Meena Sathappan, MD FAAP

My wife and I were blessed with boy/​girl twins last year who have been patients of Dr. Sathappan since birth.
Shortly after we arrived home with our newborns, our son’s color (face and body) began intermittently taking on a grayish purple tone. Immediately concerned, we called the Aasha team who asked that we bring him in for a checkup.
Upon arrival, Dr. Piila checked his heart, heard what she believed at the time to be a slight mumur and strongly urged us to make an appointment with Stanford’s pediatric cardiology team in San Jose. When we arrived at the Stanford heart clinic about 45 mins later and hooked our son up to the monitor, they immediately recognized that he was in an arrhythmic state with a heart rate of 300 BPM.
Not wasting any time, our son was rushed back to Good Sam’s NICU unit where he was given emergency anti-​arrythmia medicine which thankfully worked. Over the following two weeks our son was in and out of the hospital and ultimately was transferred up to Stanford’s children hospital where he was diagnosed with a rare heart arrhythmia.
Fast forward one year and while our son is still taking a regular regimen of heart medicine to control the issue, he is in perfect shape and the doctors expect that he will eventually overcome this. Throughout this time, the Aasha team has maintained close contact with our sons heart doctor and has been a valuable asset anytime we’ve called with concerns, simple or otherwise.
Our Stanford doctor has mentioned multiple times that if we hadn’t brought our son in that day, it is very likely that he wouldn’t have made it another 24 hours. For this alone, I feel truly grateful that the Aasha team was available, recognized the potential problem and immediately directed us to the appropriate professionals.
Highly highly recommend placing your children’s care in the Aasha teams hands!

She is the BEST!
My first daughter had some throwing up issues with her feeding as new born was seen by a Dr. SCVMC but nothing was improving but I heard about Dr. Meena Sathappan thru my friend and visited her.
On first visit, She listened us so carefully and compassionately and altered few things and it really helped my baby and she got better in no time. That’s since 4+ years she has been our best pick of Pediatricians.
Dr. Sathappan has given us appointment in short notices (same day) many times. She attends calls /​returns the calls even in weekends which I haven’t seen in many other places.
She is very good at remembering history of the baby /​care /​treatments and connects very well with the family members.
Her clinic is very convenient and they pay attentions to every single details. The office staffs are amazing and very friendly and flexible in moving your appointments and finding quicker ones too.
Recently my 2^nd daughter born I have had no hesitation in putting her as my Pediatrician and surely enough she has sent her representative even before we got discharged from the Good Sam hospital and she spoke to us on the phone too.
Best place you should visit for your Baby!
Thanks,
Shaik (Aman)

I have to set at least 1 star just to post this review.
Dr Sathappan you are very talented, good person and a very good doctor. You are prompt to respond to urgent calls even at middle of the night. Often you are not in a mood to be a good listener, but usually for speaking your side and concluding topics. Even then, you are good enough.
But the real reason we are gone is because of your RUDE staff. Your staff is not knowledged even in the little things (billing) they do, is rude, is not intelligent enough to deal ‘quickly’ with, and certainly not someone I want to speak with AS A PARENT WHEN I HAVE A VERY VERY SICK CHILD! Staff was rude not just with me but on multiple incidents with my wife, just because she is not authoritative to assert her correctness.
You study, you opt to be in pediatrics, and you keep a staff that is incapable to listen to parents!
BRANDY — girl on phone — now you can’t mid-​sentence: I CALLED WITH CREDIT CARD IN HAND TO FIX YOUR ERRORS, **PAY** AND GO. But, only if you’d listen to what the error is!
So —
— We are leaving you because of your staff. Sure they give you stories about us all parents being bad.
— We are leaving you because you ask for follow up visits to fill YOU in after we already went thru trauma and already reconciled with specialists. We value education so it is hard to pull ourselves out of work and kids out of school just so we can UPDATE you — something better done via a phone call.
Advice —
* WHEN PARENTS OF SICK KIDS CALL, HAVE COMPASSION, EMPATHY AND AT A MINIMUM AN ABUNDANT PATIENCE TO HEAR THEM OUT. If this is not what your staff has learnt, nothing they have is worthwhile to any parent. Imagine ears the size of large satellite dish antenna (
). That is what pediatricians’ staffs should have.
* JUSTIFY YOUR FOLLOW UP VISITS.
Some parents might be difficult, obnoxious (unintentionally) to deal with… But… Above tips will succeed you more than your impressive education, Madam.
Sorry for having to tip and for writing bad review; I felt it was due.

How have I not written this before!!!
First off, I have read the other reviews and quite frankly I am SHOCKED. I LOVE this Dr!!! Those couple of old reviews are from another planet– and don’t belong here. Dr Sathappan is truly a kind, compassionate, caring, and intelligent MD. I’ve worked with sooooo many Dr’s. I myself am an RN and work in the pediatric and NICU dept, so it was VERY important to me to go «Dr. shopping» when I chose my pediatrician for my kids. I now have 4 kids, and I had 2 of them since moving here and choosing her as our pediatrician. She is prompt with office visits, the staff there is young but friendly and always smiling. The office is clean, cheery, and all of the patient rooms are decorated with amazing wall art. My kids seriously love going to those rooms. They get to sit on a table shaped as a dinosaur for goodness sake! (How cool is that?) and the rooms have animals and decals all over for the kids to look at and talk about during your office visit.
Another thing (and this is very important to me) is Dr Sathappan’s bedside manner. She is VERY good at listening to you and your concerns. She is not afraid to refer you out to a specialist. She gives wonderful suggestions, and asks great follow-​up questions. This quality alone is one of the hardest things to find in a good Dr… and I SO love and appreciate her awesomeness in this aspect! She validates concerns and doesn’t talk down to you or over your head. In other words, she’s not there acting like she knows everything and you don’t know anything… she is super respectful and just all around nice.
They just went digital, and can send my prescriptions over to my pharmacy in seconds. Very cool.
Recently, Dr. Sathappan split ways with Dr. Pilla and there is a new Dr there (Dr. Srey) that I met at our last trip to the office (my kiddo was sick– so I saw Dr. Srey instead of Meena.) Dr. Srey was GREAT and gentle and also had wonderful bedside manners. I’m super happy about this, because Dr. Pilla was a bit rough around the edges and I wasn’t a fan… so Dr. Srey was a welcomed change.)
These Dr’s know their stuff. They have ALWAYS opened up a spot for my children to be seen, even at the last minute. They use an after hours service so you can still get a hold of someone if you need to. I’ve never felt more taken care of, and I trust my most precious treasures in the universe, my 4 awesome kids, to the care at Asha Pediatrics.
You will love going there, and be glad you chose them to care for your kids.

On ⁵⁄₁₁ Sun, our 10yr daughter bumped her head while playing and was exhibiting concussion like symptoms. She didn’t pass out but complained about nausea and persistent headache.
My wife decided to drop by the office without an appt. Dr. Satthapan was not there. She did not have appt and told the front office person that she was willing to wait to be seen by Dr. Pillai in between appt. The office was empty but the Dr. Pillai still refused to have us wait. Dr. Pillai asked my wife to come back tomorrow or go to ER.
Seriously, is this what the hippocratic oath was about?
All we wanted to know was ‘should we seek MRI or XRay’. This was a 15min conversation/​checkup at most and my wife was willing to wait an hour or more — just to put her mind to ease. If we felt it was serious enough for an ER visit, we would have taken her there the day before.
Lesson for Dr. Satthapan: It does not matter how good you are personally. You are only as good as the company you keep.
Needless to say, this was the last visit to this manufactured caretaker.

We have been seeing Dr. Sathappan since my older child was born in 2005. Here are some of the Pros.
— Pays attention to detail and remember historical info
— Caring in nature
— Intuitive
— Available by phone during the weekends and evening hours which is rare in most practices.
I have had disagreements with diagnosis of my then infant baby. She gracefully acknowledged my concerns and referred her to a specialist.
Not a single doc/​practice combo is perfect — there is always room for improvement. Overall this is a practice I can really on. I would definitely recommend this place.

We have been seeing Dr. Sathappan for 3+ years for both of our kids (ages 6 and 2.5). We have had nothing but best experience with Dr. Sathappan and highly recommend her for all your pediatric needs. One of our kids has complex health condition and Dr. Sathappan takes extra ordinary measures to make sure we get the best care for our kid. Several of my friends who live in the area go to her and swear she is the best. I make sure she is the primary doc in my insurance policy every year. She is probably the only doctor you will find who is available to talk at any time during week nights or weekends if you need to discuss any urgent health condition of your kids. She is the best doc around and I am surprised to see a couple negative reviews here. I am writing this review based on probably 20+ normal and serious appointments we have had in the last 3 years.

fuck this place they messedup my sons circumcision and they are very rude. they dont even greet you when you walk in the damn door

We have been going to Dr. Sathappan’s office ever since she opened her practice in Evergreen. We have always gotten excellent service all the time.
When our son got his 2 month shots, we did notice a soft spot on his head (not seen before) and she saw our son at her house late in the night to give us peace of mind.
Dr. Sathappan is very nice with kids. I have referred her to most of my friends and she is still their kids’ pediatrician.
We have gotten same day appointment whenever I have called and she also sees my wife in emergencies.

I have to say Dr. Sathappan & her staff are AWESOME! Dr. Sathappan is very attentive with her patients. Aside from being a very well educated doctor she also has plenty of hands on experience with kids. She really understands every parents concerns, because she too is a parent.
The front office & nurses are great. They are very friendly & are always willing to work with you to ensure that your child is seen right away… especially if they’re feeling under the weather. Their communication is excellent. You get a reminder phone call of your appointment the day before you’re scheduled to come in.
The doctor’s lobby area is very entertaining for the kiddos. The activity center keeps them busy while they wait to be seen. They forget that they’re there for a check up, & it really puts them at ease. Her exam rooms have really neat decorated walls. My children always look forward to seeing what room they will get to be in. She has a safari theme, ocean theme, & Disney theme. For a kid the rooms are like a playground except that they get their flu shots there too! LOL!
We have been taking our daughter and son to this doctor since they were newborns. We have been with her office for 4 ½ years now, & we feel very blessed to have found someone like her. I love how patient she is with the children, & how she takes her time when diagnosing them. We’ve never felt rushed, & we especially like that she explains everything to us in detail.
I highly recommend Dr. Sathappan’s office to any parent who is looking for a professional friendly pediatrician. :O)

I have just switched my daughter from her previous doctor. Dr. Meena diagnosed her allergy in one sitting compared to her last pediatrician. She had been with her for 4 years. Her coughing did not stop and was given doses after doses of medication. It was as clear and simple as allergies.
The staff and nurses are very good and friendly and make us feel special when ever I go with my daughter.
Dr. Meena is very professional and shows her sincerity through work. I would highly recommend her to anyone who wants a great doc for their kids. I am expecting with my second child and I have already registered her as my pediatrician.

HORRIBLE SERVICE RECEIVED TODAY! DEFINITELY SWITCHING MY KIDS PEDIATRICIAN!
I made an early AM appointment to take my two kids in for flu shots. Got there and the office smelled of incense, very strong to the point that I was suffocating and my eyes were watering. I understand that incense sticks are used in prayers and mean no disrespect but OMG they should have consideration for people, especially children being this is a pediatric office!
Secondly, the receptionist had two medical records in her hand, one was not my child’s (had a different last name). I told her that is not my child, but she wouldn’t believe me — I had to show her my child insurance card before she would believe me. Seriously would a mother not know her own child’s name? Then she said, «oh we must have pulled the wrong file». Big duh!
Then the MA and receptionist kept on asking if the kids were here for flu shots. I said yes, and asked them to try to not let the kids hear the word «shot» as they get hysterical. But did the MA stop — no she kept on asking. By the time she got in the room with the shots, my kids were crying, kicking and screaming. My older child ran out of the room and Dr Meena and the receptionist ignored as though they couldn’t hear or see what was going on. Finally I held my kids down and they got the shots. Walked out to the front desk and tried to make a return appointment for my son’s annual physical next month, and was told «we are short staffed, call back to make an appointment». Unbelievable!
Also, this was the first time in 7 years my kids got flu shots without the pediatrician checking them first. This has got to be some type of violation, especially since the MA took $ 20 co-​pay per child for today’s dr’s office visit. I feel ripped off. Never going back. Very disappointment with Dr Sathappan and her «team».

My son will be 5 months old next week and he has been seeing Dr. Sathappan since he was born. I was truly impressed with Dr. since day one but lately I have been starting to get irritated with the service. First of all, I pay a premium for PPO insurance so I do expect the best. Otherwise, I would just go to kaiser… or any other hmo Dr. and not complain.
My son’s last appointment was pretty disappointing. We had an 11am appointment and was not seen until 1 hr. 15 minutes later…
Not one apology from the front desk or the dr., not one word. It looks like she double books her schedule quite a bit as the waiting room is always full of people. Obviously if she doesn’t want to lose patients, she should be a little more timely and be more about quality than quantity… Just because I take my son to his appointments doesn’t mean that I don’t have a job and nothing else to do in the day time… Be respectful of other peoples time ! Anyway, their billing department seems to always have issues. I have records of everything and it seems like they don’t. I just recently received a notice that they want to collect a $ 25 co pay from me from 5 months ago. Are you serious? WHy didnt i see that invoice 5 months ago? why now? I got numerous phone calls about collecting and I swear I have paid every co pay. Days later, I get a message from the front desk that they had made some kind of mistake in the computer and that I don’t owe anything. And we had some other issues in the past that the office should have taken care of but didn’t know how to. Anyway, I will be taking my son somewhere else. I can’t justify paying a premium for this type of service. Not only that, this is a pediatric office, the front desk girls should try to smile a little bit more… Dr. is very nice and friendly but the front desk staff is a big reflection of the office too and they look depressed, hello… kids like to see smiling faces…

Dr. Meena Sathappan (Aasha Pediatrics) is an outstanding pediatrician! She has been the best doctor we have ever worked with!
Her office is in the Evergreen neighborhood of south San Jose, across the street from Target on Capitol Expressway.
We interviewed Dr. Sathappan before our son was born and knew she would be a really good choice for us. She has two children herself, which means that her medical advice is also based on her own experience as a mother. We moved about 20 minutes away last October and even though there are pediatricians just down the street from our new house, we continue to bring our son to Dr. Sathappan.