Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – March 27,2020

As of yesterday, the level of community spread of coronavirus in Arizona is now considered “widespread”. This means that people testing positive throughout the state do not necessarily have a known contact with the disease or history of travel to an epidemic location. For the past week Estrella Pediatrics has kept the office separated so that well children and their adults are seen on the 1st floor. Children with respiratory symptoms, fever, vomiting or diarrhea are seen on the 5th floor. No provider, medical assistant, patient or parent will be permitted in the 1st floor suite with any of those symptoms. Also, beginning April 4th we will open Saturday mornings for well checks when the building and parking lot are mostly empty. We will likely continue this throughout the summer until the pandemic is over.

Telemedicine is now available. Please call the office to schedule a virtual visit. No app on your smartphone is needed. These are available for many common childhood ailments and we are expanding this service during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Colds, coughs, diarrhea, ear ache, flu symptoms, pink eye, sinus infections, hives, insect bites, rashes, sore throats are some of the ailments that can often be treated with a virtual visit.

The current coronavirus circulating, as with previous coronavirus outbreaks, continues to show milder disease in children than adults. We are approaching 25,000 worldwide deaths due to the virus. In the United States, Europe and China there have been no deaths in children under 10 years old. We are unable to test for coronavirus in the office. If you are wanting testing done, please contact Banner Health to start the process as noted above.

Lastly, if your child needs to be seen, the office is open and we are here for you. With people not leaving their houses, we have been forced to close earlier and a further decrease in hours is likely. Please call us with any questions you may have.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – March 16,2020

The Coronavirus has sparked a lot of panic and fear in the world. I want to try to make a few things clear during this time. Estrella Pediatrics is committed to helping our patients and their adults during the pandemic. In the next week or two we will be moving all well checks to the 1st floor office. Only sick visits will be seen on the 5th floor office. This will mean rearranging of schedules and babies and toddlers being seen by other providers. No one with any type of illness will be allowed in the 1st floor office. Gowns, masks, sanitizing gel and gloves are in extremely short supply. It is absolutely possible we may run out of these items. This may force the office to close for sick visits. We are trying everyday to order more supplies. Testing kits are also in extremely limited supply and it will be impossible for us to test all children with symptoms of a respiratory virus.

If there is a bright side, it is that Coronaviruses that have caused severe respiratory disease in adults, historically have caused much milder disease in children. Coronaviruses are responsible for the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in 2002-2003 and MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome). The disease caused in these outbreaks is very similar to what is being seen in the current pandemic. Data from pediatric cases of SARS and MERS showed milder symptoms among children compared to adults with some children being almost completely asymptomatic. For this reason, testing of most children with mild symptoms is not recommended. And it is important to point out that there is no specific treatment for those infected with COVID-19.

Healthychildren.org is a website for parents run by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Please refer to it and cdc.gov for reliable COVID-19 information.

Dr. B

9305 West Thomas Road, Suites 125 & 575, Phoenix, AZ 85037

Estrella Pediatrics is conveniently located off the 101 and I-10 in southwest Phoenix.
We are located in Estrella Medical Plaza I Directly across from Banner Estrella Medical Center.

Estrella Pediatrics 2019 Halloween!

*Announcement!*

• Banner Nurse Now
  If you or a loved one is ill or injured, call Banner Nurse Now for medical advice. There is no charge for this service. Call when your child is sick, injured or need care advice: 602.747.7990 or 888.747.7990
• Estrella Pediatrics is now offering virtual visits. Easy to use and does not require special software. Please inquire when scheduling an appointment.
• Beginning January 1, 2018:
  All co-pays and deductibles will be collected at the time of service. Please make sure to check your benefits prior to your appointment time so that you are prepared to pay amount due. Most major credit cards are accepted.