Important Changes Ahead at CHC!

At Children’s Health Care we have always prided ourselves on providing the most comprehensive pediatric care available in the Merrimac Valley, including three convenient office locations, morning sick-call hours, evening hours five days a week, weekend and holiday sick call hours, and in-house specialists such as a pediatric nutritionist, consulting pediatric psychiatrist, and special care coordinator. To provide these services, our pediatricians and nurse practitioners have traditionally moved from office to office, and we are sensitive to the fact that this has sometimes created frustration with not being able to see the same provider as often as both patients and providers would like. To better serve the needs of our patients we are making several exciting changes at all of our Children’s Health Care offices starting in September 2006:

• Our Amesbury office will now be open for a walk-in sick call hour from 8 AM to 9 AM Monday through Friday. Additionally, two providers (instead of one) will routinely staff our Amesbury office, making it easier to get appointments there.
• A new pediatrician, Dr. Christine Riccardi, will be joining our staff.  You can find out more about Dr. Riccardi at this link.
• Our pediatricians will now primarily work out of only one office location so that it will be easier to see your own provider more regularly:
• Newburyport Office
• Dr. Chirlin
• Dr. Sheehan
• Dr. Carmichael
• Haverhill Office
• Dr. Bucher
• Dr. Riccardi
• Amesbury Office
• Dr. Lundgren
• Dr. Thumser
• Please note that none of our providers are leaving the practice! If your child’s primary provider will no longer be at the office you currently use, feel free to follow him or her to the new office location or choose to see one of our other providers at your current office.
• Evening, weekend, and holiday hours will continue to be at our Newburyport office only. As always, patients from all three of our offices are welcome in Newburyport during those times.
• Our new computerized electronic medical record system goes live in July 2006 and will allow our providers to access new medical records on any patient from any of our office locations.
• All of our offices are getting interior “makeovers” in the next few months, with new paint, new toys, and new pictures for the waiting and exam rooms.

We hope you are as excited as we are and will bear with us through the changes ahead as we continue striving to make Children’s Health Care the best possible medical home for your children.