Category: News

We must share the unfortunate news that Dawn Ribnek will be leaving the practice.

Dawn had clinical hours as a student at Lake Forest Pediatrics and joined the practice as a Nurse Practitioner in December 2002.

She has been beloved by staff and patients and we wish her nothing but the best and we hope she enjoys a much shorter commute to and from work.

She may have already spoken with you, or you may have received a letter from us in the mail, but please know that we wish to avoid any possible interruptions in your child’s care. On our “Meet Our Providers” page, you may find brief bios of other members of our practice. Each are Board Certified in Pediatrics, our physicians are on-staff at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital, and all of our providers are dedicated to delivering the best care that every person deserves.

Please feel free to let our front office staff know which physician you would like to see at your next visit. Should your insurance plan require you to select a primary care physician, you may inform them of which physician you have chosen, effective 12/21/22.

If you have any questions or if you need anything, please contact our office at 847-295-1220.

Thank you for the continued privilege of providing care for your child.

All of us at Lake Forest Pediatric Associates wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday! We are grateful for you and for the trust you place in us throughout the year. Enjoy your family time together as we celebrate the many blessings of the past year.

On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 24, all offices will be closed. However, we are available for urgent concerns 24/7/365 through our on-call provider via phone at 847-295-1220.

On Friday, November 25, the Lake Bluff and Lindenhurst Offices will be open for regular hours.  The Vernon Hills Office will be closed on Friday, November 25.

Thanksgiving Day – Office Hours – Thursday, November 24

Lake Bluff Office
Closed

Lindenhurst Office
Closed

Vernon Hills Office
Closed

Call our on-call provider 24/7/365 at 847-295-1220 with urgent concerns.

Friday after Thanksgiving Day – Office Hours – Friday, November 25

Lake Bluff Office 
Open for regular hours 

Lindenhurst Office
Open for regular hours

Vernon Hills Office
Closed

The influenza (flu) season starts in the fall and usually ends in the spring. Because the flu is caused by a respiratory virus, it can spread rapidly, causing symptoms such as a sudden fever, chills and body shakes, headache, body aches, tiredness, sore throat, dry hacking cough, stuffy runny nose, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. In addition, the virus can spread when children touch a contaminated hard surface and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth. There can be serious complications, even death, from the flu. However, because of the flu vaccine, these complications are less common.

Lake Forest Pediatric Associates and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends an annual influenza vaccination for children 6 months and older, with rare exceptions. Call us for an appointment at 847-295-1220.

Children 6 months – 8 years will need two vaccine doses given at least four weeks apart while older children will only need one dose.

Have any questions? Please call us at 847-295-1220 and read about it from Healthy Children here: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/chest-lungs/Pages/The-Flu.aspx

Here’s our current Flu Clinic Schedule (updated as of 10/26):

Thursday, 10/27, Lindenhurst – 1:30-4:45pm

Friday 10/28, Vernon Hills – 1:30-4:45pm

Friday, 11/4, Lake Bluff – 1:30-4:45pm

Friday, 11/11, Lindenhurst – 1:30-4:45pm

Wednesday, 11/16, Lake Bluff – 1:30-4:45pm

Wednesday, 11/16, Lindenhurst – 1:30-4:45pm

Friday, 11/18, Lindenhurst – 1:30-4:45pm

Tuesday, 11/22, Lindenhurst – 1:30-4:45pm

Additional Flu Clinics may be added to the schedule at a later date. Please check back here for updates as we make them.

Call our team at 847-295-1220 to make your child’s Flu Clinic appointment.

The FDA and ACIP have authorized the Pfizer BioNtech and Moderna COVID vaccines for children as young as 6 months.

6/21/22 UPDATE: We have begun receiving shipments to all 3 of our offices. We are now accepting appointments beginning Wednesday 6/22.

We will only have the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine in our offices. Vaccines will be given during the normal course of the day, so no special Saturday “COVID Clinic” appointment will be needed.

For the younger children vaccine, there will be 3 doses (instead of the initial 2 for the other ages). Dose 2 will be 3 weeks after the first, and dose 3 will be 8 weeks after the second. There is no booster recommended yet.

It is our recommendation that children receive a COVID vaccine, however we do not have a preference for which one they get. We will, however, only be offering the Pfizer vaccine in our offices.

Thank you!

All of us at Lake Forest Pediatric Associates wish you a Happy Independence Day! We hope you enjoy family time together as we celebrate our nation.

In honor of Independence Day, we will have limited office hours at the Lake Bluff Office (urgent care only). The Lindenhurst and Vernon Hills Offices will be closed. However, we are available for urgent concerns 24/7/365 through our on-call provider via phone at 847-295-1220.

Independence Day Office Hours – Monday, July 4

Lake Bluff Office
The Lake Bluff Office is open for scheduled urgent care appointments from 8 am – noon.
Call us at 847-295-1220 on Monday at 8 am to make an urgent care appointment.

Lindenhurst Office
Closed

Vernon Hills Office
Closed

We wish to share the news that Dr. Karen Burton and Dr. Katherine Hidaka have announced their retirements. Dr. Burton will be hanging up her stethoscope on July 13th and Dr. Hidaka will follow on August 9th.

Joining Lake Forest Pediatrics in July of 1985, Dr. Burton has been a staple physician with our practice. She served on the practice’s Board of Directors for nearly her entire time with the practice, and has been a vital member recently on the practice’s internal “COVID Committee”, providing insightful review and analysis of the pandemic’s trajectory, reviewing innumerable medical journals and announcements from government agencies, and giving best recommendations to help keep staff and patients safe during these turbulent years.

Joining the practice in August of 2009, Dr. Hidaka has been an adored physician at our practice. She has also served on the practice’s Board of Directors and has worked side-by-side with Dr. Kinsella on new provider recruiting. We will surely miss her easy-going and joyful demeanor.

We wish them both nothing but the best and we hope they enjoy more time with their families.

They may have already spoken with you, or you may have received a letter from us in the mail, but please know that we wish to avoid any possible interruptions in your child’s care. On our “Meet Our Providers” page, you may find brief bios of other members of our practice. Each are Board Certified in Pediatrics and are on-staff at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital, and all are dedicated to delivering the best care that every person deserves.

Please feel free to let our front office staff know which physician you would like to see at your next visit. Should your insurance plan require you to select a primary care physician, you may inform them of which physician you have chosen, effective 7/14/2022 for Dr. Burton and 8/10/2022 for Dr. Hidaka.

If you have any questions or if you need anything, please contact our office at 847-295-1220.

Thank you for the continued privilege of providing care for your child.

Some patients who have received an invoice from us, after logging into the Patient Portal, are seeing $0 balance due. If you receive an invoice from our office and see no balance on the Portal, you are still able to make a payment and it will be properly credited to your account.

We apologize for the inconvenience. This issue is not affecting all accounts, but we are working with our EMR provider (Greenway) to resolve this.

Thank you.

We’re pleased to announce the approval has been given for COVID boosters for individuals who are 5-11 years of age and after at least 5 months after completion of a primary series with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

We will be carrying the vaccine in all 3 of our office locations. Starting today, you may contact our office to schedule an appointment.

From the FDA:

“While it has largely been the case that COVID-19 tends to be less severe in children than adults, the omicron wave has seen more kids getting sick with the disease and being hospitalized, and children may also experience longer term effects, even following initially mild disease,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “The FDA is authorizing the use of a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for children 5 through 11 years of age to provide continued protection against COVID-19. Vaccination continues to be the most effective way to prevent COVID-19 and its severe consequences, and it is safe. If your child is eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine and has not yet received their primary series, getting them vaccinated can help protect them from the potentially severe consequences that can occur, such as hospitalization and death.”

“The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine is effective in helping to prevent the most severe consequences of COVID-19 in individuals 5 years of age and older,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “Since authorizing the vaccine for children down to 5 years of age in October 2021, emerging data suggest that vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 wanes after the second dose of the vaccine in all authorized populations. The FDA has determined that the known and potential benefits of a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for children 5 through 11 years of age at least five months after completing a primary series outweigh its known and potential risks and that a booster dose can help provide continued protection against COVID-19 in this and older age groups.”

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-expands-eligibility-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-booster-dose

The February recall of baby formula has severely impacted many families across the country. We have been following this closely and would like to share the following Q&A link from healthychildren.org. This may help answer many of your questions.

Update as of 5/18/2022: President Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act which is intended to “to speed production of infant formula and authorized flights to import supply from overseas”. As part of this invocation, this “requires suppliers of formula manufacturers to fulfill orders from those companies before other customers, in an effort to eliminate production bottlenecks. Biden is also authorizing the Defense Department to use commercial aircraft to fly formula supplies that meet federal standards from overseas to the U.S.” https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-government-and-politics-df586c2e52b5e5865ea9f8091d4d1f80

Please contact our office with any additional questions.

Thank you!

We wish to share the news that Dr. Heather Begley will not be returning from maternity leave. Her last day with our practice will be June 18th.

Joining Lake Forest Pediatrics in July of 2012, Dr. Begley has provided great care to her patients. She has said this was an extremely difficult decision, but one that is necessary for her family. We wish her and her family well.

Our Front Desk and Patient Education staff may have already spoken with you, or you may have already received a letter from us in the mail, but please know that we wish to avoid any possible interruptions in your child’s care. On our “Meet Our Providers” page, you may find brief bios of other members of our practice. Each are Board Certified in Pediatrics and are on-staff at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital, and all are dedicated to delivering the best care that every person deserves.

Please feel free to let our front office staff know which physician you would like to see at your next visit. Should your insurance plan require you to select a primary care physician, you may inform them of which physician you have chosen, effective 6/19/2022.

If you have any questions or if you need anything, please contact our office at 847-295-1220.

Thank you for the continued privilege of providing care for your child.