Author Archives: Ed Perl

INFLUENZA (FLU) AND/OR COVID VACCINES – FALL 2023

The Influenza Vaccine has been very helpful in the prevention of influenza for our patients. We have strongly encouraged all of our patients to get the vaccine each year, and the result has been fewer and/or milder cases of influenza. 

The COVID Vaccines have been very helpful in the reducing of symptoms and prevention of COVID. We strongly encouraged all of our patients to consider getting the current COVID vaccine which is protective against the most recent strains.

Carroll Pediatric Center has both the Influenza and COVID vaccines available for all of our patients over 6 months of age. You can get these vaccines by calling and making an appointment at your convenience, or you can make an appointment for our special Flu and/or COVID Vaccine Clinic.

In order to vaccinate the greatest number of people safely and efficiently, we will have a Vaccine Clinic that will be held outside on our rear parking lot on Tuesday, October 10 from 5 pm to 7 pm. Appointments are required to attend – walk-ins will not be accepted. This clinic is open to our patients and their family members for the Flu vaccine and only our patients for the COVID vaccine. BOTH FLU & COVID VACCINES CAN BE ADMINISTERED AT THE SAME TIME OR AT SEPARATE TIMES.

 Here is the process:

1. Call the office at 410-795-7300 and make an appointmentfor the desired vaccine(s). Parents/guardians (nonpatients) who desire to receive a Flu vaccine themselves will be charged $35 for this service. This must be paid in advance over the phone via credit card. We will keep a list of all nonpatients who requested the vaccine for themselves and completed the payment process. Nonpatients must be in good health for us to provide them with the vaccine.
2. If your child is receiving the COVID vaccine, be sure to give your child’s age as of 10/10/23 since there are different vaccines for 6 months to 4 years, 5 years to 11 years, and 12 years and older. Because the COVID vaccine has to be thawed out in advance and must be used within 12 hours of thawing out, it is imperative that you keep any scheduled appointment.
3. Please bring a pen to sign the Vaccine Administration Record similar to the form you have signed in past years.
4. Every person getting the vaccines should wear loose fitting clothingallowing access to injection site in upper arm or upper thigh without removal of clothing.
5. When you come to our parking lot, you will drive up the right side of the building to the 1^st orange cone. At that point, you will “check in” and will be directed to an area where you will wait IN YOUR CAR until there is availability at the administration area. At this point, you will be directed to a spot where you will get out of your car and proceed to one of the two doctors administering the vaccine.
6. If possible, please have all children removed from any carriers when you are in your parking space prior to walking from your car to the actual administration station.
7. Following the vaccination, you will return to your car and exit the parking lot on the opposite side of the building. IF YOU RECEIVE THE COVID VACCINE, YOU MUST WAIT 15 MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING OUR PARKING LOT.

KEY POINTS:

• Do not come to the Clinic if you do not have an appointment.
• No parent or “nonpatient” will receive the vaccine unless they have prepaid by credit card and we have your name on the “Nonpatient List”.
• No one should be vaccinated if they are sick or have a fever over 100.4.

Appointments for vaccines are also available any time the office is open. IF YOU CAN NOT ATTEND THE VACCINE CLINIC, please call the office and let us know when you want to come in for your vaccines.

We have some exciting news!

Carroll Pediatric Center has joined a large group of independent top notch Pediatric practices in the Maryland, Virginia, DC area. This group was started five years ago by several independent Pediatric practices which wanted to protect their ability to provide the type of care Pediatricians know is best for the well-being of children, and at the same time receive assistance with billing, human resource management, purchasing, and many other areas.

We will remain Carroll Pediatric Center with the same name, providers, staff, and office.

With this change, probably the only thing you will notice will be that the Trusted Doctors logo will sometimes be with the CPC logo, and there will be a change in your billing invoices. The new billing invoices will note Trusted Doctors as the billing entity. Please do not discard or ignore these invoices as they are from Carroll Pediatric Center but just coming from a different address and entity. You will continue to receive bills from Carroll Pediatric Center addressing any dates of service prior to May 1, 2023. Again, please do not discard or ignore these invoices as we will need to complete our billing cycle ourselves up through that date.

If you have any questions about this change, please contact Mandy or Kathy at Carroll Pediatric Center.

Thanks for entrusting us with the care of your children.

Carroll Pediatrics is happy to announce that in October 2022, Sarah Zader-Weinstein, MD, FAAP will be joining us. Dr. Zader is a wonderful, experienced Pediatrician with very impressive training. (See her full bio under the “Our Providers” tab.) For the past several years, she has simultaneously been a Pediatrician, an Assistant Professor, and a Major in the Air Force, in addition to being a mother of two young children. Dr. Zader is looking forward to becoming part of CPC and becoming an important part of caring for the well-being of your family.

We would like to share with you some important news about Carroll Pediatric Center.

November 1, 2021, Rebecca Theise, an experienced board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, joined Carroll Pediatrics. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Community Health at Brown University in 2010. After working as a refugee health care coordinator in New Haven, CT, she earned an RN and Master of Science in Nursing from Yale University’s pediatric nurse practitioner program. Rebecca became board-certified as a Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CRNP, CPNP-PC) in 2015, and since then has worked at pediatric private practices in Connecticut and Maryland. And she is a mom!

She is a delightful person and we are thrilled to have her as part of our team. (Go to “Our Providers” for more about Rebecca Theise.)

 We are also disappointed to inform you that, after 18 years with Carroll Pediatrics, Dr. Cathy Reifman has decided to retire. She is a wonderful, caring and patient  pediatrician, and we will all miss her. The combination of having many interests and a devoted family has made retirement an attractive decision for her.

Of course, there will be no interruption of any care programs that Dr. Reifman has with any of her patients. She will be available after her departure for any of us to consult on particular issues. We wish her well and thank her for her many years of care.

For over 44 years, Carroll Pediatric providers have been available to you whenever you needed us. We take pride in our superior accessible care and the close relationships we have with our families. It is sad to lose such a wonderful caring provider as Dr. Reifman; however, we know that our current and future providers will maintain our high standards as we continue to provide your health care needs. Within the next year, we anticipate increasing our office space and adding an additional Pediatrician.

Thank you for trusting us with the care of your children.

As we are hopefully seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic, we look forward to all of our lives moving towards normalcy. Some of you have experienced significant illness, and all of us have experienced fear and life changes. As more and more of us get vaccinated against COVID and the number of cases fall, it is time to look forward to resuming our normal activities such as school, camp, social and athletic events, and all the other important things we often took for granted.

Here at Carroll Pediatric Center, we are all fully vaccinated and are still practicing all of the safety measures. For the potential COVID cases, we are still using the separate suite in the Eldersburg Medical Center for these appointments.

It is now time for all of our patients to catch up on their regular check-ups, immunizations and follow-ups for any chronic or concerning issues. If your child is over 3 years old, they should have a regular physical exam once a year. Please call the office at 410-795-7300 to schedule your appointments.

As always, we strongly support the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for all immunizations and check-ups. This includes the approved COVID vaccine for the appropriate age groups.

We look forward to seeing all of you soon for your regular check-ups, follow-ups and any other issues for which we can be of service. As always, we are available 24/7 for urgent situations.

Have a wonderful fall!