Town & Country - Pediatrician

We go here and all the doctors are good; not crazy about the office staff, but I find that to be true in all the doctors office in Chicago. There is not one specific doctor we go to, they all are good. Dr. Rice is older, and a bit outdated, but he is fine in a pinch. We go to whoever is available at the time we need.

Hi K. -

I had the same experience with peds recommendation and having sucha hard time getting to 680. We went with Town and Country and after several horrible experiences with them, have switched pediatricians now. I would highly not recommend that pediatrician. The docs themselves were ok (not outstanding) but it was the staff I had lots of problems with. THere are a lot of great peds other than them in the city so I would continue to ask around (we chose to go to Minkus in Lincolnwood since he is open regarding vaccinations and very supportive in breastfeeding).

My cousin left Town & Country within 2 months after having her twins. THe office is too big and there is no special attention. It was hard to get appts and she was never able to see the same Dr.
Our whole family goes to 680. and it rocks!
Good Luck!

My husband and I have a son who has been with Town and Country since 2 months old. I cannot say enough good things about T & C. From the nurses, peditricians, office, location, parking, everything is a plus. We primarily see Dr. Hong. But we have seen 3 other doctors there and have been happy with all. They have all listened to our concerns, and they are not antsy to get out the door because they have other patients waiting. They take the time you need to make sure all your questions are answered.

Good luck.

We take our son to Town & Country, and have actually seen many of the physicians. Our personal favorites are Jenny Hong, Diane Holmes, Jennifer Bergquist, and Danielle Cherian. The last two are relatively new, but my son just LOVES them. I have heard some negative things about the male doctors, but when we saw them after hours, they were spectacular. (Especially Dr. Polin) This practice is great in that you don't always have to see the same doctor, and you can almost always get in the same day (if your child is sick). Plus, the weekend appointments can't be beat. Let me know if I can provide any more info. I would absolutely recommend them without hesitation.

I agree completely with the previous posts. We have been taking our kids there since my daughter was born in 2003 and have had only wonderful experiences. Our primary doc, whom we love, is Diane Holmes, although we have seen several others, both after delivery (where whoever is on rotation at the hosp. that day will see you)and for sick visits and I can't say a negative thing about any. I live near their office on Lincoln Ave. and have been to the Clybourn office as well and feel fortunate to be able to take our kids there.

Dr. Holmes is great.

Okay, so I'll be the only negative post here. I lived up north before moving to the south side and took my daughter to town & country for 7 years and I don't think it was all that great. Personally I think it is best for your child to feel comfortable with ONE doctor, 5 or 6 can't possibly all be on the same page all the time, even if they read the charts. They don't remember your child and vice versa. Now that I have something to compare it to with my son's pediatricians office, I look back and think "how was I satisfied" ?? Probably because it was easy, convenient, and that's all I knew at the time bc that's where everyone went. I had one doctor for the first few years of my daughters life there that wasn't concerned with the fact that she didn't eat. That still bothers me. She also told me to stop feeding her 2% milk so she didn't get overweight. My daughter has always been a horrible eater and very petit and thin. Weight wasn't an issue w/ her infancy or now for that matter. IF you can find a ped. affiliated w/ Northwestern maybe that has his/her own office and pick ONE doctor, maybe two, that way your baby is more familiar with the person. Maybe there is an office closer to you than the one on Lakeshore. There is something to be said about personalized attention I guess is my whole point. Do some more investigating. T&C is definitely convenient, good hours, etc if that's what you need. I believe they do have good doctors there, I just am so happy with my new ped. that I'll never go back. There was a time that I drove my daughter up there still from the south side because I didn't know what my other options were. Good luck! I'd say you can never do wrong with NW.

We took our son to T&C until he was 2 months old - then we switched practices. I liked the doctors there ok, but they never seemed to remember us. It was busy, and we always had a long wait. We go to the family practice clinic at UIC now, and we like it much better. Plus, I can go there when I'm sick too, which keeps things simple.

Hi K.:

We have been going to Town & Country since our daughter was born in July 2005. I have been pleased with the practice. We have committed to Dr. Barbara Johnston - however, when she (our daughter) needs to come in without an appt. we see whomever we can. When your child is first born, what I would suggest is for you to rotate through the practice and see which MD you like the best. You will be there a ton in the first few months so it will give you a chance to see if there is a doctor whose style you are more comfortable with, etc.

Good luck!

We love Town and Country. When your baby is new, it's easiest to see whichever doctor is there on the day you need to go. After a while, you'll be able to pick the one you like best. Their website has some of the doctors' impressive qualifications if you're interested. http://townandcountrypeds.com/
N.

We had our first baby 9 months ago and after meeting a few at Town & Country, have enjoyed Dr. Holmes. What we did is just chose Town & Country as our pediatrician for the delivery, then in the hospital we met a few doctors from the practice as well as a few more at our one, two and four week check-ups. After that we chose Dr. Holmes. This is a good way to meet a number of doctors and see who you like.

Our 4 month old sees Dr. Holmes. I think she is great - very patient, and reassuring, especially for a first time mom like me. I have seen several dr's in the practice in his first weeks, but have settled in on Dr. Holmes. Yes, there are many dr's in the practice but if you choose to see only one, that is very doable.

Also, as an aside she hold office hrs on Sundays which I like since I am a working mom. Congratulations and best of luck!

We have used Town and Country since we moved up her 2 1/2 yrs ago and we love them. We see Dr. Ellen Papachek. They have three locations which makes it nice in a pinch. Plus they have late and weekend hours for sick visits. i have never had a hard time getting in. And on several occasions I have called and left a question for the doctor and they actually call back within a couple hours. The only doctor we didn't like was Dr. Howard Rice. I highly reccommend them!
The few comments about seeing different drs: at times yes..but we know the 2-3 we really like and only see them. The Lincoln office is smaller and we enjoy that. We also don't go often: my dtr is almost 4 yrs old, so having the entire staff remember us isn't important. But Dr. Papachek does and that is what is the most important.

We live in the city (Edgewater) but we go to Frederic Ettner up in Evanston. We had the same situation as you did while we were expecting and didn't know who to pick. Since we had our baby up at Evanston Hospital we wanted to pick someone who could go there to see the baby for the first appointment after the birth (since not all pediatricians go to all hospitals for that first visit). Our midwives recommended Dr. Ettner and I must say we have been so pleased with him! Now I take Lucy up there on the train and it is almost as quick as getting to somewhere in the city. He has been fantastic. He does not jump to medicine as a first resort and always tries natural stuff first. She has been healthy and happy all the way along. The one thing about him that some might not like is that he is conservative with immunizations...he doesn't start til 6 months and then does them at a slow pace. People come from far away just to have him as their doctor because of the fact that he does that. We didn't pick him for that reason and don't feel strongly about delaying immunizations but because we trust him and like him so much, we've just gone with it and it seems to be just fine. Good luck in your search and feel free to email me at ____@____.com if you have any questions about him.

i love my pediatrician, Dr. Mark Rosenberg. He is affiliated with children's memorial and northwestern. The practice is called Childrens Health Associates. It is at Sheffield and Diversey. He is a past president of the Illinois Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics. Tel: ###-###-####

I also have heard good things about Towne and Country

We started taking our daughter to Town & Country since she was 1 month old. We have had great doctors that attended our daughter. We chose Dr. Goldberg as her primary and when she is not available we see Dr. Bernquist. Of course when it is a sick appointment we see who is available. The hours are great and we had never had problems with making appointments for sick visits and the respond rather quickly to your calls. At the initial visit we did see Dr. Rice, this has been the only doctor that we have not like. I also agree we some of the other moms who have responded Dr. Holmes is great. (we have seen her at sick visits on ocassion) Good Luck!

I've heard good things about Towne & Country as well, but also not so good things (like anything I suppose). You should search it in the search engine on this site and read everyone's comments.
I live downtown and go to Child and Adolescent Healthcare. I LOVE my doctor there, Dr. Mikhail. She is younger but very knowledgeable and seems to really care about my son AND me! Just last week she called me and stayed on the phone with me for 25 minutes at the end of her day because I am having problems getting my son to sleep for stretches of time (whole other topic!). I think that was way above and beyond, especially since its mostly my fault because I won't let him cry it out right now (even though she says its fine now since he's 5 months old). Anyway, I just find her to be very helpful, understanding, and not too preachy or judgy. BUT - I do not really care for the office itself. The office seems like it needs a little remodel and the front office staff can be super nice some days and cold others. I've had two really sweet nurses and one not so sweet. I wish Dr. Mikhail was at another practice for these reasons, but I love her so much I deal with it (it's not that bad, I'm just telling you everything - it's a big decision, I know!). She is affiliated with NW as well. Good luck!
PS. Just in case: 1030 N Clark St, ste 400 - ###-###-####

We see Dr. Holmes and love her. She has kids of her own so she is very realistic when it comes to answering questions re: developmental questions. She also is very sweet with both of our kids.

I have a 4 year old who was a preemie and a 3 month old. I've been at Town and Country the whole time. We love Dr. Johnston and their flexible hours.

We used Town & Country before we moved to the suburbs and loved them! Our fave was Dr. Anne Wyman. Good luck!
PS Another good thing about the Clybourn office is that they have the waiting room divided into an area for well kids and an area for sick kids, and I think they have a private room for breast feeding.

Since the peds aren't too convenient I recommend ven more strongly what I frequently recommend - find a terrific family practice doc. They can treat everyone, know the whole family... and they tend to be more receptive to questions and "conversational" approaches to assisting parents when deciding different courses of action for their children. Best wishes!