Gales Ferry Pediatrics
Caring for Children of Southeastern Connecticut for Over 30 Years
About Us
The staff of the Gales Ferry Pediatric Group has been providing care for the children of southeastern Connecticut since 1974.
Eight pediatricians provide care at two office sites. Our physicians are certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and are fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics. They are staff members at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, Connecticut.
Taking care of your child is our privilege. We are committed to providing high quality, convenient care to children from infancy through adolescence, and we look forward to our relationship with your family. If you have suggestions or concerns, please let us know.
OFFICE HOURS
Our Gales Ferry office is open from 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday through Friday for regularly scheduled appointments. Urgent care is available after 7:00pm. An after hours charge will be billed to your insurance carrier.
The Old Saybrook office is open from 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday, and 8:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday through Friday. We provide urgent care for our patients on Saturday from 9:00am to 12:00pm at the Gales Ferry office. The office is closed on Sundays and on most national holidays.
NEW PATIENTS
Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your first appointment. Be sure to bring your child's health insurance card and immunization record. If you are transferring care from another practice, please contact your former physician well before your appointment to have your child's records transferred.
APPOINTMENTS
All children are seen by appointment only. We do not offer walk-in visits. We realize children sometimes need immediate attention, but we ask you to call our office prior to arrival. In some instances, we may feel your child needs to go directly to the emergency room. To ensure that our patients are seen in a timely manner, please arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment. This allows time to complete necessary paperwork and update insurance information. Please present any forms to the front desk at the beginning of your visit.
If you prefer to see a particular doctor, we recommend scheduling an appointment well in advance.
Our triage staff schedules appointments based on information given at the time of your call. Because of this, it is important to let the staff know if you have additional concerns about your child, so they can allow more time for your appointment. If you are being seen for a brief sick visit and have concerns about unrelated, non-urgent issues, the doctor may ask you to schedule a separate appointment. This allows time to discuss these concerns in detail.
We are happy to coordinate appointments so that siblings can be seen at the same time. If, after scheduling an appointment for one child, you feel a sibling needs to be seen as well, please call ahead to make arrangements.
We strive to keep office wait times to a minimum. Sometimes an unforeseen problem can cause your physician to run behind schedule. We will try to notify you of this when you arrive. If you cannot wait to be seen, we will assist you in rescheduling your appointment.
CANCELLATION / NO SHOW POLICY
We require 24 hours notice for cancellations. Failure to give notice of cancellation will be noted as a "no-show". There is a fee of $25.00 for “no-show” appointments. Although we understand how easy it can be to forget an occasional appointment, we reserve the right to dismiss families who habitually miss appointments.
LATE POLICY
We ask that you call ahead if you will be arriving late for your child's appointment. Patients arriving late may be asked to reschedule at the discretion of the physician. If your child is ill and must be seen, you may be asked to wait until one of the physicians can see your child.
HOSPITALIZATION
We admit children in need of hospitalization to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, Connecticut. Occasionally, a child may have a problem that requires management by a specialist or in an intensive care setting. In these instances we use both the Connecticut Children's Medical Center and the Yale New Haven Hospital.
FORMS / MEDICATION REFILL
We complete a physical form at well-child appointments and we ask you to retain a copy of this for use during the year. If you lose your form and require an additional copy, we are happy to provide one for you for an additional fee.
Because staffing is limited after hours and on weekends, please call on Monday - Friday before 5:00 pm with all requests for forms and medication refills. Please allow 7 days for refills and form completion.
INSURANCE /BILLING
Although we accept most insurance plans, please call ahead to confirm your coverage. Co-pays will be collected upon arrival to each appointment. If we do not participate in your plan, or if you are uninsured, full payment for services is required at each appointment.
Please direct any billing or insurance questions to our business office between 8:00am and 5:00pm.
H1N1 Information: Our recent limited supply of H1N1 vaccine has been accounted for. We are expecting more next week. Please continue to check this site for updates. If your child meets the requirements to receive the H1N1 vaccine, you can call Ledgelight Health District to pre-register for one of their upcoming H1N1 clinics. You can reach Ledgelight at 448-4882.
Seasonal flu vaccine is unavailable at this time. We are expecting a delivery by the end of November. There have been delays in the manufacturing of the seasonal flu vaccine this year, resulting in delays. We apologize for any inconvenience. We will update this website when our supplies come in, and alert you to when you can call to schedule flu shot appointments. At this time we cannot guarantee a second dose for children under the age of 3 due to limited vaccine supply.
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