Doernbecher Pediatrics

My daughter was referred to Dornbecher and within 1 visit she was diagnosed with a tumor. They performed ultrasounds, CAT Scans and blood tests. They scheduled her for surgery 3 days later (so arrangements could be made with my job). She made a very quick recovery due to the excellent care she received there. They saved my daughters life, so I can't thank them enough. more

Initially, I thought Doernbecher was an excellent facility. They have a highly ranked medical school and hospital, and it's extremely competitive. I had a wonderful experience in the Women's Health Center when I was pregnant. However, when my son was born, they conducted a hearing test. He failed the hearing test and we had to follow up at Doernbecher a week later. The second hearing test was failed/inconclusive because my son starting crying when they put the mic in his ears. Fast forward to 2011. My son will be 3 in August. He has had 5 hearing tests. His last hearing test (October 2010) was inconclusive, but the audiologist found no fluid in the right ear and a little bit in the left. But she said it was inconclusive. I asked her what that was about- it's either conclusive or inconclusive- and she replied by saying that he needs to come back in a month. I asked her what the point was, and she basically said it comes down to SOP's. I left shaking my head. The audiologist was decent compared to the pediatricians.. she didn't seem to realize that a 2 year old is not going to sit still for a full 60 seconds with foam mic's in both ears. She didn't communicate well with me at all, it struck me that she was either a new resident, or just had no children of her own and had difficulty expressing empathy. Pediatrics is way worse. Every time we go in, he has a different pediatrician since it's a teaching hospital. The soon-to-be-doctors he's seen so far are so inexperienced that they might as well hand me a medical book and tell me to go home. My son wasn't speaking 300 words after his 2nd birthday. The pediatrician commented, ""Wow, he only knows 60 words? He should know hundreds more. Do you read to him?"" Her response was insensitive, and it was news to me that a 2 year old should be able to construct sentences with a 300+ vocabulary. She brought in a psychologist. I asked if she could bring in a speech therapist. She said no, I asked why, and she said that I would need a referral to a speech therapist. The psychologist came in and stared at my son for 15 minutes while he was vaccinated and screaming. I didn't quite see the point in having 5 adults in a cramped room just so my could get his shots. It didn't help my son though, and that should be their focus. Long story short, she referred me to an ENT, not a speech therapist. The appointment made no sense. They seem to do what they are told, and they tell you what they are taught in medical school. They don't have the advantage of experience, where they can explain another situation similar to yours, which might demonstrate a sense of sympathy, understanding, and all those warm and fuzzy things you think of when you visualize a childrens doctor. If you have something OTHER than medicaid, don't waste your time at OHSU unless your kid has a serious medical condition. Communication, TIME (appointments are only available on a VERY limited basis), efficiency, effectiveness and compassion are lacking. I give it a zero in those areas. I only take him to OHSU for necessary appointments. Every time we enter that place he goes into a fearful and submissive state with a glazed look in his eyes. Those people need some training in customer service or something. more

We have had nothing but great experiences with Doernbecher Childrens Hospital. We have to go every week or every 2 weeks for our son to have transfusions and a check up. He was diagnosed with an extremely rare type of Diamond Blackfan Anemia. It did takes months to diagnose but only because his is the first ever documented. Dr. Peter Kurre and Fellow Jason Glover are phenomenal. They have been nothing but attentive in the needs of our family. We switch from Emanuel because we felt we weren't getting enough attention for our son. Thanks to them we are on the way to finding out what the cure will be and how to treat it. I'm so greatful that they have helped my 8 month old son be the best that he can be while going through such a difficult time in our lives. more

We've been to Doernbecher's in Portland on 3 occasions now, and so far not one visit has been productive or worth the expense to travel for 2 hours to get the consultation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . When my daughter was first diagnosed with a rare chromosome disorder, in the genetics clinic we were handed a bunch of papers I'd already found online, and given a colossal ""We don't know, good luck with that."" We now call trips to CDRC the ""$50 shrug"". As a new parent of a child with a rare disease, the lack of followup or any useful information was disheartening and misleading. I was led to believe there was ""nothing we could do"" ... when in fact, there are several things that have helped my daughter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . After we discovered supplements that helped, we were sent up to the metabolism specialists... who was impressed that I'd gotten ahold of a well known physician at Standford, then proceeded to brutalize my daughter in the process of getting a skin sample. Note to all parents. If a skin cell culture is needed, and a biopsy is recommended, INSIST on getting it done by a dermatology specialist, this doctor did not know what he was doing, and caused my daughter unnecessary pain. Then we were sent down to the labs where they proceeded to hold my screaming child down and traumatize her further. My lab at home is very gentle and while we do restrain her, she doesn't even cry when they draw blood. My child who never screams, was screaming while a brusque nurse refused to listen to my suggestions for calming her, and refused to give me access to calm her myself. Ultimately all those lab tests ended up with the doctor saying, ""Well, we don't know, but I guess you should continue since you say it's helping her""... and it took us TEN MONTHS to get that analysis. Fortunately I'd already figured out that it was helping her. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . That was when she was 2 years old. She's now 4 1/2 and today she FREAKED at Doernbecher's when four people in lab coats squeezed into the tiny exam room. She clearly remembered how much pain she'd been caused the last time. This time, she actually got away from us, climbed over someone's feet and escaped down the hall, she was so upset. The doctors never said her name, never really interacted with her other than to grab her head (Craniofacial clinic), spend an unnecessarily brief period of time to basically say, ""There's no problem unless another specialist says there is one"", while not really listening to what I was telling them about the specialist we'd already seen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My daughter is not comfortable about medical personnel, but she has not freaked out that badly anywhere but CDRC, and if I can avoid ever taking her there again, I will, they've done nothing for us but cause her pain and trauma and I think it is inexcusable. I would rather take her out of state myself than ever do that again. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The moment they all left the room, my daughter calmed down. She was clearly terrified, and they did NOTHING to calm her. In my opinion, they need to get a few lessons in working with children and families. All of them that I have worked with. Pros: The only game in town, apparently Cons: Brusque, not friendly to kids, caused unnecessary pain more

Child was diagnosed by hometown pediatrician with rare immunological disease following vaccinations, years of pain and suffering. We were told to have continued follow up for organ swelling and Arthritis and went to Doerenbacher. Dr. Boursey was insulting, demeaning and disbelieving of teenager, parent and pediatrician. Refused to do lab work or x-rays, yanked and poked teenager causing pain and tissue swelling. Humiliated the teenager . Terrible experience. Cons: clinical arrogance more

I agree with the DaisyArterberry review. Our son was just released from Doernbecher after having surgery. For being one of the top rated children's hospitals they have very poor patient communication and most are very rude. I'm not sure if it because we were referred to the facility by Kaiser Permanente or if it?s just the nature of the politics in a large hospital. Out of the three days we were there we had only one nurse that was just nothing but excellent. She sat down with us and answered the questions that she was able to answer and didn't just say I don't know like the others did. The staff (CNAs and desk clerks) was rude and seemed to be ""put out"" when you asked for something. more

Doernbecher's has slacked in their duties over the recent years to provide excellent education to residents. Many of the staff professors are far below par. Evidence of these facts is in the lowly numbers O.H.S.U. . has recieved in many recently conducted surveys. Doernbecher's is poorly ranked in surveys of patient care. The worst department our family has experienced is pediatric surgery. The hostilities and bickering between surgeons is gossiped over to the extent their contempt and disorder affect supportive staff. Our son was injured due to the lack of communication between residents, fellows and surgeons because during patient consults they all couldn't get along. In addition, our concerns of our son's pain and suffering were dimissed by the house neurosurgeon. A year later, after leaving Doernbecher's, Pros: Great nurses more

I read the previous review by Millyabella, and I do agree with one aspect, it is a teaching hospital. Other than that, I disagree with almost everything else. My child had surgery there recently, and I can't praise Doernbecher Children's Hospital enough. So the reviewer didn't like a teaching hospital. Believe it or not, Doctors do have to learn! They are not born specialists in pediatric medicine. I found the staff to be utterly professional, and the care they gave to be some of the finest I have experienced. We were kept involved and informed from admission desk through discharge. I knew every nurse by his/her first name, because they all came over and introduced themselves, and took the time to talk with us and learn about my daughter. Every doctor in my daughter's care was courteous, polite, and took the time to make sure that my wife and I knew everything that was being done. The facilities were clean, neat, and everything was easy to find. I can't speak for parking, but I will say I got there at noon on Friday, and found ample parking in the parking structure that took about 2 minutes to walk to the entrance. I'm sorry that Millyabella did not enjoy his/her time there, but I have nothing but praise for this institution. Perhaps he/she can tell me where to find a Children's Hospital that is NOT a teaching institution. I would not hesitate to take my child back there, and would recommend it to anyone. And no, I do not work there. Pros: Wonderful Staff, Can't say enough Cons: It can be difficult to get to more

Before choosing Doernbecher's Children's Hospital, consider, the facility is a teaching hospital. This means your child will be seen by residents, often several, during your appointment. They then take their notes and observations to the attending doctor, where even more time elapses as the students hash around possibilites/treatment. After which, they accompany the doctor back to your child and the interviewing starts all over again. This is what you experience once you actually get into a speciality clinic . (Multiply the previous experience should your child need attention in more then one area) more