Pediatrics, PC, a practice that has provided general medical pediatric care in Portage for the past 75 years, is set to become part of the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) Clinics.
Pediatrics, PC, which is located at 670 Mall Drive, will fully transition to WMed as of Monday, October 1, 2018.
“Pediatrics, PC has provided excellent healthcare to infants, children and adolescents of all walks of life in a most caring and compassionate way for many years,” said Dr. Dilip Patel, chair of the medical school’s Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. “The pediatricians have also remained active in medical education in different ways. The integration of Pediatrics, PC with WMed is consistent with our mission for excellent care for all pediatric patients and medical education.
“This integration is another example of the collaborative spirit in the community to find ways to address our most pressing healthcare needs,” Dr. Patel added.
The integration with WMed was initiated by Pediatrics, PC earlier this year and has been endorsed by the medical school’s hospital affiliates to ensure that high quality, personal care will continue for patients at the practice. Pediatrics, PC currently includes five pediatricians who have faculty appointments in the medical school’s Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and seven staff. Two pediatricians at the practice – Drs. Kathleen Lemmen and Mark A. Blazek – are planning to retire as of October 1.
“The main concern Dr. Lemmen and I have had in arranging our retirement has been regarding the continuity of care for the young people whom we serve,” Dr. Blazek said. “We were excited when this opportunity became a reality. We are very pleased that our patients and their families will be receiving the quality and personal medical care we had hoped for, uninterrupted at our Mall Drive location.
“We consider it a privilege and a joy personally to have been entrusted with the care of our Pediatrics, PC families for over three decades,” Dr. Blazek added. “We are able now to leave medical practice confident that our patients will be well served by the WMed pediatricians.”
As the transition progresses, WMed-employed faculty from the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine are providing scheduled visits for some Pediatrics, PC patients at the Portage location during the summer months, which will continue after October 1.
Additionally, an integral function of the transition will be the education of physicians-in-training, including WMed students and residents, to provide the community with a new generation of doctors who will be available to address the medical needs of a new generation of young people.
On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, all WMed Board members, affiliates, faculty, residents, fellows, staff, and students, along with Pediatrics, PC patients and families, are being invited to an open house at the practice.
The event, which is scheduled for 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., will be an opportunity to tour the facility and for WMed pediatricians to meet the patients and families they will be serving in the future. No RSVP is required for the open house.