Alameda Pediatric Associates

From the first time I brought my baby in, the Doctors at Alameda Pediatric Associates have been so wonderful! They really take the time to answer all my questions, give any additional advice, stay calm and are so understanding of a new mother.
From the first time Dr. Yoon met my baby at the birthing center she was so kind, sweet and gentle with her. I remember the first time I brought in my baby, I had to stop and breastfeed her after the appointment. Dr. Yoon said that I had the room for as long as I needed and she said she completely understood about needing a place to nurse her baby.
They truly understand and care for each and every one of their patients. Just tonight I panicked slightly probably for no good reason because I fed my baby a food that was not on the recommended food list. Dr. Yoon was the on-​call Doctor (but all of their doctors who are on-​call are like this) quickly calmed me down and went into the background and history as to why blueberries may not have been on the list of recommended foods. She gave some suggestions on how to serve it to ensure my baby didn’t choke and any warning signs I should look out for. She put my mind at ease and went the extra mile to really inform me about feeding and allergies.
They’re a wonderful practice and I’d recommend them to any parent!

I absolutely love Alameda Pediatrics… not only is the staff friendly but the providers are as well, my children love the office its clean and very welcoming. I can call the office even after hours and get a call back from a actual Doctor not a nurse which is definitely an A+++ I emailed via myHealth a system they use and attached pictures with my concerns for one of my children and her MD responded. They are available on Saturday mornings and back in the office on Monday! My son is 10 and I have been thru a few Pediatric offices and I am so pleased with finding this office with these special ladies who are truly dedicated to what they do! Thanks to great MD’s at Alameda Pediatrics :)

My review is long overdue. My daughter started seeing Dr. Parker a few months ago (but has seen all the other physicians for same-​day appointments) and could not be happier with her and the practice. All the doctors seem very knowledgeable – especially Dr. Parker and Dr. Wallach. My daughter used to be part of UCSF pediatrics but made the switch when we moved to Alameda. Although we had great care at UCSF, getting a same-​day appointment was difficult, the appointments took forever, and you did not get a feeling that the doctors, nurses, or staff really cared about your child. At APA, the doctors all seem to really like my daughter, care about what’s best for her and our family, and work with us to figure out what the right approach is. Due to some trouble with her ears, we are in the doctor’s office at least several times each month. Every time we come in, the staff is very friendly and updates us on the wait (which is rarely long). This practice also has a doctor on call ²⁴⁄₇ – no overreacting advice nurse telling you to take your child into the ER! And they are open on Saturday for sick kid appointments. Truly a great medical practice.

This place is horrible, the doctors are awful especially doctor Penny Harries she’s very rude unfriendly and I think she’s racist too, she’s very, very unfriendly with my child too. doctor Harris has no personality with kids and the parents, I do not recommend this place at all… Terrible and awful doctors.

I’ve been impressed by the level of care at Alameda Pediatrics. My daughters (2 & 4) have mainly seen Dr. Parker and Dr. Wallach and they have both been really great. They take the time to make them comfortable and smiling before examining them so that the process can be tear free — which is a huge plus. The experience has been so positive that my girls love to play doctor at home. I’ve also always been pleased with the care they’ve been given when sick and the recommendations for treatment. The only downside is that the wait can be kind of long so I try and book my appointments first thing in the morning so that they are not backed up with patients.

I have been seeing Dr. Wallach since i had my first child in 2012. I live in the area and wanted to keep it local without jeopardizing my child’s health. With that said, I am so happy to find Dr. Wallach. She is very thorough, attentive, knowledgeable, sweet, and open minded. She is now also the Dr. to one of my preemie twins and I couldn’t be happier.

Never again!
I made my daughter first appt there and was schedule to see Dr. Yoon, she was very nice and friendly. My daughter was having a stomach flu and she told me what I need to do and so on.
What I like about them was that they have a 24/​hour doctor on call. Suddenly in the middle of the night that same day, My daughter temperature was dropping at 95.0? I contact the 24hr on call doctor right away! it just happen it was Dr. Yoon. I was excited that it was her.
Big mistake!
She sound so annoyed when I was telling her my daughter condition, her response! She said that the temperature I took was wrong, I took it like 10x, instead of guiding me on what I need to do, she basically did not believe what I was telling her.
I quickly took my daughter to the ER, and change back to her old pediatrician. The next day I contact the office and spoke with a staff there, explain to her my frustration. She told me a doctor will call me back.
Really… I’m still waiting…

We have been coming here since my son was born last August 2013. Super huge fan of Dr. Wallach. My son loves her. She’s very attentive and not dismissive of my concerns as a first time parent. I have never had any difficulty scheduling a same day appointment. And contrary to an early review, I have always had a pleasant experience with the front desk.
The only knock on the practice is the follow-​up process. I was told that by Wednesday I would be getting a call regarding a referral for a specialist for my son’s UTI and it’s a Thursday and I haven’t gotten a call. Good thing though, is that they are easy to reach and once reminded, they will either give you the information that you need, or will call back within an hour to give you an answer.

Just moved to East Bay from SF looking for a pediatrician for our 3 children. Found Dr. A. Bennett, at AP and since she trained at UCSF where we formally took our children we decided for her to be our new pediatrician. Big mistake! We took our newborn to her for his 2 day check up. She explained that his circumcision was not healing properly and showed us what we needed to do for it to heal properly & if we didn’t he would need a surgical procedure when he was older. With out going into details she ended up making him bleed a lot to where she had to use silver nitrate to stop bleeding, my husband & I was so upset at the situation, I explained to her that, that seemed like a lot of blood & she told me «no that’s not» she went on to bring in 2 other doctors & print out articles from Internet that she was right in what she did. Never did she show compassion for my screaming newborn or said sorry. She was too busy trying to prove her point. When my husband asked questions she got VERY defensive! Don’t doctors always say «ask questions»? Well not here! We immediately went home and called UCSF and explained what happend, they told us to bring him in right away so they can take a look at him.
So we took our son back to UCSF to our former pediatrician, where they explained that what she did was WRONG! She shouldn’t have touched his circumcision & there was nothing wrong with it. They prescribed my newborn a antibiotic ointment, in case of infection.
Baby is doing fine, but I feel terrible that I chose to leave UCSF for convinence of location. We are back at UCSF and will never leave! The pediatricians at UCSF were very surprised that Dr. A Bennett was trained there. My husband and I are not big « Unilocalers» but this incident was very disturbing. We will never recommend Alemeda Pediactrics to anyone!
Had to give 1 star to post.

Been coming here since a few months after my daughter was born (shes a year and a half now) and so far I’m very pleased.
Availability and Appointments: What I love about this place is that they leave room in the daily schedule for people who have a sick child/​minor emergency, so you don’t need to worry about actually bringing in your child to the ER where they charge you an arm and leg just to end up with antibiotics and a bandaid. You do need to call in for an appointment though, but I’ve never had a problem with that and they’re pretty quick and efficient about it. Another plus, is that they’re open Monday thru Saturday which I know for a lot of parents is very accommodating. Oh and for parents with needs in the middle of the night, they have an answering service with a doctor on call ²⁴⁄₇. You may not be able to see a doc but at least you can talk to one till the morning.
Staff: Contrary to what some people might say, I’ve always found the staff to be very welcoming and helpful. Going up to the front desk, I’ve always been greeted with a smile and an occasional «hello» when they’re not on the phone. Also, when I had a problem with my insurance, they made calls and helped me sort through it instead of making me go through the whole ordeal and telling me to fix it myself.
Doctors: When I bring my daughter, I either see Dr. Yoon or Dr. Wallach. Originally my daughter was seeing Dr. Yoon, but since her maternity leave, Dr. Wallach has been seeing my daughter. Both are very good doctors. They are both thorough and patient when seeing us. They always make sure to listen to what I observe about my daughters symptoms and they don’t make me feel like a crazy worried mom. I also like the fact that even though I’m a bit of a young mom (I’m 22), they don’t make me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, which is a vibe I’ve gotten from doctors and others in the past.
The only con I really have is their answering system. You will always talk to a live person on the phone, but the problem is, all they can really do is take messages. THAT’S IT! You can’t make appointments or speak to a doc directly. They take your message and if you need a doctor, they will have the doctor call you back. BUT, on the plus side, the doc calls you back pretty quickly (from my experience, within 10 mins)

Loved Dr. Wallach; she took the time to ask a lot of questions about my son. She was thorough and informative.

We’ve been taking our children to Alameda Pediatrics since their first well-​baby visit in 2008 and we couldn’t be happier with the great care and service from the doctors and staff their!
Dr. Parker is the primary care doctor for our twins at AP and we are thrilled with her. My wife and I are parents of premature twins. Our children were 15 weeks premature and spent over 4 months in the NICU before coming home. They faced heart surgery, BPD, the standard developmental delays that all 25 weekers face, and a variety of other medical challenges. For the first year of their lives, our kids continued with monthly visits with several specialists — four at one point. So naturally, it was very important for us to find the right doctor.
We live in Alameda, and Dr. Parker and AP came highly recommended to us. She is probably among the best qualified pediatricians in Alameda to care for preemies, given that she herself is a mom of preemie triplets. Needless to say, she has an intuitive understanding of our children’s needs, and she — of course — has clear insight into the stresses of parenting preemies. She has never hesitated to provide a referral, and she has assisted us whenever our insurance company has tried to send us to a less desirable practitioner. (I’m in the Coast Guard, and occasionally Tricare tries to send our kids to Travis AFB for treatment.)
Her office has been willing to see us on short notice many, many times — I can usually get an appointment the same morning. Likewise, every time we’ve called after hours, a doctor within the practice has gotten back to us within minutes and VERY patiently assisted us with all our questions. (Our twins are our first children, so we tended to call an awful lot in the first year — probably once every couple weeks…)
Very important for us, Dr. Parker and the other doctors at AP have a great bedside manner for kids and parents alike. She has great a way of putting us at ease. It would have been much tougher to get through the difficult medical ordeal we’ve faced over the last couple years without her. If you are a parent of multiples or a preemie, look no further!

Our daughter saw Dr. Butts (who we miss terribly), and now sees Dr. Bennett. We love Dr. Bennett! She is fun, clever, active; makes my 6 yo feel happy and at ease, answers all of our questions. No wait for urgent appointments, reasonable wait for routine appointments. We are so happy to be in this practice! Reasonable street parking, and a great Mexican restaurant down the street to bribe your child with for post-​shot treats.. .

All I can say is don’t go to this office. The FRONT DESK people are horrible!!! One time I called just to ask questions about the bill that they sent me and I did call my insurance already and they told me what’s the problem. The front desk lady told me to call the insurance again and I just told her what the insurance told me but it’s seems like she’s not listening to me. She’s sooooo rude. And also the rooms, I agree with one of the reviews here that the rooms there is so hot. I had to wait for the doctor for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Dr. Parker is nice but those people in front desk are greeting you without manners, I recommend you guys to look for another office.

We have received fine service from Dr. Bennett, Dr. Parker, and Dr. Harris for the last three years. My daughter has seen them all at various times for check ups, the flu, and even a minor glass-​stuck-​in-​foot-​surgery. (They also agreed to adapt the vax schedule to meet our request.) The office will always fit you in right away when you have an illness or emergency. It’s true that the front desk can sometimes be surly, and they could also use more kid friendly décor (kind of blah); however the most important need is met: great doctors for my young child.

Horrible customer service, and front office that is not very pleasant at all on the phone. As a potential customer, I was turned off and will be looking elsewhere for my child’s doctor. Like, Primary Pediatrics.

⁵⁄₂₀₁₀ update: I got a message that Dr. Butts passed away — he was my physician as a child and a kind man.
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Dr. Butts is still practicing? That dude took care of my first ear infection when I was like five months old.
Ah — anyone who came here when it was still on Santa Clara Ave will fondly remember the colored styrofoam balls over the examination rooms and the jar of animal cookies by the door. Not-​so-​fond memories include: getting shots (a necessary evil of childhood) and a few really bad experiences with the office manager woman that I won’t recount because I doubt she still works there (BUT I will say that one experience involved her telling my step-​mom that she wasn’t allowed to come into the exam room with me when I was 14 because she mistakenly assumed that my youthful-​looking stepmom was one of my friends).
When I was in high school, I loved my pediatrician here so much that I kept trying to go to her… even after high school when I was like 19. Only the gentle laughter and suggestion of the receptionist finally persuaded me to look into finding a grown-​up doctors office, sans animal cookies.
Thanks for never misdiagnosing my childhood illnesses and for letting me play with the scales in the exam rooms.