Seeking Pediatrician in West LA

We love, love, love our pediatrician. She is warm and kind. We never feel rushed.

She has early morning appointments (stating at 7:00 a.m.) We always make early appointments so my husband can attend and not miss work. You can also call the office during business hours and speak to her directly without having to leave a message.

We started using her because of a friends glowing referral.

Her name is Sharon Kaminker. She is located in Santa Monica
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1 mom found this helpful

Hi, My name is M.. I took both of my children to Dr. Jack Pivko. He is a very good and reliable doctor. He used to be near the Cedar's Hospital.

We recently moved away from LA. I loved my pediatricians office. If was a practice of three women. The senior doctors are L. Sloninsky and M. Sanford. They are wonderful and cared for my three boys since my oldest was born 11 years ago.

Another friend was refered to them as specialists when her son had a rare blood disorder.

The office staff is very good as well. I don't have the number handy, but you can look them up. The only down side is that they are in the Cedars Sinai Towers, and you have to pay for the parking...or find it on the street. Goodluck!

I have a 3 week old daughter that was just diagnosed with a heart condition. We also use Dr. Lillian Sloninsky (at Cedars) as our pediatrician and we love her and all the doctors in her group. We have called in the middle of the night, on weekends, etc. They have all been very attentive and quick to respond. They always take their time with us. And, the office staff is wonderful. Dr. Sloninsky's phone number is ###-###-####.

Hi M. - I would, without reservation, recommend my two daughter's pediatrician - Dr. Candice Ho with UCLA Medical Group. They are located on Sepulveda and National - ###-###-####. She's great - and has small children of her own. We also moved from DC, 9 years ago now. Welcome to Los Angeles, which like Texas, is a whole 'nother country!

Hi- I take our daughters to Dr. Amy Weimer (Cedars Medical Group). I love her....and so do the kids. She is very smart and very proactive. The group is located @ 8501 Wilshire Blvd. (@ LaCienega) Ste. 201.

good luck
-J.

Dr Sharon Kaminker has been our pediatrician for both our kids and she is great. The office has a "well baby" area as well as a regular waiting area for "sick" kids. They take phone calls without a fuss. Office staff are great and friendly. Dr Kaminker also supports any parenting decisions you may have like delaying certain vaccines. The practice works well with emergencies too (would like to say I wish I didn't know this aspect) and are not only great with dealing with an injured child but also the distraught parents. The other physicians in the practice are also great so I highly recommend them. Office number is ###-###-#### and they have just moved to new offices on Santa Monica Blvd and 28th. Good luck.

Hi M.,

Welcome to LA. I belong to Cedar Sinani, and Dr. Nicole Herzog or Francies Pang is excellent ###-###-####

Our pediatrician is a Cedars-Sinai doctor. Her name is Dr. Liliana Sloninsky. She has been wonderful for us. Dr. Sloninsky came highly recommended by my OB/GYN whose children go to her. Our son has also seen the other doctors in this practice and they are all wonderful. Dr. Sloninsky's phone number is ###-###-####. Best of luck with your search.

We also moved to L.A. recently and were very lucky to be referred to Dr. Denise Garvey. She is a pediatrician and a general practitioner, so our whole family sees her. I love being able to build a relationship with one doctor and to be able to bring my kids with me to my office visits. Dr. Garvey is intelligent, kind and shares lots of information. I feel very informed and empowered when I leave her office. The front desk is great, especially Cindy, and I've never had a problem being scheduled in the same day. The office is large, but well run and offers extras like on site x-rays and weekend urgent care hours. They are located on San Vicente near Bundy in Westwood. ###-###-####

My daughter's ped is Gerald Whitman, close to cedars sinai on Robertson Blvd ...so it might be far for you if you'r looking in west LA.. ut he's great.. .and he has 2 partners Dr. Rachel Kramer adn Monique Araya which are wonderful as well. ###-###-####

My 6 yr old daughter has gone to the same Pediatrician, all of her life.

I highly recommend Dr. Hekmat (Pediatrician) ###-###-####.

She is a female doctor in Beverly Hills, CA

Good Luck!

I'll add in my vote for the Santa Monica UCLA Pediatric Group, which is Dr. Sachs, Dr. Kaminker, Dr. Jutabah & Dr. Woo. My 10-month old son sees Dr. Jutabah and she is great. The office is very accessible. They always see you right away, in fact, you can just walk in without an appointment and they'll make room for you. They have separate waiting areas for sick & healthy children, are flexible with vaccination schedules, and are always available after hours. They'll even see you on weekends. They take a lot of different kinds of insurance. I recommend Dr. Jutabah or Dr. Sachs. Welcome to L.A.!

Hello M.:

My daughter is 7 years old and we've been with her Pediatrician since birth. Look up Dr. Richard Levy in Santa Monica. The staff is wonderful!

Good luck.

Joselyn A.

I can highly recommend Dr. Marshall Sachs in Santa Monica. We took our son to him until we moved and had to find a closer pediatrician, but he was great. I have seen a few recommendations for Dr. Kaminker (sp?) as responses, and thought I'd mention that they share a practice, and that she, in his absence ( he came in 3 times), visited my newborn daughter in the hospital on the day she was to be released. Really liked her. She seemed very approachable. A really great office, nice staff, and ALWAYS AVAILABLE. We've called on Christmas Eve and gotten a quick response.

Hi M.,

We are very happy with our pediatrician, Dr. Jonathan Kivitz. It's just him, no partners, no nurse. He does have an office assistant. He's easy to get in to see. There's rarely another child in the waiting room. He's great on the phone in the middle of the night too. His office is on Santa Monica Blvd, just east of Beverly Glen, and across the street from the Century City Mall. His number is ###-###-####.

K.

Try Pacific Ocean Pediatrics in Santa Monica. I live in W.L.A., but it's worth the drive. Dr. Hamilton, Dr. Roberts and Dr. Polinka are excellent.

Hey There -

I've been extremely happy with the Cedars Sinai Medical Group. My 10 month old Sam is technically with Dr. Pang (who I like as well) - but I clicked a bit more with Dr. Shimoyama and I have made the last few appointments with her.

What I like about the office is there are many doctors - so if something is really a concern, you can get in right away even if you can't see your primary.

The nurses are great and I've called several times with minor concerns and the nurses call back and talk you through it. I also appreciate that they don't suggest you run into the office with things that they know through experience are probably no big deal. Sam fell off the couch when he was 6 months old and I freaked out! He was fine, but I was worried. The nurse told me to put a cold compress on his bruise and keep him awake for the next hour just to make sure. He was completely fine. If I had pressed it - she would have gotten me in to see a doctor.

The offices are nice and they have areas for healthy children and sick children - so if you are just there for shots, you're not sitting your kid around sick kids.

Highly recommend this group.

Dr. Vicki Shimoyama
8501 Wilshire Blvd Ste 201
Cedars Sinai Medical Group
Beverly Hills, CA
310/ ###-###-####

Hope this is helpful,
P.

We love Dr. Candace Ho at UCLA West Los Angeles Pediatric on National Blvd. & Sawtelle Blvd. She is the sweetest, always responds right away to calls and messages, and gentle. There are several good doctors in the office, and the reception staff is nice. My son has problems with other doctors, but not Dr. Ho!

I highly recommend Drs. Fisher and Lau with Westchester Pediatric Group--my son is 1 mo. old and has received excellent care so far. The office is small and personal, appts are easy to get, and the drs know and love kids. ###-###-####

My kids also go to Tenth Street Pediatrics in Santa Monica and see Dr. Varga who is wonderful. Besides all of the great doctors, I think there are 7, the fact that they have extended hours and are open on weekend mornings for sick patients has been great! We've never had to go to the ER but have been in many times at nights and on weekends.

Hi M.,
I take my 3 year old son to Dr. Jeffrey Wasson at Tenth Street Pediatrics in Santa Monica since he was born. We love him so much. He spends so much time with you and truly cares. The only drawback is that they don't take insurance there, you must pay up front and they will submit a claim for you. We decided to try a different doctor a few months ago because of this insurance issue and had a bad experience. We came back to Dr. Wasson because we realized that when it comes to a good doctor that you feel comfortable with the money doesn't matter. Anyway, they are on 10th street and Broadway and their number is ###-###-####.

Hi, M..

I don't know exactly where in West LA you are living, but if you're near Cedars-Sinai (Beverly Hills/West Hollywood area), Dr. Guy Efron is fantastic!

He's great with my almost 10-month-old daughter, Zoe. He's been her pediatrician since day one. He'a always been easy to talk to, friendly, informative and provided great guidance as he's a parent to a daughter who's almost two, which I found to be so beneficial as a new parent. Since he just went through all the trials of a new parent, a lot of his advice really connected with me.

The office staff is extremely friendly and polite. The nurses in the office have always been cheerful and gentle with my daughter.

He's located at 150 N. Robertson Blvd., Ste. 307, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 and the phone number for the office is ###-###-####.

Hope that helps!

Welcome to Los Angeles!

All the best,

E.

Hi M.,
The first few visits we took my son to see Dr. Carlos Learner at the UCLA medical center in westwood. He was fantastic. Because of insurance constraints we ended up having to go to Kaiser West LA where ironically lots of the UCLA doctors take their kids, but we are not quite as satisfied. Good luck!

Try Dr. Marshall Sachs at the UCLA Med. Center/Pediatrics at 20th & Wilshire (I think). They're on Wilshire anyway, very close to 20th. Cozy office, small and intimate. He was both of my kids' doctors (they are now 17 & 14) and we even kept him when we moved to the Valley when my first was an infant. He has several doctors in his practice that are amazing as well. Dr. Woo is one of them - great doctor.
Good luck!

Hi M.,

My daughter is 19 months old and Dr Levy has been her pediatrician since she's been born. He has a lot of experience and we like him. We also like Dr. Bourne who works in the same office and we see him often and their staff is very nice as well as competent.
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Hi,
I live in Mar Vista and also go to Dr. Levey-my baby is only 5 weeks old.
My sister with her three boys also goes there and are happy with them!