we had on file. We left the office at 4:15. I had to go to another appoint and came to the Pharmacy at 6pm to pick up the medications. They said there were no prescription. I made sure that the Dr. had sent a prescription there before so they can’t say that I had the wrong Pharmacy on file. I cried on the way home. I felt so helpless toward my kid. Mommy couldn’t do anything to ease your pain, only children’s motrin which you’ve used but didn’t seem to help: thats’ why the Dr. visit. Beating myself for not making sure the pharmacy received the prescription before leaving the office, I trusted them.
Enough is enough… I’m taking my kids to another practice that cares. So don’t say that I didn’t warn you.

I tried to get my child a appointment but couldn’t.
I called to make a new patient appointment. I told them my child’s age, what my child needs to be seen for, and that I’m paying out of pocket. The person said she has to call back after she talks with her co-​worker because she doesn’t know the protocol for out of pocket payments.
2 hours passed and no call back. I called them back and the person said that she’s sorry but they’re really busy and she hasn’t talked with her coworkers yet.
Next day, they finally call back. All of a sudden, «We’re not accepting patients over 2 years old.» WHAT! I told her my child’s age the day before. Why would it take a whole day to tell me that?! I thought the issue was about me paying out of pocket, not age?!
Maybe Valeria is a good doctor. I wouldn’t know because I couldn’t even get my child in the door.

We recently became patients of Dr Kozak, after moving to the area. Dr Kozak is a very knowledgable doctor. She is blunt, but not an issue for us. She believes in vaccinating, as do we. We heard that was the main issue ppl complained about with her. Since I’ve see the ramifications of not vaccinating, I would nvr opt to subject my kids to the pain that can occur if they were to contract something. The scheduling can be a bit tough, but the wait time is very normal. Office staff is nice. Also, she does ear piercing for $ 35.00. Bonus :).

Looking for an amazing pediatrician for your child look no further…
Dr. Kozak is AMAZING! She knows what we all face as parents and gives honest advice. She does run behind but each time we are there she takes the times to talk with us and make sure all our questions have been answered. That is hard to find nowadays… Her staff especially Ana is great and kids are at ease with them. Those who work there take pride and seem always happy to help. Same day sick appointments, personal calls back from Dr. Kozak, quick answers to call in question, in hospital visits with no rushed feeling= priceless!

We love Dr. Kozak. She welcomes all of our questions and answers them without making us feel like we’re inconveniencing her. She takes the time to listen and address all of our concerns as new parents. She also is very informative and knowledgeable. We’re so happy we found her on Unilocal

We love love dr Kozak! She is amazing, we found her by accident and turned out to be exactly the kind of pediatrician we where looking for! Both of our two boys love her and every time they have been sick and call she returns our call no matter the time. We couldn’t asked for a better pediatrician, she is amazing!

We like Dr. Kozak as a doctor. Attentive, informative, and great with our little one. The office is very nice too. We drive a little farther than we have to in order to go to her.
A few cons:
— Wait time has been increasing; it used to be less than 30 minutes, but it’s getting closer to an hour. Some of you will say that’s part of going to the doctor, but I don’t think that it should be with an appointment.
— Inconsistency with staff. The staff is friendly, but recently my wife called to reschedule an appointment and was told that the doctor was booked through the next month. I called an hour later and was rescheduled within two weeks of the original appointment date.
Overall we are happy with her, especially if we can continue to go Fridays, two of which I get off work a month, which is very convenient.

Dr. Kozak is a phenomenal pediatrician! I met with Dr. Kozak when I was still pregnant to see if I felt she would be a good fit for my growing family. I met with a total of 4 pediatricians and Dr. Kozak far outshone them all.
Dr. Kozak is incredibly warm, understanding and kind. She takes the time to listen to any and all questions, and she is thoughtful with her responses. She is caring and knowledgeable. An incredible pediatrician and I’m so thankful that I found her.
My son is now 13 months old. He is healthy and happy. Dr. Kozak has given me great advice during his first year of life and has given me confidence in myself as a mommy.
Her office has waiting area has been redone to have a healthy area separate from the sick area. The office staff and nurses are all friendly and helpful. I especially love Ana. My little guy adores both her and Dr. Kozak.
I have recommended and will continue to recommend Dr. Kozak to anyone with young babies and children. I am a mom who does her research and this pediatrician is the best of the best! I appreciate the time she takes with me and my child and her warmth. I wouldn’t take Brayden anywhere else!
*Tip: Because Dr. Kozak does take time with each patient and answers parent questions and concerns, there can sometimes be a little wait. I suggest making appointments for right after lunch or first thing in the morning. I have never waited at either of those times.

We LOVE Dr. Kozak! Recently my wife and I received a recommendation to visit Dr. Kozak after the birth of our first child. We took our little boy and (I assume this is normal) like most new parents, we were stressed about every little thing.
She made us feel totally comfortable, answered all of our questions, was very patient with us and makes herself available any time (this came in handy the first few weeks!). Dr. Kozak is an awesome doctor, very knowledgeable, helpful, caring and kind — would highly recommend her to any of my friends and family (and have!) :)
Thanks Dr. Kozak!