June 29, 2019 — Today I headed up to the Murrieta Medical Plaza (my first time there!) for a Saturday morning visit with the team that staffs Rady Children’s satellite clinics in Encinitas, Oceanside, Escondido and Murrieta.

I received a lei greeting from Medical Practice Foundation Program Manager Stephanie Paul and then joined the team for breakfast, learning a little bit about each member: their roles, which of the four locations they staff and how long they’ve been with Rady Children’s. These locations have been steadily growing over the years, and we continue to establish new services.

I learned that Rady Children’s first ventured into Southwest Riverside more than 20 years ago, with ENT and Cardiology as the first divisions to offer services. We’ve come a long way since then. Currently, there are more than 18 divisions in four locations, with about 92 providers seeing close to 60,000 patients every year!  As you might imagine, staffing has grown as well, from only five or six employees in 1998 to 33 team members now.

The MPF team takes pride in the neighborhoods they serve, and the scores they receive for customer satisfaction and overall quality of care show it. They also get plenty of great comments from parents. In keeping with the travel theme, the team shared some of these comments with me on the back of postcards.

Examples from Encinitas: “The medical assistants were excellent and very caring” and “Friendly staff!”

Examples from Oceanside: “Everyone was so nice and helpful” and “I just have to say thank you, excellent service.”

Examples from Escondido: “I really like the service, the staff is very friendly!” and “Rady Children’s is the best — would not take my kids anywhere else. Thanks for caring!”

And, examples from Murrieta included “The front desk staff are awesome. You can tell they like the kids!” and “The medical assistants explained everything step-by-step!”

These team members are frequently the first and last person parents see at appointments. It’s so gratifying to know that our staff is doing such a great job for these families.

The final part of this visit was a tour of the clinic on the first floor. With 22 exam rooms, this place stays busy providing specialty care for kids in the following service areas: Allergy & Immunology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics & Scoliosis (including radiology and casting), Otolarynoglogy (ENT), Pediatric Surgery (Consultations), Pulmonary/Respiratory Medicine, Radiology , Rehabilitation Medicine, Rheumatology, Sports Medicine and Urology.

Thanks for the fantastic visit. I’m already looking forward to the next time I have the opportunity to meet with our stellar satellite staff!