If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d have never believed it. A pediatrician’s office without a waiting room. I didn’t believe it until I saw it, but Partners in Pediatrics has no waiting room.Without a long row of chairs, without a stream of snotty-nosed kids (like mine!) handling lots of toys with their sweet little fingers, caressing each sick child’s germ from the visit before them. This office is a wonderful, warm little place where I expected a waiting room to be.
Gayle Smith, M.D. is the founding physician at Partners in Pediatrics, PC. With a team of forward thinking experts, she was has created a refreshing experience to solve the many problems parents find when they seek medical attention for their kids: long waits for what sometimes can be a rushed, one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare.
As I was preparing to write about the new pediatric model, I asked a few member families to share with me what made this practice different from others they had experienced. Well, I was overwhelmed with the incredibly impressive laundry list of responses: “it’s a true partnership between Dr. Smith and my family, they know my name…they even know my son’s grandmother’s name”; “they make follow-up calls to check on my sick child”; “for a busy Mom like me, they make reaching them easy – whether it’s for advice, an appointment or yet another form filled out you can call, email, go online”; “they give me that warm and fuzzy feeling when I walk in the door”; “each appointment is scheduled for 1 hour so I never feel rushed and always leave Dr. Smith’s office reassured that I am on the right path when it comes to my child’s healthcare”.
One Mom even told me that when her childcare provider brought her son to Partners in Pediatrics, she received a follow-up email from Dr. Smith with the appointment highlights. Now that’s staying I touch! And, to top it off, I learned that Dr. Gayle Smith makes house calls when medically necessary. Really, she does. 
How does it work? For a monthly fee you receive healthcare the way it should be. In much the same way you would join a gym, you sign up with the practice and receive a whole cadre of amenities that go beyond the typical care provided by other pediatrician offices. Partners in Pediatrics is based on the motto “It’s all about the kids…their health and well being.” While this is most certainly is true, it also seems you can ‘have your cake and eat it too’.
Centrally located on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Partners in Pediatrics is a truly different place to experience a pediatrician who cares, one patient at a time, in a colorful little area where there would normally be a crowded a waiting room.
Dr. Gayle Smith has an informational blog for parents and has written articles for Richmondmom.com’s Real Richmond Parents column as well.
