Kiddox Medical Group

We chose Kiddox after hearing Dr. Bourne give a presentation at St. John’s while on a hospital tour. Initially we were quite happy with the practice, but several visits in we were discouraged to discover that when making an appointment you never knew who might be the doctor to see your child.
Most importantly: the intake form. Each and every time we visited the office we diligently filled out this intake form. We answered «yes», to the question, «do you live in a house built before 1978?» each and every time. Not once were we counseled on the dangers of lead paint. When my son was 11 months old I happened across an article in Parents magazine warning parents about childhood lead poisoning. The article also said that pediatricians routinely check all children’s lead levels at both 12 and 24 months. I felt relieved –we would be testing in a month. Also, I asked our landlord if we should be concerned and he assured us that the house was safe (unfortunately that was untrue).
So, at our 12 month checkup I said to Dr. Bourne, «you’ll be testing for lead right?». Much to my surprise Dr. Bourne told us it was absolutely unnecessary, that they used to test all of the kids, but none of them ever had it, and that they didn’t bother testing anymore. I had to insist that I wanted the test run sighting the fact that we lived in a 1906 Craftsman home. He finally ordered the test, «to ease my mind».
Fast forward to the day we received the results… My son had a lead level of 8, which is 3 points higher than the «safe» threshold. But, what’s even worse? There really is no safe blood lead level. ESPECIALLY in a growing infant.
After I spoke with Dr. Bourne about the results I called two days later with more questions. He didn’t return my call. My husband called him and told him that if I called he needed to return our calls.
We moved into a safe home. We also changed pediatricians (obviously). We now see a holistic/​homeopathic pediatrician who is amazing and takes tons of time with us each time we see him.
I will say that Kiddox had a helpful nurse exchange if you ever needed help in the middle of the night, but other than that we were sorely disappointed with our overall experience. There is even more I could complain about, but the Lead issue was/​is the most important to name.
I also learned that we must be advocates for our own health no matter what. If I had blindly listened and trusted what Dr. Bourne said we would STILL be living in a home that literally poisoned our son. Advocate for yourself, your child, don’t put all your faith in what a doctor says. They are human and make mistakes. I think Dr. Bourne is a good guy, but needed to be more cautious about this particular issue. After all, why was there a question on the intake form related to lead if it was such a non-​issue?
The first time we met with our new pediatrician he told us he tests each and every patient for lead at 12 and 24 months regardless of the home they live in. Every year he has at least one patient with poisoning.

We’ve been coming here for 4 months now (since our daughter was born). We came here because they were recommended by my OB and were in our insurance group, so it worked out. Every time we have been here, we’ve never waited for more than 5 minutes which is a huge plus. We’ve seen the nurse practitioner (can’t remember her name), Dr. Levy and Dr. Bourne and all have been very helpful when meeting with us. Each time we’ve seen Dr. Bourne, he has a cool tie on which will be a plus once our daughter is big enough to realize these things, right now she’s amazed by the fact that she has hands, so we’re not quite there yet. Although, I was under the impression that Dr. Bourne would be our doctor each time, but I’m quickly learning that when you go to a practice with multiple doctors, you’re going to meet with whoever is available. kind of a downfall because I feel like they don’t remember us since it’s always been someone different. We did get some slight push back at our 4 month visit when we delayed some vaccines, the nurse practitioner definitely tried to convince to get those that we were delaying, but ultimately it’s my kid and my decision so we didn’t get them. She was okay with it.
Parking is horrible, make sure to get there early if you’re planning on parking on the street because it’s a hassle.

Carla, Phyllis, and Sandra are Awesome! I have been going here for about 15 years! I have four children! They are experienced and kind! This is a kid friendly office with a great staff! We started with Dr. Levy and have seen Dr. Bourne and Dr. Batia as well as Leslie the nurse practioner. Love this place!

Top notch doctors with lots of experience and friendly bedside manners. Definitely recommend the group to anyone in the area. Only downside is very expensive parking of $ 18. The office is right next to Santa Monica UCLA so street parking is impossible.

So Dr. Bourne came highly recommended on other sites so I decided to give him a try. Before deciding whether or not to have him as my pediatrician I requested to meet with the doctor simply a meet and greet and see if I felt he was the right person for the job after all it is my son were talking about.
The office proceeded to tell me that they do not meet, unless I wanted to choose them as a pediatrician. Because of other decent reviews I decided to give this a try needless to say during my first visit a nurse walks in and started going over my son I asked the doctor was coming in and she said no that she would be doing the exam.
I told her that I was here to see a pediatrician and not a nurse and that I would wait for Dr. to do the exam.
20 minutes later the doctor walked in and looked over my son for his six month check up it was very bland and nothing exciting at all he didn’t give me any advice or any helpful hints. I would say they did the bare minimum to get by here.
Now for my six month appointment I obviously made my nine-​month follow up they just called me the other day and told me that the appointment that I have had for the last 2 ½ months, that is approximately two weeks from now, needs to be reschedule or cancel and gave me two times they were completely unacceptable to my schedule, obviously I made an evening appointment because I wanted him to be seen in the evening the two times he gave me were during the morning this clearly doesn’t make sense I do not like this doctor
Overall I would say that this is not a good pediatrician not because they’re incapable of doing the job simply because they are not friendly they seem overcrowded a large staff and there’s no level of personalization.
I was however pretty happy about the parking initially because you rarely find parking in Santa Monica however I see why this structure was so empty because it was approximately $ 25 with no minimum so if you stayed 15 minutes you’re looking at at least $ 25 minimum.
I’m going to stick with this pediatrician simply because I am almost done with all of my wellness visits however for my next child I will definitely not be staying with this pediatrician and look to change over to
whomever else we choose.

Absolutely LOVE this place! Dr levy was my pediatrician as a child and I’m fortunate enough that my 2 kids get to experience a fantastic Doctor. I must say, all the drs here are great! My kids know Dr Bourne as the «surf dr» lol. I adore Carla and Phyllis! They’re the sweetest. the rest of the staff is awesome.
I can’t say one bad thing about this office. The wait is never long. They have a back room for kiddos with colds to keep their germs in one area. Parking can be tough unless you want to pay for underground parking. Otherwise it’s street metered.

I have a 15 month old and have been seeing these guys since the hospital where I gave birth, I have seen both levy and bourne and also a few other prationers and have always been happy and never had an issue. they have a great after hours phone service that i have used a few times and been very happy. I have also on many occasions been able to call and get info over the phone, on one instance I was able to even text photos over (concerned about a rash) and get a very quick helpful response.

I am writing this review because it seems that Dr. Bourne has gotten a bad wrap. I am very sorry for the woman in the previous review. It is hard to find a good pediatrician who will listen to you and explain things to you. This was my issue UNTIL DR. BOURNE. I really like him. He is so friendly and really I feel he has always gone out of his way to make me feel comfortable no matter how many questions I ask… and I do ask ALOT of questions. Sometimes I even have a list with me. He has literally gotten his Medical Atlas out to reassure me of a few things. I never feel he is rushing me. He even is open to my very «modified vaccination schedule» that the AMA doesn’t recommend and doesn’t make me feel bad because I am very un-​open to antibiotics and the 200 vaccines that our children are supposed to be getting. He completely goes with my flow and I would give HIM 5 stars, but unfortunately, they are so busy, the staff have forgotten me in the room a couple of times (after I see the Dr.) and the parking (lack of) takes that option away. They are VERY busy and sometimes I have seen the other Dr.‘s and the Nurse Practitioner and I don’t feel the same about them. While they are friendly, I don’t find them as full of information or patient as he is. I now request only him and make sure that when I make the appt. it is Dr. Bourne that I see. However, in a pinch they are very accommodating and have always fit me in, (that’s when I’ve had to see the other Dr.‘s). Front office is very friendly, straight on the insurance, never a problem. I really think he is on his game. I have 3 kids, been around the block with pediatricians and my youngest is 3. We have been with him since her birth and I stay with Kiddox because of Dr. Bourne.

I have seen 3 different pediatricians at this group (Bourne, Batia and another female) and have been disappointed each time. They are pleasantly mannered, but really don’t take any time to explain anything. They are always in a rush. When I filled out the little card that asks if you have a question you would like to ask, I wrote 4 questions. Bourne literally said, «you have FOUR questions!!!» and not in a funny or joking way. He was impatient.
For regular checkups (ie 6 months, 9 months, etc), they simply give you a printed single page of ‘what to expect’, such as rolling over, making eye contact, etc. But they never go over the sheet and have never once asked me any questions or given any guidance for how much my baby should be eating, drinking, etc. All my friends pediatricians in other cities actually ask questions at their baby’s checkups and make suggestions. The doctors I’ve seen here don’t ask anything (I have never seen Levy). So if it’s your first baby, how would you know what’s normal or not or what to look for, if they don’t ask or tell you?
And the one time I took my baby in for a non-​routine visit, she had a fever and seemed to have ear pain. The female doctor I can’t remember the name of, at first said no ear infection, then said yes, and ear infection, and wrote a prescription for an antibiotic. When I went to fill it at the pharmacy, the pharmacist said that antibiotic did not exist in that dose. So I had to wait another half hour while they tracked down Dr. Levy to ask what antibiotic they should give my baby for an ear infection. That’s when I really decided to switch pediatricians.
Oh and their practice also will not call you to remind you of any appointments at any time. They don’t offer that. So when you schedule your appointment 3 months out, you better have a good system for reminding yourself.