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This website was last updated: Friday, April 18, 2008 @ 9:56:41 AM |
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Introduction |
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Welcome to our practice. We are pleased that you have chosen us for your child's
medical care. We look forward to a long and pleasant relationship with you and your
children. The following information is designed to help you become better acquainted
with us.
As board-certified pediatricians we provide comprehensive medical care from
infancy to young adulthood. We encourage you to be active and participate in your
children's healthcare.
You may designate one caregiver as your primary provider, or you can choose to see
others in our practice. We try very hard to honor either style of appointment
booked in advance. However, if your child needs urgent care and your provider is
not available, our receptionist will suggest one of our other providers for that
visit. For urgent care, we can usually schedule you an appointment the same day.
We look forward to providing you with quality medical care.
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Our regular office hours are by appointment
Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
However, we know that children get sick at all times of the day and night. We
have off-hours coverage for evaluating urgent illnesses.
Evenings
If your child has an urgent problem, we have an on-call physician available
for your convenience weekday nights from 5 to 8 p.m.
Weekends & Holidays
We also have a physician on call and available Saturday, Sunday and most
holidays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. When you call during these hours, you may get
an answering machine, but please stay on the line. The off-hours appointment
manager will answer your call.
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You can contact us at 207-623-2977 or fax us at 207-626-9374. |
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Driving Directions |
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From the North:
Follow ME-11/ME-27 to Winthrop Street. Turn left onto Winthrop Street
and follow to the bottom of the hill. Cross Water Street going towards
the Kennebec River. Turn left at the end of the road into the Front
Street-North Parking Lot. Park in any of the 2-hour patient spots
facing the building.
From the South:
From the West-Side Rotary take
ME-104N immediately to Water Street. Follow Water Street down the hill
to the Old Federal Building/Post Office. At the corner of the Post
Office (the intersection of Water Street and Winthrop Street) turn right
and follow towards the Kennebec River. Turn left at the end of the road
into the Front Street-North Parking Lot. Park in any of the 2-hour
patient spots facing the building.
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Your first contact with our office will be with one of our receptionists who
will direct your call to the right person.
For non-emergency calls, you may be asked to leave a message on voice mail. This
is often the most efficient way to handle the large number of calls we receive.
You may be directed to voicemail information lines for the following: medical
advice or same-day appointments; making or changing future appointments;
prescription refills; HMO referrals; medical or behavioral progress reports.
Please leave detailed messages. We will make every effort to return your call
promptly.
If you have an emergency, please tell the receptionist who will immediately
connect you to a nurse or a doctor. If you have a life-threatening problem, your
first call should be to your local rescue unit. Please keep that number handy.
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Appointments |
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We appreciate you calling for appointments before coming to the office so
we can better prevent delays. If you have an emergency, call the office
immediately so that a member of our healthcare team can determine how to best
help you. If you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, please let us
know as soon as possible. |
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Staying On Time |
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We know that you appreciate not having to wait long for your appointment
and we do want to stay on schedule. It also helps other patients if you're on
time for your appointment. However, emergencies and other unanticipated events
do happen and may slow us down. If this happens when you have a scheduled
appointment, we will try to let you know so you can choose to wait or
reschedule. If you think you may need extra time for your appointment, please
let us know so we can schedule the time you need. |
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Insurance/payment |
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We are dedicated to providing services to everyone, regardless of ability
to pay. We accept all Maine private insurance plans, Medicare, MaineCare and
TriCare. We will submit insurance claims on your behalf. We ask that you pay
for all co-payments at the time of service. We accept Visa and MasterCard. If
you don't have insurance, MaineGeneral's Care Partners program may be able to
help. Their number is 1-877-883-1797.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your bill, please don't
hesitate to contact our patient account office at 621-3607.
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Prescription Refills |
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If possible, please ask for your prescription refills at the time of your
office visit. We will try to take all prescription information from you when
you call. We also have a special prescription refill line that you may reach
by calling the main office number, 623-2977. When calling, please have the
following information ready: patient's name; date of birth; daytime telephone
number; the doctor who prescribed your medication; the name of the medication
and its strength (the number of mg.); how many you take each day; the
quantity requested (one-, two or three-month supply); and the name of the
pharmacy. If you are out of your medication, please include that in your
message. We ask that you give us a 24-hour notice for all prescription
refills. Please check with your pharmacy at the end of the day to see if your
refill is ready.
Controlled substance prescriptions must be picked up at the office.
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Laboratory |
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Kennebec Pediatrics has an office laboratory for basic throat and urine
tests. More complex testing is performed at the MaineGeneral lab. |
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Test Results |
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All test results (blood work, x-rays, etc.) are forwarded directly
to your healthcare provider for review. We will let you know your child's
test results either by telephone or mail as soon as possible. If, for some
reason, you don't hear from us, please give us a call. |
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Referrals |
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To start the referral process, please call our office and advise the
receptionist that you would like a referral to a specialist. The receptionist
will give the message to your physician and then let you know if the referral
is approved. If your physician has already approved the referral and made the
specialty appointment, the referral will be processed and then submitted to
your insurance company by our central referrals office. They will also
provide the authorization number to the specialty office. If you want to
check on the status of an authorization or request additional visits for an
existing referral, you can call the referral office directly at 624-4256 or
1-877-274-7787.
You can find information on specialist who we often refer patients to on our
Referrals page!
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You can view or download a brochure for Kennebec Pediatrics that includes most
of this information by clicking on the link below.
 KP Brochure
Please Note: This brochure requires Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to
view it. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and most newer computers have it installed.
If you do not have the Reader, you can download it to your computer by going to
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/.
Click on 'Downloads,' choose 'Free Acrobat Reader,' and follow the instructions.
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The founding member of our practice, Dr. Ted Russell, moved to Augusta, Maine
in 1962. The practice grew rapidly as Dr. Russell's excellent bedside skills made
him exceedingly popular with mothers and a local Obstetrician, Dr. Lee Richards.
The 60's were a time when medical care was becoming more complex. Specialists were
joining non-urban hospitals to supplement the skills of the local General
Practitioners. Communities such as Augusta benefited greatly as general surgeons,
obstetricians/gynecologists, orthopedics, urologists, internists, and
pediatricians established private practices in town.
In 1966, Dr. Terry Sheehan joined Dr. Russell. A skilled clinician, Dr. Sheehan
quickly gained respect from the local physicians. They were later joined by Dr.
Phil Good, who had been their mentor at the Maine Medical Center teaching
program. The three pediatricians' had special ties to Maine as all were graduates
of Bowdoin College. After the group moved into a new building at Doctor's Park
they were joined in 1973 by Dr. Helen Mitchell, the first women partner. Dr.
Mitchell was with the practice until 1977.
The first five months of 1978 were hard for Kennebec Pediatrics; both Dr. Russell
and Dr. Good left the practice due to medical problems, leaving Dr. Sheehan
on-call with no days off. By July of 1978, Dr. Sheehan had two new pediatricians
join him: Dr. John Goodrich and Dr. Chuck Danielson. Dr. Danielson remained a
partner until 1992, moved on to become a Public Health officer in Iowa and New
Hampshire, and now is back practicing pediatrics in Waterville. Dr. Goodrich moved
to Portland to start his own office in 1981.
In 1982, the practice recruited Dr. Sydney Sewall from the Indian Health Service.
Dr. Barbara Crowley moved to the area in 1986 after residency training in
Providence, Rhode Island. In the late 1980's, the physician's chose “Kennebec
Pediatrics” as the new name for the practice and the first computers arrived.
The 1990's were a time of many changes for the practice. In 1992, Dr. Sheehan
moved on to become a hospital administrator in Biddeford, Maine. Dr. Kieran
Kammerer was recruited from the Air Force and joined Dr.'s Crowley and Sewall in
1993. The group grew after Dr. Alice Noori completed her training at the Maine
Medical Center and joined the three in 1995. Dr. Stephen Meister was recruited to
join the practice in 1996 as Dr. Sewall left for a year-long sabbatical to earn a
Master's in Public Health at Harvard. To further increase access to care,
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Meg Lewis and Physician's Assistant Marty Soule
joined the practice in the mid 1990's. In the later 1990's, Dr.s Crowley, Sewall
and Meister became involved in a number of State and MaineGeneral Hospital public
health programs. To maintain physician availability, Dr. Joann Kaplan was
recruited from the Maine Medical Center after she completed her year as Chief
Resident in Pediatrics in 1999.
Shirley Pyle was the practice manager for over 20 years, until leaving in 2000 to
assume an administrative role at MaineGeneral Health Associates. Office Manager,
Joan Marson, first worked for Kennebec Pediatrics as a young medical assistant,
pursued an RN degree, had a variety of nursing jobs, and then came back two
decades later! In June 1995, Kennebec Pediatrics moved to the Vickery Building to
join other service providers in developing a medical home for the capitol area
children's services. In January 1996, Kennebec Pediatrics officially joined the
MaineGeneral Health Associates system.
The new millennium has seen additional changes at Kennebec Pediatrics. We now have
an electronic medical record and are writing prescriptions to pharmacies “on-line.”
We are working on disease management programs and are making Nurse Care Coordinators
and Parent Helpers available to assist families. We hope you find this website a
useful addition to our practice.
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